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Underlining the bleak return prospects at home, hedge funds with Greater China strategies have lost 12.9% for the year to end-November - on track for their worst year since 2011, according to Eurekahedge data. Rich Chinese are also fretting about Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" drive to reduce income inequality, asset managers said, adding that they are looking at overseas private equity and property investment opportunities in countries like the United States and Japan. Although investing outside of mainland China is not a new development, a significant chunk of that wealth has usually been invested in Chinese assets such as Chinese securities listed in the offshore markets. The Boston-based asset manager has been receiving many queries from Greater China family offices to learn about U.S. economic policies and investment rules, he said. The U.S. consulate told Reuters that it frequently explains investment and economic trends in the United States to a wide variety of audiences.

Smith takes over a staff that’s already nearly twice the size of Robert Mueller’s team of lawyers who worked on the Russia probe. Smith will also take on national security investigators already working the probe into the potential mishandling of federal records taken to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House. Those lawyers maintain the former president is unlikely to be indicted, according to two sources familiar. Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation on May 29, 2019 at the Justice Department in Washington, DC. Trump allies have consistently maintained that nothing Trump did related to the election and January 6 itself amounts to a crime.

☆ Children as young as 6 months old are now eligible for omicron Covid vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday signed off on omicron vaccines for children as young as 6 months old, giving pharmacies and physicians the green light to start administering the shots. Children ages 6 months through 5 years old who received the two-dose Moderna primary series can now get an omicron booster two months after their second dose. Meanwhile, kids ages 6 months through 4 years old who are completing their Pfizer primary series will received the omicron shot as their third dose. "Vaccines remain the best defense against the most devastating consequences of disease caused by the currently circulating omicron variant, such as hospitalization and death," Marks said. "Parents and caregivers can be assured that the FDA has taken a great deal of care in our review."

☆ McCarthy's struggle to lock down House Speaker roils GOP caucus, delays key committee assignments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

A spokesman for McCarthy did not respond to questions from CNBC about the committee vote schedule. Instead, both sides have dug in over the past week, telling reporters they're ready to take the fight all the way to the House floor on Jan. 3. "Oh yeah, I'll take the speaker's fight to the floor," McCarthy told reporters in the Capitol recently. "The goal was never to embarrass Kevin McCarthy on the [House] floor, no one wants that," she said. It also prompted McCarthy to issue a long statement condemning her prior remarks, which he said "do not represent the values or beliefs of House Republicans."

The White House said earlier in the week that China had not asked the United States for vaccines. One U.S. official told Reuters there was "no expectation at present" that China would approve western vaccines. "It seems fairly far-fetched that China would greenlight Western vaccines at this point. Amid a record year for missile tests, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said last week his country intends to have the world's most powerful nuclear force. He said China had considerable leverage to press North Korea over its weapons tests, but that he was not optimistic about Beijing "doing anything helpful to stabilize the region."

The G7 and Australia said in a statement the price cap would take effect on Dec. 5 or very soon thereafter. "The Price Cap Coalition may also consider further action to ensure the effectiveness of the price cap," the statement read. The G7 price cap will allow non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but it will prohibit shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is sold for less than the price cap. Because the most important shipping and insurance firms are based in G7 countries, the price cap would make it very difficult for Moscow to sell its oil for a higher price. The initial G7 proposal last week was for a price cap of $65-$70 per barrel with no adjustment mechanism.

Polish Ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sados on Friday told reporters Poland had backed the EU deal, which included a mechanism to keep the oil price cap at least 5% below the market rate. A spokesperson for the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency and oversees EU countries' negotiations, said it had launched the written procedure for all 27 EU countries to formally greenlight the deal, following Poland's approval. The G7 price cap will allow non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but it will prohibit shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is sold for less than the price cap. The White House on Friday welcomed news that the EU was "coming together" on the oil price cap and said it should limit Russian revenues. The initial G7 proposal last week was for a price cap of $65-$70 per barrel with no adjustment mechanism.

☆ Holdout Poland approves EU's $60 Russian oil price cap, with adjustment
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jan Strupczewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sados said the mechanism in the final deal would keep the price cap at least 5% below the market rate. The G7 price cap will allow non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but it will prohibit shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is sold for less than the price cap. Because the world's key shipping and insurance firms are based in G7 countries, the price cap would make it very difficult for Moscow to sell its oil for a higher price. The initial G7 proposal last week was for a price cap of $65-$70 per barrel with no adjustment mechanism. The document also said a 45-day "transitional period" would apply to vessels carrying Russian crude that was loaded before Dec. 5 and unloaded at its final destination by Jan. 19, 2023.

☆ Biden's student debt forgiveness waits on Supreme Court—here's when borrowers may have to start paying again
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to greenlight President Joe Biden's sweeping student debt forgiveness plan. In November, the Biden administration issued another extension of the federal student loan payment pause in light of the legal challenges delaying debt forgiveness. The current order does not give any additional breathing room in the event the Supreme Court rules against the Biden administration. The administration has not revealed a back-up plan if the Supreme Court does not allow debt forgiveness to proceed. Don't miss: Will student loan forgiveness make inflation worse?

☆ Disney insiders are worried about how Bob Iger will remake former CEO Bob Chapek's business structure — here's what they hated about it and what they hope will change
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Elaine Low | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Disney CEO Bob Iger has said he will put "decision-making back in the hands of our creative teams." Under former CEO Bob Chapek's structure, distribution and budgets were taken out of the hands of creative execs. Chapek's 2020 restructuring — which focused the company's firepower on boosting streaming subscriber growth at Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ — meant additional layers of approval for studio and network execs at Disney General Entertainment (DGE) to get projects made. That meant hands were tied across Disney's studios and networks, from Disney+ to 20th Century to Hulu. For creative execs whose careers were built on their ability to balance storytelling and business needs, losing control over the latter was frustrating.

☆ Disney is in an animation slump after 'Strange World' and 'Lightyear' flopped. Bob Iger may have the magic touch to turn it around.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Disney's "Lightyear" and "Strange World" have flopped at the box office this year. Its latest animated movie, "Strange World," opened over the Thanksgiving weekend with $18 million over the five-day holiday in the US. This year was the first real test of the pandemic era to see if Disney's animated films could attract large swaths of consumers to theaters. In 2020 and 2021, Disney's animated movies either went straight to Disney+ or received a hybrid release on streaming and in theaters. But this year, Disney's movies have typically been released in theaters for 45 days before debuting on the streaming service.

☆ Read the pitch deck for a startup that's aiming to disrupt film production in Hollywood with an app that's 'like fantasy football for film buffs'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Startup production company Legion M is crowdsourcing funds and promising to give movie fans greenlight power. Legion M, founded by Paul Scanlan and Jeff Annison, lets investors buy shares for as little as $40. Legion M now has four films in post-production slated to be released in 2023, the cofounders added. Legion MLegion MLegion MLegion MLegion M'A company with a built-in audience for everything it creates'One slide spells out the potential power of one million fan-investors — as consumers, promoters, and predictors of successful projects. Legion MThe Nicolas Cage film 'Mandy' was an early success for Legion MLegion MLegion MLegion MLegion MLegion M says its annual revenue has surpassed $1 millionLegion MLegion MLegion M

☆ Analysis: Vietnam's anti-graft crackdown chills supply chains, investment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"If you don't do anything, you cannot do a mistake," Walde said of the current licensing paralysis caused by the bureaucratic anxiety. Germany is the second-largest exporter of drugs to Vietnam after France, according to 2020 data. SUPPLY SHOCKSThe negative economic consequences of the crackdown come on top of other challenges that Vietnam and other countries in Asia face, namely a weakening local currency, global supply constraints and declining world demand. "The crackdown won't be able to root out the widespread corruption if implemented without complete transparency and rule of law," said Hop. Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Additional reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Credit Suisse shareholders greenlight $4.2 billion capital raise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland March 24, 2021.Credit Suisse shareholders on Wednesday approved a 4 billion Swiss franc ($4.2 billion) capital raise aimed at financing the embattled lender's massive strategic overhaul. Credit Suisse's capital raising plans are split into two parts. The new share offering will see the SNB take a 9.9% stake in Credit Suisse, making it the bank's largest shareholder. The second capital increase issues newly registered shares with pre-emptive rights to existing shareholders, and passed with 98% of the vote. Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann said the vote marked an "important step" in the building of "the new Credit Suisse."

☆ Lab-grown meat is OK for human consumption, FDA says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The US Food and Drug Administration has given a safety clearance to lab-grown meat for the first time. Upside Foods, a California-based company that makes meat from cultured chicken cells, will be able to begin selling its products once its facilities have been inspected by the US Department of Agriculture. Advocates hope that cultured meat will reduce the need to slaughter animals for food and help with the climate crisis. “At scale, cultivated meat is projected to use substantially less water and land than conventionally-produced meat.”Although not technically an approval, the FDA said that a thorough pre-market consultation process had been completed. The clearance only applies to food made from cultured chicken cells by Upside, but the statement said the FDA “is ready to work with additional firms developing cultured animal cell food.”

☆ Greenlight's David Einhorn is crushing the market this year. Here are his top holdings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn is in the middle of a stellar year as his inflation bets and other trades pay off. Green Brick Partners , a bet on rising housing prices, continued to be his biggest holding, a new regulatory filing showed. During the third quarter, Einhorn increased his stake in tech stock Kyndryl Holdings to $60 million. Meanwhile, the hedge fund manager added to his holding in LivaNova drastically, making the medical device company Greenlight's eighth biggest bet, the filing showed. Einhorn previously said he's bearish on equities as the Fed continues to deflate the market with aggressive rate hikes.

☆ Biden-Xi talks: 'Greenlight' to restart engagement is a good step forward: Mediation organization
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBiden-Xi talks: 'Greenlight' to restart engagement is a good step forward: Mediation organizationMichael Vatikiotis of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue says "the main achievement was to restart working level talks between U.S. officials and Chinese officials."

☆ Carl Icahn, David Einhorn, and Dan Loeb bet big on Elon Musk ultimately buying Twitter - and likely raked in profits when the deal closed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Carl Icahn, Dan Loeb, and David Einhorn built sizeable stakes in Twitter last quarter. Icahn and his team amassed 12.5 million Twitter shares, valued at $549 million on September 30. Similarly, Einhorn's Greenlight Capital scooped up 4.3 million shares, worth $188 million at the end of last quarter. It snapped up 5.5 million shares worth $241 million on September 30. It also purchased bullish call options on 34,000 shares, and bearish put options on 1.1 million shares.

☆ Check out the 15-page pitch deck that Legion M, a Hollywood production startup, is using to recruit movie fans as investors for as little as $40
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Chief Justice John Roberts effectively paused the dispute on Nov. 1, preventing the committee from obtaining Trump's returns while the court considered the matter. House Democrats have said they need to see Trump's tax returns to assess whether the Internal Revenue Service is properly auditing presidential returns and to gauge whether new legislation is needed. The committee's purpose is "exposing President Trump's tax information to the public for the sake of exposure," the lawyers added. The committee in its request invoked a federal law that empowers its chairman to seek any person's tax returns from the IRS. "A long line of Supreme Court cases requires great deference to facially valid congressional inquiries.

☆ Here's how five states voted on the legalization of recreational marijuana
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Stefan Sykes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Caroline Brehman | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty ImagesVoters in two states approved the legalization of recreational marijuana in Tuesday's elections, joining the growing list of states where the cannabis market is regulated for adult use. Maryland and Missouri join 19 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing recreational marijuana, while legalization proposals failed to pass in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota. MarylandFollowing the passage of Maryland's Question 4, adults in the state will be allowed to possess up to 1.5 ounces, or two marijuana plants, beginning July 1, 2023. ArkansasVoters in Arkansas failed to pass Issue 4, which would have allowed for the purchase of up to an ounce of marijuana from licensed retailers. Marijuana legalization also failed to pass in the state when it appeared on ballots in 2018, losing by a margin of 41% to 59%.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz just backed a startup that specializes in company director insurance. Here's the 13-slide pitch deck Anzen used to raise $10 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A startup focusing on insurance for company directors and officers just raised $10 million. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Anzen used to raise the new capital below. Anzen, a US insurance startup focused on executive liability, has raised $10 million in fresh funding. Anzen's funding comes from Andreessen Horowitz, alongside Japanese insurance companies MS&AD Ventures and, Tokio Marine. In addition, AmTrust Financial and Greenlight Re joined the round as insurance partners for the company along with Everest Re.

☆ Netflix is entering a new era with ads. Here's how marketers and brands could influence the programming you see on the streamer.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Reed Alexander | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Media experts say forays into ad-based streaming will influence content strategy at Netflix and Disney+. Netflix and Disney+ are readying services with ads to expand their appeal and revenue opportunities amid softening subscriber growth. Netflix's move to add advertising — a reversal of its longtime stance against ads — has been the subject of widespread research. Ultimately, experts predicted, it will take at least a year or two for the influence of advertisers to be felt in the streamers' content mix. Do you work for an entertainment company like Netflix or Disney+?

It’s become routine since Russia invaded Ukraine: President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak by phone whenever the U.S. announces a new package of military assistance for Kyiv. Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelenskyy started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn’t getting. Biden lost his temper, the people familiar with the call said. Biden now faces resistance from some Republicans and Democrats that wasn’t present when Congress approved previous Ukraine funds. “I had an important conversation with U.S. President Biden today,” he said in videotaped remarks.

It's become routine since Russia invaded Ukraine: President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak by phone whenever the U.S. announces a new package of military assistance for Kyiv. Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he'd just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine when Zelenskyy started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn't getting. Biden lost his temper, the people familiar with the call said. Administration officials said Biden and Zelenskyy's relationship has only improved since the June phone call, after which Zelenskyy made a statement praising the U.S. for its generous assistance. "I had an important conversation with U.S. President Biden today," he said in videotaped remarks.

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