What happened to the notables?
Investors ask how the Bezos divorce will affect Amazon
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) shares seesawed on Thursday as investors questioned how the impending divorce of company founder Jeff Bezos would affect his control of the most valuable company on Wall Street and its ambitious expansion plans. Bezos, whom Forbes lists as the world’s richest person, worth an estimated $136.2 billion, said via Twitter on Wednesday that he and his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie, will divorce. Amazon shares were down 0.5 percent in afternoon trading on Thursday, after gaining earlier in the session. The split throws into question how the couple will split their fortune, which includes an approximately 16 percent ownership stake in Amazon’s roughly $811.4 billion market capitalization. Divorce laws in Washington state, where they live, hold that property acquired during a marriage is generally divided equally between spouses.
Most analysts and fund managers are largely sanguine and say the divorce will not lead to any significant change in the company’s leadership or its growth prospects. Prominent short-seller Doug Kass, however, who runs hedge fund Seabreeze Partners, said he sold his stake in Amazon on news of the divorce. That was after initially buying a stake in late December and naming Amazon among his “best ideas list.” “Is it premature to ask what happens to Amazon when Jeff Bezos chooses to turn over the day-to-day running of the company he founded?” he said. “His announced divorce gives me pause for thought.”
The couple has multiple residences across the country, so there is a possibility the divorce could be filed in a state where marital property is not presumed to be divided equally. New York matrimonial lawyer Bernard Clair said in that case a judge would likely determine MacKenzie Bezos’ share of Amazon stock based on her contribution to her husband’s success, which could include helping him make important business decisions or raising their children so he could focus on work.
Any transfer of Jeff Bezos’ stock would be subject to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure requirements. As an officer and director at the company, Bezos could be required to file an SEC Form 4 within two business days of any transfer, though former SEC lawyer Broc Romanek noted a provision of U.S. securities laws exempts share transfers made pursuant to a domestic relations order. Even if Bezos were exempted from filing a Form 4, he would be required to update promptly the record of his Amazon holdings on file with the SEC if his position in the company changed by 1 percent or more, said D.C. securities lawyer Thomas Gorman. MacKenzie Bezos would also need to file a similar record if she received more than 5 percent of Amazon stock.
Peter Henning, a securities law professor at Wayne State University, noted that Amazon, unlike fellow tech giants Facebook Inc. (FB.O) and Google Inc (GOOGL.O), does not give its founder’s shares greater voting rights. If MacKenzie Bezos is given a large block of shares, she could have a big say at the company. Gorman agreed. “She could wind up with some sort of control block, and get herself a directorship,” he said. “It depends on what she wants to do.” Any effort to dilute MacKenzie Bezos’ voting rights by creating a separate class of shares would require a shareholder vote, said Gorman, though he added that he thought such a move unlikely. “Nobody wants to run their divorce through a shareholder meeting,” he said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-amazon-investors/investors-ask-how-the-bezos-divorce-will-affect-amazon-idUSKCN1P42BY?il=0
Thousands march against Macri's austerity measures in Argentina
LIMA (Reuters) - Thousands of Argentines marched through downtown Buenos Aires on Thursday in the first of a series of demonstrations to protest the soaring costs of public utilities and transportation under President Mauricio Macri’s austerity program. Macri has slashed government subsidies for public utilities to reduce the country’s chronic fiscal deficit, pushing electricity and gas rates up more 2,000 percent since the start of his term, local media have estimated. “The only way to stop this is to peacefully protest,” union leader Pablo Micheli said on local TV channel America TV.
Inflation neared 50 percent and the peso lost close to 50 percent of its value against the dollar last year. The IMF announced a $50 billion lifeline for Argentina in June. The crisis has dimmed Macri’s chances of being re-elected in an election scheduled for the last quarter of the year.
Protesters on Thursday carried effigies of Macri and signs that read “Enough of the Macri/IMF austerity program” as they marched past the city’s obelisk monument toward Congress. A union of truck drivers and a federation of workers’ unions organized the protests, which are scheduled to be held every Thursday through the first week in February. Members of leftist political parties and independent Argentines have joined in.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-protests/thousands-march-against-macris-austerity-measures-in-argentina-idUSKCN1P42VE?il=0
Peru recalls last diplomat from Venezuela to protest 'illegitimate' new term
LIMA (Reuters) - Peru has recalled its charge d’affaires from its embassy in Venezuela to protest what it called the “illegitimate” new term of President Nicolas Maduro, Peru’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Peru will also bar Maduro and 100 people linked to him or his government from entry, the ministry added. Maduro started a second term on Thursday, defying critics who called him an illegitimate usurper of a nation where economic chaos has wrought a humanitarian crisis.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics/venezuelas-maduro-starts-new-term-as-u-s-decries-him-as-usurper-idUSKCN1P40DH?il=0
Foreign U.S. Treasury holdings at Fed rebound
(Reuters) - Foreign central banks’ holdings of U.S. Treasuries at the Federal Reserve rose, rebounding from a near 17-month low, even as the dollar fell to a three-month low this week, U.S. central bank data released on Thursday showed. The U.S. central bank’s custody holdings of U.S. government debt securities for overseas central banks totaled $3.028 trillion on Jan. 9. This was above the $3.011 trillion a week earlier, which was the lowest level since August 2017, according to Fed data. Overseas central banks could buy more U.S. government debt to hold down the value of their currencies against the dollar, which is seen as a counter measure against U.S. tariffs on their countries’ exports. On the other hand, they could reduce their Treasuries holdings when the dollar strengthens, to defend their currencies in a bid to stem capital outflows. The dollar has weakened on jitters about slowing U.S. economic growth and fading expectations the Fed would raise interest rates in 2019.
An index that tracks the greenback against the euro, yen, sterling and three other currencies .DXY fell to 95.029 earlier Thursday, which was the lowest level since Oct. 16. The dollar index reversed its earlier losses to end up 0.35 percent at 95.553 late on Thursday. Foreign central banks can keep their U.S. bond holdings outside the Fed.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-custody/foreign-u-s-treasury-holdings-at-fed-rebound-idUSKCN1P42ST?il=0
POTUS statement "It's going to be a beauty" just about says it all..They can try whatever they want to preserve the clown assets they have attained, in the end it will all come back where it belongs ….To The Taxpayers