What we’re reading (5/27)
“EY Split-Up Plan Exposes Rift Among Accounting Firms” (Wall Street Journal). “Ernst & Young’s plan for a possible world-wide split of its audit and consulting businesses, code-named Project Everest according to people familiar with the matter, was dismissed by major rivals Friday who said they would keep their firms in one piece.”
“How Influencers Hype Crypto, Without Disclosing Their Financial Ties” (New York Times). “In some cases, promoters like Mr. Paul have admitted that they failed to disclose personal or financial ties to projects advertised on their feeds, a potential violation of federal marketing regulations. And even before the crypto market’s recent downturn, a series of these influencer-backed ventures had crashed spectacularly, hurting amateur traders and prompting lawsuits that could force some celebrities to compensate investors for their losses.”
“Please Don’t Invest In This Crypto Scam Because Deepfake Elon Musk Told You To” (Gizmodo). “The video with deepfake Musk, which started popping up on some YouTube channels about a week ago, introduces a scam cryptocurrency platform called BitVex that, contrary to its claims, steals the cryptocurrency that users deposit into it. Scammers behind BitVex say the platform was started by Musk and developed ‘by the best mathematicians from Tesla,’ according to a poorly made YouTube video on BitVex’s channel with more than 90,000 views. (The channel itself has 112,000 subscribers).”
“This Market Rally Could Force The Fed To Raise Rates Higher” (Barron’s). “Based on the decline in interest rates and the recovery in equity prices this past week, the answer would appear to be yes. Indeed, since early May, fed-funds futures have discounted about two fewer quarter-point hikes by the first half of 2023, when the tightening is expected to peak. A top range of 2.75%-3% now is forecast by February, according to the CME FedWatch site.”
“Why Investors Are Increasingly Worried About Recession In America” (The Economist). “From January until early May, falling share prices could be put down to the effect of rising bond yields, as fixed-income markets responded to guidance from the Federal Reserve that interest rates would be going up a lot and fast. Higher interest rates reduce the present value of a stream of future company profits. Shares were marked down accordingly, especially those of technology firms whose profits could be projected furthest into the future. But in recent weeks share prices have kept falling, even as bond yields have dropped back. This combination points to fears of recession.”
