 SEC Chair Gary Gensler | Image: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press The SEC is considering major changes to the U.S. stock market rules to increase competition and ensure retail investors are treated fairly. Following the meme-stock frenzy in early 2021, SEC chair Gary Gensler asked his staff to review current regulations and explore ways to make the stock market more efficient for small investors and public companies. Gensler is expected to share some of the proposed changes in a speech on Wednesday. More: - One of the potential changes that have gained traction is to require brokerages like Robinhood and Charles Schwab to send most individual investors’ orders to auctions where trading firms can compete to execute them.
- Currently, most brokerage firms route retail investors’ orders to big electronic trading firms called wholesalers (market makers), like Virtu Financial or Citadel Securities, rather than to exchanges like the Nasdaq, arguing that wholesalers offer the best prices.
- Brokers like Robinhood and Charles Schwab receive compensation from wholesalers for routing trades to their venues, a practice referred to as payment for order flow (PFOF).
- This practice is central to the business model of online brokerages and wholesalers. Market makers profit from the difference between the buying and selling prices of the shares transacted.
- Citadel Securities executes half of all retail trading volume.
- Gensler argues that the current practice creates a conflict of interest for brokers and limits competition for individual orders.
- Under the changes being proposed by the SEC, different firms, including exchanges, would compete to fill individual investors’ trades.
- Opponents of the proposed changes like Virtu Financial and Citadel argue that the move could reverse the broad reduction in trading costs that has made the stock market more accessible to individual investors.
- Proponents of the SEC changes say order payments are difficult to understand and include hidden costs that investors pay without even knowing.
- Some argue that the current trading structure gives massive trading firms knowledge of where the market is heading.
| |
Russia has imposed sanctions on several U.S. business leaders, including BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the sanctions were in response to the U.S. and Western sanctions against Russian political and public figures and representatives of its domestic businesses. Western sanctions included travel restrictions and asset freezes. More: - The Kremlin did not provide details on its sanctions or why the specific individuals were named, except they have been added to a “stop list” that prohibits them from traveling to Russia.
- The list includes American business leaders that have pulled out of Russia or criticized the country following its invasion of Ukraine.
- The sanctioned list has 61 Americans, including the entire board of U.S. aerospace and defense company Raytheon Technologies, Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian, United Airlines President Brett J. Hart, and Universal Pictures President Peter Cramer.
- It also includes executives from rating firms S&P Global, Moody’s, Fitch, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
| |
 A message from AXONIUS On July 14, 2021, the world welcomed a newborn. Named Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM), Gartner announced its arrival in the Hype Cycle for Network Security 2021. New acronyms and repackaged tools aimed at IT and security professionals pop up every year, though. So what makes CAASM different? What’s driving its adoption? And how can we expect it to impact cybersecurity initiatives? We’re here to answer these important questions and help you navigate the new world of CAASM. Download “From Asset Management to Asset Intelligence: Crossing the CAASM” now to learn: - The history behind CAASM
- Why CAASM is a relevant category for IT and Security professionals
- How organizations can realize CAASM’s value — immediately
Read Now
| |
 Sens. Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand at Blockchain Summit in Washington, D.C., on May 24. | Image: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg New bipartisan legislation was introduced on Tuesday by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) aimed at regulating the crypto industry. The bill, dubbed the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, would classify digital assets as commodities like oil and wheat. They would be overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Senators said the bill results from months of collaboration in the House and Senate and the first real attempt to develop a regulatory framework for digital assets that encourages responsible financial innovation, flexibility, transparency, and consumer protections. More: - The bill defines a digital asset as a natively electronic asset that confers economic or proprietary access rights or powers and includes digital currencies and stablecoins.
- It defines digital currency as a digital asset that is used primarily as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, or a store of value and is not backed by an underlying financial asset.
- Representatives for Lummis and Gillibrand said they worked with the SEC on the bill but ultimately decided to grant more oversight authority to the CFTC.
- SEC chair Gary Gensler has previously called on lawmakers for tighter crypto rules.
- The bill includes provisions that would inform investors about crypto issuers' experience developing digital assets, the price history of issuers' prior assets, anticipated costs, and descriptions of each issuer's management teams and liabilities.
- The bill also includes a provision that exempts stablecoin holders from having to report income changes to the IRS for making a purchase with digital currency.
- Dennis Kelleher, the co-founder of Better Markets, argues that the legislation actually deregulates crypto because the CFTC is the smallest financial regulator with the smallest budget and isn't equipped to regulate the complex and fast-growing crypto industry.
- Representatives for the Senators said the fees collected from digital asset issuers would play an important role in augmenting the CFTC's budget, as the agency is expected to see a significant increase in its regulatory oversight.
| |
 A mounted Starlink satellite dish | Image: Starlink SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told employees that the company would not likely take its Starlink satellite internet business public until 2025. In an all-hands meeting with employees last week, Musk noted that the Starlink business needs to be “in a smooth sailing situation” with “good predictability” before spinning it off as a public company would make sense. More: - In 2019, Musk announced a possible 2022 public offering but later pushed back the date, saying Starlink’s revenue needed to be reasonably predictable and going public sooner would be very painful.
- SpaceX has been a private company since its founding in 2002.
- The space company first announced Starlink in 2015 and launched the first 60 Starlink satellites in May 2019 aboard its Falcon 9 rocket.
- Starlink aims to deliver high-speed internet anywhere globally through a network of thousands of its satellites in low Earth orbit.
- The company has launched 2,500 satellites to date and has over 400,000 subscribers globally.
- SpaceX offers a variety of Starlink products and services at a base price of $110 per month; based on recent subscriber estimates, Starlink generates about $500M a year in annual service revenue.
- The company charges a one-time hardware cost of $599 for the Starlink satellite dish.
- Last month, SpaceX was valued at $127B during its last funding round.
| |
 Waymo Via Truck | Image: Waymo Alphabet’s Waymo is partnering with Uber to deploy its self-driving technology. The companies announced a “deep, long-term partnership” that will allow future Waymo customers to use Uber Freight’s network to quickly deploy Waymo’s autonomous trucking service. The announcement comes months after both companies settled a multi-year lawsuit over accusations of trade secret theft. More: - Uber Freight serves as a broker connecting truckers and shipping firms, like how its ride-hailing app connects users with drivers.
- Investors have long pointed to trucking as one of the main applications of self-driving technology.
- Waymo Via is Waymo’s autonomous trucking service, which has been testing Class 8 Heavy duty trucks in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.
- Waymo plans to integrate Uber Freight’s network into its test fleet to better understand how driverless trucks would receive and accept delivery orders.
- Uber shares closed at $25.30, up 2.3% for the day. Alphabet closed at $2,342.99, up less than 1% for the day.
NOTE: Inside.com founder and CEO Jason Calacanis is an investor in Uber.
| |
Target cut its fiscal Q2 profit margin projection and announced it would cancel orders and mark down some of its items to clear inventory. The retailer reduced its current quarter operating margin to 2% from 5.3% projected last month. The company said it still expects revenue growth to fall in the low to mid-single digits for the full year and to maintain or gain market share in 2022. More: - Target stock fell over 5% in early trading following the announcement; it recovered, closing at $155.98 a share, down ~2.4% for the day.
- CEO Brian Cornell said the company wants to make room for merchandise customers want, like groceries, household essentials, and back-to-school supplies.
- The company expects its profit margins to increase to around 6% in the second half of the year.
- During its fiscal Q1 earnings call in May, Target reported it had about $15.1B in inventory as of April 30, about 43% higher than the prior year.
| |
Quick Hits - Everything you need to successfully create and launch an influencer campaign. Get the influencer program starter kit.*
- The World Bank has cut its global growth forecast for 2022 to 2.9%, down from 4.1% projected in January. The bank expects global economic growth to stay around that level through 2023 and 2024. The bank pointed to the war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, and supply-chain disruptions as driving forces.
- Shares of media company BuzzFeed fell more than 40% on Monday, following the expiration of its lockup period, marking its worst one-day performance since it went public in December. The company closed at $2.29 a share on Tuesday, a gain of ~2.7% for the day.
- Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s has called on its 8 million Facebook fans and 515,000 Twitter followers to lobby lawmakers for stronger gun safety laws. The House of Representatives is set to vote this week on a gun safety bill that raises the purchasing age for semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21.
- Peloton has appointed a new CFO, Liz Coddington, effective June 13. The company announced current CFO Jill Woodworth is stepping down after serving in the role for four years but will remain at the company as a consultant to help prepare the company’s fiscal year 2022 financial results.
- EU lawmakers passed new legislation on Tuesday to have a single mobile charging port standard for mobile phones, tablets, and cameras by 2024. Electronics manufacturers like Apple will need to equip their devices with a standard USB-C charging port.
*This is a sponsored post.
| |
Upcoming Events - June 09 - Empowering Content Creators with No Code (Register Here)
- June 15 - Need To Know NoCoder - Artem Harutyunyan (bardeen.ai) (Register Here)
- June 16 - Future of the Art Market (Register Here)
- June 29 - June 30 - Polkadot Decoded: The Biggest Polkadot Event of the Year (Register Here) *
- June 30 - HR Strategies to Retain Remote Employees (Register Here)
- July 20 - Need To Know NoCoder - Yassine Tahi (Kinetix) (Register Here)
- July 21 - The Rise of Metaverse Gaming (Register Here)
Check out https://inside.com/events to learn more! *This is a sponsored listing.
| |
 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or through email at vanessa@inside.com |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
CAASM is on the rise - but what exactly does it mean? Read this ebook to find out why it’s relevant. Read Now. | |
Comments
Post a Comment