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THE HEADLINES

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MUSTACHE RIDES

Lyft has filed paper work for an initial public offering that could bring the company to a stock exchange near you as soon as March of 2019. The fist-bumping ride hailer which recently chose JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Jefferies to take it public is expected to fetch a valuation of $15.1B.

This pales in comparison to Uber’s estimated $120B valuation. But being the first to public markets could be a boon for the preferred ride-sharing service of passengers banned by Uber. Currently Lyft only operates in Canada and the US. Uber is available in almost 70 countries.

On the plus side, Lyft only has to explain a $254M loss in Q3 vs. Uber’s $1.07B deficit. Lyft and Uber earned $563M and $2.95B, respectively, in the most recent quarter. And something tells us that Lyft’s roadshow deck will remind investors that they never killed anyone nor have they ever employed Travis Kalanick.

In taking its talents to the public markets, Lyft is hoping to cash in on the hot US IPO market.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “If we’re being totally honest, someone showing up in a Lyft is like seeing their text pop up with a ‘green’ Android bubble *shudder*.”

 

QUIT PLAYIN GAMES WITH MY HEART

News of the arrest of Huawei’s CFO in Canada set in motion quite the chain of events late Wednesday into Thursday. Worries about US-China relations pulled the rug out from under S&P futures. The contracts plummeted within minutes of the overnight markets opening.

Futures did end up recovering, but markets went all “hold my beer.” Between George H.W. Bush’s funeral closing the major exchanges, and Canada playing Dog the Bounty Hunter, the clusterf*ck of a day wasn’t all that surprising.

Headline sensitivity continued at market open, sending all major indices for a wild ride. The Dow closed 79 points lower, but not before dropping nearly 800 points over the course of the day. The S&P 500 fell 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite saw a 0.4% gain after good days from companies like Amazon and Netflix.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “I hope to one day be so influential that I have stock market implications from beyond the grave. Until then, I’ll keep plugging away with the Robin Hood app.”

 

CUT IT OUT

Seems like just yesterday Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to cutting oil production in order to help increase the price of crude. Well, actually it was Wednesday but now it sounds like the two partners are getting cold feet.

Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing member of OPEC, so as they go, so does the oil. Apparently after agreeing to cut production with Russia, they are waiting for a hard number to move forward. Uncertainty the markets do not like.

Initially, OPEC and Russia agreed to reduce oil production by 1.3M barrels per day. Since that “agreement,” it seems as though there has been a lack of commitment from the former USSR. No matter how much OPEC reduces output unless they get buy-in from the other top oil producing countries (read: the US of A) oil prices could continue to drop.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “What’s the worst that could happen when you get Russia, Iran and Venezuela in a room together?”

 

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IN OTHER NEWS

• The parallels between Eddie Lampert/Sears, and Tommy Callahan/Callahan Auto Parts are uncanny. In an attempt to see the softer side of Sears, Lampert is proposing that his hedge fund, ESL, purchase Sears’ physical stores and other assets, including Kenmore in a deal valued at $4.6B. Eddie would make the captain of the Titanic proud.

 

• And to think that the worst business decision James Dolan ever made had nothing to do with the New York Knicks. The CEO of MSG will pay $600k in fines to the FTC related to the failure to report his acquisition of additional voting rights.

 

• Don’t write a check your ass can’t cash. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker bet a UBS analyst that his airline’s share price would hit $60 by November 25th. The spoils? A bottle of wine. Shares closed at $38.10 on November 26th (the 25th was a Monday). Parker says he’ll do one better and will take the analyst to dinner. No word on if he plans to at least call him the next day.

 

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