SeaBubbles, a French startup vowing to build flying river taxis, is seeking to close a third round of funding in less than a year and cement interest from the city of Paris, companies in the San Francisco Bay and other potential customers. To build the first battery-powered bubble-shaped ships that hover a few inches above the water and transport as many as six people at a time, founders Alain Thebault and Anders Bringdal last month raised 3.45 million euros from French insurer Maif and venture-capital fund Partech Ventures.
Month: January 2017
Saudis Said to Cut Oil to China, South Asia as Others Spared
Saudi Arabia was said to cut February crude sales to China and southern Asian nations while largely sparing countries including Japan and South Korea, as it curbs supply as part of a deal between OPEC and other producers. Two Southeast Asian refiners received cuts of about 30 percent from the world’s biggest crude exporter, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential.
Instagram Puts Ads on Stories Feature as Users Reach 150 Million
Instagram will start to introduce advertising to its stories feature as it becomes more popular, stepping up competition with Snap Inc. Facebook Inc.’s Instagram said it now has 150 million daily users on the stories feature of its photo-sharing site that was inspired by a popular Snapchat product, which broadcasts short videos that disappear after they’re viewed, or after 24 hours. Instagram’s number for stories matches the statistic Snapchat gives for its total daily global audience.
Oil Rises as Record U.S. Refinery Runs Outweigh Stockpile Gain
Refineries nationwide used 17.1 million barrels a day of crude last week, according to the Energy Information Administration, the most in weekly data going back to 1989. Refineries operated at the highest utilization rate since September before they perform planned seasonal maintenance.
Trump’s Transportation Pick Backs – Bold New’ Rebuilding Plan
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head transportation policy delivered a strong endorsement at her confirmation hearing of his proposal to seek private investment funding for a massive infrastructure building program based on a “bold new vision.” Elaine Chao, the immigrant who rose to become a cabinet secretary in a previous Republican administration and is now being considered for secretary of transportation, said deteriorating roads and other networks are jeopardizing the economy.
Long-Short Hedge Funds Are Ditching the Shorts to Focus on Longs
What happens when you take the “short” out of a long-short trading strategy? Some hedge funds are about to find out. Equity long-short fund managers, the biggest category in hedge funds, hold the fewest bearish stock bets on record, data compiled by Credit Suisse Group AG show.
EU Drug Oversight May Become – Mission Impossible’ After Brexit
The European Medicines Agency, based in London, is likely to be relocated after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, spelling uncertainty for its almost 900 employees. Even as the workload swells, some staff have left and the regulator faces the possibility of more departures, said Guido Rasi, its executive director.
Cooperman Case Poses Question of When Inside Tips Become Illicit
Regulators pursuing an insider-trading case against billionaire Leon Cooperman say he is using an “astounding theory” to justify trading on non-public information he obtained from a company insider. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Cooperman is seeking to use a “loophole” in insider-trading law that would “reward deception.”
Video-Game Tech Digging Real Dirt for Caterpillar, Komatsu
In Chicago, not far from Lake Michigan, the driver of a Caterpillar Inc. bulldozer looked left, right and forward to maneuver the 230,000-pound machine through a desert obstacle course of sand mounds and old tires. But for all his effort, he didn’t go anywhere.
Why Jim Cramer Remains Cautious on Delta
While the airline sector may look attractive, not all the stocks are the same. That’s one reason Cramer remains cautious on Delta.
Senators Split Over Tillerson and His Ties to Putin
President-Elect Trump’s pick to be Secretary of State suggested that Russia “poses a danger,” responding to concerns that he is overly cozy with the Russian President. Lawmakers on Wednesday were deeply divided over whether President-elect Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson would be right for the job, with many senators raising concerns about his overly cozy ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Why Rite Aid, Ford, Merck Are Wednesday’s Most Active Movers
Put down the 10-K filings and the stock screeners. It’s time to take a break from the traditional methods of generating investment ideas.
Barclays Cuts Price Target on Hasbro, Mattel
Price targets on toy companies Hasbro and Mattel were each slashed by $2 at Barclays on Wednesday morning, despite a rise in toy sales this holiday season. “With Christmas in the rearview mirror and [fourth quarter] earnings season rapidly approaching, we are updating our estimates for Hasbro and Mattel,” Barclays analyst Felicia Hendrix said in a research note today.
Oil Prices Rise Despite Larger-Than-Expected Build in U.S. Crude Inventories
Domestic crude stockpiles increased by 4.1 million barrels less than two weeks after OPEC initiated production cuts to rebalance the global oil market. U.S. oil is back with a vengeance to start off 2017, but oil prices were rising even though U.S. crude stockpiles increased for the first time since OPEC implemented production cuts with the intent to rebalance the global oil market.
AT&T Stock Is ‘Worth Watching’: More Squawk From Jim Cramer
Shares of AT&T were trading lower in mid-morning trading on Wednesday after the stock’s rating was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank earlier today. The call reflects weaker margins and slower EPS growth, the firm wrote in the note.
Airbus Retains Order Lead Over Boeing With Late Sales Surge
Airbus Group SE booked 320 jetliner orders in December alone to rack up 731 sales for the year, extending its backlog and beating Boeing Co. In the last month of 2016 Airbus sold 98 new planes to Iran Air and 72 to Go Airlines India Pvt., while two other transactions saw 132 narrow-bodies purchased by buyers whose identities weren’t disclosed, according to figures released by the Toulouse, France-based company Wednesday.
Etihad Airways Said to Seek $2.6 Billion for Boeing, Airbus Jets
Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Airways PJSC is in talks with banks to raise about $2.6 billion in loans to finance aircraft deliveries, according to three people familiar with the matter. The airline is seeking to raise $2 billion in 12-year loans for 10 Boeing Co.
Big Oil Hits Sweet Spot as Projects Reap Rewards of Recovery
Big Oil is poised to reap rewards this year as investments made before the crude-price slump pay off just as the recovery starts. Seven of the world’s largest energy companies will together boost oil and natural gas output by 398,000 barrels a day, the most since since 2010, according to data from Oslo-based consultant Rystad Energy AS.
Wall Street’s Most Famous Quants Fed Up With JPMorgan Soothsayer
Or anybody else who tells you quant managers regularly whip up bouts of pain and suffering for stock investors. Funds with programs that follow trends and sell like robots are getting smaller and simply aren’t big enough to overwhelm the $24 trillion U.S. equity market.
Scientology Anti-Drug Program Found Active in London Schools
A report has found that tens of thousands of children have been exposed to Narconon, which says it utilizes techniques developed by L. Ron Hubbard. Narconon, an anti-drugs program funded and run by the Church of Scientology, has been found to be active in U.K. schools.
Ted Baker Sales Provide Sharp Crease for British Clothing Retailers
Ted Baker defied gloomy expectations for the British retailing sector as the self-proclaimed “global lifestyle brand” reported double-digit sales growth over the Christmas season. The clothing retailer saw retail sale grow 17.9% for the eight-week period from Nov. 13, 2016 to Jan. 7, 2017 compared with the same time period last year.
European Stocks Turn Positive as Pound Slump Lifts FTSE, Kremlin Denial Boosts Dollar
European stocks rebounded after a renewed slump in the pound and a Kremlin denial that Russian officials had built a dossier of compromising information on President elect Donald Trump. European stocks turned positive Wednesday after a renewed slump in the pound and a flat denial from the Kremlin that Russian officials had built a dossier of compromising information on President elect Donald Trump.
Trump May Be a Loose Cannon but He Isn’t Troubling U.S. CEOs
The loose cannon who is President-elect Donald Trump will take to a stage on Wednesday and lay out some form of vision for the U.S. economy, which so happens to coincide with stock prices getting a touch more volatile amid the uncertainty over the real estate mogul’s first few months in office. Yet, despite the looming handover of power to a clear Twitter addict, it seems that Corporate America is feeling just fine and dandy to kick off the new year.
Trump’s Stimulus Plan Will Likely Help Airline Stocks, Analyst Says
If Donald Trump’s fiscal stimulus plans are enacted, demand for air travel should increase, boosting airline shares, says Deutsche Bank’s airline analyst. A veteran airline industry analyst said Trump administration plans for fiscal stimulus will likely lead to higher demand for air travel.
Domino’s CEO: We Aren’t Just the Delivery Guys
For Domino’s Pizza , a good part of 2017 will likely be spent on getting people to think about the brand as more than just one that delivers hot pizzas to your house. “While people still think of us as the delivery guys, the reality is that one-third of our business is done on-premise,” explained Domino’s CEO Patrick Doyle in an interview with TheStreet .
Coke and Pepsi Justifiably Lost Their Fizz
Ten months ago I wrote an article comparing the prospects for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo . My title was “What’ll You Have Coke, Pepsi or Neither?” The conclusion was that both looked pricey but, if I had to choose one, I’d go with Pepsi.
Trader’s Daily Notebook: More Movement, Minimal Mojo
Tuesday’s E-Mini S&P 500 futures auction was a pleasant change from Monday’s sleepy, go-nowhere trading session. However, over a higher timeframe very little has changed.
‘We don’t care about the morning futures fluctuation because there is none, exaggerated or not.’
Where did the pajama traders go? Where did those traders who used to control the opening based on extraneous data and news events from overseas disappear to? Ever since the election of Trump, we have lost a great deal of the ridiculous volatility that plagued our markets for years — the kind of volatility that led to giant distortions each morning as we tried to calculate the impact of an Italian bank’s failed restructuring or a raid on the Cyprus financial system. How much was a collapse of the Brazilian real worth? How do you factor in weak Chinese numbers?…463 more words left in this article.
Council delays cable plan
Assistant City Manager Matt Hankins talks about putting out bids for security upgrades. Those bids, and a final decision on a cable television provider, will be done in a future council meeting.
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In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016 file image, Czech Republic’s Finance Minister Andrej Babis gestures prior an extraordinary session of Parliament’s lower house in Prague, Czech Republic. Czech lawmakers have overridden a veto by President … Milos Zeman, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017 to approve legislation that limits the business activities of future government ministers.
China’s central bank launches spot checks on bitcoin exchanges
China’s central bank said on Wednesday it launched spot checks on major bitcoin exchanges in Beijing and Shanghai, knocking the price of the cryptocurrency down by more than 6 percent. The probe of bitcoin exchanges, including BTCC, Huobi and OKCoin, was to look into a range of possible rule violations, including market manipulation, money laundering and unauthorized financing, the People’s Bank of China said.
Rokos Hedge Fund Said to Gain 20% in First Full Trading Year
Chris Rokos’s hedge fund rose about 20 percent in 2016, its first full year of trading, to become one of the world’s best-performing money pools betting on economic trends, according to people with knowledge of the matter. About half of the gain came in the fourth quarter, when Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election triggered sharp moves in bond yields and currency markets, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
Two Day Seminar: FDA’s Medical Device Software Regulation Strategy…
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “FDA’s Medical Device Software Regulation Strategy: 2-Day In-Person Seminar by Ex-FDA Official” conference to their offering. The growth of the medical software industry outpaces the design of FDA’s regulatory process.
Why This CEO Lets Other Execs Do His Job For A Day
A fresh perspective can be a valuable tool for taking a business to the next level, and one New Hampshire business leader has an unusual way of finding it. In 2012, Travis York, CEO of the marketing agency GYK Antler , created an “exec exchange” program that involved swapping jobs with an executive in another industry for a day.
What’s In Store For Freelancers Under President Trump?
When American freelancers were asked which presidential candidate they supported this summer, 45% sided with Clinton, while 33% preferred Trump, according to a survey commissioned by Upwork and the Freelancer Union. Now that Trump is set to become the 45th president of the U.S. this month, some believe that his victory may ultimately prove beneficial to the country’s 55 million freelance, contract, and contingent workers.
Sainsbury’s Record Holiday Sales Boost Third Quarter Trading
Sainsburys posted better-than-expected sales for the third quarter Wednesday as U.K. retailers continue to defy concerns of a slowdown in spending following the country’s decision to leave the European Union. J Sainsbury Plc posted better-than-expected sales for the third quarter Wednesday as U.K. retailers continue to defy concerns of a slowdown in spending following the country’s decision to leave the European Union last June.
Modi’s Cash Ban Helped This Indian Bank Report Record Earnings
India’s demonetization policy helped IndusInd Bank Ltd. post a surprise record quarterly profit as surging deposits following the cash ban eased the lender’s funding costs and allowed it to extend more loans. Net income at the first bank to report earnings since the ban two months ago climbed 29 percent to 7.51 billion rupees in the three months ended Dec. 31, the Mumbai-based lender said in an exchange filing on Tuesday.
Wells Fargo’s Post-Scandal Pay Plan Eliminates Sales Goals
Wells Fargo & Co. introduced a compensation plan for retail-bank employees that shifts the focus from sales goals to customer service after the old incentives led to a scandal over the creation of potentially millions of fraudulent accounts.
Inside Silicon Valley’s Struggles to Hire More Women and Minorities
Tracy Chou wrote a post on Medium in October 2013, challenging tech companies to tell the world what percentage of their software engineers were women. Surprisingly, it worked: Google, Apple, Facebook and others published their lopsided race and gender statistics, and Chou, then a Pinterest software engineer, became a face of the tech diversity movement.
How KKR Beat Citi in Loan Deal for Perelman’s Humvee Maker
When Citigroup Inc. started hawking $300 million of loans for the maker of the Humvee, investors were willing to buy almost any deal for sale. Almost.