GE needs Nelson Peltz’s help – and takes it 9 Oct 2017 The $200 bln U.S. industrial giant, now with a new CEO, still seems unable to get people excited about owning its shares. A board seat for the activist investor’s top lieutenant may help. It’s a contrast with P&G, which is resisting Peltz – potentially to shareholders’ detriment.
Harvey Weinstein saga will leave filthy handprints 9 Oct 2017 Ejecting a misbehaving boss, as the U.S. film studio just did, is never simple. Corporate cultures are the offspring of their founders. While their departures can kick off a cleanup, vital skills exit with them. It's a problem enterprises like Uber and Fox are grappling with too.
Trump’s petty fight upsets art of the tax deal 9 Oct 2017 The U.S. president’s relationship with Republican lawmaker Bob Corker soured further during a Twitter argument. Yet the Tennessean’s support is critical to push tax reform in the Senate, where the GOP has a slim majority. The squabbling endangers a plan that is already under attack.
HSBC’s next challenge is how to grow responsibly 9 Oct 2017 The global bank wants insider John Flint to replace CEO Stuart Gulliver, according to the Sunday Times. If approved, he will take over a slimmed-down lender trading at 1.2 times book value. Investors now want growth – but Flint and Chairman Mark Tucker should heed past mistakes.
Server-farm growth fuels hot IPO mumbo jumbo 6 Oct 2017 Rocketing data-storage demand is creating winners – witness the 46 pct rise in Switch in its first day of trading. It also encourages silliness such as the company crediting its performance on CEO and “inventrepreneur” Rob Roy’s practice of “Switchful Thinking.”
U.S. Treasury drafts helpful Wall Street guide 6 Oct 2017 The administration’s latest proposals for reforming markets regulation overplay the drop in IPOs and fixate on a couple of needless changes. Overall, though, the report’s recommendations on everything from securitization to shaking up watchdogs make a fair degree of sense.
Cox: P&G counting on an investor electoral college 6 Oct 2017 There's no strong reason for the insular consumer-goods titan to deny Nelson Peltz a board seat. Hedge funds will back him, but as in U.S. elections only half the retail shares may vote. That leaves Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street to play Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Honest Co may have missed its sell-out moment 6 Oct 2017 Jessica Alba's organic products line is facing a common startup dilemma: is it worse to fizzle or sell out? The company is raising new funds at a lower price, after a possible deal with Unilever disappeared. The magic ingredient for unicorns may be timing.
Bad jobs data tests White House braggadocio 6 Oct 2017 The U.S. economy lost 33,000 positions last month, largely due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma. It’s probably a temporary blip. But President Trump and his aides have touted monthly employment gains and other snapshot economic figures when it suits them. They own the downturns, too.
German scrap metal IPO hinges on green alchemy 6 Oct 2017 Befesa, which turns waste steel dust into more expensive zinc, could be valued at up to 1.6 billion euros in a Frankfurt listing. Buyout groups offered less earlier this year. Hope that emerging economies will tighten up environmental rules may justify the rich price.
Costco will struggle to shake off Amazon discount 5 Oct 2017 The U.S. members-only retailer grew sales by 15.8 pct in its fourth quarter. Yet its shares haven't recovered since Amazon expanded into groceries. There’s room for both, but the e-commerce giant has an advantage: its shareholders are used to tiny operating margins.
Amazon’s delivery self-help may have AWS effect 5 Oct 2017 The e-commerce goliath's web needs led it to build something for itself that became a big and profitable business. Jeff Bezos is now testing a way to ship goods to save money, a venture that could threaten UPS and FedEx. Amazon's solutions are a growing problem for others.
Viewsroom: Building the car for the future 5 Oct 2017 Ford boss Jim Hackett’s plan to catch up with rival GM on electric and self-driving vehicles starts with $14 bln of cost cuts. China may be in pole position as it considers banning gasoline cars entirely. But plenty of factors could delay mass adoption of new technology.
White House economist drinks Trump’s Kool-Aid 5 Oct 2017 Tax cuts will pay for themselves through economic growth, says Council of Economic Advisers chief Kevin Hassett. He also backed the U.S. president’s protectionist policies, despite being a “full-blown free trader.” That’s one aide fewer willing to dispute voodoo economics.
Yahoo’s corpse keeps festering at Verizon 5 Oct 2017 Marni Walden, a possible candidate to lead the U.S. telco, is leaving. She was also in charge of buying the internet firm, which just tripled its tally of customer accounts exposed to an earlier hack. Even if the timing is coincidence, Yahoo’s troubles continue to cast a pall.
Fintech deal suggests everything old is new again 5 Oct 2017 Navient is buying student-loan refinancer Earnest for less than half its 2015 valuation. Even then, it'll eat into the buyer’s earnings and buybacks. Worse, Navient faces a fresh lawsuit over dodgy practices. Modern finance is feeling a lot like the kind it's supposed to replace.
SeaWorld a slimy meal for ex-Blackstone predator 5 Oct 2017 Merlin Entertainments is mulling a bid to buy the theme parks of the operator famous for its killer whales. Both were once owned by the buyout group. A $1.6 bln sale could create value, but SeaWorld’s complex ownership and the tough business outlook make a breakup tricky.
More for China than London in Russian hydro IPO 5 Oct 2017 Oleg Deripaska’s En+, which controls aluminium outfit Rusal, aims to raise $1.5 bln in an LSE and Moscow listing. It touts a green model, but public investors will have little say. The cornerstone backer, a partner of the PRC group that just bought into Rosneft, may do better.
Greg Fleming returns rich as Rockefeller 4 Oct 2017 The ex-Morgan Stanley exec is back on Wall Street in a venture with the legendary New York dynasty. The new advisory and money-management firm for the ultra-wealthy is small by Fleming’s standards. But he has found an ideal brand to target a fast-growing $60 trln market.
Office Depot photocopies M&A flop 4 Oct 2017 The chain store is jumping into IT services by forking over $1 bln for CompuCom. But its attempt to diversify has a bad track record: Dell, HP and Xerox tried it and failed. The 16 pct drop in Office Depot’s value implies investors reckon the deal won’t stop flagging sales.