What You Need To Know This Week — September 14th, 2019
What You Need To Know This Week
A weekly recap to keep you informed on the most important events this week impacting markets, business, tech and the global economy.
ACTIVIST HEDGE FUND ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT TARGETS CONGLOMERATE AT&T
Feared activist hedge fund Elliott disclosed a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T and criticized the company’s strategy and leadership. Specifically, the firm focused on AT&T’s track record on acquisitions along with its selection of top managers from within. AT&T shares closed up 1.5% on the news.
BUSINESS LEGEND T BOONE PICKENS DIES AT 91
Oil wildcatter, former corporate raider, hedge fund manager and billionaire philanthropist T. Boone Pickens has died at 91 years old. He was an innovator of the hostile takeover in the 1980’s. The businessman had donated over $1 billion over the years.
HONG KONG STOCK EXCHANGE GOES HOSTILE FOR THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE
The Asian bourse announced a $39 billion unsolicited offer to acquire its London-based competitor. The deal would be contingent on the LSE dropping its proposed friendly $27 billion acquisition of financial data provider Refinitiv. The combination would create a global market juggernaut, only second to the CME. The deal was rejected by LSE’s directors and would also face intense regulatory scrutiny. LSE’s stock was up 6.6% on the news.
ECB CUTS RATES AND RESTARTS QUANTITATIVE EASING
The European Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate and relaunched its bond-buying program in a bid to stimulate Europe’s sputtering economy. The ECB joined other central banks around the world in easing monetary policy to counteract the economic drag from the ongoing trade war and a slowdown in global growth. The central bank cut its key interest rate by 0.1% to -0.5% while pledging to buy EUR20 billion of eurozone debt per month in a new quantitative easing program.
Recommended Articles, Podcasts, Books and Tweets
The hosts of Bloomberg’s Trillions podcast discuss Multi-factor ETFs and why they’re so popular.
Hedge fund “carnage” this week as quant quake 2.0 roils equity markets.
Legendary hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman warns that private equity, fueled by low interest rates, is an increasingly risky bet.
SmileDirectClub, a teeth straightening start-up, plummets -28% on its IPO.
How Yale Endowment Chief David Swensen made the school “fabulously wealthy”.
Private equity IRRs are an inflated metric used solely for marketing purposes.
Professor Damodaran looks at how the WeWork IPO unraveled.
President Trump delays tariff hikes on China by two weeks in a show of goodwill.
Exercise bike startup Peloton is pursuing its IPO at a valuation of as high as $8.2 billion.
Apple unveiled its streaming service, Apple TV+, which will launch in Canada in November at $5.99 per month.
