Icahn do it…
Image courtesy of iosphere/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Many U.S. companies are taking a breather for the moment since billionaire activist investor, Carl Icahn, has shifted his attentions away from struggling businesses and instead to Washington D.C. And just like he ousts under-performing CEO’s, he now plans to give the boot to under-performing congressman. Icahn tweeted earlier today, “I am starting a Super PAC with my initial commitment of $150 million to help end the crippling dysfunction in Congress.” I’m just wondering why his millions are going to be more effective than the millions of taxpayer dollars Americans have been throwing at congress until now. But I digress. Icahn, by the way, happens to be a dear pal of Presidential candidate Donald Trump. “Basically he’s by far the best of what I see out there,” and “The Donald” would like to install Carl Icahn as his treasury secretary. Laugh all you want, but with Trump pulling in some great numbers, you might end up crying come November 2016. This Super PAC has more than a bit to do with the letter Icahn sent out to Congress this week demanding that it pass corporate tax reform legislation that would dissuade U.S. companies from leaving to other countries with more favorable tax laws at what Icahn calls “the worst time imaginable.” He also wants Congress to offer companies like Apple a “tax holiday” that would allow it to bring back its trillions of dollars at much much lower rate. That cash can then be used to invest and create jobs. Sounds fair. Boom.
Ciao bella…
Image courtesy of sattva/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Ferrari, one of the world’s most valuable and utterly fabulous brands, made its U.S. stock market debut today in true Ferrari-style. Several of the high-performance, extremely pricey automobiles were parked by Wall Street, as the company stock opened at $52, the high-end of its range. And from there, the stock even cruised a bit higher. $893 million was raised and 17.18 million shares were dished out under the ticker symbol RACE. Catchy, huh? And just like it’s hard to come-by cars, there was more demand than there were shares. The IPO is a way for Fiat Chrysler to finance a $54 billion investment program that will help expand the Jeep, Alpha Romeo and Maserati brands. As for the Ferrari family, the founder’s son, Piero Ferrari, has a 10% stake and has now earned his billionaire badge with this IPO. The Agnelli family, however, remains the biggest shareholder with more than a 30% stake in the company. In the meantime, Fiat Chrysler CEO, Sergio Marchionne, took time out of his busy morning from ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to let the world know that he thought the EU’s charges that his company evaded $23 million in taxes “absolutely ludicrous.” He should really start hanging out with Carl Icahn.
Brown paper packages tied up with false claims…
Image courtesy of Iamnee/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
UPS is not having a very good day after having to fork over $4.2 million to settle charges that it over-charged 17 states and three local entities. It seems the company falsely recorded packages reaching their destination on time when, in fact, they didn’t. Customers paid to have packages delivered via next day service, however, those packages did not arrive by the promised time. These incidents ran from 2004-2014. UPS employees used “exception codes” and filed false claims that would excuse late arrivals for reasons like inclement weather and other difficult circumstances. By using these codes, customers could not even file a claim to get a refund. And while whistleblower Robert Fulk can look forward to a piece of that $4 million pie, UPS has no plans to acknowledge any wrongdoing, even though the company already had to pay $25 million for a different settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice back in May for similar allegations. The company says it ponied up the settlement cash in order to avoid a costly litigation trial. Uh huh.
Pujonomics. 