What we’re reading (1/8)
“Federal Investigators Probing AmEx Card Sales Practices” (Wall Street Journal). “Federal investigators are probing business-card sales practices at American Express Co., according to people familiar with the matter. The inspectors general offices of the Treasury Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Federal Reserve are investigating whether AmEx used aggressive and misleading sales tactics to sell cards to business owners and whether customers were harmed, the people said.”
“Hyundai Motor Says It’s In Early Talks With Apple To Develop A Car, Sends Shares Soaring 23%” (CNBC). “Shares of Hyundai Motor surged 23% after the South Korean automaker said it was in early-stage talks with Apple over potentially working together to develop an electric car. ‘We understand that Apple is in discussion with a variety of global automakers, including Hyundai Motor. As the discussion is at its early stage, nothing has been decided,’ a representative from Hyundai Motor told CNBC’s Chery Kang.”
“BlackRock Is Leading A $120 Trillion Investment Boom That Is Upending Wall St.” (OilPrice.com). “Investing will never be the same again. The $120 trillion sustainability trend has left no sector untouched, and it is fueling one of the biggest transfers in capital the world has ever seen. Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager with $7 trillion under management, has already said that its clients are looking to double their ESG investment in the next 5 years. And that is only the beginning.”
“'Don't Sell A Share': Billionaire Investor Chamath Palihapitiya Says Tesla's Stock Could Triple From Current Levels, Making Elon Musk The First Trillionaire” (Business Insider). “The billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya said Tesla's stock could be worth three times its current valuation, which would make CEO Elon Musk the first trillionaire…[Palihapitiya] told investors in a CNBC interview on Thursday. He advised investors to get behind Musk and other entrepreneurs who wouldn't bend to short-term profits and who were striving to make the world a better place.”
“What, Did Something Happen In Washington…? Because Wall Street Sure As Hell Didn’t Notice” (Dealbreaker). “Over the last four years, Wall Street has demonstrated a truly remarkable capacity to shake off whatever crimes and horrors are unfolding outside of its boardrooms and trading floors, up to and including a global pandemic that’s killed 2 million people and shuttered every developed economy in the world. So, you know, what’s a little armed invasion of the U.S. Capitol in service of a petty tyrant to overthrow the very stability and system of government that business leaders (many of them with no small amount of fealty to said tyrant, however transactional) insist are the very things that undergird American capitalism and prosperity?”
