Morning Brief: Tesla CEO Musk mocks the SEC
Friday, October 5, 2018
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What to watch today
Investors will be greeted by the September jobs report before the market opens for the final day of what’s been a messy week of trading so far. Economists polled by Bloomberg expected the economy created 185,000 jobs in September with the unemployment rate expected to fall to 3.8%. Wages will be most closely tracked in Friday’s report with economists looking for a 0.3% increase in average hourly earnings over last month and a 2.8% uptick over last year.
Meanwhile, Unilever (ULVR.L) scrapped plans to move its headquarters to the Netherlands in the face of a British shareholder revolt, keeping one of the country’s most valuable companies in London ahead of Brexit. And Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) forecasts record third quarter profits.
Top news
Musk calls the SEC ‘the Shortseller Enrichment Commission‘: Elon Musk, the CEO of the electric vehicle maker (TSLA), fired off a tweet Thursday afternoon in an apparent snub of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk and the SEC came to an agreement late last week to settle charges alleging that he had defrauded investors in statements relating to a tweet about bringing the company private with “funding secured.” [Yahoo Finance]
Costco barely beats sales estimates: Costco Wholesale Corp.’s (COST) quarterly sales barely beat analysts’ estimates on Thursday as growth in online business decelerated to its slowest in the year amid intense competition, while gross margins fell on rising costs and higher investments. The warehouse club retailer’s shares fell as much as 3% after the bell. [Reuters]
GE is making a $300 million bet on its new CEO: General Electric Co. has agreed to pay its new chief executive, Larry Culp, as much as $21 million a year for four years—with the potential for hundreds of millions of dollars more depending on GE’s stock performance. [The Wall Street Journal]
Dell set to list on NYSE if go-public plan succeeds: Dell Technologies Inc. has applied to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange as part of a plan to take the company public again through a buyout of a tracking stock. If the listing is approved and Dell is able to complete a $21.7 billion deal involving the tracking shares known as DVMT, the company’s new Class C shares will trade under the symbol DELL. [Bloomberg]
Walgreens takes minority stake in Birchbox: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) is stepping up its emphasis on beauty products and trying to appeal to millennials in a new partnership with digital beauty subscription company Birchbox. Birchbox is among a new breed of retailers that tend to appeal more to younger shoppers by sending members monthly, six-month or yearly packages of sample makeup, hair and skin products. [CNBC]
Yahoo Finance Originals
Why this Texas business owner loves the Trump tariffs
Free TV app could disrupt revenue for networks, thanks to an FCC loophole
How Juul became the FDA’s latest target
Today’s tech leaders are too arrogant: ex-Cisco CEO
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The Morning Brief provides a quick rundown on what to watch in the markets, top news stories, and the best of Yahoo Finance Originals.
