Lawsuits Filed Against LDOS, KRMD and EBS - Jakubowitz Law Pursues Shareholders Claims

Reuters
Verizon to offload Yahoo, AOL for $5 billion
(Reuters) -Verizon Communications Inc is getting rid of its media businesses that include iconic brands Yahoo and AOL for $5 billion, ending an expensive and unsuccessful run in the media and advertising world. Despite spending more than a decade and billions of dollars building a stable of internet brands, the New York-based telecom company has struggled to make headway in a highly competitive internet advertising space dominated by Facebook Inc and Google. Having written $4.6 billion off the value of the businesses in 2018, Verizon will get just $4.25 billion in cash from private equity firm Apollo Global, along with preferred interests of $750 million and a 10% stake in the unit - about half of what it had paid for the businesses.
6h ago
Yahoo Finance
Warren Buffett: Zero interest rates have created a 'sea change' in finance
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett warned that the consequences of zero interest rates remain an unanswered question.
1d ago
Yahoo Finance
Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2021: Highlights and storylines
Warren Buffett addressed investors around the world on Saturday at Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK-A, BRK-B) 2021 Annual Shareholder Meeting.
2d ago
Yahoo Finance
Warren Buffett says if something happened to him, Greg Abel would take over Berkshire Hathaway
On Monday morning, CNBC's Becky Quick reported that when Buffett is no longer able to lead the company the top job will in fact go to 59-year-old Abel, vice chairman of non-insurance operations.
7h ago
CoinDesk
Ether Breaks Above $3.2K for the First Time Ever
Demand for ether continues to rise.
17h ago
Yahoo Finance
What is the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting? Here are the basics of Warren Buffett's big event
Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK-A, BRK-B) 2021 Annual Shareholders Meeting is taking place on Saturday, May 1 and will be live streamed exclusively here on Yahoo Finance.
2d ago
CoinDesk
Binance Smart Chain’s Spartan Protocol Loses $30M+ in Exploit
The attack happened just a few days after another DeFi protocol was attacked on Binance Smart Chain.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Greed, Bankers and Politics Star in Danish Negative-Rate Debacle
(Bloomberg) -- The country with the longest history of negative interest rates just hit a milestone that may offer a glimpse of what’s to come elsewhere.In Denmark, commercial banks have had to absorb negative rates since they were first introduced by the central bank in 2012. By 2019, the industry started sharing the cost of that policy with retail depositors. Today, Danes are the world champions in bearing the burden of negative rates together with their banks, with 35% of deposits affected.Last week, the government in Copenhagen decided to step in. The minister in charge of bank legislation, Simon Kollerup, turned to social media to launch an attack on the financial sector, and the “greed” he said it represents.“Banks have recently been lowering the bar for negative rates,” he said. “And this simply has to stop.”He commented a day after Danske Bank, Denmark’s biggest lender, said it was following others in the industry and more than halving its threshold for imposing a rate of minus 0.6%. As a result, retail depositors with more than 100,000 kroner ($16,000) will pay 0.6% to park savings exceeding that amount with the bank.“My worry is that banks will continue tightening the screws on negative rates so that average Danes need to pay to keep their money in a bank,” the minister said in a written comment to Bloomberg.Kollerup, who summoned the bankers’ association to talks, says there’s no excuse for passing negative rates on to private customers, and rejects the idea that monetary policy plays a role in determining commercial bank rates.Rate PoliticsThe battle that’s now unfolding between Danish banks and the government gives a sense of where the limits of negative rates may lie, and shows that those limits might be political, not monetary.Negative rates have become the lightning rod that Kollerup has seized to wage “a confrontation with greed, income inequality and division in society,” said Helle Ib, a political commentator at Borsen, Denmark’s biggest business newspaper.The bankers’ association, Finance Denmark, has questioned the merits of Kollerup’s economic reasoning. And the central bank issued a reminder on Friday, pointing out that its negative policy rates (which are necessitated by the krone’s peg to the euro) influence deposit and lending rates throughout the broader economy. It also hinted that politicians shouldn’t interfere in the process. “Banks’ interest rates are a matter for them and their customers,” central bank Governor Lars Rohde said.The central bank’s verbal intervention prompted a member of the opposition bloc in parliament to weigh in. Alex Vanopslagh, the leader of the Liberal Alliance party, told Berlingske he’s summoned Kollerup to a hearing to explain his comments on negative rates. “I trust the minister will say that he crossed the line, and that he lacks a basic grasp of how monetary policy works,” Vanopslagh said.Carsten Egeriis, the chief executive of Danske Bank, points out that Danes also enjoy low interest rates on their mortgages, which he called “the other side of the coin.” That dynamic “most of the time far outweighs the cost of negative interest rates on the deposit side,’ he said.Denmark is two years ahead of the euro zone, which first introduced negative rates in 2014. Jesper Rangvid, a professor of finance at Copenhagen Business School, says there are some lessons to be drawn from the Danish experience for euro-zone economies.He also notes that negative bank rates aren’t the destructive force once imagined. In fact, Rangvid points out that after years of zero, and ultimately negative retail deposit rates, Danish deposits have continued to rise.“The most important takeaway is that clients haven’t been leaving banks,” he said by phone. “That was the fear in the beginning, and that has not happened.”Ib at Borsen says it’s not a given that Kollerup will actually intervene. Ultimately, it’s probably more a case of “sending a signal than a hardcore revolution of economic policy,” she said.(Updates with reference to Kollerup being summoned to parliamentary hearing)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
12h ago
Bloomberg
Cathie Wood Buys Twitter Dip Amid Worst Plunge Since October
(Bloomberg) -- Cathie Wood saw a buying opportunity in Twitter Inc.’s worst week since October.Her firm, Ark Investment Management, scooped up about 1.3 million shares of the social media network worth $71 million on Friday as the stock plunged 15%, according to an email on the firm’s trading activity. That slide came after after Twitter reported disappointing first-quarter sales, in contrast to the stronger-than-expected results from other big tech companies, including Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.Ark’s actively managed exchange-traded funds have suffered as investors have shifted out of growth stocks as the nation rebounds, which will benefit companies whose businesses are more closely tied to swings in the economy. Her $23 billion flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) -- the two funds that bought Twitter shares -- are down 3.5% and up just 1.5% this year, respectively, after posting triple-digit returns in 2020.But Wood is known for doubling down on her strategies during selloffs, especially when automaker Tesla Inc. plunges. She’s repeatedly said that despite the broader rotation out of high-growth companies and into value stocks, her team maintains their conviction in innovative technologies and has a five-year time horizon.“Twitter fits well with Ark and Cathie Wood’s” investment style, said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. “It’s on brand to the extent that it’s in the tech space and it’s a new Internet oriented company. But it is different from some of the moonshot companies they really like. Twitter is a tech company, but it’s kind of just your standard social media.”The social media giant’s stock plunged late last week after company executives said sales were sluggish in the first months of the year. Although its revenue gained 28%, it lagged some of the other digital advertising behemoths like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.Wood’s ARKK fell 1.8% as of 11:07 a.m. in New York. The fund just notched first month of outflows since September 2019, losing about $76 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
3h ago
Reuters
Buffett says Berkshire "not competitive" with SPACs on deals
Warren Buffett on Saturday compared the buying frenzy by special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, to gambling with other people's money and said their activity has made it tough for his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, to compete on deals. Berkshire Hathaway has $70 billion to $80 billion it would "love to put to work," but has not been able to under the current conditions, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Buffett said. The SPACs generally have to spend their money in two years, as I understand it.
2d ago
Reuters
Digital Dollar Project to launch five U.S. central bank digital currency pilots
The U.S. nonprofit Digital Dollar Project said on Monday it will launch five pilot programs over the next 12 months to test the potential uses of a U.S. central bank digital currency, the first effort of its kind in the United States. The private-sector pilots initially will be funded by Accenture Plc and involve financial firms, retailers and NGOs, among others. The aim is to generate data that could help U.S. policymakers develop a digital dollar.
7h ago
Yahoo Finance
Selling Apple shares was 'probably a mistake' and Munger knew it: Buffett
Warren Buffett conceded that selling some shares of Apple in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio last year was likely a mistake, with the company an ongoing tech leader providing massive utility to users around the world.
2d ago
Benzinga
Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger Says Bitcoin Is 'Disgusting And Contrary To Interests Of Civilization'
The inevitable question came up about Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) during today's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) 2021 shareholders meeting with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Buffett Dodges: Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said he hates it when he sees politicians dodge questions, but that he would do so himself on the question of Bitcoin. "We had a governor one time in Nebraska, a long time ago, and he would get a tough question, you know. 'What do you think about property taxes?' or 'What should we do about schools?' and he'd look right at the person, and he'd say, 'I'm all right on that one!' and he'd walk off. Well, I'm all right on that one," Buffett said before turning it over to Vice Chairman Munger. See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin Munger Weighs In: "Those who know me well are just waving the red flag to the bull," Munger said. "Of course, I hate the Bitcoin success. I don't welcome a currency that's so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth. Nor do I like just shuffling out a few extra billions and billions and billions of dollars to someone who just invented a new financial product out of thin air. I think I should say modestly that I think the whole damned development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization, and I'll leave the criticism to others." To which Buffett responded, "I'm all right on that one!" Earlier in February, Munger had said that trading cryptocurrencies is "just dementia" and that the price of Bitcoin was far too volatile to be a mainstream medium of exchange. "It's really kind of an artificial substitute for gold, and since I never buy any gold, I never buy any Bitcoin. I recommend that other people follow my practice," he said. Bitcoin reached a new record high of over $63,000 on April 13. Price Action: Bitcoin is up 96.62% year-to-date. Bitcoin is up slightly by 1.76% in the last 24 hours at $57,776. See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaWarren Buffett And Charlie Munger Talk Economy, Markets At Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2021Berkshire Hathaway Posts Strong First-Quarter Operating Earnings of Billion© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
2d ago
Bloomberg
Rich Americans Fleeing Tax Hikes May Turbocharge Shift to ETFs
(Bloomberg) -- The booming ETF industry may be set to lure even more cash in the coming years as rich Americans facing higher capital gains taxes look to limit what they owe Uncle Sam.President Joe Biden’s plan to double the rate those making more than $1 million a year pay on investment profits would accelerate a shift that’s already seen hundreds of billions of dollars migrate from mutual funds to exchange-traded funds, market watchers say. That’s because ETFs are generally more tax efficient, spinning off fewer capital-gain disbursements that for some could soon become a lot more costly.In fact, by one measure, the tax efficiency of ETFs has been the single most important driver behind the tectonic shift in asset allocations in recent years. While the administration’s plan remains in its infancy and is sure to face intense scrutiny from lawmakers in the months ahead, even an incremental hike in the capital-gains rate would likely spur further ETF usage, according to David Perlman, an ETF strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management.“If capital gains tax rates are going to be higher, if you have a choice of a structure that helps to defer capital gains and gives you more control over when to recognize those gains, you’d be more inclined to go in that direction,” Perlman said.When an investor exits a mutual fund, the fund’s manager must sell securities to raise cash for the redemption. The same investor leaving an ETF can sell their shares on to another investor, meaning neither the fund nor its manager has made a taxable transaction.Meanwhile, the “in-kind” process used to create and redeem shares in an ETF -- whereby the ETF issuer exchanges the fund’s underlying securities with a market maker rather than transacting in cash -- means the ETF rarely executes a taxable sale.A December study by researchers at Villanova and Lehigh universities found that over the past five years, ETFs have averaged a tax burden 0.92% lower than active mutual funds. Moreover, particularly for high net-worth investors, tax considerations have outweighed both performance and fees as the primary driver of flows out of active mutual funds and into ETFs, the findings showed.“There’s no question Biden’s plan to hike the capital gains tax could be a boon for ETFs,” Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, an advisory firm, said via email. “Despite significant market share gains by ETFs over the past decade, there are still trillions of dollars locked in less tax efficient mutual funds.”Last year alone, the ETF industry took in almost $500 billion, while mutual funds lost about $362 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.ETF AdvantageMost ETFs hardly pass along any capital gains to shareholders nowadays. Only 3 of 585 in a CFRA analysis made disbursements in 2020, Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF & mutual fund research at the firm, wrote in an April 26 report. Over the same span, 37 of 39 domestic equity mutual funds from T. Rowe Price Group Inc. incurred a capital gain, the analysis showed.“We expect more people that mix ETFs and mutual funds together will be more inclined to shift toward strategies to avoid paying higher capital gains taxes in the future,” Rosenbluth wrote.Even investors not affected by the higher rate could migrate toward ETFs, he added. Simply the discussion of capital gains reminds investors of the industry’s innate tax advantages over mutual funds.Others aren’t convinced a higher capital-gains rate will do much to boost inflows into ETFs. Wealthy investors would have to sell their mutual fund holdings to make the switch, triggering significant tax liabilities in the process, said Michael Zigmont, head of trading and research at Harvest Volatility Management.“I see this tax hike not being good or bad for ETFs,” he said.Meanwhile, ETFs don’t suit every investment need. The U.S. retirement system remains heavily geared toward mutual funds, for example.Nonetheless, Perlman agrees with Rosenbluth that the potential tax change could even have an impact on investors below the $1 million annual earnings threshold.Those expecting to soon find themselves in the upper tax bracket, or concerned the threshold could be lowered down the road, are also likely to shift their future allocations, he said.“The incentives apply more broadly than just to those impacted by the proposal,” Perlman said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Warren Buffett Sees a ‘Red Hot’ Economy With Creeping Inflation
(Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett delivered a clear verdict Saturday on the state of the U.S. economy as it emerges from the pandemic: red hot.“It’s almost a buying frenzy,” the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chief executive officer said during the conglomerate’s annual meeting, which was held virtually from Los Angeles. “People have money in their pocket and they’re paying higher prices,” he said.Buffett attributed the faster-than-expected recovery to swift and decisive rescue measures by the Federal Reserve and U.S. government, which helped kick 85% of the economy into “super high gear,” he said. But as growth roars back and interest rates remain low, many -- including Berkshire -- are raising prices and there is more inflation “than people would have anticipated six months ago,” he said.Buffett reunited with his long-time friend and business partner Charlie Munger for this year’s meeting. Munger didn’t make it to last year’s meeting in Omaha, Nebraska -- Buffett’s hometown -- due to the shutdowns across the country. Some shareholders were relieved to see the duo fielding questions together again.“I really feel that both Charlie and Warren displayed their usual and amazing level of acuity and intellectual energy,” said James Armstrong, who manages assets including Berkshire shares as president of Henry H. Armstrong Associates.Buffett and Munger spent hours fielding questions, from the economy, to climate and diversity, the SPAC boom, taxes and succession. Here’s the lowdown:Climate Pressure:Berkshire faced pressure from two shareholders proposals, one to improve transparency related to its efforts on climate change. The topic was bound to be a feature at the meeting -- and it was.When asked about the proposals, Buffett stuck to his previous stance. Measures to produce big reports on diversity and climate for his business lines spanning energy to railroads were, he said, “asinine.” The proposals were later voted down.Buffett was also asked about Berkshire’s stake in oil and gas producer Chevron Corp., which it disclosed earlier this year. Buffett said he felt “no compunction” in the least about its ownership in the company, which he said had benefited society in many ways. While he acknowledged the world is shifting away from hydrocarbons, people on the extreme sides of either argument are “a little nuts,” he said.Greg Abel, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, called climate change a “material risk.” He added that they’re setting targets and spending $18 billion over 10 years on transmission infrastructure.Killer SPACs:Buffett warned investors that Berkshire might not have much luck striking deals amid the boom in special purpose acquisition companies that gripped the market over the past year.“It’s a killer,” Buffett said about the influence of SPAC companies on Berkshire’s ability to find businesses to buy. “That won’t go on forever, but it’s where the money is now, and Wall Street goes where the money is.”Buffett, 90, also spent part of Berkshire’s annual meeting Saturday addressing the recent boom in retail and day trading. A lot of people have entered the stock market “casino” over the past year, he said.Tax:Buffett said President Joe Biden’s proposals for a corporate tax hike would hurt Berkshire shareholders. He added that antitrust laws and tax policy could change things for the company but new tax laws wouldn’t alter its no-dividend policy.Succession:Buffett and Munger, 97, fielded the majority of questions at Saturday’s meeting, but their two top deputies Abel and Ajit Jain, who runs the insurers, also shared the stage. Investors were able to get a closer look at the pair who are considered the top candidates for the job.Munger dropped a little mention of the post-Buffett years that drew speculation on social media about the most likely candidate to succeed Buffett. The CEO was pointing out that decentralization doesn’t work everywhere because it requires a certain type of culture that businesses need to have.“Yeah, but we do,” Munger insisted. “And Greg will keep the culture.”Abel has long been considered the top candidate to replace Buffett, especially when he was promoted to a vice chairman role overseeing all non-insurance operations, which gives him a wide array of responsibilities, including oversight of the railroad BNSF and the energy business.Errors:Buffett offered a few mea culpas during Saturday’s meeting. He noted that selling some Apple Inc. stock last year was a mistake and even said that Haven, the health care venture with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Amazon.com Inc., thought it could fight the “tape worm” of American health care costs but the worm won.“That was probably a mistake,” Buffett said of those Apple stock sales last year. Berkshire still owned a roughly $110 billion stake in the iPhone maker at the end of March. “In fact, Charlie, in his usual low-key way, let me know that you thought it was a mistake too,” he said to Munger, who shared the stage with him.Cash Pile:Before the annual meeting started, the company released its first-quarter earnings, giving investors a dive into the 19.5% operating profit gain during the period.Berkshire ended the quarter with a near-record $145.4 billion of cash on hand as it continued to generate funds faster than Buffett could deploy them. But Buffett also ended pulling back on some capital deployment levers during the period. He bought back just $6.6 billion of Berkshire’s own stock, short of the record $9 billion set in prior quarters, and ended up with the second-highest level of net stock sales in the first quarter in almost five years.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
19h ago
Yahoo Finance
Buffett: I find it almost impossible to believe that it's terrible to repurchase shares
Billionaire investing icon Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A), defended the practice of share buybacks at his annual meeting on Saturday.
2d ago
Bloomberg
Marty Chavez on Private Capital, Regulating Big Tech
May.03 -- R. Martin "Marty" Chavez, vice chairman and partner at Sixth Street Partners, discusses his expanded role at Sixth Street, private capital investment strategy, and the outlook for big tech regulation on "Bloomberg Markets."
3h ago
Reuters
Warren Buffett says Greg Abel is his likely successor at Berkshire Hathaway -CNBC
(Reuters) -Warren Buffett ended years of speculation about succession at Berkshire Hathaway Inc by saying Greg Abel, who oversees its non-insurance businesses, would become chief executive officer if he were no longer in charge. "The directors are in agreement that if something were to happen to me tonight, it would be Greg who'd take over tomorrow morning," Buffett told CNBC, the station said on Monday. Buffett, 90, has never publicly signaled any plan to step down.
6h ago
Yahoo Finance
Warren Buffett dumped airline stocks to save them from a disaster
Why Buffett dumped Berkshire airline stock holdings at a huge loss to save the companies
2d ago
Yahoo Finance
Warren Buffett: 'Chevron's not an evil company in the least'
Warren Buffett on Saturday rebuked environmental concerns over the company's $4.1 billion stake in oil giant Chevron (CVX), saying the company has benefitted society and criticizing advocates on either extreme of corporate sustainability as "nuts."
2d ago

Symbol	Last Price	Change	% Change
EBS Emergent BioSolutions Inc.	61.21	+0.23	+0.38%
KRMD Repro Med Systems, Inc.	3.7400	-0.0300	-0.80%
LDOS Leidos Holdings, Inc.	104.18	+2.90	+2.86%

S&P 500

Dow 30

Nasdaq

Russell 2000

Crude Oil

Gold

Silver

EUR/USD

10-Yr Bond

GBP/USD

USD/JPY

BTC-USD

CMC Crypto 200

FTSE 100

Nikkei 225

Lawsuits Filed Against LDOS, KRMD and EBS - Jakubowitz Law Pursues Shareholders Claims

Recommended Stories

Verizon to offload Yahoo, AOL for $5 billion

Warren Buffett: Zero interest rates have created a 'sea change' in finance

Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2021: Highlights and storylines

Warren Buffett says if something happened to him, Greg Abel would take over Berkshire Hathaway

Ether Breaks Above $3.2K for the First Time Ever

What is the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting? Here are the basics of Warren Buffett's big event

Binance Smart Chain’s Spartan Protocol Loses $30M+ in Exploit

Greed, Bankers and Politics Star in Danish Negative-Rate Debacle

Cathie Wood Buys Twitter Dip Amid Worst Plunge Since October

Buffett says Berkshire "not competitive" with SPACs on deals

Digital Dollar Project to launch five U.S. central bank digital currency pilots

Selling Apple shares was 'probably a mistake' and Munger knew it: Buffett

Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger Says Bitcoin Is 'Disgusting And Contrary To Interests Of Civilization'

Rich Americans Fleeing Tax Hikes May Turbocharge Shift to ETFs

Warren Buffett Sees a ‘Red Hot’ Economy With Creeping Inflation

Buffett: I find it almost impossible to believe that it's terrible to repurchase shares

Marty Chavez on Private Capital, Regulating Big Tech

Warren Buffett says Greg Abel is his likely successor at Berkshire Hathaway -CNBC

Warren Buffett dumped airline stocks to save them from a disaster

Warren Buffett: 'Chevron's not an evil company in the least'