Americas

Google’s Project Cache for Consumer Dominance: Flirting with Banks to Avoid Getting into Banking - December 04, 2019
Google announced that it will offer personal checking accounts through its Google Pay app, starting from next year. The project, code-named Cache, will be launched in partnership with Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union.

The first no-fee exchange-traded note
On the 8th of October, the first zero-fee ETN for gold and silver was launched in New York City by the English Bank Barclays. This launch adds to the existing family of 45 iPath products offered by Barclays, two exposures tracking the Barclays Gold 3 Month Index Total Return, and the Barclays Silver 3 Month Index Total Return, waiving the minimum fee of 0,30% of ETRACS UBS Bloomberg CMCI Gold Total Return ETN (UBG).

Cocoa Investments in South America, an investment opportunity? - December 1 2019
Over the years, possibilities for investors to engage in alternative and obscure bets on businesses and commodities have only become more plentiful. These opportunities are not only limited to professional investors, like Hedge- and Private Equity Funds, but also presented themselves to private investors. Cocoa investments are one of those.

Interest rates in Brazil: new rules in the game?
In the past couple of months, we have seen Central Banks from all over the world assume a more dovish tone, with a series of quantitative easing policies and cuts in interest rates, in an attempt to revert the threat of a global economic slowdown. Brazil, was no exception to the rule, with three 50bps cuts in 2019, lowering rates (called “Selic rates”) from 6.50% to 5.00% (in nominal terms). Investors are pricing even more cuts in the next year, with real interest rates expected to drop to almost 0% in 2020.

Investors may be the planet’s best hope - Novermber 22, 2019
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors, previously considered optional supplementary information, are progressively becoming a driver to a company’s bottom line and potential investors. Even though the U.S. is withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, U.S. companies will still need to regulate and improve their ESG ratings as sustainability becomes increasingly more important to the global investor pool.

Tesla's unexpected 3rd quarter performance: a sustainable trend? - November 20, 2019
During the first three quarters of the year, Tesla Inc. shares have strongly underperformed both the market and its competitors. However, after announcing its 3rd quarter results in October, which highlighted a surprising $143 million in net income, the stock signed an incredible 30% gain. This performance helped offset its previous losses, apparently setting bears and critics aside.

The Robinhood disruption: the zero-fee war and its implications - November 18, 2019
Robinhood is a mobile stock trading app characterized by a zero-fee system “on a mission to democratize the financial system” – as quoted by the two founders. The platform, with its friendly graphic and the tutoring that it offers both for beginners and expert, has made stock trading really simple and at the most affordable price: zero.

US markets’ funding glitches: an overview on the Fed’s recent monetary policy - November 11, 2019
Since mid-September’s rate crisis, the Fed has been injecting hundreds of billions of dollars into US money markets in order to restore the normal process of borrowing and lending among banks and other firms alleviating funding pressure and ensuring that the financial system has enough liquidity to work smoothly. This article wants to walk us through the logic and the reasons that lead to this type of intervention and describe the actual monetary stance of the american central bank.

After Rapid Growth through Acquisitions, Walmart Looks to Shift its e-Commerce Strategy - November 9, 2019
In recent years, Walmart has invested heavily in acquiring e-commerce companies in an attempt to compete with online retail giant Amazon. However, after spending a few years to expand its online presence with very impressive results, but suffering heavy losses in the process, Walmart will refocus its e-commerce strategy on what it does best - being the store in which Americans can reliably find groceries and basics at an affordable price.

The incredible growth of the Jamaican Stock Market - November 3, 2019
The Jamaican Stock Market has been one of the best performer stock indexes in 2019. Its performance is even more impressive if we look over the last five years, with capital gains above 500%. But what are the reasons behind this incredible stock market boom? How was it possible for a market with a total capitalization smaller than the one of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. to become one of the hottest markets in the world?

CBS and Viacom to merge again in a $12bn deal - November 1, 2019
On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom, which used to be the same company, agreed to recombine in an all-stock merger. The aim is to be able to compete with the biggest players, such as Apple, AT&T and Disney, which in turn are all engaged in the TV streaming war against the $123 bn market cap giant Netflix. The resulting $47 bn entity will be called ViacomCBS and will have more than $28 bn in combined annual revenues.

US Private Equity: a political matter? - October 30, 2019
PE is the talk of the town around the globe, especially in the US. However, criticisms are rising following some high-profile failed transactions and bankruptcies that left employees without employment, and families without money. All while the investors brush it off and move on to the next investment. Political pressure is rising, especially with an upcoming election next year. Here is an overview.

Peloton: Will the “Netflix of Fitness” succeed despite disappointing IPO? - October 27, 2019
On the 26th of September, Peloton Interactive Inc. (PTON) went public on Nasdaq by securing a $8 billion equity valuation. The company offered 40m shares at a price of $29 per share, raising a total of $1.2bn in equity financing. The company’s valuation largely outstripped the $4.2bn price tag reached after its last round of private fundraising in August 2018. However, as public trading began, the $29 IPO price seemed not to enthusiasm investors.

WeWork: the story behind the IPO debacle of the year - October 20, 2019
Just before WeWork's S-1 registration for an initial public offering to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 14th, WeWork was the US's most valuable tech startup. Yet as the investors looked at the prospectus, they seemed to be less excited about the enterprise. They were concerned that the coworking space business model of the group may not be feasible. Most investors were worried about how long-term debt in the form of acquiring or leasing real estate would mix with short-term subscription revenue and whether this model could survive economic downturns. In less than two months, WeWork spiraled from a $47 billion valuation to talk about possible bankruptcy.

Beyond Airbnb rumored direct listing: evidence of IPO game-changing momentum in Silicon Valley? - October 18, 2019
In a very brief statement on September 19, Airbnb announced its plan to become a public-traded company in 2020. The Company has not specified whether it has already filed its S-1 IPO paperwork and has not declared yet how it is planning to list its shares. However, according to many market rumors that followed first Reuters insights, it is widely expected that the home rental giant will opt for the direct-listing route.

Beyond Meat IPO: Investors like it, but will consumers agree? - June 11, 2019
Beyond Meat Inc., the plant-based meat start-up from California, debut on NASDAQ on the 2nd of May under the symbol “BYND”. The Initial public offering price was set at $25 a share, at the high hand of its expected range ($23-$25), and with 9.63 million shares sold the company raised $240.6 million, reaching a $1.5 billion valuation.

Interest-only loans and the threat of massive write-downs - June 8, 2019
An interest-only loan is simply a loan that collects interest-only payments, rather than amortizing (paying down the principal). Interest-only payments may be applied to a specific period of a loan, usually at the beginning, or may apply for the entire life of the loan. Many bridge lenders and debt funds typically only require interest to be paid on the loan until maturity, when they will collect on the entire loan principal. This is referred to as “full-term interest only”. These risky offerings fall under the umbrella of non-qualifying loans, meaning they do not conform to standards set by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

US-China trade wars: a threat to a bullish view on global markets - June 5, 2019
On Sunday and Monday US president Donald Trump published a number of tweets threatening to raise tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200bn of Chinese goods and impose a 25% tariff on another $325bn of currently untaxed goods. The tweets breached the calm and optimism of investors that had been seeing a positive outlook on the trade talks since December. The effects on global capital markets didn’t leave us waiting.

Luckin coffee: Roasting Starbucks - June 2, 2019
Luckin Coffee, an upcoming Chinese rival to Starbucks plans to raise up to US$586.5 million at its IPO on May 17th 2019 on the NASDAQ. Adding an additional 2,900 stores in 2019, Luckin aims to overtake Starbucks and become the largest coffee network in China via number of stores. Luckin Coffee operates on a tech-based model focusing on on-demand delivery and digital orders, and uses a controversial aggressive growth strategy of free coffees and promotions that resulted in a loss of US$475 million in 2018.

Is Papa John's looking for a buyer? - May 30, 2019
On 6th May 2019, Papa John’s founder, John Schnatter, announced that he intends to sell his stake in the company. Papa John's pizza is an American restaurant that functions in the franchise regime, the fourth largest pizza delivery restaurant chain in the US. Its headquarter is located in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, although it is present at an international level.

What Apple's wearables business is telling us about the corporation - May 27, 2019
Released on April 30, Apple’s second quarter report revealed that Apple’s wearables business has seen its best quarter yet. In recent years, Apple was able to develop an extremely fast-growing business segment - the Wearables, Home and Accessories sector - that was previously considered an inconsequential contributor to total revenues. With its approximate quarterly turnover of $5 billion, this segment alone can now be considered a Fortune 200 company, according to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook.

What’s going on with Tesla? - May 24, 2019
Tesla warned shareholders that the results of the first quarter would be disappointing. Either way, the grim reality unveiled on April 24th should shock investors. On an adjusted basis, the electric car maker lost $ 2.90 a share in the quarter. Revenue of $ 4.5 billion from the fourth quarter tally fell 37 percent. After entering it with $ 3.7 billion, the company ended the quarter with $ 2.2 billion in cash.

Apple & Qualcomm finally at ease - May 21, 2019
On April 15th 2019, one of the biggest corporate law suits of recent years was ready to put itself into motion in a four-week trial that would’ve seen 30$Bn and much more put at stake. The underlying law suit is the one between Apple and Qualcomm, tech giants who have now been at war with one another since 2017.

Uber: the most anticipated IPO in years is almost here - May 18, 2019
Uber is a ride-hailing company that is set to go public in early May 2019 and will be traded in the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “UBER”. The company offers many other services by which food-delivery, electric bikes and is developing self-driving cars. The world’s largest ride-hailing company plans an initial public offering that values the firm between $80.5 billion and $91.5 billion.

A creative deal structure that will boost marijuana M&A: Canopy Growth to buy Acreage - May 16, 2019
On April 18th 2019, Canopy Growth Corp announced it would buy Acreage Holdings for a total consideration of $ 3.4 billion, upon federal legalization of marijuana in the US. Canopy Growth is a cannabis company based in Ontario listed on both the Toronto and the New York Stock exchange. The company’s main activities are the growing, possession and sale of cannabis.

Facebook moves closer to its Chinese counterpart: a super-app with cryptocurrency and a dating section - May 14, 2019
Facebook is aiming at launching in the following years a “stablecoin”, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar which could reduce the volatility normally seen in virtual assets. The main goal of a future “FaceCoin” or “FBCoin” (the name still stays locked-in) is to facilitate the transfer of money among the users of the Facebook ecosystem, primarily through the messaging app WhatsApp.

Unicorns Trot to Market: Pinterest Down Round IPO - May 13, 2019
This year has been widely expected to be a blockbuster year for IPOs and as several startups are entering the public markets. Tech “unicorns” - privately held firms worth over $1bn - are getting the center of the attention. The venture capital darling, founded in 2010 and known for its loyal fan base that posts food home decor and wedding collages, launched its “down round” IPO earlier this month.

Brazil's Bradesco to expand its horizons - May 8, 2019
On May 5th, it was announced that Banco Bradesco SA, Brazilian bank based in St. Paulo, will start the acquisition of BAC Florida Bank paying $500 million. This will stand as the first international acquisition for them, but it has still to be approved by competent regulatory authorities of Brazil and US.

The battle for Anadarko: Chevron vs. Occidental - May 7, 2019
On April 12th, the Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) announced a deal to acquire Anadarko Petroleum, an American oil exploration company. However, although Chevron and Anadarko had come to a definitive agreement, rivalling oil producer Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) announced on April 24th a similar bid to acquire Anadarko.

The Triumph of Boring Banking: Retail Saves Wall Street Banks First Quarter - May 2, 2019
“U.S. banks notched a record quarterly profit, newly released data show, a result of the new tax law, rising interest rates and an improving economy”. This was the opening line of last year’s WSJ article after the release of major Wall Street banks’ first quarter reports. One year later, the economic situation has changed and we are assisting at the triumph of boring banking.

The week after Lyft's IPO: a bumpy ride - April 25, 2019
On 29th March, the San Francisco based ride-hailing company, Lyft, went public on NASDAQ in New York, with an initial public offer of $72 per share. After a first-day 8.7% increase, the share price decreased on the following days: the article analyses the main causes behind these fluctuations.

FIS and Worldpay, another merger between two major financial technology companies. - April 24, 2019
The FinTech industry has been surely one of the most dynamic industries last year with huge investments in start-ups on record reaching a total value of $41.7 BN. Only in 2018, this industry faced a total of 349 M&A transactions and this trend does not seem to end soon. FinTech start-ups offer technology which can revolutionize how companies operate and how people interact with their bank. This business is fundamentally changing how financial services work.

Merck KGaA breaks-up Versum Materials & Entegris merger of equals - April 19, 2019
On January 28, Entegris announced its plan to merge with Versum Materials through an all-stock deal for a total value of $4Bn. The deal is structured as an exchange of old shares of the two pre-existing companies for shares of the new company (newco).

Houston, we don't have a problem here - April 18, 2019
On March 10, 2019, a Boeing 737 Max of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Nairobi crashed few minutes after the departure, killing 157 people. Similarities have been found with another 737 Max flight that 5 months before crashed near Indonesia. What could be the effects on such an aerospace giant?