Former Purdue Pharma LP director Mortimer D.A. Sackler testified Thursday he was "shocked and disappointed" when he learned last year the drugmaker his family owns pleaded guilty to federal felonies over its marketing and sale of the opioid OxyContin, saying management assured the board it was complying with relevant laws.
Mr. Sackler said during the second week of a trial in Purdue's bankruptcy case that before he left the drugmaker's board in late 2018, briefings by management indicated the company was successfully curbing OxyContin abuse while getting the painkiller to patients with legitimate medical needs.
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OnlyFans to Ban Content Featuring 'Sexually Explicit Conduct'
OnlyFans, a social-media platform whose popularity was built on viewers' subscriptions to adult content, is planning to ban sex videos.
OnlyFans said Thursday that starting Oct. 1, it will prohibit content that features "sexually-explicit conduct" but it will allow creators to post nudity. The platform, owned by closely held London-based Fenix International Ltd., said the changes are to comply with the requests of banking partners and payment processors.
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Derby's Take: Ahead of July Fed Meeting, Big Banks Saw January Taper Kickoff
Wall Street's biggest banks told the Federal Reserve ahead of its late July policy meeting that they were expecting the central bank to start pulling back on bond-buying stimulus at the start of next year.
So-called primary dealers reported to the Fed in mid-July that they see monthly Treasury purchases being trimmed to $70 billion in January, from the current $80 billion, while mortgage bond purchases are lowered to $35 billion, down from $40 billion, according to their median view in a New York Fed survey made public Thursday.
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First-Time Issuers Help Fuel Junk Bond Rally
Investors in search of better fixed-income returns are flocking to buy the lowest-rated junk debt from companies new to the high-yield market.
Debut sales of junk bonds from companies including Michaels Stores Inc. and Square Inc. are on pace to set a 16-year record, with over $68 billion of debt sold as of Aug. 17, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's LCD. The firm has been tracking the data since 2005.
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Money Managers Race to Launch First U.S. Bitcoin ETF After SEC Signal
Asset managers are jockeying to create the first U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded fund after a top securities regulator signaled a path to approval.
In the past two weeks, ProShares, Invesco Ltd., VanEck, Valkyrie Digital Assets and Galaxy Digital have all filed plans for bitcoin futures ETFs. If approved, the funds would make trading bets on bitcoin's future value akin to buying a stock.
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Covid-19 Closure at China's Ningbo Port Is Latest Snarl in Global Supply Chains
A major container terminal at China's Ningbo-Zhoushan Port remained shut a week after operations were suspended from a single Covid-19 case, with dozens of ships lining up to load cargo for western markets ahead of the year-end shopping season.
The congestion at Meishan terminal, which isn't expected to resume full operations before the end of the month, is spreading to other ports like Shanghai and Hong Kong as big operators divert ships away from Ningbo.
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China Passes One of the World's Strictest Data-Privacy Laws
HONG KONG-China has approved a sweeping privacy law that will curb data collection by technology companies, but that policy analysts say is unlikely to limit the state's widespread use of surveillance.
China's top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, passed the Personal Information Protection Law at a meeting in Beijing on Friday, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
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German Producer Prices Rise at Fastest Pace in More Than 45 Years
The index of producer prices for industrial products in Germany increased 10.4% in July compared with the prior year, the German statistics office Destatis said Friday.
This was the highest year-on-year increase since January 1975, when prices rose strongly during the first oil crisis, Destatis said.
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Taliban Takeover Renders Budget for Afghanistan Null and Void
AFGHANISTAN'S FALL to the Taliban has rendered several provisions of House Democrats' foreign-affairs budget inoperable less than a month after it passed the chamber and before it was formally taken up by the Senate. The foreign-affairs appropriations package, passed July 28, included money for Afghanistan programs such as clearing improvised explosive devices and analyzing whether women and girls are included in the now-defunct peace process, and giving priority to investments in Afghanistan's handmade-crafts sector.
The House bill, which received no Republican support, called on the State Department to provide regular updates on the number of locally employed staff and contractors supporting the U.S. Embassy in Kabul's operations as well as the "impacts to foreign assistance programs and the presence of diplomatic and development personnel in Afghanistan." U.S. forces evacuated the embassy on Sunday and are currently spiriting out as many diplomats, Afghan allies and development personnel as possible following the Afghan government's collapse.
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Internal State Department Cable Warned of Kabul Collapse
WASHINGTON-An internal State Department memo last month warned top agency officials of the potential collapse of Kabul soon after the U.S.'s Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline in Afghanistan, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the document.
The classified cable represents the clearest evidence yet that the administration had been warned by its own officials on the ground that the Taliban's advance was imminent and Afghanistan's military may be unable to stop it.
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Texas Legislature Convenes Quorum, Ending Stalemate on Elections Bill
AUSTIN, Texas-A few Democrats in the Texas Legislature, who had helped refuse the House a quorum in an effort to kill an elections bill, returned to the Capitol Thursday after a 38-day standoff.
Three Houston-area House Democrats-Garnet Coleman, Ana Hernandez and Armando Walle-returned to the chamber on Thursday evening. More than 55 House Democrats, including Mr. Walle and Ms. Hernandez, fled to Washington, D.C., in July to deny the Republican-controlled House the quorum needed to vote on the bill during a special session called by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
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Three Vaccinated Senators Have Tested Positive for Covid-19
WASHINGTON-Three vaccinated U.S. senators said Thursday they had tested positive for Covid-19 and were all experiencing mild symptoms.
Sens. Angus King (I., Maine), Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) and John Hickenlooper (D., Colo.) said that they were experiencing breakthrough Covid-19 cases, despite having been vaccinated earlier. All three lawmakers said they were isolating themselves and following their doctors' orders. The Senate has been on recess since the middle of last week.
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Write to paul.larkins@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
None scheduled
Economic Indicators (ET):
0830 Jun Retail Sales
0830 Jul New House Prices
Stocks to Watch:
Brookfield Residential Announces Renewal of $675M Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility
Expected Major Events for Friday
05:00/JPN: Jul Convenience Store Sales
06:00/GER: Jul PPI
06:00/UK: Jul UK monthly retail sales figures
06:00/UK: Jul Public sector finances
10:00/UK: Jul Aluminium Production report
12:30/CAN: Jun Retail trade
12:30/CAN: Jul New Housing Price Index
14:00/US: Jul State Employment and Unemployment
All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Friday
A. M. Castle & Co (CTAM) is expected to report for 2Q.
ASA Gold & Precious Metals Ltd (ASA) is expected to report for 2Q.
Acura Pharmaceuticals (ACUR) is expected to report for 2Q.
Bridgford Foods Corp (BRID) is expected to report for 3Q.
Buckle Inc (BKE) is expected to report $0.66 for 2Q.
China Gold International Resources (CGG.T) is expected to report for 2Q.
Cinedigm Corp (CIDM) is expected to report $-0.02 for 1Q.
Deere & Co (DE) is expected to report $4.48 for 3Q.
Document Security Systems Inc (DSS) is expected to report for 2Q.
Foot Locker Inc (FL) is expected to report $0.97 for 2Q.
Friedman Industries (FRD) is expected to report for 1Q.
InnovAge Holding Corp (INNV) is expected to report for 4Q.
Intermap Technologies is expected to report for 2Q.
Lyell Immunopharma Inc (LYEL) is expected to report for 2Q.
PFSweb (PFSW) is expected to report $-0.06 for 2Q.
Pressure BioSciences Inc (PBIO) is expected to report for 2Q.
Sonoma Pharmaceuticals Inc (SNOA) is expected to report for 1Q.
TaskUs Inc (TASK) is expected to report for 2Q.
Taylor Devices (TAYD) is expected to report for 4Q.
Ubiquiti Inc (UI) is expected to report for 4Q.
Unico American (UNAM) is expected to report for 2Q.
Vintage Wine Estates Inc (VWE.U.T) is expected to report for 2Q.
Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.
ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS
Apellis Pharmaceuticals Raised to Outperform From Neutral by Wedbush
Bill.com Holdings Raised to Buy From Hold by Jefferies
BrightSpire Capital Raised to Buy From Neutral by BTIG
Illumina Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by SVB Leerink
IMAC Holdings Cut to Neutral From Buy by National Alliance Securities
NetApp Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Fox Advisors
New Fortress Energy Raised to Outperform From Neutral by Credit Suisse
Nvidia Cut to Sell From Hold by Summit Insights Group
Paysign Raised to Buy From Neutral by DA Davidson
Smartsheet Raised to Buy From Hold by Jefferies
Toro Cut to Neutral From Outperform by Baird
WR Berkley Raised to Neutral From Underperform by B of A Securities
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
08-20-21 0554ET
