Financial Times (May 28)
ExxonMobil’s annual general meeting should be “a wake-up call for other executives with a bunker mentality.” Engine No 1, an obscure hedge fund, got shareholders to elect two directors by focusing on economics, not ethics, arguing that “Exxon has been so slow to recognize the need for a transition away from fossil fuel that its revenues will crumble, destroying investor capital.” Today’s activists “are not just trying to save the world; they are also trying to save their own portfolios in a world where regulators are enforcing green standards.”
Tags: Activists, AGM, Bunker mentality, Capital, Directors, Economics, Engine No 1, Ethics, ExxonMobil, Fossil fuel, Hedge-fund, Investor, Portfolios, Revenues, Shareholders, Transition, Wake-up
Reuters (April 1)
“Global equity markets surged on Thursday, with U.S. and European benchmark indexes hitting record highs, as the strongest manufacturing data around the world in decades and a drop in bond yields drove investor optimism.” Support is strong with “multiple tailwinds— stimulus, expectations of record earnings, vaccines—driving stocks higher.”
Tags: Benchmark, Bond yields, Earnings, Equity, Europe, Global, Indexes, Investor, Manufacturing, Markets, Optimism, Stimulus, Surged, Tailwinds, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (January 21)
Carl Icahn the largest investor in Xerox has formed an alliance with billionaire Darwin Deason, the third largest investor, “to encourage the printer and copier giant to explore a potential sale…. The fact that they are working together and own such a big stake is sure to ratchet up the pressure on a company that is grappling with slumping demand as the world becomes more digital—and is already considering a major transaction.” Due to its “strategic importance,” the Fuji Xerox joint venture “would likely be at the center of any review.”
Tags: Alliance, Deason, Demand, Digital, Fuji Xerox, Icahn, Investor, JV, Sale, Strategic, Transaction, Xerox
Institutional Investor (October 5)
In a recent survey “of 101 investors managing more than $1 trillion combined, 87 percent said they would support the activist campaign of a well-regarded investor if they believed change was necessary at the company in question…. Many of the investors view themselves as change makers, with roughly half saying their firms can meaningfully influence a company’s corporate governance.”
Fortune (June 19)
Amazon’s all-time high stock price put founder Jeff Bezos ”about $4 billion away from overtaking Gates, who is worth about $90 billion…. Since Bezos net worth is largely tied to his 78.9 million shares of Amazon, becoming the world’s richest person is completely within the realm of possibility. After all, his net worth has already shot up by $19.3 billion in the last six months thanks to strong earnings and growing investor confidence in the economy, sending Amazon’s stock 35% higher since the start of the year.”
Tags: Amazon, Bezos, Confidence, Earnings, Economy, Gates, Investor, Net worth, Stock price, World's richest
The Week (April 2)
By any measure, Uber has been having a terrible year. Some have posited it could threaten the tech bubble. “Uber is by far the most valuable of the 187 ‘unicorn’ startups valued at $1 billion or more, despite losing at least $1.2 billion in the first half of 2016.” But Uber is unlikely to spark a chain reaction. “The tech industry’s funding sources are more diversified than they were in the original dot-com bubble, and the definition of what makes a ‘technology company’ is also much broader. Odds are, investors will see Uber’s flaws as an isolated case of bad corporate governance, not evidence that they shouldn’t be investing in startups.”
Tags: Chain reaction, Corporate governance, Diversified, Dot-com bubble, Funding, Investor, Isolated case, Startups, Tech bubble, Terrible, Uber, Unicorns
Institutional Investor (February 6)
Legendary bond investor Bill Gross believes the “$12 trillion now held by central banks is a permanent fixture of global finance, acting a bit like methadone. Methadone manages the craving, but does little to end the patient’s addiction.” He also posits that the U.S. would be in recession if it were not for the easing measures of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.
Financial Times (December 3)
“For the average Japanese investor and consumer, inflation expectations have not budged. Japan needs to jump-start a wage-price spiral of the sort feared from the 1970s…. Such a cycle should be started by increasing nominal wages by 5 to 10 per cent in 2016.”
Tags: 2016, Consumer, Expectations, Inflation, Investor, Japan, Price spiral, Wages
