Sales & Marketing news

• Fidelity, the $2.3 trillion investment giant, is testing out a new cryptocurrency service

  12-08-2017 21:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Fidelity is testing out a new service to help make life easier for its clients who invest in cryptocurrencies. 
  The $2.3 trillion investor announced on Wednesday a partnership between its Fidelity Labs, the firm's innovation center, and Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange serving nearly 9 million customers. 
  As part of the partnership, Coinbase users will be able to view their bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin holdings alongside their other accounts in their Fi
  
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• Appalled by 'crazy' broker fees, 2 ex-Googlers founded a site they say has saved renters over $1 million

  12-08-2017 19:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  • Renters often pay a broker 10% to 20% of annual rent for an apartment in New York City.
  • Two former Google employees founded a peer-to-peer rental site to get rid of this fee.
  • Outgoing tenants are paid up to half a month's rent for finding a new tenant, either by their landlord or the incoming tenant.
  There's a seemingly endless supply of apartment buildings lining the streets of New York City. And yet, finding a livable rental is often an exhaustive and wickedly expensive pr
  
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• Trouble is lurking under the surface of the stock market

  12-08-2017 19:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  The stock market isn't performing quite as well as it appears if you strip out the market-cap weightings from the S&P 500
  A small number of stocks doing a big portion of the lifting for an index can be problematic down the line
  A weaker-than-expected dollar is also helping bifurcate performance in the US stock market
  As mega-cap tech goes, so goes the broader S&P 500.
  The S&P 500 is weighted by market capitalization, meaning the most valuable companies in the index have the biggest
  
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• Americans hold more credit-card debt than ever, and a 'major tipping point' isn't far off

  12-08-2017 18:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Credit-card debt in the US rose in June, surpassing the peak set just before the 2008 financial crisis.
  Outstanding revolving credit, which includes credit-card debt, rose to $1.02 trillion in June, according to a monthly report from the Federal Reserve released Monday.
  Missed debt payments have declined from the recession era, when several homes were foreclosed on because their owners got loans they wouldn't have qualified for with tighter rules.
  But defaults are rising again for credit cards a
  
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• The CEO of a $2.4 billion investment bank explains what really keeps him up at night (HLI)

  12-08-2017 17:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scott Beiser is the CEO of Houlihan Lokey, a boutique global investment bank whose corporate finance business specializes in mid-market companies.
  The Los Angeles-based firm, founded in 1972, went public two years ago and has seen business swell since. The firm also has sizable restructuring and financial advisory businesses serving companies of all sizes, and it has seen revenue climb from $681 million in fiscal 2015 to $872 in fiscal 2017.
  Its stock is up 70% since its initial public offe
  
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• Bitcoin's meteoric rise is costing some investors billions

  12-08-2017 17:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Companies that make the semiconductors for cryptocurrency mining have been a hot-button topic in the investment world, with the fate of their stocks closely tied to the prices of bitcoin and ether
  Hedge fund Carlson Capital has a fund that's lost 14.2% this year because of bad short wagers on Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices
  The meteoric rise of bitcoin is rippling through financial markets, and not everyone is enjoying the ride.
  The scorching-hot cryptocurrency has tentacles that stretch into
  
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• American consumers have a new attitude that's creating a 'sphere of despair' for Nestle, Unilever, and Procter and Gamble

  12-08-2017 16:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  Retailers are putting their weight behind "private label" store brands more than ever.
  This is bad news for brands who rely on these stores to move product. Cheaper store brand alternatives can undercut name brands.
  The move to private label is creating what Barclays calls a "sphere of despair" for brands. 
  For retailers, private label is all the rage.
  Retailers from Whole Foods to Walmart are making big bets that consumers are more willing to buy goods without a name brand on them.&nb
  
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• A French entrepreneur is intent on a multi-billion dollar dealmaking spree in the US

  12-08-2017 16:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  Patrick Drahi, the billionaire founder of Dutch telecoms company Altice, is back on the acquisition trail.
  The communications giant, which raised $1.9 billion in an IPO of its US arm earlier this summer, is reportedly weighing a bid for Charter Communications.
  After buying Cablevision for $17.7 billion last year to become the 4th largest cable provider in the country, Altice USA could rise to number 3 with an acquisition of Charter, only behind Time Warner and Comcast.
  Back in Europe, Altice has
  
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• A top banker left Bank of America to join RBC, but now he's changed his mind

  12-08-2017 16:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  Jonathan Yalmokas, a top Wall Street executive who specializes in servicing hedge funds, has changed his mind about joining RBC Capital Markets and is headed to Cantor Fitzgerald instead.
  Yalmokas resigned as the head of prime brokerage for the Americas for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in June and was due to start running the equity financing business for RBC in September. Instead, he's joining Cantor Fitzgerald to serve as global head of prime services, according to people familiar with the ma
  
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• There's a potentially devastating new twist in the Tesla story (TSLA)

  12-08-2017 15:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  • Tesla has turned to debt rather than equity to raise $1.5 billion.
  • The company's story has been driven by its stock price.
  • Bond investors aren't necessarily buying into that story.
  As expected, Tesla is raising more money.
  As not expected, that money will be in the form of debt: $1.5 billion in unsecured bonds, with an eight-year maturity and an anticipated interest rate of  5.5%.
  The bonds will be junk, rated B- and B3 by S&P and Moody's respectively, and investors
  
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• Bank of America just revealed its new travel rewards credit card — here's how it compares to the Chase Sapphire Reserve and others (BAC)

  12-08-2017 14:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bank of America is stepping up its game in the travel rewards credit card competition, revealing its new Premium Rewards card, which will launch in September, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. 
  The bank, the second-largest in the US by assets, has largely avoided the fierce battle for young, affluent credit card holders that has raged the past year since JPMorgan Chase unveiled its heralded Sapphire Reserve card.
  Since the Sapphire Reserve's release last August
  
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• Facebook has been secretly testing a photo app in China — it's called 'Colorful Balloons' (FB)

  12-08-2017 14:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  Facebook has finally managed to sneak into China.
  The social network has been secretly testing a photo sharing app called Colorful Balloons in the country, The New York Times reported on Friday.
  Facebook has been officially blocked in China since 2009, and parts of WhatsApp's service were recently blocked within the country's borders. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has courted Chinese officials for years, and even spent one year learning to speak Mandarin.
  Paul Mozur of The New York Times recently un
  
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• Maverick Capital, a $10.5 billion hedge fund, is struggling to make money

  12-08-2017 13:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  Dallas-based Maverick Capital's flagship hedge fund hasn't made money in the first half of this year.
  Chief Lee Ainslie blames his short book.
  Ainslie says investors are confusing secular trends with cyclical ones.
  "We are seeing the beginnings of the perfect storm," he wrote.
  Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital is having a tough year.
  The firm's flagship Maverick Fund USA made no money in the first half of 2017, according to a client letter reviewed by Business Insider. The S&P 500, which the f
  
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• RAY DALIO: Risks are rising, and everybody should put 5% to 10% of their assets in gold

  12-08-2017 12:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bridgewater, the world's largest hedge fund, told clients that risks were rising.
  Volatility is low, and geopolitical risks, like those between the US and North Korea, are increasing.
  Everyone should consider a 5% to 10% allocation to gold as a hedge, Bridgewater says.
  Geopolitical risks are rising, and everyone needs to consider an allocation to gold.
  That's according to a Bridgewater Associates note to clients released on Wednesday, penned by founder Ray Dalio and staffers Bob Elliott, Steven
  
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• A partner at Paul Tudor Jones' hedge fund is setting off on his own

  12-08-2017 12:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  A partner at Paul Tudor Jones' Tudor Investment Corp. is planning to leave to start his own venture.
  Dario Villani is planning to launch a New York-based business, people familiar with the matter told Business Insider.
  Exactly what it will be remains unclear. Villani and a spokesman for Tudor declined to comment.
  Villani has worked at Tudor since May 2015, and has been a partner and global head of portfolio strategy and risk at Tudor since October of last year, according to a Link
  
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• Some of the world's largest hedge funds are getting crushed

  12-08-2017 11:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Some of the world's largest hedge funds have lost money this year – or made barely any – even as markets have hit record highs.
  The funds are run by firms including Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund firm in the world, and Two Sigma, one of the fastest-growing firms.
  The weak performance is especially striking, as the S&P 500 has delivered 10.4% through July. In addition, 54% of active managers outperformed their benchmark Russell 1000 index in the
  
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• Pussy Riot has a wake up call for America's youth in the Trump era

  12-08-2017 11:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  Pussy Riot's Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova hasn't stopped fighting Putin's autocratic rule, using art as activism
  Tolokonnikova spent 22 months in a Siberian prison camp for a 2012 performance
  She talks democracy, political engagement, and the US-Russia connection
  Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova is one brave soul.
  Much of the world cowers at the mention of Vladimir Putin these days, especially after Russia’s brazen interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Tol
  
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