Disney shares soar, rail union rejects contract, FTX fallout continues

View of the penthouse balcony at The Albany in Nassau, Bahamas which belongs to Sam Bankman-Fried, Nov. 19, 2022 (AJ Skuy for Fox News Digital)

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried rained money in the Bahamas, including dropping $2,500 per day at a bistro and doling out tens of thousands of dollars a week to feed his Bahamas-based staff.

He also donated millions to local government and Bahamian charities – prompting local media to report, "FTX tentacles stretched far across Bahamas."

Read more about his spending …

LIFESTYLE

Fallen FTX boss spent lavishly in Bahamas while allegedly misusing customer funds

Sam Bankman-Fried spent a massive amount of money in his year in the Bahamas — before his crypto empire collapsed and declared bankruptcy earlier this month.

Screen displays trading information for Goldman Sachs on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, Oct. 17, 2022. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

MARKETS

Bear market is not over yet, and will continue in 2023, Goldman Sachs warns

Goldman Sachs strategists on Monday said that the bear market is not over yet, and it could last through 2023 until the Fed stops hiking interest rates.

Goldman Sachs on Monday warned that the global equity bear market is not over as the markets are yet to see a trough in the momentum of global growth deterioration, a peak in interest rates and valuations lowered to reflect a likely recession.

The Wall Street investment bank expects returns to be a "relatively low" 6% through the end of 2023 as investors focus on the pace of monetary policy tightening and the consequent hit to growth and earnings."We continue to think that the near-term path for equity markets is likely to be volatile and down before reaching a final trough in 2023," Goldman Sachs said in a note.

It expects the S&P 500 index to be around the 4,000-points level towards the end of 2023, implying an increase of less than 1% from current levels, as it sees no earning growth.

Penguin books in a used bookshop in central London, Oct. 29, 2012. (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)

Book-publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster's owner will let its $2.2 billion sale to Penguin Random House collapse on Monday, opening the door for a new suitor to try to clinch a deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

The acquisition was blocked on Nov. 1 by a federal judge on antitrust grounds. German media group Bertelsmann SE & Co, which owns Penguin, was unable to convince Paramount Global, Simon & Schuster's current owner, to help launch an appeal and extend the deal contract before it expires on Monday, the sources said.

Bertelsmann will owe Paramount a $200 million break-up fee as a result of the transaction falling apart.

The sources requested anonymity ahead of official announcements this week. Paramount declined to comment, while a Bertelsmann spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Justice Department had sued to stop the tie-up of the two publishers, which combined would have accounted for more than 25% of all print books sold in the United States this year.

The top five U.S. publishers are Penguin, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and Hachette.

HarperCollins and Hachette did not respond to requests for comment.

This April 2, 2021, file photo shows freight train cars and containers at Norfolk Southern Railroad's Conway Yard in Conway, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The threat of a nationwide rail strike is rising after one union rejected the tentative deal.

Voting concluded midnight Sunday for members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen as well as the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers on proposed new five-year collective bargaining agreements with the nation’s Class I railroads.

• BLET members voted to accept a tentative agreement reached on September 15

• SMART-TD train and engine service members have voted to reject their proposed contract

• SMART-TD yardmaster members voted to accept.

BLET and SMART-TD are the two largest rail unions, accounting for half of the unionized workforce on the nation’s largest freight railroads.

Twitter logo at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 18, 2022. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

Twitter Inc's head of French operations, Damien Viel, said he was quitting the social media platform, whose new owner Elon Musk recently fired top executives and enforced steep job cuts at the company.

"It's over," Viel tweeted on Sunday, thanking his team in France, which he led for the last seven years.

Viel confirmed he was leaving Twitter in a separate message to Reuters.

Sample screenshots (Screenshot: Meta Platforms website)

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms is introducing updates on Facebook and Instagram that further protect teens from online harm.

Starting now, everyone who is under the age of 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into more private settings when they join Facebook.

This move comes on the heels of Meta rolling out similar privacy defaults for teens on Instagram and aligns with our safety-by-design and ‘Best Interests of the Child’ framework.

Smucker's marmalade and preserve on sale in a store in Manhattan, New York City, Nov. 22, 2021. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly)

J.M. Smucker Co. (SJM) on Monday reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $191.1 million.

The Orrville, Ohio-based company said it had net income of $1.79 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $2.40 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.19 per share.

The food maker posted revenue of $2.21 billion in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.16 billion.

Smucker expects full-year earnings in the range of $8.35 to $8.75 per share.

Kanye West is back on Twitter. The artist known as Ye, tested his account Sunday. His account was restricted after he posted an antisemitic message.

Meantime, President Donald Trump said Saturday said he had no interest in returning to Twitter even as a slim majority voted in favor of reinstating the former U.S. President, who was banned from the social media service for inciting violence, in a poll organized by new owner Elon Musk.

Slightly over 15 million Twitter users voted in the poll with 51.8% voting in favor of reinstatement.

"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated," Musk tweeted.

Trump's Twitter account, which had over 88 million followers before he was banned on Jan. 8, 2021, began accumulating followers and had nearly 100,000 followers by 10pm ET Saturday.

Some users initially reported being unable to follow the reinstated account on Saturday evening.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Pumpjacks at the Daqing oil field in Heilongjiang province, China, Aug. 22, 2019. (Reuters/Stringer)

Goldman Sachs on Sunday cut its fourth-quarter Brent oil price forecasts by $10 to $100 a barrel, citing factors including a likely hit to consumption from China's COVID case spike.

But the investment bank said that the China concerns were "another speed bump on the road higher," since the major consumer has indicated that this is the beginning of the end for lockdowns. Goldman said it is keeping its 2023 Brent forecast unchanged at $110 a barrel.

"We still believe Russian production will decline about 0.6 million barrels per day from here, with risks of a deeper, more abrupt disruption, still present," the bank said, warning that inventories could deplete once again in the first half of 2023 if OPEC and its allies maintain current output quotas.

Oil prices dropped to near two-month lows on Monday as supply fears receded while concerns over fuel demand from China and the dollar's strength took center stage. Benchmark Brent LCOc1 prices were trading around $87 a barrel.

Merck logo at a gate to the Merck & Co campus in Rahway, N.J., July 12, 2018. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Merck is acquiring Imago BioSciences for $36.00 per share in a deal that values the clinical stage biopharmaceutical company at $1.35 billion.

Imago develops new medicines for the treatment of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and other bone marrow diseases.

Its lead candidate bomedemstat (IMG-7289), an investigational orally available lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) inhibitor, is currently being evaluated in multiple Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of essential thrombocythemia (ET), myelofibrosis (MF), and polycythemia vera (PV), in addition to other indications.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.

TECHNOLOGY

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX owes more than $3 billion to creditors

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which filed for bankruptcy protection last week, said in a court filing that it owes its 50 largest creditors more than $3 billion.

FTX owes top creditors billions and creditors Celsius Network have until January 3, 2023 to file claims in bankruptcy court.

FTX owes its 50 biggest creditors nearly $3.1 billion, with $1.45 billion owed to the top ten, Reuters reported.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown said around a million smaller investors are also thought to have incurred deep losses.“This is another stark reminder of the dangers of investing in the opaque world of crypto where the rules of the game have not been set and there is so little recourse of action, for speculators who throw the dice with money they can’t afford to lose,’’ Streeter said.

ENTERTAINMENT

Bob Iger returns as Disney CEO after less than a year in retirement

The Walt Disney Company has welcomed back Bob Iger as CEO, after less than a year in retirement. He will serve as CEO for a second time for the next two years.

Bob Iger is back at Disney. The CEO who retired 15 years ago agreed to return immediately for two years.

He succeeds Bob Chapek, who has stepped down from his position.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said:

“With its share price close to the lows of the 2020 Covid market crash, it’s no wonder that Disney has parted ways with Bob Chapek as chief executive.

“Admittedly, his appointment in February 2020 came only weeks before Covid rocked the world so his early days in the role were defined by trying to cope with a global crisis.

“The real dissatisfaction with Chapek’s performance lies with the decisions made in the aftermath of the pandemic.

“Chapek has gone against all the historic values that defined Disney. The company creates ‘magical experiences’ for individuals and families, be it through cartoons, films or theme parks. In contrast, Chapek has created poor experiences for staff and customers.

“The latest set of quarterly results were the final straw for Chapek. They fell short of expectations for sales and profits, with both the park and media divisions missing estimates.”

Disney reported revenue up 9% to $20.1 million for the fourth quarter ended October 1.Net income from continuing operations was up 1% to $162 million.

Cryptocurrency markets were lower early Monday morning as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin were affected. (Getty Images)

Cryptocurrency prices edged lower early Monday with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin all showing losses.

At approximately 5 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was trading at nearly $16,086 (-1.1%), or lower by $179.For the week, Bitcoin was trading lower by 0.2%. For the month, the cryptocurrency was lower by nearly 14.5%.

Ethereum was trading at approximately $1,120 (+-1.94%), or lower by more than $22.

For the week, Ethereum was trading lower by nearly 6.5%. For the month, it was trading lower by approximately 11%.

Dogecoin was trading at $0.076003 (-1.49%), or lower by approximately $0.001151. 

For the week, Dogecoin was lower by more than 9%%. For the month, the crypto was higher by more than 29.5%.

Gasoline and diesel prices slipped early Monday morning . Gasoline prices hit an all-time high on June 14. (gasprices.aaa.com)

The nationwide price for a gallon of gasoline slipped Monday to $3.662 after costing $3.671 on Sunday, according to AAA. The average price of a gallon of gasoline on Saturday was $3.684. 

One week ago, a gallon of gasoline cost $3.773. A month ago, that same gallon of gasoline cost $3.82. A year ago, a gallon of gasoline cost $3.408.

Gasoline hit an all-time high of $5.016 nationwide on June 14, nearly 24 weeks ago.

Diesel prices also declined on Monday morning to $5.298 after falling to $5.307 on Sunday.

One week ago, a gallon of diesel cost $5.359 A month ago, that same gallon of diesel cost $5.34. A year ago, a gallon of diesel cost $3.645.

US stocks were lower early Monday morning after ending last week lower on worrisome remarks by a Fed official. (Associated Press)

U.S. stocks were trading lower early Monday morning after ending last week lower on worrisome remarks by a Fed official. 

During a presentation last week, James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, indicated the Fed’s benchmark rate might have to rise between 5% and 7%, up from its current level of $3.75 to 4%. 

Investors worry repeated rate hikes by the Fed and central banks in Asia and Europe this year to cool surging inflation might tip the global economy into a recession. Traders hope signs economic activity is slowing and inflation pressures are easing might prompt the Fed to ease off its plans.

Fed officials including chair Jerome Powell have warned rates might need to stay high for an extended period to extinguish inflation. Traders expect the Fed to raise its key rate again at its December meeting but by a smaller margin of 0.5 percentage points. 

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets sank Monday. Hong Kong's benchmark fell more than than 2%. Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney also retreated, while Tokyo was little-changed. Oil prices declined. 

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was off 2.1% at 17,616.06 after the territory's leader, John Lee, tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from an Asia-Pacific meeting in Bangkok. 

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8% to 2,072.08 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost less than 0.1% to 27,904.69. The Kospi in South Korea fell 1.2% to 2,414.20 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 lost 0.1% to 7,141.50. India's Sensex opened down 0.7% at 61.212.75. New Zealand gained while Southeast Asian markets declined.

Oil prices dropped to near two-month lows early Monday morning as supply fears receded. (Getty Images)

Oil prices dropped to trade near two-month lows on Monday, having earlier slid by around $1 a barrel, as supply fears receded while concerns over fuel demand from China and U.S. dollar strength weighed on prices. 

Brent crude futures for January had slipped 74 cents, or 0.8%, to $86.88 a barrel by 0715 GMT. 

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December were at $79.40 a barrel, down 68 cents or 0.9%, ahead of the contract's expiry later on Monday. The more active January contract last fell 59 cents or 0.7% to $79.52 a barrel. 

Both benchmarks closed Friday at their lowest since Sept. 27, extending losses for a second week, with Brent down 9% and WTI 10% lower. 

"Apart from the weakened demand outlook due to China's COVID curbs, a rebound in the U.S. dollar today is also a bearish factor for oil prices," said Tina Teng, a CMC Markets analyst. 

New COVID case numbers in China remained close to April peaks as the country battles outbreaks nationwide and in major cities. Schools across some districts in the capital Beijing buckled down for online classes on Monday after officials asked residents to stay home, while the southern city of Guangzhou ordered a five-day lockdown for its most populous district. 

The front-month Brent crude futures spread narrowed sharply last week while WTI flipped into a contango, reflecting dwindling supply concerns. 

Meanwhile, tight crude supplies in Europe have eased as refiners have piled up stocks ahead of the Dec. 5 European Union embargo on Russian crude, putting pressure on physical crude markets across Europe, Africa and the United States. 

The EU's energy policy chief told Reuters the EU expected to have its regulations completed in time for the introduction of a G7 plan to cap the price of Russian crude on Dec. 5. 

The front-month Brent crude futures spread narrowed sharply last week while WTI flipped into a contango, reflecting dwindling supply concerns. Meanwhile, tight crude supplies in Europe have eased as refiners have piled up stocks ahead of the Dec. 5 European Union embargo on Russian crude, putting pressure on physical crude markets across Europe, Africa and the United States. 

The EU's energy policy chief told Reuters the EU expected to have its regulations completed in time for the introduction of a G7 plan to cap the price of Russian crude on Dec. 5.