The six year old company (SIMON) is being purchased by JP Morgan Chase, HSBC Holdings, and Credit Suisse Group AG's NEXT Investors. Goldman retains a minority interest in the service, which will operate as an independent entity.Financial terms weren’t disclosed within the announcement, but Bloomberg is reporting that that SIMON is valued at just over $75 million. The bank started the platform to help retail brokers offer structured notes, and it was meant to attract rivals to sell the securities. “We are very, very bullish on what an industry platform with those participants can do in terms of growth for the market,” said Jason Broder, who leaves his position as head of Goldman’s private investor products group to become SIMON’s chief executive officer.  

Legal cases against tech giants can seem like a dime a dozen – after all, litigious activity is inherent in being some of the largest companies in the world.Apple finds itself embroiled in one whose outcome will have a real effect on developers and their business models. The highest court in the United States agreed to hear Apple Inc. v. Pepper in June; oral arguments were held on November 26.

This is part of the telecom behemoth’s plan to streamline operations, especially to focus more on developing its 5G services. The company first publicly put forward this plan in September, with a goal to save $10 billion in cash by 2021.The plan was offered to 44,000 employees across Verizon’s business segments.  "These changes are well-planned and anticipated, and they will be seamless to our customers," CEO Hans Vestberg said in a statement.

Amazon is reportedly planning to open its first physical store in the U.K. Citing anonymous sources, a report by The Telegraph suggests that Amazon is scouting for locations to set up a 3,000 -5,000 square feet sized Amazon Go Store in the U.K.  Amazon Go, whose first store was launched in Seattle, is a chain of physical grocery stores where people can swipe their Amazon Go smartphone app onto a sensor to enter, pick up groceries and get billed on their Amazon account - without having to pay at a register.Several technologies such as computer vision, deep learning algorithms, sensor fusions are used by Amazon to operate its Go stores. Opening an Amazon Go store in the U.K. could be a natural move, since the nation is an important market for the e-commerce giant.

Oil prices have fallen more than 20% in the past couple of months, but it appeared that dividend-seeking investors preferred integrated oil giant ExxonMobil over ConocoPhillips. Why? There may be a few reasons.Oil is a key input on the chemical and refining side, meaning low oil prices are a benefit to this piece of Exxon's operation. Second, it’s true that oil prices dictate the top and bottom lines for Exxon.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk might be interested to buy some of the five factories that General Motors (GM) would idle in 2019, according to an interview he recently gave to CBS.At present,Tesla produces electric cars in the U.S. at its California plant that it bought from a joint venture operated by GM and Toyota Motor Corp. GM wants to shut down five factories in North America as part of a restructuring plan.

Akorn Inc.’s CEO Rajat Rai is stepping down, following a court ruling that allows Fresenius SE to walk away from a $4.3 billion acquisition of the generic pharma manufacturer. Delaware Supreme Court ruled that a decline in Akorn’s revenue and its other financial weaknesses that emerged prior to the acquisition’s closing was reason enough for German healthcare firm Fresenius SE to have the right to cancel the deal.Rai agreed with company directors that his departure “will be treated as a resignation for good reason,” according to an Akorn's filing Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Fiat Chrysler might reopen a defunct Detroit factory of the company. The auto manufacturing company is reportedly planning to re-purpose a building in the northwestern side of the Detroit into an assembly site for a three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV model, according to The Detroit News. The Jeep is scheduled to debut in the year 2021.Previously, Chrysler used the Detroit site for engine production until 2012 when it was shut down. If reopened, the Detroit factory could employ up to 400 people.

Investors could also view buybacks as indicative of the company’s adequate cash availability, which could be another potential tailwind for its stock. The timing of Facebook’s beefing up its stock buybacks does not seem surprising, given its recent challenges.Ever since the company mentioned in July that it expects slowing of growth and thinning of profit margins over the coming years, Facebook stock price has declined almost -40%.

On a hot day in mid-August, the men wore mid-thigh shorts, pectoral-enhancing vests, neon Nikes; the women were in black leggings and intricate ensembles of sports bras and cross-strapped Lycra.They had all either just worked out, were about to work out, or wanted to look as if working out was a constant possibility. READ MORE...

The globally renowned American aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies company, Lockheed Martin, has announced teaming up with Airbus to compete for one of the most controversial Pentagon procurement battles in recent memory - hoping to dethrone Boeing as the dominant provider of U.S. military aerial-refueling tankers. Lockheed and Airbus have also signed an agreement to jointly pitch Airbus' A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) to the Pentagon. Jointly working with Northrop Grumman, in 2008, Airbus had won the $35 billion deal to build A330 tankers for the Air Force, but that deal never materialized as it was overturned owing to political pressure.In response, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson issued a rare public rebuke of the company's defense business earlier this year. Although Lockheed Martin and Airbus didn’t mention Boeing or the KC-46 in their press release formally announcing the collaboration, they mentioned putting focus on addressing any i

A new story by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation looks at a group of people who are fighting the future: shoppers who refuse to use self-checkout lines because they’re worried they’ll lead to job loss. READ MORE...

According to three people with knowledge of the matter, Uber Technologies Inc has filed the requisite paperwork for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the last week.  According to sources, the rivalry between the globally renowned ride-hailing company, Uber, and its smaller US rival, Lyft Inc, was visible in their IPO filings as Uber confidentially filed for the IPO on the December 6, 2018, while Lyft announced on Thursday that it had filed for an IPO. The concurrent filings extend the prolonged battle between these two companies, which have both rolled out competitive services and played the price game identical to each other. However, when it comes to valuations, Uber has overtaken its rival by some considerable distance.According to analysts, its filing has set the stage for one of the biggest technology listings ever.

A comment from Kroger Co. Chief Executive Rodney McMullen has given GlobalData Retail’s Managing Director Neil Saunders a sinking sense of déjà vu, going back to Eddie Lampert and Sears Holding Corp. READ MORE...

For example, debt to EBITDA has historically been toward the low end of its peer group.Enterprise's leverage isn't a big risk. READ MORE...

Following two days of grueling negotiations, OPEC members and its close allies have finally reached a deal to cut oil production, going against President Donald Trump and helping to boost market sentiment. Following the news of the deal, crude oil futures surged more than 5%, putting an end to oil's continuous losing streak.WTI gained +4.9% to $54.03/bbl, while Brent crude gained +5.2% to $63.19/bbl. The alliance has confirmed to remove 1.2 million barrels per day from the market, in-line with expectations of 1 million to 1.4 million bpd.

Shares of the specialty trucks and military vehicles manufacturer, Oshkosh Corporation, rose more than 27% in the month of November according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.Meanwhile, the broader market plummeted. Why the stark performance diversion? Despite being one of the most underappreciated companies in the industrial sector, Oshkosh started November with an earnings release that widely exceeded analyst expectations. The company reported 13% sales growth, 67% earnings growth, and reported new full-fiscal-year guidance which even at its low-end was above consensus.

GE is facing yet another power problem as utility companies across different regions like Japan, Taiwan, France and at multiple U.S. sites have shut down or are planning to shut down GE’s gas turbines. According to more than a dozen interviews with plant operators and industry experts, at least 18 of the 55 new HA-model turbines that GE has shipped so far have been shut down by the power plant operators citing repairs as the reason. Following the recent GE turbine blade failure in Texas, these shutdowns are hurting the company as it comes at a time when GE is grappling with financial losses and a drop in orders for the massive generators supplying electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes. Although the 126-year-old conglomerate has declined to say how many turbines have been shut down to date, it has set aside $480 million to repair its 9HA, 7HA and 9FB model turbines as it restructures its power business. In an interview, GE gas power systems CEO Chuck Nugent playe

Walmart plans to continue to run Art.com as a standalone website. Art.com offers made-to-order products, and includes around two million items such as curated images incorporated as wall art/posters, prints, and other art pieces for customers’ home.The site has been generating more than $300 million in annual sales in recent years, according to CNBC citing  an anonymous person familiar with Walmart's acquisition.

Altria will buy a 45% stake in the company at  $1.8 billion, and would have the option to raise its stake to 55%.Even before Friday’s announcement from Altria, there were reports of Altria possibly eyeing Cronos. "Investing in Cronos Group as our exclusive partner in the emerging global cannabis category represents an exciting new growth opportunity for Altria," said Howard Willard, Altria's CEO, in a statement. Cigarette smoking is reportedly thinning out probably due to increased health-consciousness among consumers – something that might be an additional reason behind Altria's decision to diversify into the recreational marijuana space. Altria also announced plans to stop producing its MarkTen and Green Smoke e-cigarettes and its Verve oral nicotine, citing regulatory concerns and financial performance of the brands.