This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Intuit CEO Brad Smith will leave his role after 11 years at the company.
• Smith, who will stay on through the end of 2018, is replaced by Sasan Goodarzi, the Intuit exec behind strong growth in the company's QuickBooks business. 
• Intuit will also change chief technology officers at the end of the year. Tayloe Stansbury is replaced by Marianna Tessel, the chief product development officer from Goodarzi's team.

Intuit's executive suite will get a major shake up at the end of the year. 

Intuit CEO Brad Smith will step down from his role in December after 11 years in the job, the company announced Thursday. 

 “I never wanted to be that athlete who loses half a step or can’t complete the pass,” Smith, who is 54, told Fortune ahead of the announcement. “I wanted to step down when I was still in my learning zone and still had gas in the tank.”

On January 1, 2019, Smith will pass the torch to Sasan Goodarzi, senior vice president and general manager of the small business and self-employed group —a rapidly growing segment which includes QuickBooks.

Goodarzi first joined the company in 2004, and has since led the financial institutions division as well as the TurboTax division.

“Sasan is better prepared to be CEO than I was 11 years ago,” Smith, who will stay at the company as executive chairman of the board, told Fortune. 

Smith, a West Virginia native who rose through the ranks at Intuit to become CEO, leaves with an impressive record. Under Smith's decade-plus tenure at the top, Intuit's annual revenue has doubled to nearly $6 billion and the company's stock has increased roughly 600%.

Wall Street didn't take well to the news. Intuit — which includes TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint and Turbo — fell 4% on Thursday following the announcement, which corresponded with strong Q4 2018 earnings.

Intuit's Chief Technology Officer Tayloe Stansbury will also step down on January 1. He is replaced by Marianna Tessel, a former VMware and Docker engineer who joined Intuit in 2017 as chief product development officer for Goodarzi's division. 

During Intuit's recently completed fiscal fourth quarter, revenue Revenue increased 17% for the quarter adjusted earnings per share were up 60%.

SEE ALSO: What you need to know about Keith Block, the ex-Oracle exec who Wall Street says got a 'well-deserved' promotion to co-CEO of Salesforce

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday stayed three orders denying bitcoin ETF applications that sought to list a total of nine such funds on regulated exchanges including NYSE Arca. Those orders, as CCN reported, were issued on Wednesday, further confirming the agency’s hesitancy to make cryptocurrency more accessible to retail investors through

The post Newsflash: SEC Stays Wednesday Decision Denying Bitcoin ETF Applications, Commission Will Review appeared first on CCN

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will review the disapproval orders for nine bitcoin ETFs issued on Wednesday.

• Biotech billionaire and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong is in talks to join an investor group bidding for newspaper publisher Tronc.
• Soon-Shiong, through his investment firm Nant Capital, may partner with a private equity firm led by hedge fund manager William Z. Wyatt, which has been in talks with Tronc since early August.

Biotech billionaire and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong is in talks to join an investor group bidding for newspaper publisher Tronc, according to people familiar with the matter.

Soon-Shiong, through his investment firm Nant Capital, is in discussions to partner with private equity firm Donerail Group, led by hedge fund manager William Z. Wyatt, which has been in talks with Tronc since early August.

The people cautioned that the talks may fall apart and Soon-Shiong may choose not to work with Wyatt's firm. 

A representative for Soon-Shiong could not be immediately reached for comment. A representative for Donerail Group declined to comment. 

Soon-Shiong spent $500 million to acquire the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune along with Spanish-language Hoy and a bunch of other community newspapers from Chicago-based Tronc in June 2018.

Soon-Shiong also remains Tronc’s second-largest shareholder, with a nearly 25% stake. Chicago entrepreneur and former Tronc chairman Michael Ferro is the largest shareholder, with a nearly 26% stake. 

The bid is not entirely surprising, as industry insiders were left wondering why Soon-Shiong coughed up so much for Tronc's California properties in June, when he could have had the entire company for just another couple hundred million.

Although Soon-Shiong's deal with Tronc was announced in February, negotiations to close the deal stretched for several months. The talks stalled around issues relating to how the California newspapers' website operations would run, as the back-end would be shared with Tronc for the next year. The potential partnership with Donerail enables Soon-Shiong to seize control of those operations and implement a smoother transition.

A 65 year-old South African native and former UCLA surgeon, Soon-Shiong has amassed a fortune by building and subsequently selling two biopharmaceutical companies. He owns six California hospitals, including St. Vincent and St. Francis in Los Angeles as well as a nearly 4.5% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers.

Since taking over the LA Times, he has been on a mission to rebuild and revitalize the newsroom, which saw three editors in 10 months and five publishers in four years. He has installed veteran journalist Norman Pearlstine as executive editor, and made several other high-profile hires including the New York Times' Sewell Chan as deputy managing editor.

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This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Deutsche Bank is taking an undisclosed stake in payments technology company ModoPayments.
• The technology makes it easier for businesses to send money to each other and to consumers via mobile. 
• More consumers, and particularly those in emerging markets, are electing to skip bank accounts and hold their cash in so-called e-wallets. 

  ---

Imagine the CFO of a Fortune 500 company sitting in a New York skyscraper is able to send a multi-million dollar payment to a supplier in South Africa that he receives on his mobile phone.  

That's the promise of a new investment Deutsche Bank has made into ModoPayments, a Richardson, Texas-based startup that makes it easier for businesses to send money to one another electronically. 

Deutsche declined to give the size of the investment, which is being made out of the German lender's transaction banking and cash management units. 

Currently, large transaction banks like Deutsche Bank can arrange to have their corporate clients make payments via their mobile phones, but it's often expensive and time-consuming since many of these payment systems are built on old technology. 

Modo improves this process by reducing friction between payment systems. This enables Deutsche and its customers to send payments through a host of applications where consumers are increasingly holding their money, like Kenya's mobile-phone based system M-Pesa and China's WeChat. 

"It’s something we could do and have looked at in the past but it’s very complex, expensive, and bilateral. Their technology allows us to be agnostic and faster to market," Deutsche's global head of digital cash products for global transaction banking David Watson said in an interview. "By partnering with Modo, we deal directly with them and they take on the responsibility of the extension into the likes of M-Pesa, WeChat or Alipay, and other e-Wallet providers."

That brings scale to the firm's transaction banking business just as more consumers — and particularly those in emerging markets — are electing to skip bank accounts and hold their cash in so-called e-wallets. Think of an insurance company that's paying out large-scale claims to consumers without bank accounts, or software developers who prefer to have their money deposited directly into an online wallet. 

"You want to make sure you pay them in a way that makes it easy for them," Watson said. "Many of our client’s customers or providers don’t have traditional bank accounts like you and I might have in the US right now, where we open an e-wallet linked to a credit card or debit card. And there are places where it has jumped from cash to e-wallets. In those locations, you don’t want to mail them checks or cash; you want to deposit it right into an e-wallet."

Later this year, or early in 2019, Deutsche Bank expects to unveil products it's been developing in concert with strategic clients and Modo, Watson said. He declined to name the clients or describe the product. 

The investment in Modo is the latest fintech investment for Deutsche Bank. In May, the bank bought India-based software developer Quantiguous Solutions to help accelerate its application programming interface program. 

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All three major US indices slumped Thursday, one day after the S&P 500 set a record for its longest bull run in history, as Trump's legal woes and escalating trade tensions continued to loom over Wall Street. The dollar jumped, and Treasury yields fell. 

Here's the scoreboard:

Dow Jones industrial average: 25,648.92 −84.68 (-0.33%)

S&P 500: 2,855.27 −6.55 (-0.23%)

Nasdaq Composite: 7,878.46 −10.64 (-0.13%)

1. The Trump administration enacted tariffs on an additional $16 billion worth of Chinese goods, prompting an in-kind response from Beijing. The actions came as the countries entered their second day of mid-level trade talks, where little progress was expected. 
2. Central bankers descended on Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a two-day symposium. The annual meeting comes a day after the Federal Reserve signaled in meeting minutes it would raise rates "soon" and will be followed by a closely-watched speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Here's a look at what to watch for.
3. Earnings season rolls on. Alibaba's revenue jump of 61% year-over-year after a boost in online spending. 

And a look at the upcoming economic calendar:

• Core durable goods numbers are out in the US. 
• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks in Jackson Hole. 

SEE ALSO: The chances of a Trump impeachment are climbing — here's how JPMorgan says you can protect your investments

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Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has called for an independent payment system free of the US, which experts have said is extremely positive for Bitcoin. Throughout the past several months, Iran and Turkey were hit hard by US sanctions, excluded from the global financial system. The two countries have been unable to initiate transactions to other

The post Boost for Bitcoin? Germany Aims to Withdraw From US-Led Financial System appeared first on CCN

• Alibaba has reported that revenue surged 61% year-over-year in the company's first quarter, boosted by its core e-commerce and cloud-computing segments.
• Its revenue growth was the strongest of the so-called FAANG + BAT group.
• Net income attributable to shareholders took a one-time hit because of the increased valuation of Ant Financial, making shares given to Alibaba employees more expensive.
• Alibaba shares were up about 4% immediately after the results, but are now down more than 2%.
• Watch Alibaba trade in real time here.

Alibaba reported strong first-quarter revenue growth on Thursday morning as its core e-commerce and fast-growing cloud-computing segments provided a boost.

The Chinese e-ecommerce giant said revenue soared 61% year-over-year to 80.9 billion yuan, or about $11.8 billion, edging out the 80.88 billion yuan that analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting.

That revenue growth was well above that of its peers in the so-called FAANG + BAT group, which also includes Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, the Google parent Alphabet, Baidu, and Tencent. Facebook's revenue growth was the next highest at 42%.

Revenue from core commerce was up 61% year-over-year, while its cloud-computing revenue jumped 93% year-over-year.

Alibaba reported net income attributable to shareholders of 8.7 billion yuan and diluted earnings per share of 3.3 yuan, which easily beat the 2.57 yuan that was anticipated.

Net income attributable to shareholders was affected by an 11.5 billion yuan hit as the result of an increase in the valuation of Ant Financial, causing shares given to Alibaba employees to be more expensive. Excluding that one-time impact, net income attributable to shareholders and diluted earnings per share would have jumped 35% year-over-year and 33% year-over-year respectively.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at 8.04 yuan, missing the 8.19 yuan that was expected.

"Alibaba had another excellent quarter, with significant user expansion and even more robust engagement across our growing ecosystem," CEO Daniel Zhang said in a press release.

"Our China retail marketplace business continues to gain share, with New Retail initiatives driving further revenue growth and enabling our retail partners to seamlessly serve customers. We are executing our plan of providing more value and choice to users along the consumption continuum, with digital entertainment and local service offerings that tap into big addressable markets beyond core commerce."

Shares were up about 4% immediately following the results, but are now down more than 2%.

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• An investment firm with a $164 million stake in Tesla is urging Elon Musk to not take the company private.
• ARK Investment Management says Tesla's stock price could be worth $4,000, but will never get there on private markets. 
• Watch Tesla trade in real-time here. 

ARK Investment Management — which owns 580,000 shares of Tesla, worth roughly $163.84 million — has published an open letter to CEO Elon Musk urging him to not take the electric-car maker private, arguing the stock could be worth nearly ten times the billionaire's $420 target.

"Tesla should be valued somewhere between $700 and $4,000 per share  in five years," Cathie Wood, the firm's founder and chief executive, said.

"Taking Tesla private today at $420 per share would undervalue it greatly, depriving many investors of the opportunity to participate in its success. In our view, given the right investment time horizon, TSLA is a deep value stock today."

Of course, there's a lot standing between Tesla and its stock being worth $4,000 a share.

ARK's investment thesis counts on the company fully transitioning from a manufacturer to a full-fledged "mobility-as-a-service" company. When it reaches that point, ARK estimates, its profit margins could be as much as 80%. In it's most recent quarterly filing this month, Tesla reported total gross margins of 15%.

"In the $4,000 scenario, our assumptions are conservative: we incorporate profits only from cars and certain autonomous taxi networks, not from trucks, drones, utility scale energy storage, or the MaaS opportunity in China," ARK, which manages $5.9 billion, wrote.

"Further, we incorporate the roughly $20 billion in dilution that might be necessary to penetrate and scale the latter four markets."

For context, Tesla's average price target among sell-side research analysts is $333, according to Bloomberg. Even the most bullish analyst on Wall Street, Pierre Ferragu of New Street Research, has a target of $533 — a little more than one-eighth of ARK's target.

Musk has argued that going private will ease the burden and shortsightedness that comes from analysts and investors every quarterly earnings report, but ARK argues the opposite will be true.

"I understand why you may want to take Tesla private, but I must try to dissuade you," the letter says.

"First, as a private company, Tesla will be unable to capitalize on its competitive advantages as rapidly and dramatically as it would as a public company, an important consideration given the network effects and natural geographic monopolies to which autonomous taxi and truck networks will submit.

"Second, in the private market, Tesla would lose the free publicity associated with your role as the CEO of the public company not only with the bestselling mid-sized premium sedan in the US, but also arguably in the best position to launch a completely autonomous taxi network nationwide in the next few years." 

Shares of Tesla have whipsawed since August 7, the date of Musk's initial announcement that he would attempt to take Tesla private. After soaring to near-record highs of $389, shares fell back below $300 amid reports of a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission and a slew of class-action lawsuits. It's currently trading near $321.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that Musk has hired Morgan Stanley in his bid to take Tesla private. That follows the bank's analyst, Adam Jonas, suspending coverage of the stock on Tuesday, which is typical when a bank's investment banking division is involved in a deal with a company covered by its research department. Goldman Sachs suspended coverage on August 15, admitting that it is involved in the deal in some capacity.

"As public equity markets continue to go passive, I believe we are witnessing a massive misallocation of capital, with innovation the most inefficiently priced part of the market," ARK said.

"Tesla epitomizes this capital allocation problem and, when the market understands it, your stock should enjoy significant upside, serving as a valuable lesson for public market investors to reconsider their short-sighted ways."

SEE ALSO: Wall Street analysts tore down a Tesla Model 3 and found 'significant fit & finish issues'

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• The Brazilian real was down 2% against the US dollar Thursday.
• Political uncertainty has pushed the currency to its weakest level since at least 2016.
• Follow the Brazilian real in real time here.

The Brazilian real extended losses Thursday as political chaos compounded fears surrounding a currency that has already been under pressure.

The Brazilian real was down 2% around 3:15 p.m. ET, holding close to record lows. The currency, now at its weakest level against the dollar since at least 2016, has shed nearly a fourth of its value this year. 

The country is facing a high degree of uncertainty ahead of its presidential election, which is set to take place in October. A poll out Monday showed jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva holding a double-digit lead against far-right Congressman Jair Bolsonaro. Lula is facing corruption charges and is expected to be barred from the race. 

In polls that excluded the leftist leader, Bolsonaro held a lead over former Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, whose policies hang closer to the center. Alckmin would be the preferred winner in the eyes of investors, according to the Associated Press. 

The real has been under pressure amid a dollar rally and a broader selloff of emerging markets currencies. It has been one of the currencies most affected by a steep slide in the Argentine peso this year, according to JPMorgan strategists led by John Norman. 

SEE ALSO: The US and China just imposed new tariffs as trade tensions continue to escalate

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• Infiniti is revealing a new single-seat electric speedster car this afternoon at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Monterey, California.
• Infiniti's striking concept is a single-seat electric sports car designed to evoke the look of classic grand prix racers.
• The Prototype 10 is a bridge between early Californian speedster vehicles of the past and the new electric vehicles of the future. 

Infiniti unveiled its stunning a new single-seat electric speedster car at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Thursday in Monterey, California. 

According to the Hong Kong-based luxury car maker, Prototype 10 represents a bridge between early Californian speedster vehicles of the past and the new electric sports cars of the future. 

The Prototype 10 is a global effort involving Infiniti's Japanese design center, digital design teams in the UK, and those who hand-crafted the car in San Diego, California.  

Prototype 10 is designed as a "monoposto" or single-seat speedster, with a striking geometric form most evident in the 90-degree accord between the bodywork and the fin just behind the driver's head. It's a look inspired by classic single-seat grand prix race cars. 

The Prototype 10 is also defined by the elegant geometry found throughout the car. From the straight-lines that define the grill and smooth side strakes that dip into the rear arches to the angular cooling ducts and triangular rear light formed with a razor-sharp touch. No detail has been left untouched here.  

For Infiniti's consumers, the concept's most important feature has to be its electric powertrain.

"A daring speedster is the perfect study for our designers to explore an electrified future and ignite such excitement," company President Roland Krueger said in a statement. 

According to Infiniti, every one of its all-new models will feature electric powertrain technology in some form starting in 2021. That means all brand-new Infiniti's introduced after that year will either be a battery electric or a series hybrid.  

SEE ALSO: 30 electric cars you'll see on the road by 2025

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• An investment firm with a $100 million stake in Tesla is urging Elon Musk to not take the company private.
• ARK Investment Management says Tesla's stock price could be worth $4,000, but will never get there on private markets. 
• Watch Tesla trade in real-time here. 

ARK Investment Management — which owns 315,377 shares of Tesla, worth roughly $101 million — has published an open letter to CEO Elon Musk urging him to not take the electric-car maker private, arguing the stock could be worth nearly ten times the billionaire's $420 target.

"Tesla should be valued somewhere between $700 and $4,000 per share  in five years," Cathie Wood, the firm's founder and chief executive, said.

"Taking Tesla private today at $420 per share would undervalue it greatly, depriving many investors of the opportunity to participate in its success. In our view, given the right investment time horizon, TSLA is a deep value stock today."

Of course, there's a lot standing between Tesla and its stock being worth $4,000 a share.

ARK's investment thesis counts on the company fully transitioning from a manufacturer to a full-fledged "mobility-as-a-service" company. When it reaches that point, ARK estimates, its profit margins could be as much as 80%. In it's most recent quarterly filing this month, Tesla reported total gross margins of 15%.

"In the $4,000 scenario, our assumptions are conservative: we incorporate profits only from cars and certain autonomous taxi networks, not from trucks, drones, utility scale energy storage, or the MaaS opportunity in China," ARK wrote.

"Further, we incorporate the roughly $20 billion in dilution that might be necessary to penetrate and scale the latter four markets."

For context, Tesla's average price target among sell-side research analysts is $333, according to Bloomberg. Even the most bullish analyst on Wall Street, Pierre Ferragu of New Street Research, has a target of $533 — a little more than one-eighth of ARK's target.

Musk has argued that going private will ease the burden and shortsightedness that comes from analysts and investors every quarterly earnings report, but ARK argues the opposite will be true.

"I understand why you may want to take Tesla private, but I must try to dissuade you," the letter says.

"First, as a private company, Tesla will be unable to capitalize on its competitive advantages as rapidly and dramatically as it would as a public company, an important consideration given the network effects and natural geographic monopolies to which autonomous taxi and truck networks will submit.

"Second, in the private market, Tesla would lose the free publicity associated with your role as the CEO of the public company not only with the bestselling mid-sized premium sedan in the US, but also arguably in the best position to launch a completely autonomous taxi network nationwide in the next few years." 

Shares of Tesla have whipsawed since August 7, the date of Musk's initial announcement that he would attempt to take Tesla private. After soaring to near-record highs of $389, shares fell back below $300 amid reports of a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission and a slew of class-action lawsuits. It's currently trading near $321.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that Musk has hired Morgan Stanley in his bid to take Tesla private. That follows the bank's analyst, Adam Jonas, suspending coverage of the stock on Tuesday, which is typical when a bank's investment banking division is involved in a deal with a company covered by its research department. Goldman Sachs suspended coverage on August 15, admitting that it is involved in the deal in some capacity.

"As public equity markets continue to go passive, I believe we are witnessing a massive misallocation of capital, with innovation the most inefficiently priced part of the market," ARK said.

"Tesla epitomizes this capital allocation problem and, when the market understands it, your stock should enjoy significant upside, serving as a valuable lesson for public market investors to reconsider their short-sighted ways."

SEE ALSO: Wall Street analysts tore down a Tesla Model 3 and found 'significant fit & finish issues'

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The war for the future of the Bitcoin Cash protocol continues to intensify, with developers at both Bitcoin ABC and nChain further entrenching themselves ahead of the network’s scheduled hard fork in November. However, one neutral development team is calling for a ceasefire. Writing in a post on the Bitcoin forum, Bitcoin Unlimited lead developer

The post Bitcoin Unlimited Calls for Ceasefire in BCH Hard Fork War appeared first on CCN

Prepare for the year ahead with insights from today's brightest minds. Join us at Business Insider's flagship conference, IGNITION: Media, Technology & Transformation, now in its ninth year.

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Want to hear how Keller Rinaudo is working to build a life-saving drone-delivery service in the most remote regions of the world? Learn how Dropbox CEO and cofounder Drew Houston built his $12 billion company? Hear from AOL cofounder and entrepreneur Steve Case about his investing approach that he calls "Rise of the Rest"?

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• Drew Houston, cofounder and CEO, Dropbox
• Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen, CEO and founder, Openwater
• Janice Min, media consultant, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment and Valence Media
• Keller Rinaudo, CEO and cofounder, Zipline
• Joe and Anthony Russo, codirectors of "Avengers: Infinity War"; cofounders, AGBO
• Josh Silverman, CEO, Etsy
• Padmasree Warrior, U.S. CEO and CDO, NIO

One ticket, two days, 50-plus insightful speakers, over 600 executives.

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• Nvidia shares came within a penny of their record high on Thursday.
• The chipmaker announced its new GeForce graphics cards on Monday.
• Oppenheimer recently upgraded Nvidia to "outperform."
• Watch Nvidia trade in real-time here.

Nvidia shares are trading near record highs on Thursday, touching an intraday high of $269.19 — just a penny below their record high set on June 14.

Shares have been rallying since Monday afternoon, following CEO Jensen Huang's announcement of the company's next generation of GeForce graphics cards at an event in Germany. The chipmaker also introduced its new technology — real-time ray tracing — which supports more cinematic and realistic rendering for animation or video games based on Nvidia's Turing architecture.

Nvidia's stock jumped by as much as 3% on Monday after the news. 

This rising momentum comes despite the company trimming its third-quarter revenue forecast last Friday, and said its cryptocurrency-mining business won't make any money going forward.

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• US and Chinese tech giants are a lot more divorced from each other this year than they were in 2017, Bank of America Merrill Lynch derivatives analysts have observed.
• They recommend a trade that could profit from the split between the FAANG + BAT stocks.

The biggest US and Chinese tech stocks meld together into a convenient acronym: FAANG + BAT. But their fortunes are anything but similar right now.

Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, the Google parent Alphabet, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent are trading this year in ways representing a sharp turn from their harmony in 2017, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has observed.

"A profound shift appears to be underway towards more divergent returns on an individual basis," a team of derivatives analysts led by Stefano Pascale said in a client note on Tuesday. ...

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• JPMorgan's global head of quantitative and derivatives strategy, Marko Kolanovic, notes that US equities are dominating their European and Asian counterparts to an "unprecedented" degree.
• Kolanovic lays out two paths forward for the US market, neither of which bodes particularly well for it — at least relative to the international peers it's so thoroughly dominated.

US stocks are dominating their peers in Europe and Asia to an "unprecedented" degree, JPMorgan says. But the firm warns that's an unsustainable situation.

To best understand just how rare the ongoing divergence is, consider that momentum for US and European stock prices have gone in different directions just twice in the past 20 years. As it stands right now — and as the chart below reflects — when Europe is combined with Asia, the momentum split is the widest it's ever been.

...

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• One Medical is a medical practice that charges a flat fee of $199 a year with the goal of making doctor's visits easier for patients.
• On Wednesday, the company said it had raised up to $350 million from private equity firm Carlyle Group.
• The private company, which got its start in 2007, is now in its second decade and is working on expanding its presence in the US and its work with employers.
• "Where we're going in our next decade is to blow this thing out nationally," CEO Amir Dan Rubin, who joined the company in August 2017, told Business Insider.

In the exploding world of healthcare technology startups — especially those working to improve visits to doctor's offices — few have been around for more than a decade.

Cue One Medical, a company founded in 2007 that charges a flat fee of $199 a year for its services. Members still use their insurance during their visits to One Medical-run clinics, but the fee covers additional services such as mobile communication with One Medical staff members and mobile prescription renewals. Members can also book appointments online, including last-minute visits.

One Medical got its start in 2007 in San Francisco and has since expanded its clinics into nine cities, including three offices in San Diego coming in 2019. On Wednesday, the company said it had raised up to $350 million from private equity firm Carlyle Group. ...

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SEE ALSO: 'Waiting for its Uber moment': America's biggest companies are shaking up the healthcare system

DON'T MISS: Meet the 30 healthcare leaders under 40 who are using technology to shape the future of medicine

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• Fred Diaz took over as president and CEO of Mitsubishi Motor North America in April.
• Diaz, a former executive with Nissan and RAM Trucks, will be tasked with returning Mitsubishi to prominence in the US.
• Mitsubishi has experienced sales growth over the past five years but is still trying to recover a disastrous period at the end of the last decade.
• Diaz believes the Mitsubishi's membership in the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance will do wonders for the brand.

On his first day as Mitsubishi Motors North America's CEO in April, Fred Diaz held a town hall with is employees. The message was simple. 

"I needed them to know that I'm not a Nissan employee who is on loan," Diaz told us in an interview. "I'm 100% Mitsubishi."

"We're family now," he added.

In October of 2016, Nissan acquired 34% controlling interest in MMNA's parent company, Mitsubishi Motors, valued at $2.3 billion. This move created the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.

As part of the Nissan's takeover, opportunities were created that allowed executives to crossover to Mitsubishi. ...

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• President Donald Trump has broken with tradition by criticizing his own pick for Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, for raising interest rates. 
• Powell's Jackson Hole speech Friday morning presents the perfect opportunity for a measured but decisive pushback from the Fed chairman.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's primary job is to ensure low and stable prices as well as low unemployment — but most economists agree that he can only do that in the long run if the central bank remains politically independent.

President Donald Trump, in an extension of his attacks on many key US institutions and norms, has vocally criticized Powell, his own pick to replace ex-Fed Chair Janet Yellen, for raising interest rates.

First, Trump complained to a group of donors in the Hamptons that Powell wasn't turning out to be the "cheap money" Fed chairman he had expected. 

He was even more explicit in a Reuters interview: "I’m not thrilled with his raising of interest rates, no. I’m not thrilled." The Fed has raised interest rates five times since Trump took office, with two of those hikes coming under the leadership of Powell. It is expected to hike rates two more times this year, according to Bloomberg's World Interest Rate Probability data. 

Trump's comments rattled markets briefly, with stocks and the dollar edging lower.

"We’re negotiating very powerfully and strongly with other nations," Trump said, even though most trade negotiations appear troubled or stalled at the moment. "We’re going to win. But during this period of time I should be given some help by the Fed. The other countries are accommodated."

There's a clear contradiction in Trump's economic argument: On the one hand, he claims economic growth is raging like never before (it's not), but also argues the Fed should supercharge this growth with more stimulus.

More importantly, such an explicit and dangerous breach of norms calls for a strong response from the Fed, which has thus far not been forthcoming. But Powell has the perfect venue in which to deliver such a rebuttal: Tomorrow’s widely-watched speech from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the Kansas City Fed’s idyllic annual symposium.

Powell doesn’t have to say a lot, or mention Trump by name. He should simply insert a sentence in his speech that says the central bank will continue to set interest rates based on the economic outlook, not the whims of politicians.

To be clear, there’s an economic case to be made for the Fed to slow or stop the pace of its interest-rate hikes. While the economy is strong, inflation has just barely reached the Fed’s 2% target after years of undershooting it, and wages for most workers remain stuck in neutral despite a historically low 3.8% jobless rate. But that’s not Trump’s argument, and it’s not his to make in the first place.

Powell needs to make that boundary quite clear. Otherwise the president will keep pushing.

SEE ALSO: Trump could force a repeat of the Federal Reserve’s worst modern-day policy blunder

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• On Wednesday evening, the SEC rejected nine bitcoin-linked exchange-traded funds.
• The suite of funds were linked to bitcoin futures, a structure many market structure experts thought would have an easier time gaining approval.
• John Hyland, a early leader of the exchange-traded fund industry, say it's unlikely the SEC would approve any type of fund linked to bitcoin. 

The bitcoin world was dealt a big blow when regulators rejected nine exchange-traded funds tied to bitcoin futures on Wednesday.

These include two products from ProShares, two from GraniteShares, and five other proposals from Direxion. 

It means the world is still waiting for its first fully regulated bitcoin ETF product. The funds would have tracked bitcoin futures trading on regulated US exchanges, not bitcoin itself.

A bitcoin ETF would likely make it easier for mom-and-pop to tap into the market, which known for its volatility and market manipulation. 

Still, it's not clear if the SEC's concerns about such a derivative product will be mollified in 2018. 

John Hyland, a early leader of the exchange-traded fund industry, put the odds of a bitcoin ETF going live this year at 20%. 

Hyland joined California asset manager Bitwise Asset Management earlier this year to help get their ETF off the ground. Unlike other proposals sent to regulators, Bitwise's ETF would track a basket of cryptos, not just one. 

Formerly the chief investment officer of United States Commodity Funds, Hyland is known for pioneering the development of the first crude oil ETF, the first natural gas ETF, and the first copper ETF. 

"I was a bit surprised that the SEC bundled them all together instead of waiting until September to give the same response to Direxion and GraniteShares," Hyland said, referring to the regulator's rejection of the nine funds. 

Some market observers thought a futures-based ETF would have had a better chance of approval since they trade on regulated markets, but the SEC said in a statement that issuers did not convince the agency that the markets were large enough to withstand manipulation and support a derivative.

Volumes in bitcoin futures markets have been on the decline since late July, with only $18 million of volume trading in a day. 

An ETF based on bitcoin itself also doesn't appear to stand a chance. Richard Johnson, a market structure specialist at Greenwich Associates, said the SEC desires for the market to be properly monitored. But this might be an impossible feat to overcome since much of the volumes in the crypto markets are in overseas markets in Asia. 

"If that's what the SEC is saying, that's not going to change any time soon," Johnson said. "Unless an ETF issuer can exclude that type of volume from the contract volume."

Take note bitcoin ETF hopefuls. 

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• Eventbrite, a ticketing and event management company, has filed to go public. 
• The company sold 46.7 million tickets on its site last year, and posted a loss of $38.55 million. 

Eventbrite on Thursday filed a document with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, or IPO.

The San Francisco-based company didn't set a target amount it hopes to raise, which is typical of first S-1 filings, but said it hopes to use the proceeds to increase its capitalization and financial flexibility, and to pay off its debt which currently stands at $66.36 million. 

For the year ended December 31, 2017, Eventbrite said it sold 46.7 million tickets and posted a net loss of $38.55 million — and those losses appear to  be shrinking. The company said it lost just $15.58 million in the first six months of 2018.

To put Eventbrite's sales into context, LiveNation — which owns Ticketmaster — said in its 2017 annual report that it sold "nearly 500 million tickets," but still lost $6 million for the year.

Eventbrite, however, is focused on smaller scale creators, and allows anyone to create a ticketed event on its site. It makes money by skimming off any paid events ticketed on the site.

"To help event creators more easily and successfully engage attendees, we’ve created a platform for attendees to discover and connect with creators, finding the right experience for the right moment," founders Julia Hartz, Kevin Hartz, and Renaud Visage said in the filing.

"Our technology not only helps event creators reach their audience but also helps improve the daily lives of attendees all over the world."

For 2017, CEO Julia Hartz was awarded total compensation of $7.24 million, which included stock options on top of her $335,000 base salary. Randy Befumo, the CFO, raked in $2.8 million, while Matthew Rosenberg, the chief revenue officer, made $2.4 million.

In its 12 years as a private company, Eventbrite raised $332 million in venture capital over nine fundraising rounds. Tiger Global and Sequoia capital each currently own about 20% of the company, while T. Rowe Price owns about 7%, according to CrunchBase.

Goldman Sachs is the lead underwriter for the public offering. 

"The global market for live experiences is large and rapidly increasing in size and diversity," Eventbrite said in the filing.

"We believe that a significant portion of our market opportunity is represented by categories that were previously not well served by event management technology. The landscape of services to manage the complexities of planning, promoting and producing events is highly fragmented. Creators use a variety of approaches and solutions to achieve these goals. We believe that the breadth of functionality on our platform, combined with its ease of use, has enabled creators to build businesses and introduce new types of live experiences."

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Wirex, a bitcoin wallet and payment card provider, has become the third crypto company to receive an e-money license from U.K. financial regulators.

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The chances of a Trump impeachment are climbing — here's how JPMorgan says you can protect your investments

As President Donald Trump finds himself implicated in federal crimes by his former lawyer Michael Cohen, his chances of impeachment have surged — at least according to one source.

The odds that Trump will get impeached during his first term climbed to 45% on Wednesday, the highest in three months, according to data from PredictIt, the "stock market for politics" that allows users to bet on various goings-on in Washington.

JPMorgan is skeptical of an impeachment, noting that Trump's approval rating has remained largely unchanged amid the increased pressure.

Further, the firm says it would be impossible to reverse the fiscal stimulus — such as the unprecedented GOP tax law— that's already been implemented. And considering that has been the biggest driver of corporate earnings growth and, by extension, share gains this year, US stocks should still hang tough.

The SEC just rejected 9 bitcoin ETF applications, citing manipulation fears

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected nine applications to create a bitcoin exchange-traded fund in a blow to bitcoin bulls who had hoped such a product would prove a breakthrough for institutional adoption.

Late on Wednesday, the SEC rejected an application for two products from ProShares, two from GraniteShares, and five other proposals from Direxion. It means the world is still waiting for its first fully regulated bitcoin ETF product.

The applications were all rejected because the market watchdog believes not enough is being done to guard against bitcoin price manipulation. The SEC said the proposals did not do enough to show they were "designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices."

Goldman Sachs is quietly launching its retail bank Marcus in the UK

Goldman Sachs on Thursday soft launched its online retail bank Marcus in the UK.

A memo sent to staff on Thursday, and seen by Business Insider, invited UK-based staff to apply for accounts with Marcus and give "feedback before officially going to market." The bank will launch fully to UK consumers "in the coming weeks."

"The launch of Marcus by Goldman Sachs in the UK represents an important milestone in the growth of Goldman Sachs' consumer business, as well as continued diversification of the firm's funding," the memo said.

In markets news

• Tech giants are seeing a profound split in fortunes, and Bank of America has devised a way to profit from their divergence
• GOLDMAN SACHS: These are the 19 companies that matter most to America’s largest stock pickers

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Post its bull run and its subsequent negation the Bitcoin price is now back to its interim consolidation sentiment. The BTC/USD yesterday formed higher highs towards 6900-fiat, only to find itself erasing the superb rally and falling back to create an intraday low near 6260-fiat. The pair, ever since, has bounced back weakly towards the 6500-6510

The post Bitcoin Price Intraday Analysis: BTC/USD Forming Rising Wedge appeared first on CCN

• Foot Locker has launched a "Discover Your Air" campaign in which it will exclusively sell a number of Nike sneakers. 
• Nike represents nearly 70% of Foot Locker’s merchandise purchases.
• As Nike improves, so too should Foot Locker, according to Jefferies analysts.
• Watch Foot Locker trade in real-time here.

Nike is becoming even more important to its partner Foot Locker, according to Jefferies analysts.

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• President Donald Trump was directly implicated in federal crimes this week. 
• Analysts see a heightened chance of impeachment.
• Past impeachment proceedings suggest the market may be able to weather the storm.

After President Donald Trump was directly implicated in federal crimes this week, some are considering what an impeachment might look like — even the Oval Office holder himself.

"If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash," he said Thursday on Fox News. "I think everybody would be very poor. Because without this thinking, you would see, you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe in reverse."

History suggests maybe not. John Normand, head of cross-asset fundamental strategy at JPMorgan, sees much of the market activity during impeachment proceedings against former President Richard Nixon and former President Bill Clinton as "tough to disentangle" from other events of the times.

(No US president has actually been removed from office through such a process. Nixon resigned before the House took an impeachment vote. The Senate, which requires a two-thirds majority, ultimately acquitted Clinton of all charges.)

Six months before Nixon resigned (Aug. 8, 1974): 

• The S&P 500 fell about 20%
• The 10-year Treasury yield jumped roughly 120 basis points
• The trade-weighted dollar fell more than 2% 
• Gold prices rose around 15%

"These were extraordinary times, however, with or without domestic politics," Normand noted.

It was the start of 1970's energy crisis, which partly pushed the economy into years of stagflation and a sell-off in equities and bonds. The Bretton Woods era of fixed exchange rates was also coming to an end. Nixon suspended gold convertibility and devalued the dollar. 

Two months before Clinton was acquitted by the Senate (Feb. 13, 1999): 

• The S&P 500 jumped about 10%
• Credit spreads tightened roughly 10 basis points
• The 10-year Treasury yield rates rose about 50 basis points
• The trade-weighted dollar rose around 2.5% after an initial fall
• Gold prices fell about 2%

Normand called the Clinton impeachment proceedings "almost a non-event." He noted equity and credit markets had already been hit by the Asian financial crisis, the Russian default and the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management. And the interest-rate outlook firmed as the economy rebounded from an emerging market drag.

"And somewhat similar to today, the secular boom in dot-com stocks, which in turn drove the cross-border capital flows supporting the dollar in the late 1990s, was not White House-dependent," he said.

SEE ALSO: The odds of a Trump impeachment are climbing — here's how JPMorgan says you can protect your investments

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• Dublin-based airline Ryanair issued an apology after mistakenly sending unsigned compensation checks to nearly 200 passengers. 
• These passengers were owed money by the airline for previous flight cancellations and delays. 
• Ryanair said in a statement to Business Insider, "We apologise sincerely for this inconvenience which arose out of our desire to issue these compensation cheques quickly to our customers."
• European Union flight regulations require compensation paid to passengers if their flights are severely delayed or canceled. 

  ---

Ryanair issued an apology after the European airline mistakenly sent unsigned compensation checks to nearly 200 passengers who were owed money for previous flight cancellations and delays. 

In a statement to Business Insider, Ryanair Head of Communications Robin Kiely said, "Due to an admin error, a tiny number of cheques (less than 190 out of over 20,000 compensation cheques in July) were posted without a required signatory. These cheques were re-issued last week and we apologise sincerely for this inconvenience which arose out of our desire to issue these compensation cheques quickly to our customers." 

Ryanair, who is Europe's largest low-cost carrier, has been besieged by cancellations and delays this year. According to the BBC, more than one million Ryanair passengers in Europe have had their flights delayed or canceled since April, citing the airline's own figures.

The BBC also reports a pilots' walkout on August 10 led to nearly 400 flights being canceled. The Dublin-based carrier had previously been in a union dispute with striking pilots over conditions, base transfers, and annual leave. An agreement between the airline and its pilots was struck on Thursday after a 22-hour bargaining session. 

This dysfunction has added up in costs for the airline, as Ryanair is required by law to financially compensate each passenger per delay or cancelation. 

Under European Union regulation 261/2004, airlines are required to compensate passengers for up to €600 if their flights are significantly delayed. Passengers are eligible for a full refund if the flight is canceled.  

The Telegraph reports that a strike by Ryanair pilots in July saw over 30 flights canceled, affecting the travel of up to 5,000 passengers. This set of a controversy between Ryanair and its passengers when the airline refused to pay compensation checks, citing the European Union legislation absolves the airline from paying compensation in the event of a strike. 

The Telegraph reports the airline told the BBC: "Ryanair complies fully with EU261 legislation, under which no compensation is payable to customers when the (strike) delay/cancellation is beyond the airline's control.

As for the issue of the unsigned checks this month, Ryanair told the British consumer association Which? that the checks were reissued on August 15. 

Some took to social media to point out Ryanair's inability to hold up their end of the bargain, mixing gallows humor with basic frustration. 

SEE ALSO: A federal air marshal was hauled off a plane in handcuffs after a flight attendant saw his gun and freaked out

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This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

• AMD surged more than 4% after a price target increase from Rosenball on Thursday.
• The stock is currently at its highest level in more than a decade.
• Follow AMD's stock price in real-time here. 

Shares of AMD surged more than 4% Thursday to hit $21.94, their highest price since December 2006.

Thursday's move came shortly after Rosenblatt Securities raised its price target on AMD shares to $30 from $27, citing competitor Intel's slow move to 10 nanometer chips. The firm's target is the highest on the Street and 66% above analysts' average of $18, according to Bloomberg.

"AMD never planned or expected Intel to have 10nm delays in their own product planning from years' back and acknowledges that a historical window of opportunity has opened," analyst Hans Mosesmann said in a note to clients, per CNBC. The insight comes after hosting institutional investor meetings with the company's CFO and head of investor relations.

AMD will roll out its 7 nanometer chips later this year, even smaller than Intel's 10 nanometer chips —a size AMD is already producing — which will come in 2019, the company has said.

Thursday's surge also follows a stellar earnings report from AMD, which easily topped Wall Street's expectations and sent the stock up more than 9%.

Shares of AMD have climbed 98% this year, easily outperforming the benchmark S&P 500 index's 6% gain.

Now read:

• The odds of a Trump impeachment are climbing — here's how JPMorgan says you can protect your investments
• A $5 trillion market is at a tipping point — and the next step could completely change how stock traders make money

SEE ALSO: AMD: Our crypto boom is over

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The bad news continues to pile up for bitcoin mining giant Bitmain ahead of its historic public offering. According to Bloomberg, market research firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. has published a report alleging that the China-based Bitmain, the world’s largest manufacturer of the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices that dominate the cryptocurrency mining industry,

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This is a submitted sponsored story. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the content below. Across different civilizations and centuries, every culture has made use of some form of the saying: “knowledge is key/power.” From Plato’s “knowledge is the food of the soul,” … Continued

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• Tesla's Model 3 beat out its electric competition from Chevrolet and BMW when it came to powertrain and electronics.
• But when it comes to fit and finish, UBS analysts said the car had significant manufacturing issues.
• The teardown engineers found missing bolts, loose tolerances, misaligned welds, and more.
• Follow Tesla's stock price in real time here.

UBS has published the final lap of its complete teardown and analysis of a Tesla Model 3 to compare it to the competition.

Despite winning the first two laps — powertrain and electronics — the bank said Elon Musk’s newest sedan came in last place behind the Chevy Bolt and BMW i3 when it came to build quality.

"Our teardown experts noted numerous Model 3 quality issues including inconsistent gaps & flushness throughout the car, missing bolts, loose tolerances, and uneven & misaligned spot welds," the team of analysts led by Colin Langan wrote in a note to clients Thursday.

"The car scored 'below average' on the fit & finish quality audit which looked at >1, 500 gap measurements," UBS' Colin Langan wrote in the note to clients. "The team also found the body-wind noise was 'borderline acceptable.'"

"The results confirm media reports of quality issues & are disappointing for a $49k car," UBS said.

They won't be easy fixes, either, UBS added, especially when it comes to the structural issues creating excess noise.

After speaking to manufacturing experts and former Tesla employees, the bank said "many of the issues have to do with the basics of stamping out frame parts or the attachment thereof, which requires extensive retooling investment and shutdown time to fix."

This verdict comes at a time when Tesla is racing to build enough cars to become profitable. The company built an entire assembly line in a tent next to its main plant in Fremont, California, as it ramped to build 5,000 cars per week at the end of June. Documents seen by Business Insider showed roughly 4,300 of those required significant work to fix production issues.

UBS' findings reaffirmed what 12 Tesla owners have told Business Insider over the past 12 months. The customers have reported problems before, during, and after receiving their vehicles, including delayed deliveries, broken door handles, and internal computer systems crashing and leaving their cars inoperable. Accounts of early, persistent problems — some that become apparent within days of delivery — contrast with the high customer-satisfaction scores Tesla's vehicles have received from independent surveys.

"Beyond the build quality issues, the serviceability of the Tesla Model 3 comes into question as well," UBS said. "Many aspects of the vehicle are inaccessible to even experienced mechanics and the containment of the battery pack makes fixes complex and expensive.

"In general, the car has fewer components, which are often more advanced than previous generations, but each component is more complex, expensive, and harder to service or replace."

With two leading laps and a hiccup under its belt, UBS said it would name an overall winner of the electric-car race in a coming note.

You can read about the first two tests here:

• Wall Street analysts were blown away by the Tesla Model 3's 'next-gen, military-grade' tech — and say that's why the base model will never turn a profit
• Tesla's electronics are miles ahead of the competition — but Wall Street analysts who tore down a whole car worry they could be 'too centralized'

SEE ALSO: 70,000 questions a year, satellite imagery, and dismantling electric cars: How UBS is trying to change the face of financial research

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• US-Mexico relations are at their most strained in recent memory — and Mexico's newly elected president could ratchet up the acrimony. 
• Talks to renegotiate NAFTA are running into a wall as the US seeks to negotiate separately with both Mexico and Canada.
• "The strategy looks very fragile to me, and doomed to fail," says Monica de Bolle of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 

Donald Trump's aggressive approach to trade relations is slowly choking NAFTA, and the prospects for the North American Free Trade Agreement to survive are becoming increasingly grim. 

Despite recent claims of progress by the various negotiating parties, the auto sector and so-called rules of origin, which govern what percentage of a vehicle's parts must come from a country before it can be determined to have been "made" there, remain a central sticking point. Fruit and dairy imports are another big issue, given farmers remain a powerful political constituency in all three NAFTA members. 

Trump's trade team has employed a divide-and-conquer strategy in their attempts to renegotiate NAFTA, which they argue was responsible for "stealing" US manufacturing jobs but which in fact has helped the US auto sector prosper.  It has done so by attempting to negotiate separately with each country. 

"The strategy looks very fragile to me, and doomed to fail," Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told The Hill. "It’s hard to see how you can get an agreement when one of the three countries isn’t in the talks." 

She added: "It’s likely this whole thing is going to be revisited, unless the Mexicans conjure up some sort of magic and get it all done in the next two weeks." 

It’s hard to overstate Trump's disdain for Mexico: the man launched his campaign by promising to build a wall along the Mexican border, which he would force Mexico to pay for, to protect innocent Americans from the "rapists" and "not their best" people that he accused our southern neighbor of "sending" over.

Mexico’s own political calendar and looming presidential handover means the window for sealing a revised trade deal with the United States is closing quickly — negotiators have until September at the latest.

Now, relations could be about to take another turn for the worse when Mexico’s new leftist president, Manuel Lopez Obrador, takes office in December.

In part as a reaction to Trumpism, Mexicans elected the former mayor of Mexico City on the promise that he would boost the economy and reduce the country’s rampant drug-related crime.

Shannon O'Neil, senior fellow for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, says "initial niceties" between the two leaders "paper over deep chasms in priorities, positions, and domestic politics" and that a "blow-up may not be far away."

SEE ALSO: Trump’s proposed auto tariffs will lead to sharp spikes in the price of Americans’ most prized possession

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On August 23, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected all of the pending derivative-backed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) filed by ProShares and Direxion. According to Jake Chervinsky, a government enforcement defense & securities litigation attorney for Kobre Kim LLP, the SEC disapproved all seven ETFs because of the risk of market manipulation and

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• President Donald Trump's odds for impeachment climbed after he was implicated in federal crimes by his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, according to PredictIt.
• While JPMorgan thinks an outright impeachment scenario is unlikely, it says the process surrounding it could impact Trump's actions, and have a major impact on markets.
• The firm offers hedging recommendations for investors looking to protect their portfolios.

As President Donald Trump finds himself implicated in federal crimes by his former lawyer Michael Cohen, his chances of impeachment have surged — at least according to one source.

The odds that Trump will get impeached during his first term climbed to 45% on Wednesday, the highest in three months, according to data from PredictIt, the "stock market for politics" that allows users to bet on various goings-on in Washington.

In an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, Trump was quick to dismiss the possibility of impeachment, which could increase further if the 2018 midterm elections see control of Congress returned to the Democrats.

He even went as far as to offer a stern warning — one that should have investors everywhere feeling unsettled.

"If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash," he told Ainsley Earhardt of Fox News. "I think everybody would be very poor. Because without this thinking [points to head] you would see, you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe in reverse."

If it's any consolation, JPMorgan is skeptical of an impeachment, noting that Trump's approval rating has remained largely unchanged amid the increased pressure.

Further, the firm says it would be impossible to reverse the fiscal stimulus — such as the unprecedented GOP tax law — that's already been implemented. And considering that's been the biggest driver of corporate earnings growth and, by extension, share gains this year, US stocks should still hang tough.

However, JPMorgan thinks some areas of the global marketplace could be thrown out of whack by the mere possibility of impeachment — and the long, drawn-out process that's historically accompanied it.

The firm is watching Trump's trade agenda particularly closely, referring to it as the "main wildcard" in any impeachment proceedings.

The way they see it, things could unfold in one of two ways:

1. Trump relents on tariffs, which would spur a reversal rally in cheap, under-owned emerging-market (EM) assets that have gotten crushed in recent months
2. Trump doubles down on tariffs, perhaps in an attempt to distract from domestic politics

The lingering possibility of the second outcome prevents JPMorgan from recommending a broad overweight position on EM. The firm says that, unfortunately, it's not the "low-worry hedge to a tortuous impeachment process."

JPMorgan also notes that, in the unlikely event that Trump is ousted, it's unclear whether Vice President Mike Pence would continue along the same confrontational path deeper into a trade war.

So what's the ultimate hedge for a market maligned by so much uncertainty? JPMorgan says "tactical insurance" can be best achieved by owning reserve currencies like the Japanese yen and the euro.

The firm says you can't go wrong with this approach, considering "how consistently these perform during various types of US political stress, and Japan/Europe's low priority on President Trump's trade agenda," John Normand, JPMorgan's head of cross-asset fundamental strategy, wrote in a client note.

"Although our FX strategists have been long JPY for several weeks as a hedge on US-China trade conflict, reserve currency exposure seems one worth considering even as the Fed cues up a September rate hike, as US politics will probably become the dominant market preoccupation after Labor Day," Normand continued.

SEE ALSO: The legendary investor who predicted the past 2 bubbles breaks down how the 9-year bull market will end

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• L Brands beat on both the top and bottom lines.
• The retailer cut its full-year guidance for a second time this year.
• The CEO of Victoria's Secret Pink will retire and be replaced by a leader from Bath & Body Works.
• Shares are down 9% in early trading on Thursday.
• Watch L Brands trade in real-time here.

L Brands, the owner of Victoria's Secret, is trading lower by 9% early Thursday after beating on both the top and bottom lines, but cutting its full-year guidance for a second time this year. The retailer also announced the retirement of Denise Landman, the CEO for Victoria's Secret Pink brand, which has been going through a rough patch.   

L Brands reported net sales of $2.98 billion for the second quarter, slightly beating the $ 2.96 billion that was expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. It's earnings of $0.36 a share edged out the $0.35 that was anticipated.

But L Brands cut its guidance for full-year earnings per share to $2.45 to $2.70 from $2.70 to $3.00. It had previously lowered its EPS guidance from $2.95 to $3.25.

"With LB cutting the FY guide for the 2nd time this year (a dynamic not seen in years, Fig 9), the issues at the business are hard to ignore," a team at Nomura Instinet wrote on Wednesday. "2Q raised a number of red flags (severe margin contraction at LB, bloated inventory, BBW returning to margin contraction and critically issues at PINK are proving hard to ignore)."

The lowered outlook comes the company's Victoria's Secret brand — and specifically its Pink segment — has been losing pricing power as it extends promos to customers. 

And on Thursday, the company announced Pink CEO Denise Landman will retire at the end of the year and be replaced by Amy Hauk, head of merchandising and product development at Bath & Body Works.

With a leadership change, PINK won't be a quick fix, a group of Jefferies analysts led by Randal Konik said in a note sent out to clients on Wednesday. 

"We question whether an exec without apparel expertise is the right person to lead PINK at a time when merch and brand issues need to be corrected," the team — which has a price target of $23, 30% below where shares are currently trading — said while maintaining its "underperform" rating.

L Brands shares were down 46% this year through Wednesday. 

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• President Donald Trump hit Chinese imports to the US with massive tariffs on Thursday.
• China responded with tariffs on US products.
• Tariffs are taxes on imports designed to boost US production of goods.
• The new tariffs will cause costs to go up for businesses that use imported goods from China — and possibly jump prices for consumer goods, too.

President Donald Trump's tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods went into effect at midnight on Thursday, prompting a swift response from the Chinese.

The Trump administration said the tariffs are necessary to protect national security and the intellectual property of US businesses. Trump has also repeatedly expressed a desire to shrink the US's trade deficit with China and protect American businesses from being undercut by Chinese producers.

The latest round of tariffs now brings the total amount of goods flowing between the two countries that are subject to duties up to $106 billion and further escalates the trade war between US and China.

Despite negotiations taking place in Washington, DC, the US is also preparing tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. If those tariffs go through, more than 50% of all Chinese imports to the US would be subject to tariffs.

The Chinese show no signs of backing down from Trump's threats, meaning the trade war is likely to drag on for some time.

What is a tariff?

• A tariff, in plain terms, is a tax on goods coming into a country.
• In the US, many tariffs are paid at the time of entry into the US via a customs broker or agent — along with other duties and fees that may apply to the import.
• The idea of a tariff is to push up the price of foreign goods to make the US-made option more attractive.
• In this case, Trump is attempting to get companies to use less Chinese-produced goods and opt for items made in the US or a imported from a more friendly trade ally.

Hans Mikkelsen, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategist, said the new taxes will shift the supply and demand for the various goods they are imposed on.

"International Trade 101 analyses the partial equilibrium effects of a tariff as driving a wedge between demand and supply curves, whereby the price goes up and the quantity down," he said in a note to clients.

What does it mean for businesses?

• For many businesses that use imported Chinese products, the cost to produce their items will increase, either because the company must use more expensive domestic parts or pay more for the finished products.
• Trump's China tariffs are particularly damaging because they focus on intermediary goods, or parts. US firms, including many small- to medium-sized businesses, use these parts to make finished products.
• By increasing the cost of parts, the tariffs will force companies to either pass on the cost to customers in the form of higher prices, cut costs in other areas like the workforce, or shift operations outside of the US to avoid the tariffs altogether. 

For instance, Moog Music, the maker of the legendary Moog synthesizer, recently told customers that the tariffs on Chinese goods will dramatically increase the cost of producing their instruments. To handle this increase, Moog said, the company will either be forced to lay off workers or move its operations outside of the US.

Moog isn't the only company struggling with the tariffs, US-based nail manufacturers, lawn-equipment producers, and TV makers are all being forced to lay off workers because of the increased costs.

What does it mean for the average American?

• Businesses that see the cost of goods rise have three options to make up the losses: cuts costs in other areas, simply absorb the cost and accept lower profit margins, or pass the costs onto consumers.
• The latter option is concerning to economists because it could lead to a slowdown in consumer spending and an uptick in inflation.

Erica York, an analyst at the right-leaning Tax Foundation, explained that increasing the cost of inputs would raise the prices paid by consumers and the income paid to those consumers wouldn't stretch as far.

"Because these higher prices would reduce the return to labor and capital, they would incentivize Americans to work and invest less, leading to lower output," York said.

An increase in the price of Chinese goods would have huge ripple effects. Twenty-three states count China as their top source of imports and 45 states have China in their top three. Given the reliance, the price increase would cause widespread pain for many consumers across the US.

In all, economists expect the current round of tariffs on China to result in a modest drag on US economic growth. Gregory Daco, head of US economic at Oxford Economics, said cascading effects on the US economy could be felt.

"Importantly, these simulated results may under-estimate the shocks to private sector confidence," Daco said. "As we have seen in recent regional Fed surveys, ISM surveys and business confidence readings, US companies are increasingly concerned about the impact of tariffs on their supply chains and input costs."

If businesses are worried about the long-term effects, they may delay investments and hiring plans. This creates a second-level drag on the US economy and could result in a more dramatic slowdown.

SEE ALSO: Trump is stepping up the trade war with China, and he's convinced the US can win

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• Casamigos started as an idea between Clooney and friend Rande Gerber while they were in Mexico.
• The company sold to Diageo for $1 billion (£79 million) in June 2017.
• The sale just made Clooney the highest-paid actor of the last year, according to Forbes.
• The friends researched extensively to create a tequila they could drink all day without getting a hangover.
• In 2017, Gerber told BI he and Clooney were still tasting every batch of the tequila.

George Clooney's success in the world of Hollywood is well known — as are his efforts in political activism and humanitarian work.

A lesser known fact is that the actor and two friends founded one of the fastest-growing tequila brands in the world by accident in 2013. That company is Casamigos, which sold to Diageo for $1 billion in June 2017 — a sale that just made Clooney the highest-paid actor of 2018, despite not appearing in a film.

Diageo agreed to pay $700 million initially, with the potential of another $300 million based on the tequila's performance over 10 years, according to CNBC.

In an email to CNBC at the time of the sale, Clooney said: "If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion dollar company, I don't think we would have said yes. This reflects Diageo's belief in our company and our belief in Diageo. But we're not going anywhere. We'll still be very much a part of Casamigos. Starting with a shot tonight. Maybe two."

Shortly before the Diageo sale, in March 2017, Casamigos co-founder and ex-bar and nightclub owner Rande Gerber told Business Insider that making money was never the reason for launching the brand. 

"What was really important for George and I was that we have the best tequila, but we make it affordable for everyone," he said. "George doesn’t need the money, I didn’t need it, Mike didn’t need it — it wasn’t the reason behind launching a tequila. We wanted everyone to be able to drink it and not be exclusive."

Clooney came up with the tequila idea with Gerber — who also happens to be the husband of supermodel Cindy Crawford — while the two were spending time at their houses in Mexico.

They had met nearly 30 years ago while George was shooting one of his first films in New York.

"He was coming into one of my bars called Morgan's at the time... so I met him at the bar over a tequila," Gerber told Business Insider. "He was spending three months in New York, and every night we would hang out at the bar and we became great friends."

The two would go on golf trips around the country with other friends — "It was called 'the Golf trip,' but we played maybe nine holes now and then" — which is where they met real estate guru Mike Meldman.

"A mutual friend connected us, saying we should play at one of Mike's golf courses," Gerber said. "He took care of us and we developed a friendship through that, then we built our homes in Mexico in Mike's development."

Clooney and Gerber's houses sat beside each other on the piece of property, which was called Casamigos.

"It felt like one compound," Gerber said. "We'd have a bunch of our friends there — breakfast at our place, lunch at his, dinner at ours. It felt like one big house."

And their meal times often involved sipping tequila.

"Casamigos really started by accident as far as a company," he said. "As you do in Mexico, we would drink a lot of tequila. We'd go out to bars and restaurants and bartenders would recommend them. Some were good, some not so good, and some expensive. There came a point where George turned to me and said, 'Why don't we create one that's perfect for us?'"

"We wanted one that didn't burn going down, that was super smooth, and had the right flavour profile. One that we didn't have to mix — typically we drink it straight or on the rocks — that we could drink all day long and not be hungover in the morning."

Tequila pilgrimage

The duo began their tequila pilgrimage. They did research, met with distillers, trialled samples, and did blind taste tests with their friends and family until they found a recipe with no burn at all.

"It ended up being almost two years and 700 samples later — it was perfect," Gerber said. "There was a point where we all chose one, and it was ours. Not only did we know we had something great that we loved, but all of our friends loved it as well."

Bottles were ordered, served, and drank at their homes in Casamigos, which fittingly means "House of Friends."

While the pair may claim they can drink it all day and not be hungover the next, it's probably not recommended for inexperienced tequila drinkers — the average bottle contains 40% alcohol.

Without even realising, Gerber said he and Clooney were bringing in about 1,000 bottles, and were told by the distiller that they needed to get licensed.

They met with a distributor in the US who wanted to get on board, and launched the tequila as "Casamigos" along with the help from their well-connected friend Meldman.

"He's wonderful at marketing, and caters to the high-end market," Gerber said. "He's smart, and has incredible relationships."

The tequila gold rush

The ultra-premium small batch tequila is aged and barreled, Gerber said, while a master distiller "chooses the right moment to take it from the barrel to the bottle." He added: "We use old brick ovens, and the Blue Weber Agaves are grown for seven to nine years — it’s a long process."

They use a simple stick-on label on an unfussy bottle, with a plain cork to seal it. The brand sells reposado, anejo, and blanco tequilas, which range from $20 to $115 online, depending on the size.

It also launched a mezcal in the US, Australia, UK, and Canada in February 2018, which comes in at $73 for 750ml.

Partly due to having George's name attached, the Casamigos brand "immediately took off" through word of mouth, according to Gerber.

"We started winning awards, which legitimises you," he said. The brand has won gold medals at the Los Angeles International Spirits Competition, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, The New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, The Spirits of Mexico Tasting Competition, and from The Beverage Testing Institute. "From then on it gained momentum."

The brand doubled its volume of sales from 38,000 nine-litre cases in 2014 to 80,000 in 2015, according to Ad Age, which said it was part of a tequila "gold rush."

Casamigos told Business Insider it more than doubled its volume again in 2016, although Gerber, who works full-time running Casamigos, declined to provide exact sales figures and would not discuss the company's earnings.

A spokesperson for Diageo also said on Thursday that it's "too early" to release financial results for the brand, which is currently sold in more than 20 countries including the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Spain, Italy, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica.

Everything is done in-house in offices in LA, were Rande is based, as well as New York and Arizona. He added that George and Mike are still heavily involved, and at the time of the Diageo sale CNBC reported that Clooney, Gerber and Meldman were expected to stay with the company after its acquisition.

"We all contribute an equal amount. Even though I run the company, we all play our own role," Gerber said in March 2017. "George is very involved in the business. He's in LA this week, and he’ll be in the office when he’s here to go over ideas."

He added that the two also make sure they taste every batch.

"We have our master distiller, and he's so great that we know they're all consistent, but when a new batch comes out he'll send a bottle and George and I will taste it," Gerber said. "We always want to be the first or the second one to taste it. It’s kind of a tradition. We open the bottle, toast, and take a sip."

"It's always perfect. If you have a great master distiller, they have this palette and sense of smell and taste that has almost been passed down from generation to generation," he said. "We want to be part of that process."

Brits are turning to tequila

Gerber added that Casamigos has been "incredible" growth in the UK, where beforehand it "wasn't that big of a thing."

"George and [his wife] Amal have a beautiful home in the UK now, and he wanted to make sure he could drink it there," Gerber said. "Even though Brits aren't known as tequila drinkers, a lot of whisky drinkers and vodka drinkers have switched to drinking Casamigos."

Gerber added that it's "not your typical tequila" as it is low in calories and made from 100% Blue Weber Agaves, which he says has helped it catch on with both men and women.

"The authenticity of everything that we've done, from making it ourselves to naming it, has been an extension of who we are and our lifestyle," Gerber said. "It's been a fun thing for us to do."

While the pair sold their homes in Mexico shortly before we spoke to Gerber, he said they were looking at building new ones in the same place. Who knows what idea their next abodes will inspire.

SEE ALSO: George Clooney made nearly twice as much as The Rock last year — and he has tequila to thank

SEE ALSO: The incredible life of multimillionaire Rande Gerber: George Clooney's business partner, Cindy Crawford's husband, and father to 2 budding supermodels

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NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

Bitcoin's defense of the key support at $6,230 despite bad news has left the doors open for a rally to recent highs above $6,800.

• A Danish vessel is set to become the first container ship to use the Northern Sea Route which passes between the Arctic and Russia.
• The Venta Maersk is trialing the Arctic route to produce data on its economic viability.
• The icy route has seen growing marine traffic during the summer, with smaller ships carrying gas and oil already making the journey regularly.
• In January this year, Arctic sea ice hit a record low and in March an "extreme event" was declared as the sea ice in the Bering strait reached record lows.

The first container ship to tackle an Arctic route along Russia’s north coast has left the Russian port of Vladivostok as it trials a journey made easier by global warming.

The Venta Maersk, which is carrying 3,600 containers, is making a trial passage through the Northern Sea route, departing from Eastern Russia and making port in St Petersburg by late September, the BBC and The Independent reported.

It will collect data as part of an effort to test its economic viability of the route. The journey could be up to 14 days faster than the more established southern route through the Indian Ocean and the Suez canal.

The 42,000-tonne vessel, carrying a shipment of frozen fish and other goods, is a new "ice class" vessel. It is designed to sail in colder seas and has a stronger hull and protected rudders.

"The trial passage will enable us to explore the operational feasibility of container shipping through the Northern Sea Route and to collect data," Maersk said, underlining that "this is a one-off trial designed to explore an unknown route for container shipping and to collect scientific data."

The route was once impossible due to ice but a dethawing of the Arctic, combined with advances in shipping, have made it potentially feasible.

In January this year, Arctic sea ice hit a record low and in March an "extreme event" was declared. The sea ice in the Bering strait reached its lowest levels in recorded history as temperatures 30C above average were recorded.

According to figures from the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado, sea ice cover this winter was less than a third of what it was five years ago.

The route has seen growing marine traffic this summer, with smaller ships carrying cargos of gas and oil already making the journey regularly.

Sune Scheller of Greenpeace Nordic told the Independent he was aware of companies looking at the viability of Arctic shipping and said the change would be "environmentally damaging in a number of ways."

"If these ships were to have an accident then heavy fuel oil in the marine environment is bad. It’s even worse in an Arctic environment. The cold water temperatures slow or halt the natural breakdown of the oil. So it remains in marine environments for a much longer period of time," Scheller said.

Maersk stressed that the route was just a test.

"Currently, we do not see the Northern Sea Route as a commercial alternative to our existing network, which is defined by our customers' demand, trading patterns and population centres," Maersk said in a statement to Business Insider.

The journey is still expensive. The Maersk Line vessel needs an escort of nuclear-powered icebreakers, ships pioneered by Russia that clear a path through ice which can be over a metre thick at speeds of 10 knots (12mph).

SEE ALSO: A cargo ship carrying $20 million of soybeans has been drifting off the coast of China for a month — and it shows the real-world effects of the trade war

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• The US Securities and Exhanges Commission rejected nine bitcoin ETF proposals late on Wednesday.
• The watchdog cited concerns about possible price manipulation and insufficient market oversight.
• There is as yet no fully regulated bitcoin ETF product.
• Bitcoin bulls believe that if one is approved, it will expand the market by bringing in new investors.
• You can follow the live bitcoin price on Markets Insider.

LONDON — The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected nine applications to create a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in a blow to bitcoin bulls who had hoped such a product would prove a breakthrough for institutional adoption.

Late on Wednesday, the SEC rejected an application for two products from ProShares, two from GraniteShares, and five other proposals from Direxion. It means the world is still waiting for its first fully regulated bitcoin ETF product.

The applications were all rejected because the market watchdog believes not enough is being done to guard against bitcoin price manipulation. The SEC said the proposals did not do enough to show they were "designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices."

All the applications were linked to bitcoin futures contracts and the SEC said none of the applications had done enough to show that the futures markets is of "significant size."

"That failure is critical because, as explained below, the Exchange has failed to establish that other means to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices will be sufficient, and therefore surveillance-sharing with a regulated market of significant size related to bitcoin is necessary," the SEC wrote.

In short, if the bitcoin futures market is too small, it could be manipulated relatively easily. The futures market administrators, therefore, need to be sharing information with the bitcoin exchanges that supply their pricing data to ensure they can investigate and punish any suspected manipulation. These arrangements are not in place at the moment.

Commodities trading venues CBOE and CME last December launched the first bitcoin futures products but daily trading volumes remain small.

The rejection of the ETF applications is a blow to bitcoin bulls who hope that the launch of such a product will broaden the appeal of bitcoin, bringing in new investors into the market.

In July, the SEC rejected another application for a bitcoin ETF product submitted by the Winklevoss twins. The SEC is still considering other proposals, including the closely watched VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust. The SEC recently delayed its decision on the VanEck product until September 30.

Bitcoin dropped close to 2% late on Wednesday when the SEC's latest rulings were announced. However, the cryptocurrency quickly recovered. Bitcoin is up 1.1% against the dollar at 11.55 a.m. BST (6.55 a.m. ET).

The SEC ruling stressed that the ETF rejections "do not rest on an evaluation of whether bitcoin, or blockchain technology more generally, has utility or value as an innovation or an investment." This may be providing price support.

SEE ALSO: 'You're literally shifting deck chairs on the Titanic': Here's why the SEC probably won't approve a bitcoin ETF anytime soon

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Here is what you need to know.

The bull market in stocks is now the longest ever. The equity bull market is now the longest on record, as measured by its rise from the trough hit in March 2009, at 3,453 days.

Some Wall Streeters say all the people celebrating the stock market's longest-ever bull run are doing it wrong. Not everyone on Wall Street agrees that the bull market that started in March 2009 just became the longest in history. 

The US and China just imposed new tariffs as trade tensions continue to escalate. The US and China slapped a 25% tariff on another $16 billion worth of each other's goods in what is the latest escalation of the tit-for-tat trade war.

The Kansas City Fed's annual Jackson Hole Symposium kicks off on Thursday. It is Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's first as head of the central bank and the theme will be "Changing Market Structure and Implications for Monetary Policy."

Saudi Arabia is reportedly calling off what would have been the world's largest IPO. Saudi Arabia has called off plans to take state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco to public markets in what was rumored to be an initial public offering with a valuation of up to $2 trillion, Reuters says.

The SEC rejects 9 proposals for bitcoin ETFs. The US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected five exchange-traded funds from Direxion and two each from GraniteShares and ProShares, Reuters reports.

Tim Cook is closing in on a big payday. Apple's CEO is set to earn 560,00 shares on Friday, worth more than $120 million at Wednesday's closing price of $215.05, as part of his compensation plan that is tied to the company's performance.  

Stock markets around the world are mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-0.49%) trailed in Asia and France's CAC (+0.16%) is out front in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,862.

Earnings reports keep coming. Alibaba reports ahead of the opening bell while Gap, Ross Stores, and VMware are set to release their quarterly results after markets close. 

US economic data is heavy. Initial claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before FHFA home prices cross the wires at 9 a.m. ET. Then, at 9:45 a.m. ET, Markit manufacturing and services PMIs are released before new home sales are due out at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 1 basis point at 2.83%. 

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Here is what you need to know.

The bull market in stocks is now the longest ever. The equity bull market is now the longest on record, as measured by its rise from the trough hit in March 2009, at 3,453 days.

Some Wall Streeters say all the people celebrating the stock market's record bull run are doing it wrong. Not everyone on Wall Street agrees that the bull market that started in March 2009 just became the longest in history.

The US and China just imposed new tariffs as trade tensions continue to escalate. The US and China slapped a 25% tariff on another $16 billion worth of each other's goods in what is the latest escalation of the tit-for-tat trade war.

The Kansas City Fed's annual Jackson Hole Symposium kicks off Thursday. It is Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's first as head of the central bank, and the theme will be "Changing Market Structure and Implications for Monetary Policy."

Saudi Arabia is reportedly calling off what would have been the world's largest IPO. Saudi Arabia has called off plans to take part of the state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco to public markets in what was rumored to be an initial public offering with a valuation of up to $2 trillion, Reuters says.

The SEC rejects 9 proposals for bitcoin ETFs. The US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected five exchange-traded funds from Direxion and two each from GraniteShares and ProShares, Reuters reports.

Tim Cook is closing in on a big payday. Apple's CEO is set to earn 560,000 shares on Friday, worth more than $120 million at Wednesday's closing price of $215.05, as part of his compensation plan that is tied to the company's performance.

Stock markets around the world are mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-0.49%) trailed in Asia, and France's CAC (+0.16%) is out front in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,862.

Earnings reports keep coming. Alibaba reports ahead of the opening bell while Gap, Ross Stores, and VMware are set to release their quarterly results after markets close.

US economic data is heavy. Initial claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before FHFA home prices cross the wires at 9 a.m. ET. Then, at 9:45 a.m. ET, Markit manufacturing and services PMIs are released before new-home sales are due out at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 1 basis point at 2.83%.

Join the conversation about this story »

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Indian police in the south Indian city of Chennai (formerly Madras) have busted a drug dealer who allegedly procured synthetic drugs from the dark web before smuggling them into the country. During the bust, police seized LSD and ecstasy from 32-year-old Nikhil Tiwari who authorities believe is part of a wider network that acquires drugs

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• George Clooney is the highest-paid male actor of 2018, even though he didn't appear in a film.
• Instead, he has the $1 billion sale of his Casamigos tequila to thank for his $239 million pay cheque.
• This figure knocked former highest-paid actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson into second place.
• You can read the story of how Casamigos was set up by accident here.

George Clooney is officially the highest-paid male actor of 2018, knocking Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson off the top spot — and he has tequila, rather than films, to thank.

The 57-year-old earned $239 million between June 1 2017 and June 1 2018, making him the highest-paid actor on Forbes' list despite the fact he hasn't featured in a film since 2016's "Money Monster."

Instead, his position is mostly thanks to the $1 billion sale of his tequila brand Casamigos to drinks giant Diageo in June last year, according to Forbes, as well as additional earnings from endorsements and older movies.

The actor and two friends founded Casamigos, one of the fastest-growing tequila brands in the world, in 2013. When Business Insider spoke to Rande Gerber, Clooney's business partner, in March 2017, he said the idea came about "by accident," and that money was never the reason for launching the brand.

In an email to CNBC last June, Clooney said: "If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion dollar company, I don't think we would have said yes. This reflects Diageo's belief in our company and our belief in Diageo. But we're not going anywhere. We'll still be very much a part of Casamigos. Starting with a shot tonight. Maybe two."

Elsewhere on Forbes' list, The Rock came in second place banking $124 million in the same period, followed by Robert Downey Jr. at $81 million.

You can see the full list of the 10 highest-paid male actors, who made $748.5 million combined in 2018, here.

SEE ALSO: George Clooney's tequila company just sold for $1 billion — here's the story of how it was set up by accident

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NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

Law enforcement officials in California have arrested another hacker accused of stealing cryptocurrency by hijacking phone numbers. 19-year old Xzavyer Narvaez has been charged with seven counts of computer crimes, identity fraud, and grand theft, according to a report on Motherboard. According to the report, Narvaez had spent some of the Bitcoin made on luxury cards.

The post Alleged SIM Swapper Teen Purchased Luxury Cars with Stolen Bitcoin appeared first on CCN

• The annual Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming starts on Thursday.
• Every year the great and the good of global central banking and economics descend on the mountain resort to discuss the big issues of the day.
• This year's symposium is focused on the topic of "Changing Market Structure and Implications for Monetary Policy."
• It is Fed Chair Jerome Powell's first as head of the central bank, and comes at a time when he is under pressure from President Donald Trump.

The great and the good of global central banking are on the way to the exclusive ski resort of Jackson Hole in the remote US state of Wyoming for one of the benchmark events of its calendar.

Every year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City — one of 12 city based outposts of the USA's central bank — hosts the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, aiming to bring together central bankers from the world over to discuss the biggest challenges facing the global economy.

The symposium — which was first held in Jackson Hole during the 1980s to try and lure then Fed Chairman Paul Volcker away from Washington DC with the promise of good trout fishing alongside policy discussions — has a different focus every year. Last year attendees discussed "Fostering a Dynamic Global Economy." This year will be focused on the topic of "Changing Market Structure and Implications for Monetary Policy."

The event allows the world's monetary policymakers to meet behind closed doors and discuss the big issues of the day away from the political glare of their everyday workings.

However, it also has an outward-looking role to play. Major bankers almost always give major speeches and frequently signal future policy intentions.

This year will be Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's first time attending the symposium as the most powerful central banker on the planet. It comes at a time when he is facing stern criticism from President Trump over his willingness to continue raising interest rates.

Trump is an avowed advocate of low interest rates and has directly criticised Powell's approach several times in recent months, breaking with a longstanding convention that president's refrain from commenting on the actions of the Fed, which is independent of government.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Trump said he was "not thrilled" by Fed chairman Jerome Powell's decision to raise interest rates and would continue to criticize the Fed if interest rate hikes continued. It followed reports earlier in the day that Trump had criticised Powell at a private GOP fundraiser.

Trump's criticisms give Powell's planned speech at the symposium an interesting new dimension, although it is believed that Powell is effectively ignoring the president and taking no notice of his barbs. Powell will speak on Friday and is likely to give further hints about coming interest rate hikes in the US.

The Fed has already raised rates twice in 2018 and is expected to hike twice more before the year is out. September looks the most likely time for the next rate hike, with another likely in December if economic performance continues as expected. Powell could hint at any changes to that guidance, however.

"I expect Powell to maintain the central bank’s line given the continued performance of the economy and avoid being swayed by Trump’s comments or being drawn into discussing the actions of other central banks," Craig Erlam, an analyst at OANDA, said in an email earlier this week.

SEE ALSO: Trump just attacked the Fed again — an ugly economic lesson from the Nixon administration shows why his criticism is so worrying

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Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market has dropped slightly in value, led by the 4 percent decline in the Bitcoin price. Ethereum, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash fell by 5 percent. The majority of analysts in the space have attributed the recent fall in the Bitcoin price to the rejection of several Bitcoin exchange-traded

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Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market has dropped slightly in value, led by the 4 percent decline in the Bitcoin price. Ethereum, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash fell by 5 percent. The majority of analysts in the space have attributed the recent fall in the Bitcoin price to the rejection of several Bitcoin exchange-traded

The post Market Overreaction? Bitcoin Price Drops 4% as More ETFs Get Rejected appeared first on CCN

The hopes of Bitcoin bulls ate dust once again as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disapproved nine more Bitcoin ETF applications. The US regulator rejected two ETFs by ProShares that would track Bitcoin future contracts, five inversed and leveraged ETFs from Direxion, and another one from GraniteShares. It continued to hold its stance against

The post Rejected Again: SEC [Predictably] Denies 9 Bitcoin ETF Proposals appeared first on CCN

Barely a week after receiving bomb threats, Kryptovault now has to contend with another threat — forced closure by local authorities. According to the Norwegian edition of The Local, one of the bitcoin mining facilities that Kryptovault runs in Norway is at risk of being shut down by the local municipality following noise pollution complaints

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday denied two more bitcoin ETF applications, continuing its stance of hostility toward the much-anticipated cryptocurrency investment products. Those proposals, filed by NYSE Arca, sought to list bitcoin ETFs from fund providers ProShares and Direxion. These particular ETFs would not have held physical bitcoin but rather would have

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Gold has been the global store of value for thousands of years, but one cryptocurrency-focused venture capitalist thinks bitcoin will eventually capture that mantle. Lou Kerner, co-founder of CryptoOracle, which provides cryptocurrency advisory services and operates a venture fund focusing on decentralized technologies, believes bitcoin offers something “much, much better” and will take gold’s place

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued rejections to bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETFs) proposals from ProShares, GraniteShares and Direxion.