For IPOs, Earning a Profit Matters Again (WSJ)
Concerns about the economy and jitters in credit markets are prompting skepticism about issuers that aren’t very profitable or are carrying heavy debt loads. Those concerns were evident this week, when grocery chain Albertsons Cos. Inc. was forced to delay its IPO and payments processor First Data Corp. priced its offering sharply below its expected price range and saw its shares trade slightly lower.
Banks' Record Treasuries Stockpile Boosts Case for Fed to Hold (Bloomberg)
The probability of an increase by the December policy meeting has dropped to 30 percent from 70 percent odds at the start of August, according to futures data compiled by Bloomberg. The calculations are based on the assumption the effective fed funds rate will average 0.375 percent after liftoff.
US dethroned as world's billionaire capital (CNBC)
The U.S. has lost its crown as the country with the most billionaires. According to a report released Thursday, China minted 242 billionaires over the past year, leading to a nearly 70 percent jump in its billionaire population. The country's 596 billionaires surpassed the number of billionaires in the United States, at 537, according to the Hurun Rich List.
Tech Incubator Y Combinator Takes New Tack With Venture Capital Fund (WSJ)
Over the past decade, tech-startup incubator Y Combinator has invested in and cultivated hundreds of fledgling companies, including highfliers like Airbnb Inc. and Dropbox Inc. Now, with money rushing into Silicon Valley, the seed investor known as YC is aiming to cash in on its influential name and investor network by doubling down on its hottest startups. It raised a $700 million venture-capital fund in late September aimed at expanding ownership stakes in its most successful companies and helping cash-intensive businesses that might have trouble raising funds elsewhere.
Connecticut jury denies woman's claim eight-year-old nephew broke her wrist (Reuters)
The six-member jury deliberated for less than half an hour in Superior Court in Bridgeport on whether to find the Westport boy responsible for breaking his aunt's wrist when he jumped into her arms during his birthday party four years ago, a court clerk said after the verdict. She had sought $127,000 in damages. Jennifer Connell, 54, had testified that while her nephew, Sean Tarala was a "loving and sensitive," 8-year-old, when he leaped into her arms yelling "Auntie Jen," on March 18, 2011, the boy "acted unreasonably" causing her to fall to the ground and break her wrist. Connell, a human resources manager from New York City, testified that while she loves her nephew, "he should be held accountable."
Bank of Internet Denies Accusation That It Defied Regulators (Dealbook)
Bank of Internet USA, one of the nation’s top-performing banks, fiercely criticized a lawsuit filed by a former employee that said the bank had not been forthcoming with its regulators. Bank of Internet’s chief executive, Gregory Garrabrants, responded to the lawsuit during a conference call on Wednesday evening that came after a 30 percent drop in the bank’s stock. The lawsuit was filed by Matt Erhart, a former internal auditor at the bank who officially left the company in June. The complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of California, said that Bank of Internet had violated federal laws created to protect whistle-blowers. Mr. Garrabrants sharply denied Mr. Erhart’s accusations, saying there were “no issues” in the bank’s relations with regulators. “He wasn’t a great auditor,” Mr. Garrabrants said of Mr. Erhart, and he suggested that the lawsuit might have been financed by investors betting against Bank of Internet’s stock.
Startup Theranos Dials Back Lab Tests at FDA’s Behest (WSJ)
Under pressure from regulators, laboratory firm Theranos Inc. has stopped collecting tiny vials of blood drawn from finger pricks for all but one of its tests, according to a person familiar with the matter, backing away from a method the company has touted as it rose to become one of Silicon Valley’s hottest startups. The move is a setback to the Palo Alto, Calif., company’s ambition to revolutionize the blood-testing industry. As a result of the halt, Theranos is operating more like a traditional lab that draws blood with needles from patients’ arms. Theranos is valued at $9 billion, or about as much as each of the industry’s two largest companies in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors recently showed up unannounced at Theranos, the person familiar with the matter said. The inspection was triggered by concerns the agency had about data Theranos had voluntarily submitted to the FDA in an effort to win approval for its proprietary testing methods, this person said.
McDonald’s all-day breakfast has been a disaster (NYP)
McDonald’s franchisees say the launch of all-day breakfast has been a disaster — griping that it has slowed down service, lowered average bills and sparked chaos in the kitchens. Mark Kalinowski, an analyst for the Japanese finance company Nomura, surveyed 29 operators overseeing 226 different locations in the US and found that many were pulling their hair out due to the new menu options, which rolled out last Tuesday to much praise from Egg McMuffin lovers. “In small stores, the problems are vast with people falling over each other and equipment jammed in everywhere,” one franchisee wrote in response to Kalinowski’s survey.
Hamptons principal reassigned after cameo in raunchy rap video (NYP)
A Southampton assistant principal has been tossed from her job after appearing in a twerking-and-alcohol-filled video by raunchy rappers JR and Trey Songz. Esther Adler-O’Keefe was reassigned Tuesday to an academic-support position in the school district after making two cameo appearances — fully clothed — at the beginning and end of the salacious video for the song “BEST FRIEND.” She speaks only six words (“Enjoy yourself. Just remember, security’s here.”) while playing the role of an uptight, wealthy housewife who wants the Hip Hop artists to behave while she’s away. Then in the last scene, the school disciplinarian-turned-actress — who’s been employed for five years, according to the district — happens upon the aftermath of what clearly had been a wild party while she was gone. She angrily tosses a beach ball at one rapper, as her video husband picks up a joint left near bikini-clad women passed out on a couch. During the heart of the video, dozens of women down shots with the rappers at a pool party. “I can’t keep these bitches off me,” booms JR. “All she want to do is paaaarty.”
