UK, EU, Extend Brexit Deadline For the Third Time
Who would have predicted this, after how protracted Eurozone negotiations had been with Greece? The United Kingdom and the officials from the European Union extended the finalization of Brexit terms for the third time yesterday, admitting that the divorce terms will not be ironed out by October. The original informal deadline was in June, which was then extended to October, which is now being extended to November, which eventually will be extended, probably, several more times until the deadline runs very close to March 29th, 2019, the date that Great Britain actually leaves the European Union, deal or not. Meanwhile, British Prime Minster Theresa May has signaled that a no deal Brexit would be better than a bad deal Brexit. This could just be posturing.
SEE: Venezuela Mandates All Banks To Embrace Cryptocurrency
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Sears Explodes Higher on Expansion of Amazon Partnership
The lifeline for Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) just got a little thicker as Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) partnership with the dying retail firm to be its tire guy just got expanded nationwide. Amazon initially started working with Sears in 47 Sears Auto Centers in 8 large cities. The plan has now gone nationwide, and Sears stockholders are happy. Shares rocketed nearly 13% on the news, just in time for Sears which is still hemorrhaging cash, selling off assets, and closing stores like there is not tomorrow, because if it doesn’t, there might not be a tomorrow for it. Customers can pick tires online at Amazon.com, go to their local Sears Auto Center, and have their tires installed there.
James Bond Car IPO? Aston Martin Says Yes!
James Bond’s car is finally offering shares of itself to the public, as the famed British muscle car brand Aston Martin is planning a $6.4 billion IPO. The carmaker announced $573 million in revenue in the 6 months up to June. The shares will represent 25% of the company, with the rest being owned by investors in Italy and Kuwait. Shares will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. No word yet on an ADR for US exchanges.
Iran Using Facebook to Influence Elections – Reuters
Iran has been using Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) to create a web of anonymous websites linked to social media accounts in 11 different languages in order to influence international elections in different countries. Instagram, Twitter (NASDAQ:TWTR) and Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube are also part of the web. So Russia isn’t the only one, Iran probably isn’t the only other one. The net, called IUVM by the security firms that corroborated evidence compiled by Reuters, pushes content from Iranian state media while trying to obscure the source of the information that it pedals. Iranian officials have dismissed the findings as “ridiculous”. Alphabet has since taken down the IUVM YouTube channel after Reuters contacted the company about its evidence, but declined to comment on it.
Musk Cries Foul On Crying During Interview That He Didn’t Cry In
Tesla CEO (NASDAQ:TSLA) is back on Twitter talking about allegedly pedophile spelunkers who didn’t sue him for some reason, which he thinks is strange, and he didn’t cry during an interview with the New York Times. He claims that his voice cracked, but there were no tears. Meanwhile, Tesla is still trying to make enough cars to satisfy investors, after its big going-private headfake that most thought was a stunt to push the share price higher and squeeze the shorts. Five shareholder lawsuits have been filed against the carmaker for Tweeting material information that was not actually material enough to be material. It remains to be seen how the SEC will deal with this, if at all, because Tesla makes electric cars, and those are important.
