Royal Bank agrees to buy HSBC’s Canada unit for $13.5B

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Financial Planning, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Market Analysis, Personal Finance.

Description: Royal Bank of Canada agreed to buy HSBC Holdings Plc’s Canadian unit — the country’s seventh-largest bank — for $13.5 billion in cash, expanding its roster of business clients and bulking up its retail presence on the West Coast as HSBC focuses on Asia.

Source: BNNBloomberg.ca – video report

Date: Nov 29, 2022

Link: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/royal-bank-agrees-to-buy-hsbc-s-canada-unit-for-13-5b-1.1852320

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the analysis presented concerning the value of the deal to RBC.
  • What does this mean for the industry?
  • Is it a good deal for all parties, including consumers?

In defensive interview, Sam Bankman-Fried claims he’s broke and committed no fraud

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Financial Planning, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Market Analysis, Personal Finance.

Description: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, in possibly the understatement of 2022, said Wednesday, “I’ve had a bad month.” The former billionaire added that he “didn’t do a good job” at upholding his responsibilities to regulators, customers and investors in a hotly anticipated conversation with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the DealBook Summit.

Source: CNBC.com – video report

Date: Dec 01, 2022

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/30/former-ftx-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-says-i-didnt-ever-try-to-commit-fraud.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize your understanding of the events that lead to the collapse of FTX.
  • How would you characterize public perception of Bankman-Fried’s behavior and explanations.
  • How do you think this story will impact business decision-making in the future?

Have the Anticapitalists Reached Harvard Business School?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Personal Finance.

Description: Social justice joins discounted cash flows on the syllabus as essential knowledge for aspiring corporate leaders.

Source: NYTimes.com

Date: Nov 28, 2022

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/business/business-school-social-justice.html?smid=em-share

Questions for discussion:

  • What are the main arguments presented in this article?
  • Where do you stand on these questions?
  • What do you believe are the obligations of the corporation to society?

Wharton Professor Jeremy Siegel says stocks will soar 20% next year as inflation fades—but legendary investor Bill Ackman says not so fast

Posted by & filed under Economic Analysis, Financial analysis, Financial Planning, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Market Analysis, Personal Finance.

Description: In boardrooms at Fortune 500 companies, at swanky Wall Street bars, and in the halls of business schools across the country, there’s been a consistent debate over “what’s next?” for U.S. inflation over the past year.

Source: Yahoo.Finance.com

Date: Nov 22, 2022

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wharton-professor-jeremy-siegel-says-204143788.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Why is inflation so important to understanding predictions about the economy and stock and bond markets?
  • What does the report say about these items?
  • What is your understanding of these topics and your predictions?
    ​

Disney board reached out to Iger on Friday following concerns over earnings

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Personal Finance.

Description: Disneys board reached out to Bob Iger on Friday, without any other serious candidates in mind to replace Bob Chapek as CEO, CNBC’s David Faber reported Monday, citing sources.

Source: CNBC.com – video report

Date: Nov 21, 2022

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/21/disney-board-reached-out-to-iger-friday-after-concerns-over-earnings.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Why did the board of directors make this decision?
  • Why do you believe Bob Iger decided to accept the appeal for him to return?
  • What would you advise the company do to improve operations?
  • Is the stock a good buy at this time?
    ​

Tesla’s Sinking Shares Leave Wall Street Analyst Targets in Dust

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Market Analysis, Personal Finance.

Description: The rapid selloff in Tesla Inc. shares has left most price targets from ever-bullish Wall Street analysts seemingly obsolete.

Source: Bloomberg.com

Date: Nov 22, 2022

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-22/tesla-s-sinking-shares-leave-wall-street-analyst-targets-in-dust?srnd=premium-canada&leadSource=uverify%20wall

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the report say about Tesla’s current and future stock valuations?
  • Do you agree with the analysis?
  • What would you advise investors?

How BlackBerry moved from iconic cellphones to cybersecurity

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Personal Finance.

Description: BlackBerry was once at the top of the smartphone market in the U.S. In 2010, almost half of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. used BlackBerrys, according to Comscore.

Source: CNBC.com – video report

Date: Nov 19, 2022

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/19/how-blackberry-moved-from-iconic-cellphones-to-cybersecurity.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the story of Blackberry and the direction taken by John Chen.
  • Do you think the current plan is the correct path for the company?
  • What would you advise the firm?
  • Would you be a buyer of the stock today?

Elon Musk’s backers cheer him on, even if they aren’t sure what he’s doing to Twitter

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Economic Analysis, Financial analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Personal Finance.

Description: Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has not exactly taken off like a rocket.
After trying desperately to get out of the $44 billion purchase, he faced a court battle for reneging. So he went through with it, while complaining that he was “obviously overpaying.” Mass layoffs and mass resignations have left Twitter a shadow of its former self. And Musk’s decision to put blue checkmarks — Twitter’s confirmation of a user’s identity — up for purchase has scared away advertisers, who provide nearly all of the company’s revenue.

Source: NPR.org

Date: Nov 21, 2022

Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/21/1138064606/elon-musk-twitter-investors-fans

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the report say about perceptions of Elon Musk and his handling of Twitter?
  • What do you think about his decisions?
  • Do you believe his actions at Twitter will have wider ramifications for other businesses he is tied to such as Tesla?

Iger announces first big moves in new tenure as Disney CEO: Restructuring and departure of Chapek right hand Kareem Daniel

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Economic Analysis, Financial analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Personal Finance.

Description: Bob Iger, less than 24 hours after returning to the helm of Disney, told employees Monday that the company would be undergoing a restructuring in coming weeks. One of the first steps, Iger announced, would be the departure of Kareem Daniel, the company’s head of media and entertainment, and right hand to now-departed CEO Bob Chapek.

Source: CNBC.com – video report

Date: Nov 21, 2022

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/21/kareem-daniel-disney-head-of-media-and-chapeks-right-hand-is-out-following-igers-return.html

Questions for discussion:

  • How has the organization been reset by Iger?
  • Do you think Iger’s changes and his reasons given make sense?
  • Why do you believe Disney was in financial trouble?
  • Do you believe the actions taken by Chapek were on track for success if given time?
  • What would you advise the firm do today?

You need to understand the FTX debacle even if you have no investments in crypto

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Economic Analysis, Financial analysis, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Market Analysis, Personal Finance.

Description: The sudden collapse of FTX, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, underlines how important it is for any investor to learn about the risks they take when they park their money with a lightly regulated firm.

Source: MarketWatch.com

Date: Nov 13, 2022

Link: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-need-to-understand-the-ftx-debacle-even-if-you-have-no-investments-in-crypto-11668184909

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the key points made in the report about how and why the model collapsed.
  • What is the message to investors?
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