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Mailbag: Early Investors Don’t Need to Worry About WeWork

Q: I heard you’re going to TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. Will you be going to Steph Curry’s session? How do you feel about celebrity investors and founders?
A: You’re right. (You must have read the article Assistant Managing Editor Allison Brickell wrote on Monday.) I’m at TechCrunch Disrupt, and, in fact, I’m listening to Joseph Gordon-Levitt trash YouTube right now. He’s making some great points. He thinks YouTube’s basic business model – offering free access to users in exchange for getting massive amounts of data and optimizing for third-party advertising – is NOT a good thing. And he points out …read more […]

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UPDATE 1-Dish customers regain access to Fox channels

U.S. satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp customers can again watch Fox Corp local channels like FS1 and FS2 after the companies agreed on a new multiyear contract , Dish said on Sunday. Millions of Dish customers lost access to Fox local channels last month in 17 markets across 23 states and the District of Columbia. Fox had removed cable networks FS1, FS2, Big 10 Network, Fox Soccer Plus and Fox Deportes, a Spanish-language network, from Dish after failing to reach a new agreement with the company. …read more […]

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Recession Fears Are Seeping Into the Stock Market

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Last week brought lots of bad news about the American economy. The stock market treated each new data point suggesting that activity was slowing down as bad news. And that, in itself, is bad news. Here’s why: Grim tidings for the economy aren’t necessarily so bad for investors, because they tend to lead to lower interest rates. That, in turn, makes it cheaper to invest and justifies paying a higher multiple for stocks. Growth that is too strong can mean higher rates, and that’s a problem. Hence equity investors yearn for “a Goldilocks economy” – one that …read more […]

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Goldman Sachs: 3 Stocks to Buy Despite Recession Fears

A recession could be headed your way, warns Goldman Sachs — and that’s okay.In a recent report, Goldman private wealth management chief investment officer Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani put the chances of a recession hitting the U.S. in 2020 at somewhere between 25% and 30% — triple the risk seen three years ago. Despite the risk, though, there’s also still opportunity to profit from owning the right companies.Jobs numbers in the U.S. remain strong. GDP growth is expected to end this year at 2.3%, then slow in 2020, but still remain above 2% — not negative at all. And in the event …read more […]

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Whatever the Future Holds, Stocks Are Not Priced for a Recession

(Bloomberg) — Nobody has a good record predicting the U.S. economy, not pundits and certainly not stock investors. And while a recession has been incorrectly forecast practically every day of the current bull market, when one finally comes it’s going to hurt.Ten years of gains have fattened price-earnings ratios in U.S. stock benchmarks. Based on profits already booked, the S&P 500 currently trades at about 19.4 times income, while the Nasdaq 100 fetches 24.4 times. Those ratios arguably make sense during an expansion, especially when interest rates are so low. Should growth seize up, as it has shown signs of …read more […]

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Johnson Doubles Down on Oct. 31 No-Deal Divorce: Brexit Update

(Bloomberg) — Boris Johnson doubled down on his pledge to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 without a deal if necessary, two days after it emerged he’d promised to obey a law forcing him to send a letter requesting a delay if he can’t get an agreement with the bloc.The U.K. premier’s latest promise to deliver Brexit in an op-ed in The Sun on Sunday comes as he tries to persuade the EU to negotiate a new deal along the lines of the one he proposed during the week. It envisaged keeping Northern Ireland in regulatory …read more […]

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UPDATE 3-Thousands defy anti-mask law and march in Hong Kong

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through central Hong Kong on Sunday wearing face masks in defiance of colonial-era emergency powers which threaten them with a year in prison for hiding their faces. Police fired tear gas in several places in the Asian financial hub but there was no obvious signs of violence, with protesters ignoring the gas, dousing the canisters with water or tossing them back at police. Police said protesters were participating in unlawful assemblies, blocking major roads, and warned they would soon begin “dispersal operations on Hong Kong island”, ordering protesters to leave immediately. …read more […]

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World's Best-Run Pension Funds Say It's Time to Start Worrying

(Bloomberg) — Back in 2012, the world’s best-managed pension market was thrown a lifeline by the Danish government to help contain liabilities. That was when interest rates were still positive.Seven years later, with rates now well below zero, even Denmark’s $440 billion pension system says the environment has become so punishing that it may be time for a change in European rules.Henrik Munck, a senior consultant at Insurance & Pension Denmark, an umbrella organization, says the way liabilities are currently calculated “could cause a negative spiral” that forces funds to keep buying low-risk assets, drive yields lower and the value …read more […]

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Investors on Recession Watch as Powell Speaks: Economy Week

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. economy is in entering dire straits as the longest expansion in its history increasingly looks in jeopardy.Manufacturing is contracting, services look wobbly and now the previously solid labor market is cracking. That leaves investors worried that the economy is barreling toward its first recession since 2009 even though Bloomberg Economics sees just a 25% chance of that occurring next year.Having previously indicated a willingness to take to the sidelines after reducing interest rates twice this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has two opportunities this week to re-calibrate his outlook as investors increasingly press for a …read more […]