Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam resigns after spying scandal - CNN

The board of directors unanimously accepted Thiam's resignation at a meeting on Thursday, appointing Credit Suisse (CS) veteran Thomas Gottstein as the new CEO, the Swiss investment bank said in a statement Friday.

Last year, Credit Suisse's ex-chief operating officer, Pierre-Olivier Bouée, was implicated in two separate spying operations, one involving the former head of wealth management Iqbal Khan. Khan had left Credit Suisse for crosstown rival UBS (UBS).

Bouée stepped down after that operation came to light. More recently, he was blamed for ordering a spying operation on Credit Suisse's former head of human resources for several days last February.

"I had no knowledge of the observation of two former colleagues. It undoubtedly disturbed Credit Suisse and caused anxiety and hurt. I regret that this happened and it should never have taken place," Thiam said in the statement.

Thiam will step down following the presentation of 2019's fourth quarter and annual results next week.

Credit Suisse said previously that former COO Bouée had not informed Thiam or any other member of the bank's senior leadership of the surveillance on Khan. It added in December that it found no indication that Thiam and other members of the executive board or board of directors knew anything about the second spying case until the media reported on it.

Bouée and Thiam worked closely together for nearly two decades at various firms before joining the Swiss bank, according to their Credit Suisse biographies. The pair were at McKinsey in Paris between 2000 and 2002. Bouée followed Thiam to British insurer Aviva (AVVIY) in 2004. They both joined Prudential, another British insurer, in 2008 before heading to Credit Suisse in 2015.

In Friday's statement, the bank's lead independent director Severin Schwan said Chairman Urs Rohner had led the board "commendably during this turbulent time."

"After careful deliberations, the Board has been unanimous in its actions, as well as in reaffirming its full support for the chairman to complete his term until April 2021," Schwan added.

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2020-02-07 07:25:00Z
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Sears at the Arnot Mall to close in April - WENY-TV

Right now, Sears as a company is trying to restructure its business after declaring bankruptcy in 2018. The former CEO of Sears, Eddie Lampert, purchased the company back for $5.2 billion during proceedings, and now owns Sears through TransformCo. According to multiple national media outlets, a score of other locations are being closed, with closure dates coinciding with the Arnot Mall location. However, the Big Flats location is not listed on other closing compilations.

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2020-02-07 01:06:00Z
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Uber stock turns higher on narrower-than-expected loss, prediction of profit by end of 2020 - MarketWatch

Less is more.

Uber Technologies Inc. shares dipped 5% then rose 5% in after-hours trading Thursday after the company reported a narrower-than-expected loss and fourth-quarter revenue largely in line with Wall Street estimates. More significantly, Uber disclosed in a conference call it expected to reach an adjusted profit by the end of 2020 — earlier than its previous goal of 2021.

The losses continued to mount for Uber UBER, +0.76%, which reported revenue of $4.07 billion, in line with expectations of $4.07 billion from analysts polled by FactSet. But the rate at which Uber is losing money is slowing demonstrably, to the relief of investors.

See also: Uber earnings preview: Another big loss is expected, but so is cost-cutting

The ride-hailing service said it lost $1.1 billion, or 64 cents per share, compared with FactSet estimates of a loss of 68 cents per share. With its latest money-losing quarter, Uber has lost approximately $8.5 billion since its May 2019 initial public offering, but offered proof that an aggressive austerity program is making progress. (In the same quarter a year ago, Uber lost $887 million, or $1.97 a share.)

“We recognize that the era of growth at all costs is over,” Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement following the earnings announcement. “In a world where investors increasingly demand not just growth, but profitable growth, we are well-positioned to win through continuous innovation, excellent execution and the unrivaled scale of our global platform.”

“We are challenging the team to get to profitability,” Khosrowshahi later said in a conference call with analysts. He said he expects Uber to be profitable on an Ebitda basis (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in the fourth quarter this year. “We are confident we can reach long-term margins” while eliminating what he called “empty calories” in system inefficiencies, he added.

As Uber cut losses, its business continues to grow. Gross bookings, which include the total value of ride-hailing and food-delivery orders placed on the app, improved 28% year-over-year to $18.1 billion in the quarter. Another key business indicator, monthly active platform consumers, surged 22% to 111 million.

The company has been cutting costs — whether through more than 1,000 jobs cut in three recent rounds to selling its food-delivery service in India to Zomato for a 9.9% stake — in an aggressive bid to make money. Khosrowshahi has vowed to reach adjusted Ebitda profitability by the end of 2020 instead of 2021.

“Uber finally delivered a quarter with minimal noise as it appears an improving pricing environment and a focus on a bloated cost structure is helping the model/fundamentals,” Wedbush Securities analyst Ygal Arounian said in a note Thursday following Uber’s results. Wedbush maintains an Outperform rating on Uber shares, with a price target of $50, implying a 35% upside to its closing price of $37.09 on Thursday.

Uber shares have tumbled 11% since the company went public on May 10, 2019, compared to a gain of 16% for the broader S&P 500 SPX, +0.33%  .

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2020-02-06 22:43:00Z
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Dow Jones On Track For 4% Weekly Gain After China-Fueled Rally - Investor's Business Daily

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1. Dow Jones On Track For 4% Weekly Gain After China-Fueled Rally  Investor's Business Daily
2. Stocks edge higher after China announces reduction in tariffs  msnNOW
3. Dow rises more than 80 points to a record as Wall Street extends winning streak to four days  CNBC
4. Dow Jones Futures: After Uneven Stock Market Rally, Qualcomm, Twilio, Paycom, Peloton Are Big Earnings Movers  Investor's Business Daily
5. Stocks extend week's gains after strong employment report  msnNOW
6. View full coverage on Google News

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2020-02-06 20:25:00Z
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SpaceX may spin out internet-from-space business and make it public - The Verge

SpaceX may spin off its massive internet-from-space initiative called Starlink into a separate business and take the company public, according to Gwynne Shotwell, the company’s president. Shotwell made the comments today at an event for private investors in Miami, Florida, Bloomberg reports.

“That particular piece is an element of the business that we are likely to spin out and go public,” Shotwell said, according to Bloomberg. “Right now, we are a private company, but Starlink is the right kind of business that we can go ahead and take public.”

Starlink is an ambitious proposal: a constellation of nearly 12,000 satellites designed to beam down broadband internet coverage to every part of the globe. So far, SpaceX has launched 240 satellites for Starlink, making the company the operator of the largest active satellite constellation in the world. The company has plans to launch up to 24 missions this year, sending up 60 satellites per flight. Shotwell claimed last year that the company would start rolling out partial coverage with the constellation in 2020.

Pursuing an initial public offering for Starlink would be a big step for the Elon Musk-run SpaceX, which has remained private since it was founded in 2002. Musk, who notoriously hates publicly traded companies, has in the past said he wouldn’t take SpaceX public until the company’s Mars vehicle was complete. “Some at SpaceX who have not been through a public company experience may think that being public is desirable,” Musk wrote in an email to SpaceX employees in 2013. “This is not so. Public company stocks, particularly if big step changes in technology are involved, go through extreme volatility, both for reasons of internal execution and for reasons that have nothing to do with anything except the economy.”

The most recent valuation of SpaceX put the company at around $33.3 billion, according to CNBC. Most of SpaceX’s business has revolved around sending satellites or cargo into orbit, with NASA, the Department of Defense, or private satellite operators as customers. But with Starlink, SpaceX plans to sell a service directly to the general public. Customers will be able to purchase user terminals to patch into the Starlink constellation, turning SpaceX into a consumer-facing business.

Starlink has previously been advertised as an important part of SpaceX’s future. Musk has claimed that the revenue from the project will help fund sending people to the Moon and Mars. Right now, SpaceX is working on a next-generation rocket called Starship to jump-start the company’s interplanetary ambitions. Musk has said that the development of Starship could cost between $2 billion and $10 billion.

SpaceX isn’t the only company pursuing the internet-from-space business. Other private companies such as OneWeb, Kepler Communications, and even Amazon have proposed building massive constellations to beam internet coverage to the Earth below. So far, only SpaceX and OneWeb have begun launching satellites.

Starlink has also been a source of controversy for those in the astronomy community who are concerned that the massive constellation could muck up their observations of the night sky. The Starlink satellites are particularly bright and have already ruined exposure images taken by telescopes on the ground. SpaceX tried to mitigate this problem by coating one of its satellites to make it appear darker in the sky. It’s unclear if the coating has worked yet, and SpaceX plans to continue launching its bright satellites in the meantime.

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2020-02-06 19:06:16Z
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Mortgage rates fall to lowest level since 2016 — this could be the ‘last affordable’ spring home-buying season for a while, Realtor group warns - MarketWatch

Mortgage rates have dropped to the lowest levels since before the 2016 presidential election.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.45% during the week ending Feb. 6, a decrease of six basis points from the previous week, Freddie Mac FMCC, +1.29%   reported Thursday. This was the third consecutive week in which mortgage rates dropped.

The last time the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was at or below this level was in October 2016, when it averaged 3.42%.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also fell three basis points to 2.97%, according to Freddie Mac. This was the first time since 2016 the average rate for the 15-year fixed home loan fell below 3%. The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage, however, increased eight basis points to an average of 3.32%.

Read more: The coronavirus outbreak is making it harder for some Chinese investors to buy U.S. real estate

The decline in fixed mortgage rates reflected the movement in the 10-year Treasury yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.79%  — mortgage rates roughly track the direction of long-term bond yields. While equities markets rebounded this week as fears regarding the spread of the coronavirus abated, the 10-year Treasury was more resistant to upward movement. Toward the latter half of the week, the 10-year yield improved following the release of positive economic data.

“As rates fell for the third consecutive week, markets staged a rebound with increases in manufacturing and service sector activity,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac chief economist, said in the report. “The combination of very low mortgage rates, a strong economy and more positive financial market sentiment all point to home purchase demand continuing to rise over the next few months.”

Could this be the last affordable spring home-buying market?

That rising demand is expected to speed the start of the spring home-buying season, which is generally the most popular time of year to purchase a home for most of the country.

But a new report based on research from Realtor.com and the National Association of Realtors indicates that buyers who manage to score a deal this year will be lucky, as experts predict that affordability will only worsen in the years to come.

“The number of metros across the country seeing improvements to home affordability continues to increase,” Sabrina Speianu, senior economist research analyst at Realtor.com and the report’s author, wrote. “However, this spring homebuying season may be the last to see gains to affordability in quite a while.”

In the fourth quarter of 2019, housing affordability improved across all income levels nationwide, though the biggest gains in affordability were experienced among those in high income brackets. Out of the 100 largest metropolitan areas nationwide, 87 saw affordability improvements in the fourth quarter.

Also see: The rent is too damn high — even for middle-income Americans

The rise in affordability was driven largely by low mortgage rates, but other factors also played a role, including growing household incomes, decelerating or falling home listing prices and inventory increases in some markets. Des Moines, Iowa saw the largest improvement in affordability nationwide, while Tulsa, Okla., experienced the biggest downturn.

Barring future global economic events or changes in Federal Reserve policy, interest rates are expected to stabilize in 2020, the report said. “With stabilizing interest rates, only income growth or increased construction of affordable homes can provide continued increases to home affordability,” Speianu wrote. “However, income growth has historically failed to keep up with home price growth and home builders have yet to reach normal levels of building activity despite recent optimism.”

Read more: Will 2020 be a good year to buy a home? Here’s what the experts say

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2020-02-06 17:30:00Z
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Stock market news live: Indexes hit records on China's tariffs plan; Boeing jumps on prospects for 737 MAX certification - Yahoo Finance

U.S. stocks shook off fears of the coronavirus for another day chasing European and Asian equities higher during Thursday’s session.

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12:25 p.m. ET: SpaceX considering spinning off and listing Starlink business for IPO

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corporation is planning on spinning off its Starlink business and listing it as a public company, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing remarks from SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell at an investor event in Miami.

SpaceX’s Starlink unit has deployed more than 240 satellites to beam internet access from space, and will start delivering internet services this summer, Shotwell said, according to Bloomberg.

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11:56 a.m. ET: Yum’s Pizza Hut woes may not be all bad

YUM Brands (YUM), which posted quarterly earnings that showed a drag from Pizza Hut’s soft traffic, is down sharply on the day. Last year, Pizza Hut announced plans to shut down hundreds of its dine-in locations by the end of 2020, in order to double down on delivery.

However, Placer.ai, a data analytics firm, says it may not be all bad news:

As we took a closer look at one of the Michigan locations that recently closed, we see significant cannibalization between it and another nearby Pizza Hut location. Meaning, many of the locations were likely acting as a direct competitor – taking business away from one another.  

Eliminating the lower performing Pizza Hut, in this case, was actually a form of strategic optimization.  Closing locations has resulted in a dip in foot traffic in the second half of 2019, but it could also be laying a better foundation for ongoing growth and success. 

In fact, Walmart saw a similar effect about a year ago, when it shut down some of its locations.

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11:30 a.m. ET: Boeing jumps as FAA makes constructive 737 MAX comments

Via Bloomberg, Boeing’s (BA) engineers have discovered a new software problem on the grounded 737 Max that must be patched before the plane can return to service, according to Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson. However, he added that the plane could make a certification flight within the next few weeks, and the new software issue shouldn’t result in an extensive delay.

Recall that Boeing capped an ugly 2019 with a massive yearly loss — its first in over 2 decades. Investors greeted that news by bidding up the stock. In late morning trade, the shares are up over 2%.

A Boeing 737 Max airplane being built for Norwegian Air International turns as it taxis for take off for a test flight, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, at Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. The chairman of the House Transportation Committee said Wednesday that an FAA analysis of the 737 Max performed after a fatal crash in 2018 predicted "as many as 15 future fatal crashes within the life of the fleet" during opening remarks at the committee's fifth hearing on the Boeing 737 Max. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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11:01 a.m. ET: Casper Sleep opens at $14.50 per share after pricing IPO at $12 apiece

Shares of mattress company Casper Sleep (CSPR) opened for trading on the New York Stock Exchange at $14.50 per share. This was 21% above its initial public offering price of $12 per share set Wednesday evening.

Casper’s IPO price of $12 per share had been at the low end of its expected range. Wednesday’s pricing of 8.35 million shares raised just over $100 million for the company.

At the highs of Thursday’s session just after shares began trading, Casper’s stock surged to as much as $15.39 per share, giving it a market capitalization of $611 million. That valuation has sunk considerably from its last private valuation, which at $1.1 billion had designated Casper a “unicorn” with a market value north of a billion dollars.

In its prospectus, Casper revealed a net loss of $67 million on revenue of $312 million from January through September 2018.

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9:34 a.m. ET: S&P 500, Dow hit record highs after China says it will roll back some tariffs

U.S. stocks held onto gains into market open, with each of the three major indices advancing just after the opening bell. Both the S&P 500 and Dow rose to record highs.

Here were the main moves in markets, as of 9:34 a.m. ET:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): +0.23% or +7.65 points to 3,342.34

• Dow (^DJI): +0.26% or +74.98 points to 29,365.83

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): +0.15% or +16.02 points to 9,524.70

• Crude oil (CL=F): -0.3% or -0.15 to 50.60 a barrel

• Gold (GC=F) +0.29% or +4.50 to 1,567.30 per ounce

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7:52 a.m. ET: Twitter’s stock jumps 8% in early trading after topping 4Q sales, user growth expectations

Twitter (TWTR) posted fourth-quarter revenue and user growth that exceeded consensus expectations, driven by a jump in ad sales from the company’s home market. Fourth-quarter earnings and guidance for the current quarter, however, were short of consensus estimates.

Here were the main metrics from the report, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

• Revenue: $1.01 billion vs. $994.5 million expected

• Adjusted earnings per share: 17 cents vs. 28 cents expected

• Average monetizable daily active users: 152 million vs. 148.1 million expected

Twitter’s average monetizable daily active users (mDAU) jumped 21% in the fourth quarter, more than doubling the 9.6% gain in mDAU the company posted in the same quarter last year. For the last three months of 2019, U.S. mDAU grew 15% to 31 million, while international mDAU grew 22% to 99 million.

READ MORE

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7:51 a.m. ET: Yum Brands posts mixed 4Q results

Yum Brands (YUM), the parent company of fast food restaurants including Taco Bell, posted fourth-quarter earnings that missed expectations and disappointing sales at its Pizza Hut chain. Shares were down more than 2% to $104.49 each during the pre-market session.

Here were the main metrics from the report:

• Revenue: $1.69 billion vs. $1.65 billion expected

• Adj. earnings per share: $1.00 vs. $1.13 expected

• Worldwide same-store sales: +2.0% vs. +2.1% expected

• KFC same-store sales: +3% vs. +2.9% expected

• Taco Bell same-store sales: +4% vs. +3.1% expected

• Pizza Hut same-store sales: -2% vs. 0% expected

READ MORE

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7:45 a.m. ET: Stock futures point to fourth straight session of gains after China announces reciprocal tariff reduction

Contracts on each of the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq were on track for a fourth consecutive day of gains, wiping away last week’s declines driven by fears over the coronavirus outbreak.

A statement from China’s Ministry of Finance asserting that the country would halve tariffs on about $75 billion worth of U.S. imports on Feb. 14 also helped boost sentiment. On the same date, the U.S. is also due to lower tariffs on Chinese imports, as part of the previously agreed-upon phase one trade deal between the two countries.

China’s tariff reduction will lower the rate on some tariffs to 5% from 10% previously, and others from 2.5% from 5%.

Here were the main moves during the pre-market session, as of 7:45 a.m. ET:

• S&P futures (ES=F): 3,347.00, up 12 points or 0.36%

• Dow futures (YM=F): 29,356.00, up 115 points or 0.39%

• Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 9,424.50, up 43 points or 0.46%

• Crude oil (CL=F): $51.19 per barrel, up $0.44 or 0.87%

• Gold (GC=F): $1,568.30 per ounce, up $5.50 or 0.35%

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 04: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on on February 4, 2020 in New York City. The markets rebounded after a fall last week on coronavirus fears. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

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2020-02-06 17:05:00Z
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