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• JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told Business Insider in an interview that any law-abiding person who graduates from a US university should be given a green card alongside the degree, regardless of their immigration status. 
• According to Dimon, President Trump said in a meeting with him that he agreed with this idea. 

Any law-abiding graduate from a US university should receive a green card, regardless of their immigration status, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told Business Insider in an interview.

Dimon, speaking to Business Insider in July in San Diego, said that President Trump also agrees with this idea. This stands in contrast to the hard line that the White House has taken to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which shields nearly 800,000 young immigrants brought illegally to the US as minors — many of who are now university students — from deportation. 

"The fact is, most Americans want proper border security. That's doesn't necessarily mean the wall but the fact is we didn't have it for the last 20 years. But do that, make DACA, everyone who is DACA stay, give the law-abiding, undocumented a chance, a path to legal status and citizenship. Anyone who gets a degree here should get a green card with the degree," Dimon said. "Even President Trump in a meeting said to me and a whole bunch of other people, 'I want to do that.' We'll let's just go ahead and do it." 

Dimon made the remarks in the midst of an annual bus tour driving around the US to visit branch employees, customers and local officials. 

This is not the first time that Dimon has called for immigration reform. In September 2017, he said that young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children should be allowed to stay in the country. 

He has also spoken against against the policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border with Mexico.

A White House official did not respond for comment. 

Watch BI's interview with Dimon here. 

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• JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told Business Insider in an interview that bad policies held the US economy to 20% growth over the last nine years, whereas past recoveries suggest it should have been double that. 
• Dimon cited an uncompetitive tax system, inability to build infrastructure, and the crippling bureaucracy and paperwork needed for things such as starting a business. 

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon isn't shy about apportioning blame for a worse-than-possible economic recovery, saying it would have been twice as strong but for a collection of bad policies. 

"It was nine years, 20% growth; it should have been nine years, 40% growth," Dimon said in a late July interview with Business Insider. "What hampered us was our own bad policies. Uncompetitive tax system, we're terrible at building infrastructure now, the crippling bureaucracy and paperwork and sinecure to get things done. We still have the best nation on the planet, but we still have a bunch of things to fix."

It's not the first time Dimon has spoken out about policymaking mistakes. The CEO has earned a reputation for speaking his mind in sometimes blunt language. Dimon has been optimistic that the Trump administration may be able to fix some of the bad policies, and cited last year's passage of tax reform.  

In April, Dimon addressed the topic of bureaucracy in his annual letter, writing that it's "a disease" that "drives out good people, slows down decision making, kills innovation and is often the petri dish of bad politics." Later that month, he wrote an op-ed that railed against the unequal distribution of wealth in the US. 

Dimon sat on one of President Trump's business advisory councils before they were disbanded in the wake of the president's comments about the protest in Charlottesville, Virginia last year. 

Dimon spoke to Business Insider in July from San Diego, where the CEO was in the midst of an annual bus tour driving around the US to visit branch employees, customers and local officials. He spoke after surprising a small business owner who had walked into the Chase for Business Bizmobile, a sort of pop up branch, looking for solutions to potential business challenges.

In the wide-ranging interview, Dimon also spoke about the importance of trade, the imperative to come up with workable immigration policy and border security, and the need for businesses and governments to collaborate. 

Watch BI's interview with Dimon here.

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This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

• The CDC is investigating after 12 American Airlines passengers on two separate flights from Europe to Philadelphia International Airport fell ill with flu-like symptoms on Thursday.
• The two American Airlines flights originated in Paris and Munich. 
• According to the CDC, affected passengers exhibited symptoms such as a sore throat and cough, but none had a fever. 
• The incident comes one day after an Emirates jet was quarantined at JFK Airport in New York and 11 passengers were with hospitalized flu-like symptoms. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating after 12 American Airlines passengers on two separate flights from Europe to Philadelphia International Airport fell ill with flu-like symptoms on Thursday.

"This afternoon, 12 passengers arriving at Philadelphia International Airport on international flights on American Airlines from Paris and on American Airlines from Munich were experiencing flu-like symptoms," the airport said in a statement.

"As a precaution, all passengers on the two flights – totaling about 250 plus crew – were held for a medical review and the CDC was notified."

According to the CDC, the sick passengers reported experiencing a sore throat and cough, but none had a fever.

"None of the passengers are severely ill, and they will be released and informed of test results in 24 hours," the agency said in a statement. 

NBC Philadelphia reported that the two affected flights were AA755 and AA717. 

 American Airlines did not immediately return Business Insider's request for comment. 

Customs and Border Protection officials told NBC Philadelphia that the sick passengers all originated from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where there was recently a flu outbreak. 

The incident comes one day after about an Emirates jet was quarantined at JFK International Airport in New York City and 11 passengers were hospitalized with flu-like symptoms.

"For the 11 individuals taken to the hospital, preliminary tests indicate that some patients tested positive for influenza and/or other common respiratory viruses," the CDC said in a statement regarding the Emirates passengers. "Patients are being treated by the hospital, including receiving antivirals."

The passengers and crew who were quarantined on Wednesday in New York reported having a cough, fever, and symptoms of gastrointestinal illness during the 14-hours flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 

SEE ALSO: An Emirates Airbus A380 was quarantined at JFK Airport after 100 passengers became ill

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This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Millennials are more optimistic about the chances of cryptocurrency being widely accepted, and nearly half of who think this would prefer using cryptocurrency over the U.S. dollar, according to a recently conducted consumer survey on awareness of and attitudes about cryptocurrency. Nearly 80% of Americans (79%) are aware of at least one type of cryptocurrency,

The post 80% of Americans are Aware of Bitcoin, Study Reveals appeared first on CCN

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Stocks were mostly lower Thursday as trade concerns continued to loom over Wall Street. Tech resumed selling for a third straight session, a day after Congress grilled executives from Twitter and Facebook about political content and security measures. The dollar and Treasury yields fell.

Here's the scoreboard:

Dow Jones industrial average: 25,996.38 +21.39 (+0.082%)

S&P 500: 2,879.51 −9.09 (-0.31%)

Nasdaq Composite: 7,922.73 −72.45 (-0.91%)

1. The Trump administration is expected to follow through with tariffs on roughly $200 billion worth of Chinese products after a public comment period ends Thursday. Beijing has vowed to retaliate against the action, which is slated to hit more consumer products than previous duties. Ahead of the anticipated announcement, businesses have been preparing for financial pain.
2. Progress remains elusive after the US and Canada held a second day of trade negotiations. In last-ditch efforts to modernize NAFTA, high-level trade officials have yet to resolve key issues like tariffs on dairy products and a dispute settlement procedure. Last week, Trump threatened to hit Canada with duties on auto imports and to exclude the country from a trade agreement with Mexico.
3. The weekly unemployment rate in the US fell to nearly a five-decade low. The Labor Department said jobless claims dropped by about 10,000 last week to 203,000, the lowest since December 1969. Monthly employment numbers are scheduled for release Friday. 
4. CBS board members are reportedly in talks to negotiate an exit deal for the company's embattled chief executive Leslie Moonves and asking for autonomy from its controlling shareholder. The board appointed law firms to investigate the CEO after the New Yorker published a story detailing sexual harassment allegations against Moonves, whose interim replacement is expected to be chief operating officer Joe Ianniello. Shares of the company jumped more than 3% following the news.

And a look at the upcoming economic calendar:

• Employment numbers are out in the US and Canada. 
• China releases trade balance data.

SEE ALSO: JPMorgan has established a blueprint for the next big market crash — and warns it could create the biggest social conflict in 50 years

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

Just when it appeared that the cryptocurrency market was about to bottom out just a fortnight ago (with Bitcoin reaching a reported 14-month volatility low), the market subsequently started displaying indicators of a directional shift. Last week however, we saw a short-term appreciation in value. In typical crypto fashion it was just as rapid if

The post Crypto Rollercoaster: Explaining the Recent Market Performance appeared first on CCN

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JPMorgan has established a blueprint for the next big market crash 

An idealistic follower of financial markets might tell you that we learned our lesson following the crisis that rocked the globe a decade ago.

Banking regulations were ramped up to prevent the type of risky behavior that doomed markets, and investors have repeatedly been warned to check their euphoria this time around.

But a new report from JPMorgan suggests that — despite our best efforts — we're hurtling toward a similarly painful reckoning.

Citigroup just announced an overhaul of its investment bank — and there's a big reshuffling at the top

Citigroup on Thursday announced a restructuring of its investment banking operations as it seeks to grab more wallet share in one of Wall Street's most high-profile businesses. 

The firm is combining its corporate and investment bank with capital markets origination, a move that will involve the reshuffling of key senior executives, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Citi's new-look investment bank will be co-headed by Tyler Dickson, 51, currently the global head of capital markets origination, and Manolo Falco, 54, head of Citi's corporate and investment bank in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. 

Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange operator, is looking into getting a crypto ETF off the ground, and it has sought help from $6 trillion asset manager BlackRock.

Coinbase is known for its wide-ranging business model, covering asset-management, venture capital, trading, custody, and brokerage. It's now looking to create an exchange-traded product tied to crypto, according to people familiar with the matter, as a way to allow retail investors to gain access to the volatile crypto markets.

Coinbase in recent weeks has held conversations with individuals from BlackRock's blockchain working group to tap into the firm's expertise at launching exchange-traded products, the people said. BlackRock, an early pioneer of the ETF market, is well-known for its iShares division.

Uber just launched Uber cash 

Yesterday, Uber launched Uber Cash, a service that allows customers to add funds to a stored-value account that they can use to pay for Uber services, like Uber Eats. Uber Cash offers users a 5% discount and incentives to use the account: spending $95 gets the customer $100 and $48.50 gets them $50, for example.

And the new service also enables users to store Uber gift cards as well as other Uber rewards and redemptions, which they can use to load value into their Uber Cash accounts. 

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• Notorious short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research has filed a lawsuit against Tesla and Elon Musk.
• Left says Musk's "funding secured" tweet was merely a way to burn investors like him who were betting against Tesla's stock price.
• Watch Tesla trade in real-time here. 

Tesla is facing yet another lawsuit stemming from CEO Elon Musk's failed bid to take the electric-car maker private, this time from a notorious short seller Andrew Left.

The founder of Citron Research alleged in a California court filing Thursday that Musk's "funding secured" tweet — which sent Tesla shares up 11% in a matter of hours — was sent simply to burn short sellers, who lost more than $3 billion during the stock's surge.

Shares of Tesla fell roughly 3.8% off their intra-day highs following the filing of the suit, and are now little changed for the session. 

"Defendant Musk has a long-standing public feud with short-sellers," Left's attorney, James Wagstaffe, said in the filing. Musk's "statements were an ill-conceived attempt to artificially manipulate the price of Tesla securities in order to "burn" and "squeeze out" the Company's short-sellers," he continued.

It's not the first lawsuit to hit Tesla in the wake of Musk's go-private attempt, but it is the first to allege it as a purposeful "short burn" rather than just a manipulation of the stock's price. Revelations by Tesla that funding was not actually secured, as Musk had originally tweeted, have spurred an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US's top stock market regulator.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

Click here to read about everything that has happened since Musk sent his "funding secured" tweet about taking Tesla private.

SEE ALSO: Citron’s Andrew Left on Life As A Short-Seller

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

A luxury car retailer based in Houston, Texas, has become the first Bentley, Bugatti and Rolls-Royce (but not Lamborghini) dealership in the United States to adopt cryptocurrency as means of payment. Post Oak Motor Cars, which is owned by Houston Rockets billionaire, Tilman Fertitta, will now accept bitcoin and bitcoin cash thereby breaking new ground

The post Houston Rockets’ Billionaire Owner Accepts Bitcoin at Luxury Car Dealership appeared first on CCN

• Nike has grown in popularity among millennial investors after releasing its controversial Colin Kaepernick ad.
• A total of 15,191 investors added Nike to their portfolios on Robinhood this week, up 45% from last week.
• President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday criticizing Nike's polarizing ad.
• The company is trying to reach a younger demographic, an analyst said. 
• Watch Nike trade in real-time here.

Nike's controversial ad featuring Colin Kaepernick has paid off, at least among millennial investors, according to data from Robinhood, a no-fee brokerage popular among younger traders.

The sneaker maker tapped several athletes including Kaepernick, the football quarterback who protested racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem, as the faces of a campaign marking the 30th anniversary of its "Just Do It" slogan.

Nike shares are down 2% this week, following the campaign reveal on Monday. Meanwhile on Robinhood, a total of 15,191 investors added Nike to their portfolios this week, up 45% from last week, according to Business Insider's tracking of the data.

"Investors on Robinhood are buying Nike stock 300% more than they are selling, compared to 12% last week," Sahill Poddar, the app's data scientist, told Business Insider on Tuesday. "Investors in Oregon, where Nike is headquartered, are buying the stock 850% more than they are selling."

Nike is the 37th most popular stock on the brokerage, up from 57th last week. 

The issue of players kneeling during the national anthem could once again take center stage as the NFL season kicks off on Thursday. It drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who tweeted Wednesday about Nike's ad featuring Kaepernick.

"Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts," Trump tweeted. "I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way?"

According to Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel, the sneaker giant is taking some short-term pain for long-term gain. Nagel said that the company is trying "to make some noise" in the industry via its athletes and their stories, regardless of any political leanings, according to MarketWatch.

Shares of Nike are up 29% since the start of this year.

Now read:

• The 16 cities where Americans struggle the most to pay rent

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

• The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that marijuana stocks were a hotbed of potential stock manipulation. 
• The agency says to watch out for guaranteed returns, unregistered sellers, or unsolicited offers. 

Marijuana stocks have have been on fire following the legalization of cannabis in Canada — and the US's top stock-market regulator has a stern warning for potential investors.

"If you are thinking about investing in a marijuana-related company, you should beware of the risks of investment fraud and market manipulation," the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a press release Thursday. "Fraudsters may try to use media coverage about the legalization of marijuana to promote an investment scam."

Among the agency's warning flags are unregistered stock sellers, guaranteed returns, or unsolicited offers to buy a stock. 

Most marijuana companies are traded on Canadian exchanges due to the country's more lax laws when it comes to cannabis. Still, however, a handful are traded in the US, including the three-largest producers by market cap, due to the companies' need for exposure to American capital markets. 

And while the industry is still in elementary stages of development, many of the stocks have soared. Tilray, for example, has seen its market value more than triple since going public in July.

That skyrocketing growth has naturally piqued the curiosity of institutional investors and retail investors alike. When Constellation Brands, the behemoth behind popular alcoholic drinks like Corona and Svedka, invested in Canopy Growth, it's stock rose more than 100%.

On Robinhood — the no-fee stock trading app popular among younger investors — weed stocks are easily among the most popular investments. Cronos is currently held by 106,000 investors, making it the 11th most-popular stock on the platform, while Canopy Growth and Tilray rank 21st and 49th, respectively.

Other smaller marijuana companies trade on the over-the-counter market, which could make them more susceptible to manipulation, the SEC says.

"Fraudsters may manipulate stock prices (for example, causing them to rise or fall dramatically) by spreading false and misleading information about a company," the warning reads.

"Microcap stocks, some of which are penny stocks and/or nanocap stocks, may be more susceptible to market manipulation than stocks of larger companies."

You can read the agency's full warning here.

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

A YouGov survey of roughly 1,200 Americans found that 48 percent of millennials are interested in using cryptocurrencies as a primary form of payment.

• The Trump administration is expected to enact tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to the US.
• Some companies say they will have to immediately lay off employees to absorb the cost.
• Others warn they may have to shut down completely.

Win Cramer, the chief executive of an American audio products business, felt he was visibly anxious as he addressed a panel of US Trade Representative officials at a public hearing in Washington last month. 

"If I come across as a bit nervous, it's because I genuinely feel this is the biggest moment in my company's life," Cramer said, according to testimony transcripts. He desperately wanted the Trump administration to understand how much its proposed import tariffs on roughly $200 billion worth of Chinese goods could hurt his 13-year-old business, JLab Audio. 

Because JLab could not afford to absorb the costs of a 25% tax on Chinese imports and has contractual price commitments with customers, Cramer said the company would have no choice but to cut its staff. It would immediately have to lay off 12% of employees, he lamented, with more to follow. 

Cramer lives in California, but like hundreds of other business and industry representatives, he felt a trek across the country was worth the chance to testify before the USTR. Knowing they were allowed just five minutes of testimony each, more than 350 submitted requests to voice how further escalations in President Donald Trump's trade war with China could affect them. 

The Trump administration has enacted punitive duties on about $50 billion worth of imports from the country, summoning tit-for-tat responses from Beijing. A public comment period for another round of tariffs targeting an additional $200 billion worth of products ends Thursday, after which Trump is expected to take action. 

'If this tariff takes effect, we are out of business' 

David Scheer, who runs a manufacturing company in Wisconsin, was among many of the witnesses who warned another round of tariffs could put him in a situation similar to Cramer's. Higher costs would endanger contracts with major customers, he worried. The only alternative would be to cut dozens of jobs.

"We are now between a rock and a hard place," Scheer said of ECM Industries, his Menominee Falls-based company. "I do not want to be in a position to tell 50 or 60 people they are losing their jobs as a result of these tariffs but I may have no choice."

For the manufacturing and construction company Transdesic International, layoffs aren't even an option. 

"In fact, if this tariff takes effect, we are out of business," chief executive Russell Western said. "We may not be the largest company in the Northeast, but the cascading effect of destroying our business will hurt a lot of people."

Trump, however, asserts the tariffs will ultimately help defend the US against what trade officials found to be intellectual property theft and business practices that are perceived as unfair. Bringing back jobs by reducing the trade deficit, which the president views as a general sign of economic weakness, has been one of his signature promises since the campaign trail.

The trouble is moving production can be time-consuming, expensive, and isn’t always an option for small-to-medium companies. For Econoco Corporation, a manufacturing company, it would theoretically take at least three years. Mark Zelniker, president of the Hicksville, New York-based company, said it would realistically "not survive" the associated costs and would be forced to close.

A handful of winners

A relatively small number of businesses testified in agreement with the president. Paul Czachor, chief executive of the American Keg Company in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, believes the tariffs will be effective "in eliminating China's bad practices while having no economic harm to US interests."

"It will effectively allow the US to bring more jobs back and spur growth by allowing companies in the US to be competitive making stainless steel kegs," Czachor said. 

The US steel industry has been a rare champion of rising protectionism, which has sent domestic prices of the metal sharply higher. Trump recently visited Granite City Works, an Illinois steel plant that announced earlier this year tariffs allowed it to increase production.

Winners from the trade war have otherwise been few and far between, especially as it increasingly hits consumer products and limits access to foreign markets. In July, Trump rolled out a $12 billion bailout package for farmers, a key constituency for the president and his party, who warned the trade war could lead to staggering financial losses.

Beijing has warned it will escalate economic penalties against the US if Trump acts further. While China doesn't import enough from the US to match proposed duties dollar-for-dollar, it could increase tariff rates or use other punitive measures like creating administrative headaches for American business.

"The Administrative motivations are understandable," said Darren Dunn, chief executive of SOG Specialty Knives & Tools in Lynwood, Washington. "But respectively, we must wonder if this process is beginning to spin out of control." 

SEE ALSO: Thursday marks probably the most important moment yet in Trump's trade war with China

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

Bitcoin price on Thursday extended its prevailing bearish correction sentiment and dropped as much as 6.5 percent from the yesterday’s low near $6,710. The BTC/USD in the very first hours of today’s session formed lower highs and lower lows towards 6731-fiat and 6303-fiat. It very much set the sentimental course for the rest of the

The post Bitcoin Price Intraday Analysis: BTC/USD Rejects Bulls, Once Again appeared first on CCN

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Citigroup sent a memo to employees on Thursday, confirming a Business Insider story from last night announcing a restructuring of its investment banking operations as it seeks to grab more wallet share in one of Wall Street's most high-profile businesses.

The firm will combine its corporate and investment bank with capital markets origination, a move that will involve the reshuffling of key senior executives, according to the memo. Tyler Dickson, 51, currently the global head of capital markets origination, and Manolo Falco, 54, head of Citi's corporate and investment bank in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, will jointly run the combined unit. 

Ray McGuire, the global head of corporate and investment banking for the last 13 years, will take on a new role as chairman of the unit, and vice chair for the entire company, according to the memo. The move frees McGuire, 61, to spend more time with clients as one of Citigroup's most senior investment bankers. He recently advised Time Warner on its sale to AT&T.

Citi spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos declined to comment.

Here's the full memo:

Message From Jamie Forese

Our ambition is to Be the Best for our Clients, and we must ensure our operating model is capably designed to allow us to achieve this goal. With a view toward serving our banking clients with a more comprehensive coverage model, aligning our capital raising and advisory products more seamlessly, I have decided to combine our Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) and Capital Markets Origination (CMO) divisions into one, creating a new unit to be called Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory (BCMA).

I am pleased to announce the following leadership positions:

Ray McGuire will become Chairman of BCMA and a Vice Chairman of Citigroup. In his new role, he will report to me and will focus on managing senior global client relationships to deliver our global network and solutions across the Citi platform. He will work strategically with our senior leaders with respect to critical decisions affecting clients. Under his 13 year-leadership of the CIB, Citi has established itself as a trusted advisor to our global institutional clients, helping them to conceive, finance and execute some of the most complex, landmark transactions in recent history. He has led the CIB to increased revenue and wallet share growth, and he has attracted and cultivated some of the industry's most effective talent from Analysts to Managing Directors.

Tyler Dickson and Manolo Falco will become global co-heads of BCMA, reporting to me. Tyler has contributed to Citi for over 29 years and has run Capital Markets Origination globally since the group’s inception in 2008. Over the past decade, CMO has expanded its breadth and depth of products and capabilities and is recognized as one of the world’s leaders in loan, bond, and equity underwriting, structured solutions, and agency and trust services. Manolo has been with Citi for 20 years and has been Head of CIB Iberia and CCO for Spain. Since 2009, he has led our EMEA CIB franchise. In that period, EMEA CIB has achieved continued growth in revenues and operating efficiency, and for the last three years has increased wallet share in the region.

Over the coming months, we will be announcing additional appointments to the leadership of BCMA as we further integrate the legacy CIB and CMO businesses. Through the remainder of the year, Ray will work closely with Tyler and Manolo to ensure an organized transition to our new model, and to ensure we sustain continuity to our recruiting, promotion, compensation and budgeting processes.

Please join me in congratulating Ray, Tyler and Manolo on their new roles as they continue to build upon our success and deliver on our unwavering commitment to provide the highest quality service to our clients.

See also:

•  Inside the power struggle at the top of Citigroup's equities unit that's a window on the latest Wall Street fad
• JPMorgan's US M&A chief shares the secret sauce for getting deals to pop by flouting an old-school rule of dealmaking

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

• Snap shares are trading under $10 for the first time.
• Tech stocks have been under pressure after Facebook and Twitter executives testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.
• Snap introduced new Spectacles camera glasses on Wednesday.
• Watch Snap trade in real-time here.

Snap shares slid for a seventh straight session on Thursday, hitting a record low of less than $10 apiece.

Thursday's selling comes as tech names have been under pressure after Facebook and Twitter executives testified on Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee about their company's response to Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election. 

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is scheduled to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday.

Snap shares have been under pressure since the social-media company released its second-quarter earnings last month. The company beat sales and profits estimates but admitted its number of daily active users fell 2% from the first quarter to 188 million. Wall Street analysts were expecting that number to increase to 193 million.

Social media peers such as Facebook and Twitter are also suffering from user bases drop as debate escalates over censorship and the spread of misinformation.

On Wednesday, Snap introduced two new styles of its Spectacles camera glasses, which look more like standard sunglasses. But shares dropped 4% following the news.

Shares of Snap are down 34% since this year.

Now read:

• Google's former China boss says the search company won't stand a chance against today's Chinese 'gladiator' entrepreneurs

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

• The CBS board is in settlement talks with CEO Les Moonves for his exit from the company, CNBC reported Thursday.
• Shares of CBS fell as much as 3% in early trading, before rising into the green. 
• Follow CBS' stock price in real-time here. 

After an initial spike, shares of CBS fell about 0.3% on Thursday after CNBC reported the broadcaster was in settlement talks with CEO Les Moonves for his exit from the company following sexual-misconduct allegations brought against him by six women.

If the talks are successful, Moonves' right-hand man, COO Joe Ianniello, will serve as interim CEO, CNBC reported, citing people close to the negotiations.

A sticking point is Moonves' exit package, according to the report. While his contract would entitle him a golden parachute of up to $180 million, the board is reportedly offering him about $100 million given the ongoing investigation into sexual harassment claims against him. The board is also reportedly seeking the right to claw back a portion of that package depending on the findings of the investigation.

Moonves' potential exit from CBS comes at a time of twin sources of turmoil for the company. CBS' stock is down 11% this year and has lost nearly a third of its value since hitting a high of $70 in April 2017. 

CBS declined to comment to CNBC and did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Nathan McAlone contributed to this report.

SEE ALSO: The CBS board is reportedly negotiating a $100 million exit for CEO Les Moonves, as the investigation into sexual misconduct claims against him continues

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

The Iranian government’s recognition of cryptocurrency mining as a legitimate industry propelled bitcoin price to hit record highs at a time when the country closes in on its own national cryptocurrency to evade sanctions. According to local news agency IBENA, the country’s High Council of Cyberspace (HCC) has confirmed that the government now sees the

The post Iran Legitimizes Crypto Mining Industry, Bitcoin Price Spikes to $24,000 Locally appeared first on CCN

• JPMorgan's global head of quantitative and derivatives strategy, Marko Kolanovic, lays out his template for the next big market crash.
• Kolanovic attributes the dangerous conditions currently facing markets to seven key developments since the 2008 financial crisis.
• He even goes as far as to make a dire prediction about how a negative market event will affect social harmony.

An idealistic follower of financial markets might tell you that we learned our lesson following the crisis that rocked the globe a decade ago.

Banking regulations were ramped up to prevent the type of risky behavior that doomed markets, and investors have repeatedly been warned to check their euphoria this time around.

But a new report from JPMorgan suggests that — despite our best efforts — we're hurtling towards a similarly painful reckoning.

And once again, a familiar foe is working against harmonious market conditions: a lack of liquidity. ...

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SEE ALSO: Jeremy Grantham has predicted every modern financial bubble — here's where he says you should be putting your money

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

•  Coinbase is looking to create an exchange-traded product tied to crypto, according to people familiar with the matter, as a way to allow retail investors to gain access to the volatile market. 
• The firm in recent weeks has held conversations with members of BlackRock's blockchain working group to tap into the firm's expertise at launching exchange-traded products.
• Coinbase announced in March an index fund of cryptocurrencies aimed at accredited investors. An ETF, however, is geared towards more mainstream investors. 
• If Coinbase were to develop a crypto ETF, it would join a number of other firms also looking to launch their own, including rival Gemini, Bitwise Asset Management, and VanEck. 

Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange operator, is looking into getting a crypto ETF off the ground, and it has sought help from $6 trillion asset manager BlackRock. 

Coinbase is known for its wide-ranging business model, covering asset-management, venture capital, trading, custody, and brokerage. It's now looking to create an exchange-traded product tied to crypto, according to people familiar with the matter, as a way to allow retail investors to gain access to the volatile crypto markets. 

Coinbase in recent weeks has held conversations with individuals from BlackRock's blockchain working group to tap into the firm's expertise at launching exchange-traded products, the people said. BlackRock, an early pioneer of the ETF market, is well-known for its iShares division. 

BlackRock's blockchain working group, which was started in 2015, consists of employees across its numerous businesses and its goal is to identify applications of blockchain-related technologies in financial-services, according to a person with knowledge of the group.

It remains unclear if the talks were a one-off, or part of ongoing conversations between Coinbase and BlackRock. BlackRock representatives from the working group didn't give any concrete recommendations to the crypto exchange operator, the person said. 

BlackRock itself has no interest in being a crypto fund issuer, the person added. And its CEO Larry Fink has said the firm's clients have expressed zero interest in the $300 billion market for digital currencies, referring to bitcoin as an "index of money laundering."

If Coinbase were to develop a crypto ETF, it would join a number of other firms also looking to launch their own, including rival Gemini, Bitwise Asset Management, and VanEck.

Coinbase announced in March an index fund of cryptocurrencies aimed at accredited investors. The ETF would also likely track a number of cryptos, not just bitcoin, according to a person familiar with Coinbase's plans. A bitcoin ETF has been viewed as a natural next step in its maturation as an asset and could precipitate the entrance of more retail investors into the crypto market.

However, the idea of a bitcoin ETF has received push-back from regulators who don't think markets for cryptos are properly monitored. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected a slew of nine fund proposals by a number of asset managers. 

Still, Coinbase's conversations with BlackRock marks the latest example of the crypto world's growing appeal among traditional Wall Street circles. 

Goldman Sachs is developing a custody product for crypto, which would mean that the bank holds cryptocurrency and, potentially, keeps track of price changes on behalf of large fund clients. 

Fidelity and JPMorgan are reportedly also looking into custody. And ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced in August Bakkt, a platform for cryptocurrency trading. 

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Coinbase has announced yesterday the launched of new GBP trading pairs to start on Friday 7 September at 9 AM BST. The new pairs being launched are ETH/GBP, ETC/GBP, LTC/GBP, and BCH/GBP – Coinbase Pro already supports BTC/GBP at this time. The announcement follows the news released earlier this month that Coinbase would be adding GBP … Continued

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Coinbase has announced yesterday the launched of new GBP trading pairs to start on Friday 7 September at 9 AM BST. The new pairs being launched are ETH/GBP, ETC/GBP, LTC/GBP, and BCH/GBP – Coinbase Pro already supports BTC/GBP at this time. The announcement follows the news released earlier this month that Coinbase would be adding GBP … Continued

The post Coinbase Pro Announces Trading Pairs with British Pounds for UK Customers appeared first on CCN

The Iranian government has recognized bitcoin mining as a lawful activity, briefly sending bitcoin prices to record levels at the country's exchanges.

Bitcoin continues to decline, amid reports that the US bank will shelve plans to establish a crypto trading desk.

Bitcoin's 13 percent slide in the last 24 hours has neutralized the long-term bullish reversal suggested on the technical charts earlier this week.

Payments platform TransferGo has launched a real-time payments corridor to India, the world’s biggest remittance receiver, using Ripple’s blockchain technology. In a press release, the payments provider announced the launch of ‘TransferGo NOW’, a service which it says is available for customers “from anywhere in Europe” to “make instant money transfers to India” using San

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• Lululemon founder Chip Wilson is now one of the 500 richest people in the world.
• His fortune hit $3.9 billion thanks to a 15% surge in shares of the company.
• He stepped down from the board in 2015, but still owns a 13% stake in the activewear brand.
• Wilson is known for his controversial comments.

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson has been named among the 500 richest people in the world.

62-year-old Wilson, who founded Lululemon Athletica Inc. in Vancouver, Canada in 1998, has the activeware brand's successful second quarter and a 15% surge in company shares to thank for his $3.9 billion fortune, according to Bloomberg.

Lululemon beat Wall Street's net sales estimates for the eighth quarter in a row on Thursday, making Wilson $311 richer on Friday and adding another $41 million on Tuesday, Bloomberg reports.

He is now the 496th richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Wilson stepped down from the board in 2015, a year after resigning as chairman and three years after stepping aside as chief innovation and branding officer of the company, though he returned to the business in 2013 to help deal with a crisis that saw Lululemon recall 17% of its famous yoga pants for being too sheer.

The founder, known for making headlines throughout his tenure with a number of controversial comments, still owns a 13% stake in the company.

In 2013, he caused outrage when he suggested to Bloomberg TV that Lululemon pants "don't work for some women's bodies."

Speaking about quality issues some customers were having with the yoga pants, he said: "Frankly some women's bodies just don't actually work for it.

"They don't work for some women's bodies... it's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time, how much they use it."

He later posted a bizarre video apology for his remarks and begged customers to give the company a second chance.

In 2009, he claimed in a blog post that smoking and birth control pills led to high divorce rates, and he also once told Canada's National Post Business Magazine that he chose the name Lululemon for his company because he thought it was funny that Japanese people couldn't pronounce the letter "L."

Speaking on the moment he found out he was a billionaire, in a 2016 interview he said: "There's not much difference between having probably $20 million and being a billionaire quite frankly."

SEE ALSO: The $1 billion sale of George Clooney's tequila company just made him 2018's highest-paid actor — here's the story of how the brand was set up by accident

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

• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to lose value on Thursday.
• Bitcoin has dropped almost $1,000 in value over the last 24 hours.
• Ethereum has slumped 20% to its lowest level in over a year.
• The move downwards started on Wednesday, and was exacerbated by a Business Insider report that Goldman Sachs has shelved plans to create a bitcoin trading desk.
• You can track the price of bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies here.

The sharp sell-off that gripped cryptocurrency markets on Wednesday has extended into a second day, with major digital assets across the spectrum continuing to fall during trading on Thursday.

Wednesday's initial move seemed to have no real catalyst, beyond a theory put forward by Tanya Abrosimova of FXStreet isthat the introduction of a registration process for the popular instant bitcoin exchange ShapeShift may have spooked some users and triggered at least part of the drop.

The slump was then exacerbated by a Business Insider report that Goldman Sachs has put plans to launch a bitcoin trading desk on hold for the foreseeable future. 

That news saw bitcoin hold 4% lower at around $7,000 per coin, before falling again late on Wednesday evening. It has held relatively steady since then, but has now fallen more than $1,000 in value in just two trading sessions.

By around 10.40 a.m. BST (5.40 a.m. ET), bitcoin, is trading at $6,340, a drop of 5.4% since the session's beginning.

The crypto slump is impacting other currencies, with litecoin and bitcoin cash both lower by more than 4%, while ethereum, has slumped 20% in value over the past 24 hours, falling to its lowest level in over a year.

In line with ethereum’s latest fall, hundreds of alt-coins on the website coinmarketcap.com have posted declines of around 20% over the last 24 hours.

DON'T MISS: It's D-Day: Thursday marks probably the most important moment yet in Trump's trade war with China

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NOW WATCH: How Columbia House sold 12 CDS for $1

• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to lose value on Thursday.
• Bitcoin has dropped almost $1,000 in value over the last 24 hours.
• Ethereum has slumped 20% to its lowest level in over a year.
• The move downwards started on Wednesday, and was exacerbated by a Business Insider report that Goldman Sachs has shelved plans to create a bitcoin trading desk.
• You can track the price of bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies here.

The sharp sell-off that gripped cryptocurrency markets on Wednesday has extended into a second day, with major digital assets across the spectrum continuing to fall during trading on Thursday.

Wednesday's initial move seemed to have no real catalyst, beyond a theory put forward by Tanya Abrosimova of FXStreet isthat the introduction of a registration process for the popular instant bitcoin exchange ShapeShift may have spooked some users and triggered at least part of the drop.

The slump was then exacerbated by a Business Insider report that Goldman Sachs has put plans to launch a bitcoin trading desk on hold for the foreseeable future. 

That news saw bitcoin hold 4% lower at around $7,000 per coin, before falling again late on Wednesday evening. It has held relatively steady since then, but has now fallen more than $1,000 in value in just two trading sessions.

By around 10.40 a.m. BST (5.40 a.m. ET), bitcoin, is trading at $6,340, a drop of 5.4% since the session's beginning.

The crypto slump is impacting other currencies, with litecoin and bitcoin cash both lower by more than 4%, while ethereum, has slumped 20% in value over the past 24 hours, falling to its lowest level in over a year.

In line with ethereum’s latest fall, hundreds of alt-coins on the website coinmarketcap.com have posted declines of around 20% over the last 24 hours.

DON'T MISS: It's D-Day: Thursday marks probably the most important moment yet in Trump's trade war with China

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NOW WATCH: How Columbia House sold 12 CDS for $1

• JPMorgan's global head of quantitative and derivatives strategy, Marko Kolanovic, lays out his template for the next big market crash.
• Kolanovic attributes the dangerous conditions currently facing markets to seven key developments since the 2008 financial crisis.
• He even goes as far as to make a dire prediction about how a negative market event will affect social harmony.

An idealistic follower of financial markets might tell you that we learned our lesson following the crisis that rocked the globe a decade ago.

Banking regulations were ramped up to prevent the type of risky behavior that doomed markets, and investors have repeatedly been warned to check their euphoria this time around.

But a new report from JPMorgan suggests that — despite our best efforts — we're hurtling towards a similarly painful reckoning.

And once again, a familiar foe is working against harmonious market conditions: a lack of liquidity.

Back in 2008, banks underwrote real-estate products with exorbitant leverage. Then, the subsequent liquidity crunch in these same instruments decimated balance sheets across Wall Street.

This time around, the surrounding conditions are different, but investors face a similar lack of capital maneuverability. This prospect is so dire, in fact, that JPMorgan has named its market-crash blueprint after it — the "Great Liquidity Crisis" (GLC).

"The main attribute of the next crisis will likely be severe liquidity disruptions resulting from market developments since the last crisis," Marko Kolanovic, JPMorgan's global head of quantitative and derivatives strategy, wrote in a client note.

The developments fueling the fire

So how exactly does the market's current liquidity conundrum differ from the mortgage-driven meltdown 10 years ago?

Allow quant guru Kolanovic — whose opinions are valued so highly they can move markets — to break down the seven reasons we're in this situation. When combined, these market attributes solidify the backbone of Kolanovic's GLC template.

(1) The shift from active investing to passive strategies

JPMorgan notes that the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market has swelled to $5 trillion globally, up from $800 billion in 2008.

While this is great news for the providers of these ETFs, it's actually made it more difficult for the market to prevent and recover from periods of weakness. 

"The ~$2 trillion rotation from active and value to passive and momentum strategies since the last crisis eliminated a large pool of assets that would be standing ready to buy cheap public securities and backstop a market disruption," Kolanovic said.

(2) The increasing amount of assets managed by strategies that sell on "autopilot"

So-called passive investment vehicles pose a problem to market efficiency, since they often operate in price-insensitive fashion. As they've increased in popularity, they've subsequently rendered traditional measures of valuation moot.

Kolanovic's specific beef stems from these strategies' reliance on momentum and asset volatility to determine a level of risk-taking.

"A market shock would prompt these strategies to programmatically sell into weakness," he said.

In other words, they make bad situations even worse.

(3) Changing market-making trends

Kolanovic argues the increased reliance on programmatic market makers has increased the risk of widespread disruptions. He says it's affected the depth of major indexes like the S&P 500 during turbulent periods, since those passive entities rely more on volatility targeting than valuations.

"This trend strengthens momentum and reduces day-to-day volatility, but it increases the risk of disruptions such as the ones we saw on a smaller scale in May 2010, October 2014, and August 2015," Kolanovic said.

(4) Miscalculation of portfolio risk

Throughout history, bonds have represented a safe hedge against equity-market weakness. When the going has gotten tough in stocks, investors have simply rotated into fixed income.

But Kolanovic says this dynamic is fading due to low interest rates and massive central bank balance sheets, which combine to make bonds less appealing by comparison.

He also argues volatility is an inexact measure of portfolio risk, especially when used by itself.

"Very expensive assets often have very low volatility, and despite the downside, risks are deemed perfectly safe by these models," he said.

(5) Private assets carry great liquidity risk

Kolanovic notes that, over the past 20 years, the money allocated to public equity has declined, while holdings of private assets have increased. He finds this problematic.

"Unlike the market for public value assets, liquidity in private assets may be disrupted for much longer during a crisis," he said.

(6) Exorbitant valuations

This is perhaps the most straightforward of Kolanovic's arguments. Simply put, valuations are historically extended. And even though traditional measures of price-to-earnings have come down, risks still persist.

"Following the large U.S. fiscal stimulus, strong earnings growth reduced equity valuations to long-term average levels," he said. "Despite more reasonable valuations, equity markets may not hold up should monetary tightening continue, particularly if it is accompanied by toxic populism and business disruptive trade wars."

(7) The rise of protectionism and trade wars

Speaking on that last topic, Kolanovic offers the following:

"The great risk of trade wars is their delayed impact. The combination of a delayed impact from rising interest rates and a disruption of global trade have the potential to become catalysts for the next market crisis and economic recession."

The worst social tensions since 1968

Going beyond the finance-specific ramifications of a liquidity crisis, JPMorgan has also assessed the societal impact. And its takeaways are far from reassuring.

The firm equates the rise of the internet and social media to the type of TV reporting and investigative journalism that stoked political debate around the Vietnam War. 

"Similar to 1968, the internet today provides millennials with unrestricted access to information on a surprisingly similar range of issues," Kolanovic said. "In addition to information, the internet provides a platform for various social groups to become more self-aware, polarized, and organized."

It's that last mention of polarization that really drives home JPMorgan's point that social tensions will likely rise in the event of a crash. After all, they previously reached a fever pitch in the US after President Donald Trump's election victory, and in the UK after the Brexit vote.

In the end, if severe turmoil hits, all bets will be off — and it's bound to extend far further than markets.

SEE ALSO: Jeremy Grantham has predicted every modern financial bubble — here's where he says you should be putting your money

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

It seems that Malta continues to steal the headlines for innovative projects in the blockchain space with the most recent offering being a huge palazzo in the heart of Valletta being offered for sale with a $3 million price tag. The mansion can only be purchased in Bitcoin, with the property going on sale for

The post [Only] Bitcoin Accepted: $3 Million Valletta Palazzo Mansion Goes on Sale in Malta appeared first on CCN

• Thursday is possibly the most important single day so far in the burgeoning trade war between the US and China.
• It marks the end of a consultation period on the imposition of a new round of US tariffs on China.
• The tariffs will be set at 25% and impact $200 billion of Chinese goods.
• Beijing has already threatened to retaliate, which would almost certainly lead to another escalation from Washington.
• The ultimate endpoint of the trade war would be tariffs on all $505 billion of goods the US imports from China annually.

Thursday could mark perhaps the most important single day so far in the burgeoning trade war between the US and China, as a consultation period over the imposition of fresh tariffs on China by the Donald Trump administration comes to an end.

President Trump's consultation has been analysing the expediency of placing tariffs on Chinese goods coming to the US worth around $200 billion, roughly 40% of all its exports to the US. Trump himself, who is the spearhead of the trade war, is believed to be pushing for the imposition of the tariffs. The tariffs would be set at a level of 25%.

Placing tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods would mark the biggest single escalation of the trade conflict so far, and would be almost guaranteed to lead to a further escalation in the form of retaliatory tariffs from the Chinese government.

Beijing has already threatened to impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods in response, and on Thursday morning reiterated this stance with Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng telling reporters that China "will have to retaliate," in the event that the US levies more tariffs.

Should China follow through with its threat of retaliation, it would likely push the Trump administration to consider moving towards the president's ultimate threat: tariffs on all goods coming in from China.

Trump has previously made clear he'd be willing to place tariffs on all Chinese goods coming to the US, telling CNBC in an interview in July that he was "ready to go to 500." The "500" figure alludes to the roughly $500 billion of Chinese goods imported to the USA in 2017.

US Census Bureau data put the official figure for last year at $505 billion.

"I'm not doing this for politics — I'm doing this to do the right thing for our country," he said at the time. "We have been ripped off by China for a long time."

Such a move would effectively end the tit-for-tat trade battle between the two nations, as Chinese imports from the US are a comparatively small $129.9 billion.

Economists say a full-blown trade war, with tariffs on all goods between the two countries, would result in substantial price increases forUS businesses and consumers. Such a huge trade war would also drag on US economic growth, and most likely, wider global growth.

As the Trump administration's decision on a fresh round of tariffs looms, there is further evidence that the trade war in its current state is already causing major issues globally, with officials from German industry on Thursday blaming a fall in activity in the country's factories at least partly on the trade war.

"Order intake in the manufacturing sector has slowed noticeably since the beginning of the year after a very dynamic second half of 2017," the German economy ministry said after data showed the amount of orders for German goods falling 0.9% last month.

"The worldwide uncertainty caused by trade conflicts probably played a role here," the ministry added.

It is not confirmed exactly when a decision on fresh tariffs will be announced, but check back to Business Insider later in the day to find out.

SEE ALSO: Trump is losing the trade war with China and the EU, based on his favorite report card

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The cryptocurrency market has seen one of its steepest declines in a one-day period since February of this year, losing more than $38 billion from its market valuation. The Bitcoin price has dropped from $7,150 to $6,400 in less than six hours, recording a massive sell-off across major cryptocurrency exchanges. Following the rapid decline in

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Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets on Thursday.

1. Global equities remained under pressure with stocks in Asia down for the sixth straight day on Thursday amid fragile investor confidence in the wake of turmoil in emerging markets and anxiety about a major escalation in the U.S.-China trade conflict. Investors were focused on the Sino-U.S. trade war with a public consultation period in the United States ending Thursday on additional $200 billion of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

2. Prices for Ethereum have fallen to their lowest level in a year. The world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency has been caught in the latest crypto selloff, which saw Bitcoin lose around $1,000 over the last 24 hours. Ethereum has lost around 20% in that time and a short time ago was trading beneath $230, the lowest level since August 2017.

3. Citigroup on Thursday is expected to announce a restructuring of its investment banking operations as it seeks to grab more wallet share in one of Wall Street's most high-profile businesses. The firm is said to be combining its corporate and investment bank with capital markets origination, a move that will involve the reshuffling of key senior executives, according to people familiar with the matter. 

4. Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on Wednesday the ride-hailing company was on track to launch an initial public offering next year and had no plans to sell its self-driving car research arm. Khosrowshahi told Reuters in an interview that the company was not planning to sell its Advanced Technologies Group, which develops the company's self-driving car technology, "at this time."

5. North and South Korea agreed to hold a summit of their leaders in Pyongyang on September 18-20, and discuss "practical measures" to realize denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, a senior South Korean official said on Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "reconfirmed his determination to completely denuclearise" the Korean peninsula, and expressed his willingness for close cooperation with South Korea and the United States.

6. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hired two lawyers as the Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly investigates statements Musk made about converting Tesla into a private company, Fox Business Network reports. One of the lawyers Musk reportedly retained, Roel Campos, was an SEC commissioner from 2002 until 2007. Campos is a partner at the firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed and lists securities enforcement, securities litigation, and regulatory cases among his areas of focus.

7. Separately, Tesla's stock and bond prices dropped on Wednesday after Musk renewed an attack on a British caver whom he had previously insulted on social media and a day after Mercedes unveiled a challenge to the electric car maker. The $1.8 billion high-yield bond Tesla issued a year ago hit a record low price on Wednesday. It also became more expensive to insure Tesla's bonds against default.

8. The United States and India are engaged in "very detailed conversations" over Washington's request to completely stop India's oil imports from Iran, a senior U.S. State Department official told reporters on Thursday. "We're asking all of our partners, not just India, to reduce to zero oil imports from Iran and so I'm confident that will be part of our conversation with India," the official said.

9. Pricing practices within American Express' foreign-exchange unit is being probed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The investigation is in its early stages and is focused on whether the foreign-exchange international payments department misrepresented pricing to clients in order to win their business, the Journal reported.

10. British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday it would cut about 650 positions in the United States related to a global restructuring program it announced in July. The job cuts would include about 100 each in its back office in Philadelphia and at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and 450 sales representatives, GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman Mary Anne Rhyne said in a statement.

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• Citigroup is set to announce a restructuring of its investment banking operations and top execs are taking on new roles, according to people familiar with the matter. 
• The firm will combine its corporate and investment bank with its capital markets origination business.
• Tyler Dickson, currently the global head of capital markets origination, and Manolo Falco, the head of Citi's corporate and investment bank in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, will lead the new combined unit.
• Ray McGuire, the global head of corporate and investment banking, will take on a new role as vice chair of Citigroup, the people said. 

Citigroup on Thursday is expected to announce a restructuring of its investment banking operations as it seeks to grab more wallet share in one of Wall Street's most high-profile businesses. 

The firm is said to be combining its corporate and investment bank with capital markets origination, a move that will involve the reshuffling of key senior executives, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Citi's new-look investment bank will be co-headed by Tyler Dickson, currently the global head of capital markets origination, and Manolo Falco, the head of Citi's corporate and investment bank in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Ray McGuire, the bank's current global head of corporate and investment banking, is taking on a new role as vice chair of Citigroup, the people said. 

Citi spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos declined to comment.

The internal reorganization will mirror the set-up at top Wall Street competitors like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, which combine the businesses of providing merger advice and helping companies raise equity or debt financing into a single unit.

Citi had been unique in having the operations separated, and the bank believes the new structure gives it a better opportunity going forward to take market share from top competitors in the more than $40 billion a year investment banking industry, according to a person familiar with the firm's thinking. 

The moves are the latest in a string of recent changes at Citigroup. This week, the bank announced the departures of three long-time Citi execs: CFO John Gerspach; Jim Cowles, the CEO of the bank's operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and Bill Mills, the CEO of North American operations, who is also leaving at the end of this year. 

And in August, Citi announced it was shaking up its $33 billion consumer banking business. Citi veterans Anand Selva and David Chubak took on new senior roles as part of the reorg, while Jud Linville, global head of cards and consumer services, left the firm.

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

With cryptocurrency markets struggling, Bitfury Group has immersed its mining equipment in a non-conducive liquid to reduce costs at its 40-megawatt mining plant in Tbilisi, Georgia, as it races to mine the remaining 21 million mineable bitcoins. The company’s investment in cooling technology signals the extent cryptocurrency miners are going to chill their energy-intensive computers,

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• The North-America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hangs in the balance following acrimonious negotiations, including leaks of unflattering comments from US President Donald Trump about his Canadian counterparts.
• "Many Canadians feel as though Mexico has turned its back on them,” said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute.
• This wedge between two key allies could come back to hurt the United States.

The North-America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hangs in the balance following acrimonious negotiations. 

President Trump seems bent on wrecking the trade agreement despite Mexico and Canada’s best efforts to salvage it. His dismissive remarks toward his Canadian counterparts were leaked to the Toronto Star, making it even harder for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his chief trade negotiator, foreign minister Chrystia Freeland, to find common ground with the United States.

But perhaps one of the worst impacts from Trump’s bull-in-the-China-shop approach to trade negotiations is what he’s managed to do to relations between Mexico and Canada. By trying to negotiate individually, Trump employed a divide-and-conquer strategy that may prove counterproductive given the level of integration of North American supply chains, particularly in the manufacture of big-ticket goods like cars and airplanes.

"We know that was not well received in Canada. Many Canadians feel as though Mexico has turned its back on them," said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute, in a telephone briefing with reporters.

"Mexico has gone from the bad guy to the friend and Canada is now the" apparent foe, he said.

Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's ex-foreign minister, told Bloomberg that, while it is "desirable" for Canada and Mexico to cooperate, the two have different issues and industries at stake. "I’m not sure it’s that easy, because many of the most worrisome issues for one country are not that important for the other," he said.

The auto sector, with its highly-integrated supply chains, is one key link that connects all three nations. But there are big differences in agricultural demands, and in the specifics of labor and environmental concerns addressed in the agreement. 

How could this come back to haunt American businesses?

Already, there's evidence that uncertainty over trade is dampening US business investment plans. The collapse of a long-standing agreement such as NAFTA, while it can still be averted, would be quite a shock to the economies involved — and to financial markets already rattled by rising risks from emerging markets. 

SEE ALSO: Trump’s deepening trade wars are threatening a key engine of the US economy

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

America’s reluctance to regulate crypto is costing the country on startups and potentially the future of technology. That’s the view of two major names in the crypto space, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse — whose company created cryptocurrency XRP — and Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch who runs a dedicated crypto fund, who shared their thoughts […]