Month: January 2017

Venezuelan Jews have started migrating to Israel, but not all…

In the years since Hugo Chavez took office in 1999, well-off Venezuelans left the country, followed by educated professionals, and, most recently, the youth and middle class. Now another marginalized group has begun to head for the exits: Venezuelan Jews, who have in the past moved to the US or Panama but have struggled to do so as Venezuela’s economic drains more of the country’s wealth.

Revolution will soon release the Vin Diesel franchise film ‘xXx: Return of Xander Cage’.

Under its new ownership, the finance-acquisition-distribution company will continue operations under CEO Vince Totino and COO Scott Hemming, the latter of which will now also serves as the company’s president. Founded in 2000, Revolution has produced films that include Black Hawk Down , Maid in Manhattan , Hellboy and xXx , and will soon release the Vin Diesel franchise film xXx: Return of Xander Cage .

Ad Industry Petitions FCC To Jettison Its Privacy Rules

Advertising trade groups are seizing the political moment in a bid to dismantle the Federal Communications Commission’s recently passed broadband consumer privacy laws . With the commission on the cusp of a Republican majority – Chairman Tom Wheeler has said he’ll step down on inauguration day – the writing could be on the wall for the FCC’s controversial regulations.

Fed Officials Endorse Gradual Rate Hikes as Upside Risks Debated

Federal Reserve officials focused on the impact of potential fiscal stimulus during their December policy meeting, with many starting to worry that the central bank might eventually be forced to quicken the pace of interest-rate increases to head off higher inflation. Almost all the participants “indicated that the upside risks to their forecasts for economic growth had increased as a result of prospects for more expansionary fiscal policies in coming years,” read the minutes of the Dec. 13-14 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, released Wednesday in Washington.

Bitcoin Hits All-Time High as Currency Controls Drive Fear

Bitcoin hit an all-time high Wednesday, according to Bloomberg data, thanks to continued adoption in China and other parts of the world where traditional currencies are tightly controlled. The digital currency, which just turned eight years old, reached $1,140.64, which was higher than the $1,137 it hit in November of 2013.

Broadband Carriers Urge FCC To Roll Back New Privacy Rules

Broadband carriers are urging the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its stringent new privacy rules, which require carriers to obtain consumers’ opt-in consent before drawing on their Web-surfing data for ad targeting. In a petition filed Monday, the trade group US Telecom Association argues that carriers shouldn’t be subject to tougher rules than other Web companies — like search engines and social networking services.

How Donald Trump Could Make Rupert Murdoch Even More Powerful

President-elect Donald Trump may be preparing to give Rupert Murdoch a big reward for the positive coverage Murdoch’s outlets provided during the election. Trump has asked Murdoch to submit the names of possible nominees for Federal Communications Commission chairman, according to a report from New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman.

Scuttled Ford plant has Mexico fearing more under Trump

A man walks past a nearly deserted construction site, as workers shut down operations and remove equipment on Wednesday, a day after Ford announced the cancellation of plans to build a $1.6 billion auto manufacturing plant on the site in Villa de Reyes, outside San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Ford Motor Company’s cancellation of plans to build a $1.6 billion US auto manufacturing plant in San Luis Potosi has sounded alarms throughout Mexico.

Fed Policymakers Agree Trump Fiscal Boost Poses Inflation Risk

Almost all Federal Reserve policymakers thought the economy could grow more quickly because of fiscal stimulus under the Trump administration and many were eyeing faster interest rate increases, minutes from the central bank’s December meeting showed. The minutes, released on Wednesday, showed how broadly views within the Fed are shifting in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s promises of tax cuts, infrastructure spending and deregulation.

Apple Confirms $1 Billion Investment in SoftBank Vision Fund

Apple Inc. confirmed Wednesday that it plans to invest $1 billion in SoftBank Group Corp.’s new technology fund to help finance technologies it could use in the future. Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said, “We believe their new fund will speed the development of technologies which may be strategically important to Apple.”

4 Things Costco’s CFO Wants Investors to Know

Instead of changing to meet the new reality, the warehouse club has doubled down on what makes it popular in the first place. The company has focused on its warehouses and offering value for its customers while remaining a destination shopping experience.

2017 Mortgage Rate Outlook: The Trump Effect

For the first time in almost a year, mortgage rates are above 4%. While still low by historic standards – the annual average rate on a 30-year mortgage in 1981 was 16.63%, according to Freddie Mac – most observers expect rates to keep climbing in 2017.

Tesla Shrugs Off Delivery Miss as Investors Focus on Model 3

The automaker produced record deliveries in 2016 but fell short of estimates. Bulls and bears alike are more focused on Tesla’s forthcoming more affordable sedan The market on Wednesday shrugged off Tesla Motors ‘ failure to meet its 2016 delivery goals, a fresh reminder that little in the near term matters as bulls and bears alike await the automaker’s Model 3 debut.

Brinker Skips 2017 ICR Conference

Brinker International no longer plans to present at ICR’s 2017 investment conference, an unusual move for the restaurant company. An ICR Conference regular, Brinker was listed among the 2017 conference’s presenters in a November.

Super Regional Banks Best Positioned Under Trump, Analyst Contends

Director of Bank and Equity Strategies at Vining Sparks Marty Mosby believes super regional banks to best positioned to take advantage of deregulation. The impressive moves higher in these stocks seems to be indicative of a more positive outlook regarding their futures under a Donald Trump presidency, which many believe will lead to a scaling back of regulation.

Historical Change and the Competitive Advantage of Firms: Explicating …

This study contributes to the re-emerging dialogue between business history and strategy by examining how historical reasoning can contribute to the dynamic capabilities framework currently employed by strategy scholars. It explores how three distinct models of historical change-evolutionary, dialectical, and constitutive-were incorporated into the theoretical tenets of the origins, context, and micro-foundations of the dynamic capabilities framework.

Manhattan Resale Home Prices Tumble the Most in Four Years

Manhattan resale home prices tumbled by the most in more than four years, a sign that sellers are lowering their expectations in a slowing market where buyers have the option to walk away. The median price of previously owned condominiums and co-ops fell 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier to $900,000, according to a report Wednesday from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate.