Category: Investment Services

Apple Agrees to Buy Solar Power From Buffett’s Nevada Utility

Apple Inc. agreed to buy the output from a proposed 200-megawatt solar farm in Nevada to help power a data center in Reno. NV Energy Inc., a Las Vegas-based utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co., plans to seek approval for the power-purchase agreement from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, according to a statement Wednesday.

Goldman’s Cohn Unlocks More Than $284 Million by Joining Trump

Gary Cohn’s jump from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Donald Trump’s administration is helping him unlock more than $284 million in pent up bonuses, stock holdings and other investments through the Wall Street bank. To help Cohn avoid conflicts of interest as Trump’s top economic adviser, the bank is letting its former president immediately collect about $65 million in cash and stock tied to its future performance.

Aleynikov’s Conviction Is Reinstated by State Appeals Court

Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. programmer Sergey Aleynikov is once again guilty of stealing the firm’s high-frequency trading code after a state appeals court reinstated his conviction. “Whether the legislature envisioned the specific type of technology that exists today is not dispositive of this appeal,” the appeals court said.

Travelers Profit Climbs 8.9% as Private Equity Bets Thrive

Travelers Cos., the only property-casualty insurer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, said fourth-quarter profit jumped 8.9 percent as investment income improved and the company recorded a gain tied to the settlement of a risk-sharing dispute. Net income rose to $943 million, or $3.28 a share, from $866 million, or $2.83, a year earlier, the New York-based company said Tuesday in a statement.

Buffett’s Berkshire Buys German Pipe Company, Handelsblatt Says

One of Warren Buffett’s largest units at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to buy Wilhelm Schulz GmbH, a closely held German maker of piping components, as the billionaire’s deputies seek deals to expand, Handelsblatt reported. Mark Donegan, chief executive officer of Berkshire’s Precision Castparts unit, confirmed it’s buying Wilhelm Schulz but declined to elaborate on terms, the newspaper said.

Buffett Back in Money on IBM, Reversing $2.6 Billion Loss

International Business Machines Corp. has climbed above the price that Warren Buffett paid for shares in the computer company, reversing more than $2 billion in paper losses for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. IBM rose 2.2 percent to $170.55 at 4 p.m. Friday in New York after giving 2017 profit guidance on Thursday that was higher than analysts’ estimates. That compares with the average of $170.19 that Buffett spent for 81 million shares, according to Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s most recent annual report.

AIG to Pay Berkshire $9.8 Billion in Insurance Transfer Deal

American International Group Inc. agreed to pay $9.8 billion to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to take on long-term risks from commercial policies written in prior years. The reinsurance deal covers 80 percent of the risks on certain U.S. policies from 2015 and earlier, representing reserves of about $34 billion as of Jan. 1, 2016, New York-based AIG said Friday in a statement.

U.S. bankers tell Europeans to think positively on Trump

U.S. bankers, buoyed by a resurgence in profits, are advising their counterparts in Europe to think positively about the new administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. At the annual gathering of the world’s political and business elites in the Swiss resort of Davos, U.S. financiers told investors and overseas’ rivals to focus less on Trump’s anti-globalization rhetoric and more on his cabinet picks, comprising of Wall Street veterans and corporate bosses.

A Really Cheap Small-Cap ETF

Frugal investors looking for low-cost, small-cap index funds have a growing number of options from which to choose, including the Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF . Charles Schwab lowered fees on five exchange traded funds in October.

Why GNC Holdings, Aaron’s, and Dean Foods Slumped Today

The stock market lost ground on Thursday, as investors sent the Dow Jones Industrials below the level at which the average began the year. Losses for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were modest at around a third of a percent, but they reflected a downbeat attitude among investors, who are struggling to predict what’s likely to happen on the political and macroeconomic fronts for the remainder of the year and beyond.

Buy Panera Bread Stock Over Bloomin’ Brands, Goldman Says

Goldman Sachs has swapped its rating on Panera Bread and Bloomin’ Brands , sending shares of the restaurants in opposite directions Thursday afternoon. “Estimate uncertainty remains an ongoing concern; however, we view valuation as increasingly compelling,” analysts Karen Holthouse and Gregory Lum said.

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A street sign is seen in front of the New York Stock Exchange October 16, 2007. U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after disappointing earnings and outlooks from financial services companies suggested problems from the credit squeeze will be prolonged.

Gates Foundation to Sell 60 Million Berkshire Shares in New Plan

The foundation started by billionaire Bill Gates and his wife intends to sell 60 million Class B shares of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. from July 1 of this year through June 30 of 2020. The plan will replace a three-year program that began in 2014 and ends on June 30, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said in a regulatory filing Tuesday.

Ex-Goldman Trader’s Macro Hedge Fund Said to Lose 5.1% in 2016

Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader Leland Lim’s macro hedge fund lost 5.1 percent in 2016, even after recovering from steep declines early in the year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Assets overseen by Lim’s Hong Kong-based Guard Capital Management declined to $963 million from about $1.1 billion at the beginning of the year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information hasn’t been publicly disclosed.

Passive, Low-Cost ETFs Attract Record Inflows

Exchange traded fund providers are attracting record inflows as more investors look to low-cost, passive index-based products to track market moves. BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager and largest ETF provider, is experiencing record cash inflows, bringing in $140 billion to its iShares business last year, Bloomberg reports.

Foxconn Billionaire Said to Assuage China About U.S. Plans

Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou has moved to reassure China’s government the Apple Inc. assembler remains committed to the country even as it expands U.S. operations when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, people familiar with the matter said. A high-ranking Chinese official recently expressed Beijing’s concerns to Gou, the people said, asking not to be identified because the conversation was private.

Fink Signals Support for Merkel Policies in German Election Year

One of Wall Street’s most influential figures, BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink, signaled his support for Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor prepares to campaign for re-election this fall, saying she has provided “moral leadership” to the world. “I sincerely hope that Germany chooses to continue its role as a leader and stabilizing force in the world,” Fink, the chairman and chief executive officer of the world’s biggest asset manager, said in a speech Monday evening at a reception hosted by Deutsche Boerse AG in Frankfurt.

Asia Banks Seeking Tech Hires Over `Rock-Star’ Bankers This Year

Financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region will be more inclined to hire technology specialists this year than investment bankers as they enhance product offerings and upgrade their systems, according to a survey by Options Group Inc. Among regional financial-services managers, 40 percent say they expect to increase their headcount for information technology-related roles this year, according to a September-October survey conducted by the New York-based recruiter. By comparison, only 18 percent of the 380 managers surveyed intended to add jobs in investment banking, while 29 percent may do so in fixed income and equities sales and trading.

6-Point Checklist for Making Sure You Can Afford to Invest

If you’re itching to start investing in the stock market, who could blame you? It’s where Warren Buffett and countless others have made much of their money, and it’s just about the best way to build wealth over the long term. But hold your horses: First use these six questions as a checklist to make sure you can afford to invest.

Will Goldman Sachs Raise Its Dividend in 2017?

With the highest share price among the Dow 30, Goldman is responsible for more than 8% of the value of the price-weighted index, and that gives it more power over the movements of the Dow than the six cheapest Dow stocks combined. That said, dividend investors aren’t all that happy with Goldman Sachs, because its current dividend yield is puny, resting just above the 1% mark.

Goldman Promotes Elisha Wiesel to Chief Information Officer

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. named Elisha Wiesel, son of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, chief information officer as the company fills roles created by the departure of President Gary Cohn for a job in the Trump administration. Wiesel, 44, currently chief risk officer of the securities division, will report to Martin Chavez, who was promoted from CIO to chief financial officer last month, the New York-based firm said Monday in a memo to staff.

SoftBank’s Son Cedes to Murdoch as Top India Home Portals Merge

Indian real-estate websites PropTiger.com and Housing.com are merging to create the country’s top portal for residential listings and property services, as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. boosts its investment in the growing sector while Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group Corp. scales back. REA Group Ltd., an Australian real-estate company controlled by News Corp., is putting $50 million into the new joint entity, while a SoftBank-owned affiliate is investing $5 million.

BlackRock Quants Sustain Record Losses in Setback to Fink Plan

Like so many fund titans these days, Laurence D. Fink is betting on machines to turn around BlackRock Inc.’s beleaguered stock-picking business. BlackRock’s main quantitative hedge-fund strategies — which use computer models to sort through vast amounts of data to pick out patterns — were on track for losses in 2016, according to a monthly client update sent out in late December.

Banks, Oil Stocks Hinder Dow’s Pursuit of 20,000

Declines in bank and energy companies weighed on Wall Street on Monday, distancing the Dow from the 20,000 mark, while gains in technology stocks pushed the Nasdaq to a record intraday high. Two-thirds of the 30 Dow components were lower, with Goldman Sachs’s 0.7 percent decline weighing the most.

Goldman’s Donovan Said to Be Top Contender for Key Treasury Post

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Jim Donovan is the front-runner to be Donald Trump’s pick for undersecretary of domestic finance, a key position in the Treasury department, according to a person familiar with the decision. If chosen and confirmed Donovan would be the fourth appointee with ties to the investment bank tapped to serve in the president-elect administration, and would be responsible for coordinating policies on banking, capital markets and regulation, and managing the issuance of the country’s debt.

Corzine Agrees to Futures Industry Ban in CFTC Settlement

Jon Corzine has agreed to a lifetime ban from the futures industry to settle a U.S. lawsuit that he failed to properly oversee MF Global Holdings Ltd. as the brokerage spiraled toward failure in 2011. Corzine, an ex-governor and U.S. senator from New Jersey and the former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., also agreed to pay a $5 million penalty from his own pocket to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, under a consent order approved by a federal judge in New York Thursday.