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☆ Australia regulator seeks risk reports from banks on startups, crypto -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, March 22 (Reuters) - Australia's prudential regulator has started asking the country's banks to declare their exposure to startups and crypto-focused ventures following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR). The APRA declined to comment on the report but referred to its statement last week that it would intensify supervision of the local banking industry and seek more information on any potential impact from Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) declined to comment, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) and National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. Treasurer Jim Chalmers last week said Australia was in a good position to withstand some of the market volatility because the country's banks were well capitalised, well regulated and had strong liquidity. Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Yen drops, dollar on defensive as central banks seek to reassure markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Currency markets showed some cautious optimism after global authorities moved to stem contagion from a simmering banking crisis, with the safe haven dollar on the back foot and the yen tumbling amid a rebound in Treasury yields. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar jumped to a two-week high, while the euro edged higher for a third straight day. Over the weekend, the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Swiss National Bank, Bank of Canada and Bank of Japan announced joint action to enhance market liquidity. The Australian dollar climbed 0.3% to $0.6721, and earlier touched $0.6743 for the first time since March 7. Although the banking system is the currency markets' most immediate focus, a Fed rate-setting meeting on Wednesday looms large.

[1/4] A combination of photographs shows people using automated teller machines (ATMs) at Australia's "Big Four" banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (bottom R), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (top R), National Australia Bank Ltd (bottom L) and Westpac Banking Corp (top L). REUTERS/StaffSYDNEY, March 17 (Reuters) - An A$300 billion ($201.21 billion) refinancing task for Australia's biggest banks is about to get harder, say analysts, as appetite for new debt shrinks across global markets roiled by concerns about bank stability and liquidity. "Now major banks don't have to hit markets everyday... but ultimately banks can't stay out of the market forever." Refinancing today would add extra 5 to 10 basis points to banks' costs versus a week and a half ago, he added. ($1 = 1.4910 Australian dollars)Reporting by Lewis Jackson and Scott Murdoch; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Read 12 pitch decks that helped media and tech startups nab millions in funding to disrupt entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Business Insider | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tech is disrupting all parts of media and entertainment, and investors are rushing to cash in. These pitch decks show how their founders sold their vision to raise outside capital from VCs. Technology is upending all facets of media and entertainment. Insider talked with founders about the pitches they used to raise millions and innovate in content creation and distribution. Check out the examples below to learn more about how these and other founders have sold their vision.

March 14 (Reuters) - Australia's economic health will be its central bank's compass for plotting the course of rate hikes, as stringent regulation insulates its banking sector from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) (SIVB.O), analysts at top domestic banks said. Analysts at three of the top four lenders - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), and ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) - continue to expect the RBA to deliver its 11th consecutive rate hike next month. 0#RBAWATCH"The Australian domestic fundamentals remain consistent with further tightening from the RBA," Adelaide Timbrell, senior economist at ANZ Research said. Australian banking sector, while not immune to the collapse of SVB, is in a "more insulated" position, Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at NAB said. Globally, banking stocks have taken a hit from the collapse of SVB despite of assurances from U.S. authorities, prompting a reassessment of interest rate expectations.

Traders currently see a 50% chance of no rate hike at that meeting, with rate cuts priced in for the second half of the year. Shares of First Republic Bank (FRC.N) tumbled more than 60% as news of fresh financing failed to reassure investors, and so did Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL.N) and PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O). U.S. bank regulators sought to reassure nervous customers on Monday who lined up outside SVB's Santa Clara, California, headquarters, offering coffee and donuts. Regulators also moved swiftly to close New York's Signature Bank SBNY.O, which had come under pressure in recent days. In China, where SVB was the main go-to foreign bank for the majority of start-ups, entrepreneurs and venture funds were also scrambling for alternative funding.

☆ European stocks head for higher open but SVB's collapse rattles global market confidence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Oil prices dipped as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank continues to reverberate across global markets. National Australia Bank expects the prices to drop further following a stronger than expected U.S. inflation data slated for release later. "Oil prices fall on market fall-out from the US Silicon Valley Bank collapse. While energy prices have seen some relief due to diminishing shortage concerns, upside risks remain said Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "We see upside risks to our outlook driven by a sustained fall in Russia's oil and diesel exports," CBA said.

☆ Australia business activity strong in Feb, even as confidence wanes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, March 14 (Reuters) - Australian business conditions remained resilient in February with sales and employment strong, even as confidence took a turn for the worse amid high inflation and rising interest rates. The survey from National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) (NAB.AX) released on Tuesday showed its index of business conditions dipped one point to +17 in January, still well above its long-run average. The survey was conducted from Feb. 20 to 28, so it missed the recent chaos in financial markets after Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. Conditions were generally upbeat with the survey's measure of sales at a very high +27 in February, supported by historically low unemployment and rapid population growth. The survey's measure of labour costs ticked up to a quarterly rate of 2.8%, but retail price growth eased to 1.9%.

☆ Australian regulator says banks paid $3.10 bln in compensation for wrongly charged fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Australian dollars are seen in an illustration photo February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel MunozMarch 10 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate watchdog said the country's six largest banking services providers have paid or offered A$4.7 billion ($3.10 billion) in compensation to customers who suffered losses for fees charged for services that were not provided. The largest business lender in Australia, NAB, took the lead and coughed up A$1.49 billion in compensation as of the end of 2022, followed by CBA and Westpac coughing up a payout of A$1.13 billion and $1.03 billion, respectively. ASIC said its final update on remediation figures "draws a line" under its eight-year long programme of addressing financial institutions' failure to provide ongoing services to fee-paying customers. ($1 = 1.5177 Australian dollars)Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's 'Big Four' banks to hike home loan rates to match RBA move
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 9 (Reuters) - Australia's so-called 'Big Four' banks said on Thursday they would pass on the central bank's latest quarter-percentage point interest rate hike in full to their home loan customers. Among the top four lenders, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), and ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) will hike their rates from March 17, while Westpac Banking Corp's (WBC.AX) will hike its rates from March 21, the banks said in separate statements. Interest rates in the country have already gone up by 350 bps since last May, when they were at an all-time low of 0.1%. However, RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the central bank was closer to pausing its aggressive cycle of rate increases as policy was now in restrictive territory, and suggested a halt could come as soon as April. Reporting by Navya Mittal and Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TikTok is about to crash Google and Microsoft's search ad wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

TikTok search ads have been in beta testing for almost a year on an invite-only basis. One agency source predicts TikTok search ads will become more widely available by Q3. As Google and Microsoft duke it out over the future leadership of artificial intelligence-powered search, TikTok is quietly preparing a big search advertising play of its own. These moves, as well as recent TikTok job posts looking for search ads engineers to develop a "large-scale ads system," indicate a wider rollout of TikTok's search ad product. A TikTok spokesperson said the details it could share about TikTok search ads were limited during its initial testing phase.

☆ Asia stocks rally, bonds tense for U.S. rate tests
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Japan's Nikkei (.N225) climbed 1.0% to a three-month top, while South Korean stocks (.KS11) added 0.6% helped by a softer reading on inflation. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.1% and Nasdaq futures 0.2%, after rallying on Friday as bond yields eased back a little. Futures imply a 72% chance the Fed will go by 25 basis points at its meeting on March 22. The BOJ jolted markets in December when it unexpectedly widened the allowed trading band for 10-year bond yields to between -50 and +50 basis points. Friday's pullback in bond yields helped gold recover some ground and it was trading at $1,855 an ounce .

☆ Dollar's renewed strength temporary, weakness ahead, FX analysts say: Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Hari Kishan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While analysts have been predicting a weaker dollar 12 months out for over five years, their predictions only came true in 2020 when the currency weakened more than 6.5%. There was also no clear consensus among analysts in the poll over dollar positioning, which turned net short dollar last November. Among the remaining 18, a dozen forecast a reversal to net long positions and six predicted an increase in net short positions. Even the British pound , which dropped more than 10% last year, was expected to claw back around half of those losses in 12 months. Sterling was predicted to rise from its latest level of $1.19 to $1.22, $1.23 and $1.26 in the next three, six and 12 months, respectively.

☆ Salesforce: A New Dawn. CEO Marc Benioff is pivoting the cloud company from family to profitability.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and I'm not just talking about the Selena/Hailey 'mean girls' saga — I'm fascinated by the Salesforce spectacle. CEO Marc Benioff recently oversaw the departure of two leading candidates to inherit the Salesforce throne. Now, under their careful watch, Benioff needs to guide the company through a cost-cutting period — something he's never done before. This is quite the turn, considering he was still emphasizing Ohana after laying off 10% of the company in January. CEO Marc Benioff announced on Wednesday that the company is starting a "new day."

The case for falling rentSomething strange is happening in the apartment market. More than 971,000 apartment units were under construction across the US at the end of 2022, the second-largest number on record. There's only so much people are willing to pay,'" said Jon Leckie, a researcher for Rent, a platform that helps landlords market their properties. For now, though, the wave of supply that's already underway should keep rents in check over the next couple of years. Now, as landlords shift their focus from jacking up rents to filling up units, renters can once again look ahead to better days.

☆ China’s Newest Weapon to Nab Western Technology—Its Courts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Stu Woo | Daniel Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The growing conflict between China and the U.S. extends from computer-chip factories to a suspected spy balloon over American skies. Running through it all is a struggle for technological superiority. China has striven for years to develop cutting-edge technologies, in part through heavy spending on research. Now, according to Western officials and executives, it also has mobilized its legal system to pry technology from other nations.

While law firms sometimes negotiate fixed fees on transactions, market participants said such deals would be unlikely on transactions that faced the amount of legal uncertainty of Rogers-Shaw. The Rogers-Shaw deal is expected to be the tenth-largest deal in Canadian history since 1995, according to data from Dealogic. Law firms Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb represented Rogers, while Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg and Wachtell are lawyers for Shaw. None of the law firms responded to Reuters queries on the legal fee. Rogers and Shaw on Friday extended the closing deadline for the fourth time to March 31.

☆ Spanish police nab art thieves, recover 100-year old Dali drawings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Mosso d'Esquadra police officer handles a recovered charcoal drawing by Spanish artist Salvador Dali that had been stolen in Barcelona, Spain, in this handout photo released on February 17, 2023. Mossos d'Esquadra/Handout via REUTERSBARCELONA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Spanish police have recovered two 100-year-old drawings by surrealist painter Salvador Dali that were stolen last year in a burglary in Barcelona. They also seized other art works including graphic works by fellow Spanish artist Joan Miro, luxury watches and valuable coins and banknotes. The art works - two dark rural sceneries drawn on brown paper - were authenticated by the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation, which holds the rights on the late painter's works, police said. The three brothers are alleged by Catalan police to have specifically targeted homes in the Barcelona region with art works and collections of coins and other antiques.

☆ National Australia Bank cash profit jumps on loan growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Sameer Manekar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Q1 cash profit up 19%, beats estimatesLoan growth, high interest rates boost profitNet interest margin rises 12 bpsFeb 16 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) said on Thursday its first-quarter cash profit jumped 19%, helped by a rise in lending deposits for the country's second-largest bank. "The higher interest rate environment, resulting from central bank actions to curb inflation, has benefited our revenue this period," Chief Executive Officer Ross McEwan said. However, speaking of higher interest rates, McEwan said it was "also causing economic growth and house prices to soften, and loan repayments to increase". The country's second-largest lender posted cash earnings of A$2.15 billion ($1.48 billion) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with A$1.80 billion a year ago. Analysts had expected cash earnings of $2.01 billion, according to Visible Alpha consensus.

☆ M&Ms Super Bowl commercial: How ads have become weeks-long campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Super Bowl commercial, billed as the conclusion to weeks-long drama surrounding the status of the “spokescandies,” left some viewers scratching their heads. But if you weren’t paying attention, the final commercial might be a head scratcher -— one risk a brand takes when it uses a weeks-long campaign ahead of its Super Bowl commercial. In a change for the decades-old Super Bowl ad wars, it’s actually become a commonplace strategy to use social media to tease, preview and create buzz ahead of their Super Bowl commercials. Companies spend millions just for a Super Bowl ad slot — reportedly over $7 million for some 30-second spots — before investing into the commercials themselves. Dance contests and bettingDespite the high cost of a Super Bowl commercial, companies are eager to nab a spot.

☆ Oil rises for 4th day as supply disruptions, China demand supports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Freight wagons carrying oil and fuel at a petroleum products terminal in Riga, Latvia, on Feb. 2, 2023. Oil edged up in early trade on Thursday, extending gains for a fourth consecutive day, as crude loading disruptions in Turkey and optimism over China's recovering demand continued to buoy sentiment. Brent crude futures rose 14 cents, or 0.2% to $85.26 a barrel by 0239 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures firmed 11 cents, or 0.2% higher, to $78.58 a barrel. The disaster had halted operations at Ceyhan and disrupted crude oil flows from Iraq and Azerbaijan. However, increasing crude inventories in the United States put pressure on oil gains.

☆ See the 10-slide presentation a hot mental-health startup used to win over Cigna Ventures and raise $34 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Blake Dodge | Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NOCD in January raised $34 million as digital-health funding tumbles. In a brutal time to raise money from investors, the mental-health startup NOCD, which provides care for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, just raised $34 million. Cigna Ventures, the health-insurance giant's venture-capital arm, and 7wireVentures, a prominent healthtech venture-capital firm, co-led the round, bringing NOCD's total funding to $84 million. NOCD shared with Insider the presentation that helped it land $34 million from Cigna Ventures and 7wireVentures. Here's the deck NOCD used to raise $34 million from top investors.

☆ Dollar on the front foot after robust U.S. jobs data, yen falters
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The yen weakened to a three-week low of 132.60 per dollar after the report, and was last fetching 132.35, down 0.88%. Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank, said Amamiya dovish policy credentials are raising uncertainty about BOJ's eventual exit from its ultra-easy monetary stance. The BOJ's loose policy settings have attracted increasing criticism from many quarters, including opposition politicians and traders, for distorting market function. But he also said in July the BOJ must "always" think about the means of exiting ultra-loose monetary policy. On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed that nonfarm payrolls surged by 517,000 jobs last month.

☆ Dollar plunges as Fed says disinflation now in play
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Rae Wee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The dollar dived following Powell's remarks, and against a basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar index fell to a fresh nine-month low of 100.80. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar fell 0.55% to 128.21. With the Fed out of the way, the stage is set for the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) to announce their rate decisions later on Thursday, where expectations are for a 50bp hike from each. "I don't think that's going to influence the messaging from the ECB, which I think is still going to be that (they've) got a lot to do," Attrill said. Markets are now expecting the Fed funds rate to peak just under 4.9% by June, compared with earlier expectations of a peak of just below 5%.

☆ Jim Cramer's Investing Club meeting Wednesday: Fed meeting, AMD, Meta
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. Don't trade on Fed meeting Stick with AMD Watch Meta earnings 1. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

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