2024-07-26 20:24
July 26 (Reuters) - The State of Michigan Retirement System, which oversees some $143.9 million in pension fund assets for state employees, has invested $6.6 million in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB.Z) , opens new tab, it disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday. This marks the second confirmed investment by a pension fund in the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched in January, a sign the assets are slowly beginning to attract traditional institutional investors in a boost for crypto assets. In May, the state of Wisconsin's investment board, which manages $156 billion in assets for the Wisconsin Retirement System, revealed holdings of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.O) , opens new tab and a stake in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC.P) , opens new tab. Those holdings were valued at $99 million and $63 million, respectively, as of the end of March. That pension fund has yet to file its second-quarter portfolio update. The quarterly disclosures, known as 13-F filings, are made to the Securities and Exchange Commission around 45 days after the end of each quarter and may not reflect current positions. While retail investors have accounted for the lion's share of the $32 billion that has poured into the nine newly-launched bitcoin ETFs over the last six months, according to VettaFi, analysts are watching for signs of any uptick in demand on the part of institutions like the Michigan pension fund. "Institutions allocating to these funds are likely to have a longer time horizon," said Todd Sohn, an ETF analyst at Strategas. A greater preponderance of long-term investors should reduce the often-extreme volatility of bitcoin, other analysts say. Separately, the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, said on the social media platform X that it plans to make an allocation to the bitcoin ETFs, without providing a timeframe. The State of Michigan Retirement System did not respond to a request for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/michigan-state-pension-fund-makes-66-million-bitcoin-etf-investment-2024-07-26/
2024-07-26 20:00
July 26 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) , opens new tab and its sports division, Turner Broadcasting System, filed a lawsuit on Friday against the National Basketball Association in New York over the league's rejection of its matching bid for media rights. The media company accused the NBA's refusal to honor its right to match offers from a third party violates its agreement with Turner. "We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content," TNT Sports said in a statement. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said Warner Bros Discovery's claims are "without merit." The NBA announced on Wednesday that it had awarded Walt Disney's (DIS.N) , opens new tab ESPN, Comcast-owned (CMCSA.O) , opens new tab NBCUniversal and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) , opens new tab rights to carry NBA games in an 11-year deal valued at $77 billion. The NBA rejected a last-minute offer from TNT Sports, which it said fell short of Amazon's proposal, ending a nearly four-decade relationship with the media company after next season. Turner argues it has a vested interest in retaining the rights to carry the NBA's games, saying it has invested billions of dollars for the distribution rights and hundreds of millions of dollars more in production and talent, including its Emmy-winning "Inside the NBA" show with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith. The media company argues the NBA games are "unique assets" that can't easily be replaced, driving "significant viewership and ratings." That, in turn, affects the price Turner can charge advertisers and lends competitive advantages in negotiating rights with other leagues, the company claims in its suit. Turner said the NBA presented Turner with the deal terms it was willing to accept from Amazon for the rights to stream 64 regular season games, and at least 30 playoff games. On Monday, the media company responded with a letter stating it would match Amazon's offer and would agree to "the same material terms and conditions." It said the NBA refused to honor Turner's match, prompting it to bring the suit. The lawsuit may well hinge on the court's interpretation of matching rights, said Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes. “Warner Bros Discovery claims it can match Amazon's price. The NBA claims the Amazon portion is for streaming distribution, not linear,” said Benes, using the industry term for traditional television distribution. “The precedent on digital versus linear rights is not settled so the outcome will be in the eye of the beholder.” Douglas Arthur, an analyst with Huber Research, questioned whether Turner could make money under the NBA’s new deal, which would represent a $700 million increase from its current contract with the league. “To make money on the step-up, subscriber fees would have to go up a lot and WBD would have to hope that ad contracts would increase as well,” Arthur wrote Friday, in an investor note. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/warner-bros-discovery-sues-nba-over-bid-broadcast-rights-court-filing-shows-2024-07-26/
2024-07-26 19:58
July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities charged prominent activist short seller Andrew Left and his fund Citron Capital, alleging he had for years manipulated the market and defrauded investors with misleading claims about his positions in multiple stocks, including Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab and Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab. The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday that Left used his social media platform and cable news appearances to promote what he said were his long or short trades, only to quickly reverse his positions, making as much as $20 million in the process. Left, 54, also concealed that third-parties, including hedge funds, fed his commentary and that in return for compensation he alerted them before publicizing his positions, allowing them to profit or mitigate losses, the Justice Department alleged. "To maintain the false pretense that Citron’s recommendations and positions were sincerely held, defendant Left made false and misleading representations and half-truths about his economic incentives, conviction in Citron’s analyses, and valuations of Targeted Securities," the DOJ said. Left's lawyer James Spertus said the investor plans to fight the charges. "There is no crime here," he said in an emailed statement. "Mr. Left is a publisher who has taken extraordinary steps to comply with all laws, and neither the DOJ nor the SEC allege that he ever once published information he believed was not true when published." Left is expected to be arraigned in the coming weeks in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Known for his sensational and colorful style, Left for more than a decade has been among the most prominent of a cohort of “short activists” who say they bet against public companies on the basis they were over-valued or engaging in outright fraud. HIGH-PROFILE TARGETS Among Left’s most high-profile targets were the now defunct China Evergrande, GameStop (GME.N) , opens new tab, Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Shopify. Proponents of short activists say they play a crucial role in the market, but critics have accused them of “short and distort” tactics that have unfairly damaged public companies. Friday's charges are the culmination of a years-long probe by criminal prosecutors in Washington and Los Angeles and SEC investigators, which began investigating short-sellers and hedge funds in 2019, Reuters and other media have reported. Bloomberg first reported the DOJ probe in Dec. 2021. The SEC and Justice Department focused on how Left publicly represented his position in high-profile stocks versus how he was really trading them, alleging that Left exploited his influence to manipulate the shares and reap quick profits. Around Oct. 22, 2018, for example, the Justice Department alleged that Left took a long position in electric carmaker Tesla and the next day posted on X, then Twitter, that the firm was "LONG Tesla for this quarter." Minutes later, Left placed an order to sell more than half of his position for a profit of at least $1 million, the Justice Department alleged. The next month, Left similarly promoted his long trade in Nvidia - which was trading around $144 - saying he expected the price to hit $165, only to sell his entire position less than two hours later, the Justice Department alleged. An Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment, while Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Left said publicly in 2019 that Citron had never been paid by a third party to publish research on stocks, but the Justice Department alleges that Left in 2018 and 2019 received more than $1 million each from two separate hedge funds who held short positions in stocks targeted by Left. The novel charges may be challenging to prove in court, legal experts said. "Some of the conduct described in the indictment is pretty normal in the short-seller community," said Robert Frenchman of New York law firm Dynamis. "You can still run afoul of securities laws when you lie about your position, your ties to hedge funds and the source of your search." If convicted, Left would face a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison for the securities fraud scheme count, up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of securities fraud, and up to five years in federal prison for the false statements count, the DOJ said. The SEC is seeking disgorgement, prejudgment interest, civil monetary penalties and an officer-and-director bar, it said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-sec-sues-citron-capital-founder-andrew-left-alleged-fraud-2024-07-26/
2024-07-26 19:58
July 26 (Reuters) - Severe wildfire seasons are increasingly hurting western Canada's lucrative tourism industry, with some visitors beginning to avoid the busy late-summer months due to concerns about uncontrolled blazes, smoke-filled skies and road closures. After a scorching start to July, nearly 600 wildfires are now ablaze across British Columbia and Alberta, including a huge fire that this week devastated the picturesque tourist town of Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. Dozens of communities, including popular holiday spots in British Columbia's Kootenay region, are under evacuation orders and several highways are closed. This year's surge in wildfire activity comes after Canada endured its worst-ever year for wildfires in 2023, when more than 15 million hectares (37 million acres) burned, including parts of the city of West Kelowna in the heart of British Columbia's wine region. Ellen Walker-Matthews, head of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, said the industry was seeing a lot more last-minute travel decisions instead of booking in advance. "It's a huge blow. July and August are traditionally the busiest months in the region," said Walker-Matthews, adding that while her region has been relatively unscathed by wildfires this summer, some visitors are choosing to avoid interior British Columbia altogether. The members of the British Columbia Lodging and Campgrounds Association are reporting a 5-15% drop in bookings from a year ago, with the biggest declines coming from the hotter Okanagan and Cariboo regions, said Joss Penny, who heads the association. "The concern is that this is something we have to live with and we have it every year now," said Penny. Although wildfires in Canada's forests are natural and common, scientists say drier, hotter conditions fuelled by climate change are leading to more volatile and frequent blazes. 'SMOKEY SKIES' Some events, like the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, usually held in August, have now been rescheduled to earlier in the summer to avoid what is now seen as peak smoke season. The festival, which was cancelled last year due to nearby wildfires, was this year moved to July to benefit from "less smokey skies." Wildfires and extreme climatic events are prompting tourists to "change their plans not just temporarily, but permanently," said Elizabeth Halpenny, a tourism researcher and professor at the University of Alberta, noting that seasonal workers in the sector are often the hardest hit as they have few protections during a bad season or amid a cataclysmic fire. Tourism contributed C$7.2 billion to the British Columbia economy in 2022, and C$9.9 billion to Alberta in 2023, according to the latest government data. Jasper National Park is one of Canada's premier tourist destinations, with more than 2 million visitors a year flocking to see its pristine mountain landscapes and abundant wildlife, including grizzly bears, moose and elk. Kelly Torrens, vice-president of product at international tour company Kensington Tours, described western Canada as a bucket-list destination. But the company now has 49 trips that were supposed to pass through Jasper this season in limbo. Six others were forced to evacuate the park when the fire hit. Parks Canada has cancelled all camping reservations within Jasper National Park until Aug. 6 and with potentially 50% of the town's structures destroyed by fire, the cleanup and rebuild could take years. Halpenny is among those hedging their bets. "I've booked a campsite stay in the mountain parks but at the same time, I booked a campsite out on the prairie somewhere and that's my backup plan because I don't want to miss out on my vacation with my family." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/fire-smoke-upend-western-canadas-summer-tourism-season-2024-07-26/
2024-07-26 19:37
July 26 (Reuters) - Heavy rain caused a dam to burst in central Russia's Chelyabinsk region on Friday, prompting officials to evacuate several nearby villages, local authorities said. The Chelyabinsk regional government in the southern Ural mountains, said on the Telegram messaging app that a 100-metre section of the dam at the Kialimsky reservoir had burst and four villages were in the path of rising water. Altogether, about 200 people were under threat. Officials said dozens were being evacuated as a preliminary measure and no injuries had been reported. Rescue teams from Russia's Emergencies Ministry and the regional centre of Karabash were dispatched to the area and reception centres were set up for evacuees. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/heavy-rains-cause-dam-burst-central-russia-2024-07-26/
2024-07-26 19:24
Canadian dollar weakens 0.1% against the greenback Posts eighth straight day of declines For the week, the currency loses 0.7% Canadian bond yields ease across the curve TORONTO, July 26 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened for an eighth straight day against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as oil prices fell and after the Bank of Canada cut interest rates further earlier in the week. The loonie was trading 0.1% lower at 1.3835 per U.S. dollar, or 72.28 U.S. cents. Earlier in the session, the currency touched 1.3848, matching the eight-month low that was set on Thursday. The daily losing streak was the longest since December 2018. For the week, it was down 0.7%. "A pretty quiet end to the week, but the continued decline in WTI crude oil prices and CAD weakness on the crosses have been catalysts to push USD-CAD higher today," said George Davis, chief technical strategist at RBC Capital Markets. "This year's prior high from mid-April at 1.3846 has been able to cap rallies (in USD-CAD) so far, with the market keeping a close eye on this level into next week." The price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, settled 1.4% lower at $77.16 a barrel on declining Chinese demand and hopes of a Gaza ceasefire agreement. On Wednesday, the BoC lowered its benchmark rate for a second straight month, cutting by 25 basis points to 4.50%. The central bank is shifting its focus to boosting the economy rather than suppressing inflation, which raises prospects of additional easing in the coming months, analysts say. Investors see a roughly 70% chance of a rate cut at the next policy announcement in September. Canadian bond yields fell across the curve, tracking moves in U.S. Treasuries after U.S. data showed prices rising modestly in June, supporting bets the Federal Reserve would begin its easing cycle in the coming months. The 10-year was down 5 basis points at 3.324%, trading at nearly its lowest level in one month. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/c-posts-longest-losing-streak-six-years-oil-falls-2024-07-26/
