News — Mount Equity Group Tokyo Japan

In this articleABNBEXPEA woman talks on the phone at the Airbnb office headquarters in the SOMA district of San Francisco, California.Gabrielle Lurie | ReutersAirbnb and Vrbo, Expedia’s home sharing unit, are teaming up to combat repeat “party house” offenders.The companies announced Friday they’re developing the Community Integrity Program, an industry collaboration to share information on removed listings and strengthen action against repeat offenders who book rentals just to throw parties in them.”Both companies have worked separately to address the challenge of disruptive party houses that are repeatedly reported. However, the challenge persists, as repeat offenders may be delisted by one platform, only to pop up on another,” the companies said in a joint release.”Neighbors don’t care if a party house is getting its reservations through any particular platform – they just want the parties to stop. That’s why one platform alone can’t solve this problem – it requires an industry-wide effort,” they added.The companies will work with a third-party intermediary to develop a process to identify listings that have been banned permanently from either platform due to repeated violations of respective community policies. That information will then be available for each company to take action if the listings then pop up on other platforms.Airbnb and Vrbo are asking other short-term rental industry companies to join the program, which is intended to launch in the U.S. in the coming months.So-called “party houses” have long been a problem for short-term rental companies. Airbnb, for example, introduced a global ban on party houses houses, which are ones that repeatedly cause a nuisance in neighborhoods.However, due to the way these companies operate, they can’t always stop parties from taking place. Guests can sometimes check-in to remote properties themselves, while the owner is away, and can invite as many people over as they want.”Industry collaboration is an important step in narrowing enforcement gaps and prioritizing the safety of the communities in which we all operate. This is the first step in building on an important foundation,” the companies said.Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

AMC board members sold nearly $4 million worth of stock this week

June 11, 2021

Business

AMC board members sold close to $4 million in shares this week, cashing in on the company’s latest monster rally fueled by its “meme stock” status.

Three members of AMC’s board of directors each sold-off shares worth more than $800,000, while two more members sold shares worth more than $700,000 per director, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Three of the transactions took place on Tuesday, when AMC stock traded as high as $59 per share. Two more transactions took place on Wednesday, as AMC stock slipped from above $52 at opening to below $49.50 at close.

AMC shares were trading at about $42.80 on Friday morning — down more than a quarter from Tuesday’s high but still 20 times higher than at the beginning of 2021.

AMC, which saw its business all but destroyed during the coronavirus pandemic, has been targeted by retail traders alongside other so-called meme stocks like GameStop and Blackberry since January. REUTERS

The five directors — Philip Lader, Adam Jay Sussman, Howard Winchell Koch Jr., Kathleen M. Pawlus and Anthony J. Saich — now own 17,722 AMC shares each.

AMC shares were trading at about $42.80 on Friday morning — down more than a quarter from Tuesday’s high but still 20 times higher than at the beginning of 2021. Google Finance

Their current stakes were worth about $750,000 each on Friday morning.

AMC, which saw its business all but destroyed during the coronavirus pandemic, has been targeted alongside other so-called meme stocks like GameStop and Blackberry since January.

Last week, the movie theater sought to cash-in on the meme stock boom when it announced it would issue 11.5 million new shares.

But AMC also warned investors that they could lose all of their money.

“Under the circumstances, we caution you against investing in our Class A common stock, unless you are prepared to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your investment,” AMC wrote last Thursday in a filing with securities regulators.

The company also admitted that its sky-high price “reflect market and trading dynamics unrelated to our underlying business, or macro or industry fundamentals, and we do not know how long these dynamics will last.”

Earlier in June, AMC issued 8.5 shares that it sold to hedge fund Mudrick Capital for $230.5 million. Mudrick then immediately flipped the shares for a tidy profit.

In recent weeks, Reddit traders have branched out from AMC and Gamestop into another, more controversial “meme stock” called Clover Health. Clover’s founders have faced accusations of ripping-off New Jersey hospital patients.

‘Buy-now-pay-later’ app Klarna soars to eye-popping $45.6B valuation

June 11, 2021

Business

Deferred payments app Klarna soared to a valuation of $45.6 billion in its latest fundraising round — buoyed by an investment from Japan’s SoftBank.

The “buy-now-pay-later” firm, which raised $639 million Thursday, is now Europe’s most valuable privately-held financial technology company.

Like competitors Afterpay and Affirm, Stockholm-based Klarna lets consumers take home items then pay for them later through a series of smaller payments with interest. Think of it as “layaway with a twist.”

The company’s retail partners include H&M, IKEA, Sacks, Macy’s, Urban Outfitters and Etsy. In total, it has partnerships with 250,000 brands and boasts 18 million users worldwide, according to the company.

Even despite hesitance among some cash-strapped consumers during the pandemic, Klarna has thrived — more than quadrupling its valuation in the past year.

In a September 2020 fundraising round, the company was valued at $11 billion. In March 2021, that number was $31 billion.

Klarna is mulling going public sometime soon in either London or New York, the Financial Times reported.

Klarna is “aggressively going after the US market,” analyst Dan Ives told the Post. Levine-Roberts/Sipa USA

Wedbush securities tech analyst Dan Ives attributed Klarna’s astonishing valuation surge to its potential for growth, especially in the United States.

“It’s now at the top of the mountain on terms of European unicorns and aggressively is going after the US market,” Ives told the Post. “The valuation is eye-popping but it’s going after a trillion-dollar market opportunity.”

Thursday’s investment round was led by SoftBank’s famous technology investment group “Vision Fund 2,” with additional participation from existing investors Adit Ventures, Honeycomb Asset Management and WestCap Group.

Klarna has partnerships with total 250,000 brands and boasts 18 million users worldwide, according to the company. Getty Images for Klarna

Other Klarna investors include H&M, private equity firm Silver Lake, Jack Ma’s Ant Group and venture capital fund Sequoia Capital.

Klarna, which was founded in 2005, paints its buy-now-pay-later model as a threat to credit card firms, claiming that its system is more fair and efficient.

“Consumers continue to reject interest-and fee-laden revolving credit and are moving toward debit,” said Klarna founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski on Thursday. “I’m very proud of the investors who are supporting Klarna’s ambition to challenge these outdated models to empower consumers with fair, transparent, and convenient products to help them bank, shop and pay each day.”

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski founded the company in 2005.REUTERS

Klarna recently faced an embarrassing hiccup in May, when an app issue caused about 90,000 users to be able to view personal information about other users, including their full names, addresses, phone numbers and emails. No financial information was exposed, according to the company.

Chipmaker Arm has co-founded a ‘deep tech’ accelerator in Cambridge

June 11, 2021

Tech

In this articleARMPKing’s college, Cambridge.IR_Stone | iStock Editorial | Getty ImagesLONDON — U.K. chip designer Arm has co-founded a new start-up accelerator in Cambridge, England, to try and help young “deep tech” firms to grow into the next generation of tech giants.Widely regarded as the “crown jewel” of the U.K. tech industry, Arm has co-founded the accelerator, known as Deeptech Labs, with the University of Cambridge, private equity investor Cambridge Innovation Capital and venture firm Martlet Capital.So-called deep tech companies aim to create new intellectual property by breaking technological ground in an effort to solve complex problems.Adam Bastin, VP of corporate development at Arm, said in a statement that Cambridge has “remained a critical hub of talent, creativity and innovation” from Arm’s earliest days in a barn just outside the city back in the early 1980s.”In co-founding Deeptech Labs, we’re pleased to support the next generation of game-changing technology companies by helping them to access the world-class Cambridge technology ecosystem,” he said.In exchange for a chunk of equity, typically between 5% and 20%, Deeptech Labs offers start-ups £350,000 ($495,000), access to a three-month development program and networking opportunities.Deeptech Labs CEO Miles Kirby told CNBC on Friday: “I’ve seen a lot of deep tech founders who are maybe academics or engineers, and they’ve got a great technology, but they really struggle to kind of go from a technology to a business.”He added: “You see a lot of companies that fail in that seed-to-series-A stage, because they don’t find the right market fit, or they don’t find the right business model. We’re really helping to address that.”Kirby, who previously worked at Qualcomm for 18 years and ran an accelerator while he was there, said Deeptech Labs looked at around 900 companies for its initial cohort, before picking five: AutoFill, BKwai, Circuit Mind, Contilio, and Mindtech.Circuit Mind, for example, is aiming to build a platform that enables engineers to design circuit boards in just a few hours with the help of AI software, while Contilio is working on a 3D analytics platform to help the construction industry understand, predict and deliver complex construction projects cheaper, faster, and more sustainably.While London is home to most of the U.K.’s tech companies, Cambridge has spawned some of the nation’s most innovative firms that have caught the eye of U.S. tech giants – Apple bought speech tech firm VocalIQ in 2015 to improve Siri, while Amazon bought Evi to boost Alexa in 2013. The city is also home to fast-growing start-ups like Darktrace, as well as sizable Amazon and Microsoft research labs.There are dozens of tech accelerators around the world. Y Combinator, which is where Airbnb, Stripe and Reddit were born, is perhaps the most famous, but Google, Facebook, Microsoft and many other large tech companies have similar ventures. While they clearly have some benefits to founders, some have questioned whether entrepreneurs should sacrifice the equity or go it alone.

Stock Alert: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Down On Dropping Plans To Advance VX-864 Study Into Late Stage

June 11, 2021

Markets

(RTTNews) – Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) are down more than 8% Friday morning.

Thursday the company said it will not advance VX-864, the company’s investigational drug in Phase 2 study for the treatment of people with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), into late-stage development.

“Although results provide proof-of-mechanism, the magnitude of treatment effect observed in this study is unlikely to translate into substantial clinical benefit,” Vertex said.

VRTX touched a 52-week low of $193 this morning. The stock is currently trading at $198.91

Positive Reaction To Inflation Data May Be Extended In Early Trading

June 11, 2021

Markets

(RTTNews) – The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Friday, with stocks poised to add to the gains posted in the previous session.

The markets may continue to benefit from a positive reaction to yesterday’s highly anticipated consumer price inflation data.

While the report showed the annual rate of consumer price inflation reached the highest level in nearly thirteen years, traders seem optimistic that the spike in prices will be transitory.

Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly downplayed the risks of prolonged inflation, leading to expectations that the central bank will not be in any hurry to tighten monetary policy.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to hold its next monetary policy next week, which may still lead to some caution among investors.

Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Thursday but largely maintained a positive bias on the day before closing mostly higher. With the upward move, the S&P 500 reached a new record closing high.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Dow inched up just 19.10 points or 0.1 percent to 34,466.24. The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 108.58 points or 0.8 percent to 14,020.33 and the S&P 500 rose 19.63 points or 0.5 percent to 4,239.18.

The higher close on Wall Street came following the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing a bigger than expected increase in consumer prices in the month of May.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.6 percent in May after climbing by 0.8 percent in April. Economists had expected consumer prices to increase by 0.4 percent.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices climbed by 0.7 percent in May following a 0.9 percent advance in April. Core prices were also expected to rise by 0.4 percent.

The report also showed consumer prices in May were up by 5.0 percent compared to the same month a year ago, reflecting the biggest spike since August of 2008.

The annual rate of core consumer price growth also accelerated to 3.8 percent in May, which represents the biggest jump since June of 1992.

“Price increases stemming from the reopening of the economy and ongoing supply chain bottlenecks will keep the rate of inflation elevated and sticky as supply/demand imbalances are only gradually resolved,” said Kathy Bostjancic, Chief U.S. Financial Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, “While we share the Fed’s view that this isn’t the start of an upward inflationary spiral, we look for inflation to remain persistently above 2% through 2022.”

Adding to positive sentiment about the economy, the Labor Department released a separate report showing another modest decrease in first-time claims for unemployment benefits.

The report showed initial jobless claims edged down to 376,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 385,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 370,000.

With the slight drop, jobless claims once again fell to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020.

Gold stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, resulting in a 2.7 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The rally by gold stocks came amid a modest increase by the price of the precious metal.

Substantial strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The index ended the session at its best closing level in almost four months.

Pharmaceutical, software and semiconductor stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while housing, airline and banking stocks showed notable moves to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are slipping $0.10 to $70.19 a barrel after rising $0.33 to $70.29 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after inching up $0.90 to $1,896.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are falling $6.20 to $1,890.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 109.59 yen versus the 109.33 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.2134 compared to yesterday’s $1.2170.

Asia

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday, as U.S. bond yields eased despite data showing soaring U.S. consumer prices in May.

Investors bet spiking inflation would be temporary and the Federal Reserve will maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy for some time.

Chinese shares fell after data showed the country’s broader credit growth slowed in May. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 21.11 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,589.75, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended up 103.25 points, or 0.4 percent, at 28,842.13.

Japanese shares edged lower on lingering worries about the pace of the domestic economic recovery and fresh concerns over potential tapering by the Federal Reserve. The Nikkei 225 Index ended marginally lower at 28,948.73, while the broader Topix closed 0.1 percent lower at 1,954.02.

Banks and cyclicals led losses. Machinery maker Kubota slumped 4.5 percent and Komatsu tumbled 3.2 percent. Toshiba gave up 1.6 percent after a probe revealed the company sought the government’s help to influence a shareholder vote.

Tech stocks such as Advantest and Tokyo Electron eked out modest gains, while drug maker Eisai soared 7 percent after a sharp fall in the previous session.

Australian markets recovered from early losses to end the day slightly higher as Melbourne exited the lockdown The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index ended up 9.80 points, or 0.1 percent, at 7,312.30, while the broader All Ordinaries Index inched up 18.40 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,577.20.

Gold Miners Evolution Mining, Newcrest, Northern Star Resources and Regis Resources surged 3-4 percent as gold prices spiked overnight after U.S. inflation data.

Tech stocks also posted broad-based gains, with Afterpay and Appen climbing 4-6 percent. Avita soared 10.4 percent after the U.S. FDA approved the expanded use of the biotech’s flagship Recell skin system.

Banks ended lower, with ANZ and Westpac falling over 1 percent. Wealth manager AMP rose 1.3 percent. Woodside Petroleum and Santos rose about 1 percent after oil prices hit two-year highs. Casino operator Crown Resorts lost 1.5 percent as Victoria State widened an inquiry into its business practices.

Seoul stocks advanced as inflationary concerns eased ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting next week. The Kospi climbed 24.68 points, or 0.8 percent, to settle at 3,249.32 despite Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol signaling his intention to tighten monetary policy. Among the top gainers, SK Hynix rallied 4.1 percent and LG Chem surged 5.3 percent.

Europe

European stocks are hovering near record highs on Friday, as bond yields fell from the United States to Europe despite signs of rising U.S. inflation.

Investors are hopeful that rising price pressures will be transitory and the Federal Reserve is unlikely to withdraw monetary support any time soon.

Investors await the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week for more clues about the state of the economy and the policy outlook.

While the French CAC 40 Index has advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.6 percent.

Spanish hotel chain Melia has jumped. Chief Executive Gabriel Escarrer said at the annual shareholders meeting on Thursday that the company expects to return to profitability in June after 15 months in the red.

Sanne Group shares have also spiked in London. The specialist fund administrator confirmed that it has received a fifth unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Cinven regarding a possible all cash offer at a price of 875 pence per share.

Meanwhile, banks have moved broadly lower as Eurozone government bond yields fall after a dovish outcome to Thursday’s ECB meeting.

In economic news, the U.K. economy grew at the fastest pace since July 2020 as government restrictions affecting economic activity continued to ease in April, data from the Office for Statistics showed.

Gross domestic product rose 2.3 percent month-on-month in April, faster than the 2.1 percent expansion seen in March. The rate was forecast to improve to 2.2 percent.

The German economy is projected to grow faster than previously estimated on the expectation that the vaccination campaign will suppress the pandemic quickly and sustainably, Bundesbank said in its bi-annual report.

The central bank forecast the largest euro area economy to expand 3.7 percent in 2021 versus the 3 percent projected earlier. The outlook for 2022 was raised to 5.2 percent from 4.5 percent.

In 2023, real GDP growth is set to lose momentum but will still grow 1.7 percent, Bundesbank said.

U.S. Economic Reports

The University of Michigan is scheduled to release its preliminary report on consumer sentiment in the month of June at 10 am ET. The consumer sentiment index is expected to rise to 84.0 in June after dropping to 82.9 in May.

Stocks In Focus

Shares of Dave & Buster’s (PLAY) are seeing significant pre-market strength after the restaurant chain reported an unexpected fiscal first quarter profit.

Biotechnology company Biogen (BIIB) may also move to the upside after UBS upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Buy from Neutral.

On the other hand, shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) are moving sharply lower in pre-market trading after the drugmaker halted development of an experimental therapy for a rare genetic disorder that affects the lungs and liver.

Cruise operators may also see initial weakness after Royal Caribbean (RCL) said two passengers aboard its Celebrity Millennium cruise ship tested positive for Covid-19.

Citi Ventures' global head details why proptech and wealth tech are among the areas he see the most opportunity for investments

June 11, 2021

Markets

Startups in the wealth management space are a key focus of Citi Ventures’ Arvind Purushotham.
Samantha Lee/Business Insider

Bidding on space flight with Jeff Bezos to start at $4.8M

June 11, 2021

Business

The bidding battle for a seat on Jeff Bezos’ spacecraft has reached new heights.

Pre-auction bidding for a slot on Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ July 20 Blue Origin flight closed Thursday at nearly $5 million, according to the space company’s website.

The live auction for the seat launches this Saturday at 12:45 p.m. with an opening bid of $4.8 million, according to Blue Origin.

The winner will accompany Bezos and his brother Mark into orbit on an 11-minute flight.

If the live auction bidding were to close at $4.8 million, the winner would be paying close to $500,000 per minute in space.

The pre-auction attracted bidders from more than 140 countries, the company said. The winning bid will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, which encourages children to pursue careers in STEM.

Bezos’ spacecraft, called the New Shepard, can carry up to six people, but only the two Bezos brothers have been confirmed as passengers.

Pre-auction bidding for a seat on Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ July 20 Blue Origin flight closed Thursday at nearly $5 million.

The New Shephard has flown more than a dozen successful flights without crews. Boasting massive windows, the craft is designed to give space tourists unforgettable views of Earth’s curvature, as well as several minutes in zero gravity.

July’s flight is scheduled for just two weeks after Bezos steps down as CEO of Amazon. It will make Bezos, who has a net worth of $193.5 billion according to Forbes, by far the richest man to go to space.

Jeff Bezos’ spacecraft, called the New Shepard, can carry up to six people, but only the two Bezos brothers have been confirmed as passengers. Blue Origin/MEGA

“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Bezos wrote on Instagram on Monday. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson is reportedly trying to beat Bezos to orbit, weighing a flight over July 4 weekend.

Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk has not announced plans to travel to space. In April, Musk warned that “a bunch of people will probably die” as he and other cosmos capitalists try to reach mars.

While Blue Origin’s site says that a bidding livestream for the seat opens at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, it’s unclear what time bidding will close. The space company did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The winning bid will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, which encourages children to pursue careers in STEM.Blue Origin/MEGA

July’s flight is scheduled for just two weeks after Jeff Bezos steps down as CEO of Amazon.Blue Origin/MEGA

Cramer Shares His Thoughts On IBM, Trade Desk And More

June 11, 2021

Markets

On CNBC’s “Mad Money Lightning Round,” Jim Cramer said ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd (NYSE:ZIM) is too hot for him. It has had a big run and Cramer advised a viewer to walk away as he thinks the stock could trade lower.

When asked about Churchill Capital Corp IV (NYSE:CCIV), Cramer said he likes Lucid and Fisker Inc (NYSE:FSR). He believes in Lucid and he would own it.

You’ve got big-time speculation with Kadmon Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:KDMN), said Cramer. The stock could move up $10 or decline $10, he added.

Cramer likes IBM (NYSE:IBM). If you’re buying Arvind Krishna’s IBM, you’re going for growth, he added.

It’s going to be difficult to get another pipeline approved in the U.S. so Cramer likes existing pipelines, like BP Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:BPMP), Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) and ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE).

Aquabounty Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AQB) is an interesting situation, said Cramer.

Cramer likes Trade Desk Inc (NASDAQ:TTD) and he’s going to stick with it.