Description: Lending Club Founder and CEO Renaud Laplanche is disrupting traditional banking by getting investors to lend directly to consumers online. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Oct 25, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/investing/2013/10/25/investing-lending-club-peer-to-peer-loans-banking.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: Describe the business model presented in this report. What are the pros and cons to the regular banking system? Do… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Governments & Regulators
An Intriguing Product That’s Too Complex for Many
Description: The sales pitches go something like this: A mutual fund that promises to zig when the rest of the stock market zags. Bond funds that protect investors when interest rates rise. Access to the most sophisticated hedge fund managers in the country, even if you’re not particularly wealthy. Source: NYTimes.com Date: Oct 25, 2013… Read more »
Is JPMorgan Getting a Bad Deal?
Description: In resolve a handful of state and federal investigations, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has tentatively agreed to pay $13 billion—more, as my colleague Nick Summers points out, “than the combined salaries of every athlete in every major U.S. professional sport, with enough left over to buy every American a stadium hot dog.” Thirteen billion is also… Read more »
How money managers deal with D.C. gridlock
Description: Money managers sound off on the shutdown that has clients pulling their money out of the markets. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Oct 09, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/10/09/n-money-managers-shutdown-washington.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: What are the different ways money managers are responding to the concerns over political gridlock? Which strategy has been the most successful thus… Read more »
Default would be catastrophic for big banks
Description: If you think the JPMorgan and Wells Fargo earnings reports were disappointing, just wait until the fourth quarter if the shutdown continues and a debt default occurs. Source: Fortune.com Date: Oct 11, 2013 Link: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/11/shutdown-default-banks/?iid=SF_F_River Questions for discussion: Explain the reason for the dire predictions if the current government shut down continues. What does… Read more »
NY AG wants to ‘redefine’ insider trading
Description: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says the law has always lagged behind technology and it has to adapt as companies get data early to trade on it within milliseconds. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Sep 26, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/investing/2013/09/26/investing-ny-ag-eric-schneiderman-early-data-insider-trading.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: Summarize the problems discussed and the solutions presented. Do you… Read more »
4 reasons billions in fines can’t stop Jamie Dimon’s stock
Description: Why haven’t JPMorgan’s legal issues done more to dent the stock? Source: Fortune.com Date: Sep 27, 2013 Link: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/09/27/jpmorgan-stock-rising/?iid=SF_F_River Questions for discussion: Summarize the reasons JP Morgan is still a popular stock. Do you think anything has changed as a result of the fines?
Buffett’s 9% Heinz Dividend Means 3G Cutting Jobs, Mini-Fridges
Description: HJ Heinz Co.’s longtime leader Bill Johnson stood in the Veranda ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco, addressing the ketchup maker’s top 50 executives for the last time. Around the corner in a smaller room, his successor as chief executive officer, Bernardo Hees, waited to tell some of the same managers whether… Read more »
POSTMASTER SAYS USPS MAY NEED EMERGENCY RATE HIKE
Description: Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said Thursday his agency is in “the midst of a financial disaster” and may need an emergency increase in postage rates to keep operating. Source: AP.com Date: Sep 19, 2013 Link: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/postmaster-says-usps-may-need-emergency-rate-hike Questions for Discussions: What is the problem at the USPS? Why is it important to keep the service… Read more »
Obama’s Wall Street Bank Rescue Stabilized Economy at a Political Cost
Description: When Barack Obama took office, the economy appeared to be on the brink of catastrophe. Despite the previous administrations commitment of several trillion dollars from every available arm of government to prop up the reeling financial system, nothing seemed to have worked. Banks were still hemorrhaging cash, and it was feared some would go… Read more »
