Americas

Semiconductor shortage drags down the automotive industry’s rally - February 25th, 2021
The semiconductors cover a fundamental role in many industries, among which the automotive one is one of the most strategical. Therefore, due to the current shortages of supplies, policymakers in Washington are considering federal incentives and investments to meet the current sky-high demand and reinforce the U.S. leadership in chip manufacturing, to avoid future crises.

Microsoft to acquire one of the largest privately held game developers: ZeniMax Media- December 27th, 2020
On September 21st, Microsoft announced its plan to acquire ZeniMax Media, one of the largest privately held game developers, the parent company of several industry-leading companies.

The Rise of Passive Investing in America- December 12th, 2020
Passive investing has gone from 5% of the total US market to over 50%. In this article we discuss the impact this dynamic may have on the functioning of the stock market. The article also discusses the future for the market as a whole.

March Liquidity Crunch: The Role of Hedge Funds - December 9th, 2020
March 2020 represented an important challenge for the global financial market. The spread of the Coronavirus outside China generated the usual flight to safety of the market operators who mainly bought US Government bonds. However, when uncertainty became too much to handle, investors started to sell their positions to hoard dollars. In this stressful scenario, the US Treasuries market experienced an unusual malfunction, everybody wanted to sell but nobody was willing to buy.
What was the role of non-banking institution?

Varo Money has become the first fintech start-up to receive a US federal banking charter. What does this mean for the banking sector?- December 7th, 2020
Varo Money has recently been granted a national banking charter by the OCC, becoming the first fintech company to get one. This is a further boost to a flourishing industry, which is growing download by download, and could lead to many other start-ups following its footsteps. Up to now the increase in competition for consumer deposits has not resulted to a reduction of those held in traditional banks. Can this be a step towards it?

PNC Financial Services to buy BBVA USA: the second-largest U.S. banking deal since the 2008 financial crisis - December 5th, 2020
The Spanish financial group BBVA has reached an agreement to sell its activities in the US to PNC Financial Services for $11.6 billion in cash. The deal will be concluded by mid-2021. This deal represents the second biggest transaction in the US for financial companies since the crisis and will make of PNC the fifth biggest bank by assets.

Are we looking at another dot-com bubble?- December 3rd, 2020
Almost a year after the outburst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the US stock market is well over pre-Covid levels. Companies like Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google (the so called FAANGs) have done much better than the rest of the market, making some analysts fear the optimisms of investors is fuelled by irrational expectations. Are we facing another bubble in the technology sector or is this time different?

The US Department of Justice Against Google: what is happening with the antitrust lawsuit? - November 24, 2020
The recent antitrust action against Google could become the most aggressive lawsuit against a strong technology company since the case that opposed the DoJ and Microsoft in 1998, which some argue laid the foundation for Google’s growth and success. What is at stake?

Dry Pow(d)er: The dynamic role of PE in the Covid eraDry Pow(d)er: The Dynamic Role PE in the Covid Era - November 20, 2020
Even before the pandemic, throughout 2019 and in the first quarter of 2020, economies around the globe were slowing down.
A growing expectation of a global recession among private equity fund general partners (GPs) lead them to alter their investment strategies by accelerating exits and assessing recession-related risks with caution. Furthermore, overheated asset valuations pushed by aggressive corporate buyers and a crowded marketplace cut investment opportunities. However, the COVID crisis has totally changed the landscape, leading to many new challenges as well as opportunities for PE firms.

How did the US REIT industry enter the COVID-19 crisis?- November 9, 2020
REITs’ structural characteristics raise concerns about the potential exacerbated impact that recessionary periods, such as the unprecedented crisis we are experiencing today, may have on them. However, the stronger balance sheets, the ample sources of liquidity and the significant diversification with which REITs entered this recession, may provide greater confidence in their ability to navigate this crisis.

Acceleration of China stock listening on Wall Street- November 7, 2020
Despite the Trump decision of threatening to ban Chinese groups from US stock market, by delating many Chinese companies, the effect is totally the opposite. Always more Chinese firms are going public in Nasdaq and in the NYSE.

Which challenges does COVID-19 pose for the US aviation industry? - November 6, 2020
With the COVID-19 outbreak, travel restrictions and social distancing, US aviation industry is facing vey difficult challenges, seeing almost its whole revenues plummeting. What should it do to ride out this storm?

The history behind Silicon Valley most mysterious tech company
Palantir is not the traditional Silicon Valley tech company. Its unique business model, its ground-breaking products and its secretive approach have made it one of the most interesting companies in the US market, valued at around 20 billion. Contrary to expectations, though, last month Palantir decided to list on the NYSE, and in its filings to the S.E.C, some of the shadows were cast out.

Investing ahead of the 2020 US Presidential elections
In the current environment with COVID-19 cases reaching record levels in the USA, strong quantitative easing, considerable fiscal stimulus, and an approaching presidential election, the US stock market is looking for direction.

US banks outshine their foreign peers throughout the pandemic, but with substantially lower leverage - October 26, 2020
What stands behind the gap between US banks and foreign ones? Leverage is not the answer. What really gives US institutions their edge is their activities in trading, underwriting and asset management, which result in a higher risk density of their assets, but also higher resilience through the pandemic.

How is the Federal Reserve reacting to the Coronavirus pandemic? - May 11, 2020
This is an extremely difficult and crucial time for every country, but in particular for the US. The role and every decision of the Fed are immensely important for the American and global economy. This is why officials are constantly meeting so to be regularly updated and informed about the situation and, moreover, decide which solutions are needed to best address the problems brought by the pandemic.

Plunging stock prices may not solve the desperate search for excess return - May 9, 2020
For almost 10 years private equity and hedge fund houses and traditional asset managers have faced increasingly turbulent periods in the desperate search for significant excess returns to remunerate their demanding investors. The incapacity to find attractive investment opportunities has been justified in a variety of ways ranging from structural problems of the industry to excessively inflated asset prices. Will this correction in asset prices be enough to solve this problem?

How will Covid-19 reshape the fashion luxury market? - May 6, 2020
The disruption caused by Covid-19 has little precedent. The pandemic has had a severe impact on the globally integrated luxury good industry. As the fashion sales fall off millions of jobs are at risk. In an increasingly challenging environment, how will Covid-19 reshape the fashion luxury market?

US SMEs are struggling to get PPP relief, and fintech isn’t helping either - May 4, 2020
After the first lockdowns in the US, the government decided to create a program to help small businesses, which were heavily hit by the quarantine measures. The program, called Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), was inside the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on the 27th March 2020, and it was provided with $349 billion. The program is meant to provide liquidity for up to $10 million for 8 weeks to small businesses through federally guaranteed loans, backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA), with a 1% interest rate. The idea is helping small businesses, as their disruption would have harsh effects on the overall economy.

How are U.S. Banks responding to the crisis? - May 2, 2020
The Sars-Cov-2 virus pandemic almost reached every corner of the world and is particularly touching the United States and many European countries. Governments are taking severe and drastic precautions that will cause unquantifiable damage to the economy. The possible consequences of this crisis should make us worry.

PPD Inc 2020’s biggest U.S. IPO: rationale and comparison with the CROs industry - April 30, 2020
Big Pharma and Biotech rank as the business sectors with the highest expenses in R&D. Over the last decade, they have outsourced a share of their research services to CROs, a trend expected to increase in the foreseeable future. PPD Inc’s growth strategy needs fundings to be implemented, so the firm decided to successfully debut on Nasdaq on the 5th February as 2020’s biggest U.S. IPO. What risks are entailed in the industry? How will the stock perform at the time of the Covid-19?

Coronavirus war: dollar king or monetary system revolution? - April 29, 2020
China now seems in control of its Covid-19 outbreak and its economy starting to recover while the US is still experiencing rising fatalities. As a result, there are more and more concerns among economists on whether Covid-19 crisis will herald the end of the dollar century and the beginning of the Chinese one. But are these mere speculations or is there enough data supporting these theories?

Will renewable energy ever substitute fossil fuel companies? - April 28, 2020
The portion of renewable energy amid sources of electricity in the U.S. has been spreading over 10% in the last decade, reaching almost 21% for the first time in 2020. Industry executives and analysts forecast that renewable business will continue to grow in 2020 and afterwards, as oil, gas and coal companies will struggle financially and seek bankruptcy protection to sustain the damages brought by the current crisis.

How did the crisis affect the payout’s strategy of US corporations? - April 23, 2020
As the fast-growing pandemic spreads around the world causing major problems to the healthcare systems of most of the countries of the planet, a threatening economic crisis is just around the corner and both Government and Central Banks are making every effort to narrow its effects.
One of the first moves to avoid coronavirus triggering a credit crunch in Europe has been taken by Europe’s banking regulator, which has demanded that all EU lenders stop their planned dividend payments and share buybacks, but will US banks and big corporates ever take the same decision?

The largest oil supply cut agreement in history was not enough - April 21, 2020
On Sunday 12th April 2020, the U.S, Saudi Arabia and Russia led a coalition of 23 countries to reach a historic agreement to stabilize the oil market, by collectively cutting crude oil production by 9.7 million barrels a day. The global settlement put an end to the 2020 oil price war and represents the largest oil supply cut in history, withholding more than 13% of crude production from the market. However, despite the remarkable deal, the reduction was not enough to guarantee sustainable support to prices and on Monday 20th April 2020 the price of a barrel of the US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude, to be delivered in May dropped into negative territory for the first time in history after oil storage capacity reached its limit.

Blue Apron: should investors invest or not? - April 14, 2020
In these past few weeks, the entire world is going through a challenging time facing this bulletproof virus, COVID-19. Among the many out of the ordinary phenomena that we are witnessing, it might be interesting to highlight the case of Blue Apron.

How the coronavirus is changing the fate of the hedge fund industry - April 8, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak has put in severe doubt the ability of the hedge fund industry to overcome any financial unfavorable situation. Pessimistic ideas already emerged in 2008, when losses for the industry were on average 18%, despite delivering a better performance with respect to equity markets. However, in the decade following the financial crisis, strategies focused on bets on volatility shocks, low interest rates and bull markets have guaranteed outstanding performance, especially to passive funds.

A Black Swan Pierces a Bubble: Where We’ve Come From, Where We Are and Where We Might End Up - April, 7 2020
The low interest rates that the Federal Reserve implemented to revive the economy from the depths of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis contributed to solving the United States’ grave short-term ails but triggered the explosive growth of a problem that is only now coming back to haunt us – a $13.5 trillion global corporate debt binge. A study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on emerging risks in the corporate bond market, concluded that this massive pool of corporate debt suffers from lower overall credit quality, higher payback requirements, longer maturities, and inferior covenants. Specifically, in the post-crisis low rate environment, the percentage of BBB rated bonds as a proportion of total investment-grade bonds has risen substantially – from 38.9% in 2000-2017 to 51% in 2019.

How investors are reacting to the pandemic? An analysis of the VIX index as a market indicator - April 01, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic is a terrible issue that is affecting national and private health systems across the world: the number of deaths is continuously increasing and intensive care units are running out. On the other side, there are horrible economic news, which imply solvency and liquidity problems for many firms and the unemployment rate spiking in U.S. and Canada. Fluctuations in the equity stock market clearly reflects the uncertainty and the approaching recession, providing also many insights to investors.

Food Retailers in The Crisis: A Real Victory? - March 30, 2020
As markets experience one of their most volatile periods in its history, plunging into a new bear market, there are several losers and few winners. In particular, the consumer staple sector belongs to the second group, along with telecommunications. However, does this reflect the short and long term problems faced by the industry?

COVID-19’s Current Impact on the Global Real Estate Market - March 29, 2020
Office buildings, sports arenas, casinos, hotels and conference centers (just to name a few) were all built to accommodate large numbers of people. Their valuations heavily rely on projected occupancies, with the ideal scenario being to reach maximum capacity to maximize revenue. Yet, this week and for an indefinite amount of weeks, many of these assets will sit empty, burning holes in owner's pockets, as they continue to experience the effects of a slowing US economy. As many Americans are urged to work from home and the government tightens restrictions on social gatherings, it is important to understand how “social-distancing” has, and will continue to affect the world’s largest asset class; Real Estate.

Neobanks: bubble or paradigm shift for the banking industry? - March 27, 2020
On Tuesday 12th March, ex Inuit CEO and PayPal founding CEO Bill Harris announced his San Francisco based neobank One had just raised $ 17 million in Series A founding. Just like One, in the last decade the appearance and the spread of these new 100% digital financial institutions called ‘neobanks’ have certainly had a huge impact on both consumer banking and small business lending, shaking up the conventional form of banking. However, one of the biggest questions to answer remains whether their success is only temporary, or they will fully overtake traditional banking in the upcoming years.

Disney CEO Bob Iger steps aside and his new role in the Mouse House - March 26, 2020
The announcement of Bob Iger’s retirement was unexpected and seemed somewhat hastily arranged; he has postponed his retirement several times, most recently extending his contract until the end of 2021, but this time, with nearly two years left on his contract, he has been replaced by Bob Chapek, who was head of the parks and resort division from 2015.

How U.S. Airlines are dealing with Trump’s travel ban and coronavirus outbreak - March 23, 2020
On March 13th 2020, President Trump held a conference where he announced a ban on flights from European Countries to the United States for a 30-day period, as a precautionary measure in order to protect the U.S. from the coronavirus outbreak already widespread in the Schengen area. However, after Mr. Trump’s declaration, confusion started to reign among travellers, who were struggling to better understand the consequences of this ban.

A Primer on Opportunity Zone Funds - March 21, 2020
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created the Qualified Opportunity Zone program to provide a tax incentive for private, long-term investment in economically distressed communities. Although the program was enacted a couple of years ago, money managers and investors alike are still fumbling to figure out how exactly to take advantage of the new investing strategy as confusing rules and stipulations surround the legislation.

The Tumble of European Investment Banks in the US Market - March 19, 2020
In the last decade, the fast-paced Investment Banking sector has been facing critical changes that have reshaped its structure around the world. The years following the global financial crisis revealed the largest and most solid US banks as great winners, being able to more than double their profits and pose a substantial gap between all the other worldwide competitors.

Killing the virus, Fed's anti-infective guide: unleash crisis-era lending programmes against US treasury vanishing liquidity. What’s next? - March 17, 2020
In the wake of the WHO’s recognition of Coronavirus as a “global pandemic”, including over 3.045 confirmed cases and 60 linked deaths in 49 out of 50 American states, Trump administration declares the state of National Emergency. How are markets reacting and how can the Fed intervene?

Back to normal? Precedent for changes to central bank balance sheets - March 16, 2020
After the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) the US Federal Reserve implemented measures to spur growth in the then sputtering engine of the US economy. These measures mainly revolved around implementing a multi-phased quantitative easing program which followed the steps taken in the Great Depression of the 1930s and Japan in the 1990s – though, over time, the program undertaken after the GFC far exceeded previous programs in terms of expansion of the central bank’s balance sheet.

There's a lot of wealth out there - March 15, 2020
American households held an average of over $98trilliion of wealth in the last years. Wealth, or net worth, is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This wealth, however, isn’t equally distributed, meaning that the impressive amount of average $692.100 net worth per person is, in the facts, skewed by the so-called “super-wealthy” components.

Morgan Stanley to acquire E-Trade - March 12, 2020
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced on Thursday 20th of February that it is acquiring E-TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC), a leading financial brokerage company, in an all-stock transaction valued $13 billion. The definitive agreement conveys E-Trade shareholders will receive 1.0432 Morgan Stanley shares for each E-Trade share.

The 5G cold war between USA and China - March 10, 2020
For many decades, the USA held the title of the most thriving environment to develop new technologies within the TMT market. However, during the last few years, new companies have grown up and threatened U.S. primacy. One example is certainly provided by Huawei, a company that was able to emerge as one of the major drivers in the growth of 5G technologies worldwide.

Argentina: what is going on? - March 08,2020
Once again, Argentina is going through a very delicate period. The country has already defaulted 8 times since its independence and now the government is looking for a debt restructuring to avoid a messy default. Moody’s rating for the country stands at Caa2, reflecting “years of unpredictable and unsustainable macroeconomic and fiscal policymaking”.

The billionaires' space race - February 24, 2020
It is widely recognized that 2019 has been a record year for private investments in space companies, topping 5.8B$ across 198 investments. We expect 2020 to score historical IPOs from companies which have been increasing in the last 10 years and are prospected to become profitable in the short term.

The IMO 2020 reform and its impact over the oil market - February 13, 2020
From January 2020 the International Maritime Organization has imposed the largest reduction in the Sulphur contained in fuel consumed by shippers. The forthcoming measures are set to impose shipping vessels a maximum content of fuel equal to 0.5%, an enormous shifting compared to the current 3,5 wt%. The implementation is a result of a recommendation proposed by a subcommittee more than a decade ago at the United Nations, designing rules for shipping security and pollution.

Sugar is sweet, honey is sweeter: PayPal acquires Honey Science for $4bn - January 4, 2020
On Wednesday, November 20th, PayPal announced it would acquire Honey Science at $4 billion valuation, immediately adding a new tool to their already coveted fintech platform. This acquisition is the largest that PayPal has completed.

Investment flows as Streaming Services revive music industry - December 31, 2019
In recent weeks, the American cultural zeitgeist has had a rather peculiar and specific thing on its mind: the role of private equity in the music industry. This all started on November 14, 2019, when American artist Taylor Swift posted about a recent acquisition partially financed by the private equity firm The Carlyle Group.

Will Grubhub survive the food delivery price war? - December 30, 2019
In August 2018, Grubhub Inc.’s (NYSE:GRUB) share price had reached a peak of $149. Since then, shares in the American food-ordering and delivery company have witnessed a significant downfall and are now trading at $49.0. This downfall in the stock price reflects growing skepticism regarding the company’s business plan, which investors believe will be unable to defend the company’s market share vis-à-vis competitors such as Postmates, Doordash and Uber Eats.

Time to cry over spilled milk? Dean Foods filing for Chapter 11 - 29 December, 2019
The US largest milk producer files for bankruptcy, following a nationwide and global change in the way humans consume and perceive milk. There is a number of reasons explaining this, ethical and environmental are two. This event makes you wonder which is the next company to fall following the same shift in consumer demand.

Recent performance of Latin American sovereign bonds. More volatility to come? - 28 December, 2019
Latin America is no safe place for investors who are not used to risk taking. In such markets, one would be well advised to, as the old saying goes, “sleep with one eye open”, so as not to get caught by the sudden changes in market sentiment, caused so frequently by political and economic outbursts.

Google’s Project Cache for Consumer Dominance: Flirting with Banks to Avoid Getting into Banking - December 4, 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 - December 3, 2019
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? - November 24, 2019
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?