Core Scientific's Equity Holders Want Their Voices Heard in Bankruptcy
A shareholder group of cryptocurrency miner Core Scientific Inc. petitioned in bankruptcy court for the formation of an official equity committee, citing the recent rebound in bitcoin prices.
A minority shareholder group recently asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston to form an official committee to represent the interest of equity holders. The committee would give shareholders an official voice in the chapter 11 case and put Core Scientific on the hook for the legal fees.
Hong Kong Vies for Blockbuster Aramco Listing as Saudi Ties Deepen
Hong Kong officials are making a renewed push to convince Saudi Arabia's national oil company to list its shares in the city, two months after a visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Middle Eastern country.
John Lee, Hong Kong's chief executive, led a large delegation of government officials, bankers and other executives to Saudi Arabia this week, part of a wider tour of the Middle East. Mr. Lee told Amin Nasser, chief executive of oil giant Aramco, that Hong Kong's stock exchange would welcome a secondary listing by the company. A deal could be valued at tens of billions of dollars, according to some bankers' estimates.
The Dow Industrials Are Sitting Out the Stock Market's Wild Ride
The Dow Jones Industrial Average last year was a relative bright spot in a battered stock market. Now, speculation is back, and the blue chips are falling behind.
The 30-stock index is up 2.4% in 2023 but is badly trailing the Nasdaq Composite Index, which has surged 14%. Largely home to technology and other growth stocks, the Nasdaq is off to its best start since 1991, and the spread between the indexes is the widest since 2000 for any year through Feb. 8.
U.S.-China Tensions Are High. So Is Commerce Between the Nations.
WASHINGTON-U.S. commerce with China is on the rise, despite escalating national-security tensions over matters such as last week's downing of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.
U.S. imports of goods from China totaled $536.8 billion in 2022, a 6.3% increase from the prior year and close to the record $538.5 billion reached in 2018, the Commerce Department said earlier this week. U.S. exports to China grew 1.6% to $153.8 billion last year, pushing the total commerce between the two countries to a record $690.6 billion. The figures aren't adjusted for inflation.
Russia's War Could Lead to Shift in Sources for Energy Supplies
Nearly a year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing war has called attention to how vulnerable the U.S. petroleum market is to an event thousands of miles away, and may lead to a shift in the global market to better secure energy supplies.
Russia's actions on Feb. 24 ignited "widespread, credible concerns of extraordinary disruptions in oil and [natural] gas flow to Europe," says Brian Milne, product manager, editor, and analyst at DTN. Europe's reliance on Russian gas had the "potential to make Europeans hostages during the winter months," if Russian President Vladimir Putin cut off gas supply to the continent.
Senate Republicans Demand Answers on Handling of Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon
WASHINGTON-Leading Senate Republicans demanded the Biden administration provide more information about its handling of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, as administration officials prepared to give the Senate a closed-door briefing about the episode.
In a letter Wednesday to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the lawmakers particularly asked about Pentagon and White House decision-making in the days after the balloon was detected and why the military and spy agencies weren't better prepared given previous incursions.
SpaceX Limits Ukraine's Military Use of Starlink Satellite Business
WASHINGTON-SpaceX has taken steps to limit Ukraine's use of the company's satellite-internet connections for military purposes, a top executive at the Elon Musk-founded company said Wednesday.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said SpaceX had worked to restrict the country from using Starlink, as the company's satellite-internet business is called, for military purposes.
China's Fleet of Balloons Prove Hard to Detect as They Survey the World
China has operated a fleet of high-altitude balloons, like the one shot down by the Air Force, to carry out surveillance on five continents, the Biden administration said, as it tries to bring international attention to the scope of Beijing's program.
Administration officials embarked on a series of briefings about the balloon with allies and partners, officials said. Those briefings draw on "what we've learned based on our careful observation of the system when it was in our airspace," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.
Some $191 Billion in Pandemic Payments May Have Been Improper, Labor Inspector General Says
The U.S. government may have paid out $191 billion in improper pandemic unemployment benefits, the Labor Department's watchdog told Congress on Wednesday.
Larry Turner, the inspector general of the Labor Department, said his agency estimated that more than a fifth of the $888 billion federal and state unemployment payments for job losses in 2020 and 2021 may have gone to improper recipients or fraudsters.
Coast Guard Looks at More Ships, Innovative Patrols to Ramp Up Pacific Presence
SYDNEY-During a recent patrol, members of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter's crew conducted a first-of-its-kind boarding of a fishing vessel in waters off the Federated States of Micronesia. Several months earlier, another cutter traveled thousands of miles from its home port in Guam to northern Australia, in what was considered a first for that type of ship.
The missions illustrate how the Coast Guard, which some U.S. officials view as a potent soft-power tool that can advance relationships with Pacific island nations, plans to ramp up activities in a strategic region that has become an arena of great-power rivalry between China and the U.S.
Shinzo Abe Book Criticizes Trump as Weak on North Korea
TOKYO-In a posthumously published book, former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe said he pushed then-President Donald Trump to take a stronger stand on North Korea but found Mr. Trump weak and overly eager for a deal.
Mr. Abe said in the Japanese-language book, published this week, that he grew worried North Korea would learn of Mr. Trump's dovish tendencies. "We absolutely couldn't let the outside world catch wind of it," he said.
Sen. John Fetterman Hospitalized After Feeling Lightheaded
Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.), who suffered a stroke during his campaign for office last year, was taken to the hospital Wednesday after feeling lightheaded at a retreat for Senate Democrats, his office said in a statement.
Tests at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., "did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests and John is remaining overnight for observation," the statement said, adding that he "is in good spirits and talking with his staff and family."
Write to ina.kreutz@wsj.com TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
ARC Resources 4Q
Aurora Cannabis 1Q
Bombardier 4Q
Brookfield 4Q
Cameco 4Q
Canopy Growth 3Q
Colliers 4Q
Definity Fincl 4Q
IGM Fincl 4Q
Interfor 4Q
Mullen 4Q
Precision Drilling 4Q
Russel Metals 4Q
Sangoma Tech 2Q
Saputo 3Q
Silvercorp Metals 3Q
TELUS 4Q
TELUS Intl 4Q
Thomson Reuters 4Q
Trisura 4Q
Economic Calendar:
Nothing scheduled
Stocks to Watch:
Canaccord Genuity 3Q EPS C$0.16; 3Q Rev C$382.1M; Canaccord Genuity Expect Continued Instability in the Cap Markets Until There Is Greater Certainty With Respect to the Outlook for Inflation, Interest Rates and the Broader Economy
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Great-West Lifeco 4Q Net C$1.03B; 4Q Adj EPS C$0.96; 4Q EPS C$1.10; Announces 6% Dividend Increase
Expected Major Events for Thursday
00:01/UK: Jan RICS Residential Market Survey
06:00/JPN: Jan Preliminary Machine Tool Orders
07:00/GER: Jan Provisional CPI
09:30/UK: 4Q Mortgage and landlord possession statistics
09:30/UK: 4Q Mortgage Arrears and Possessions data
13:00/RUS: Weekly International Reserves
13:30/US: 02/04 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
13:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales
15:30/US: 02/03 EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report
21:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings
21:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings
23:50/JPN: Jan Corporate Goods Price Index
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Thursday
AbbVie Inc (ABBV) is expected to report $3.08 for 4Q.
Bombardier Inc (BBD.A.T,BBD.B.T,BDRBF) is expected to report for 4Q.
Brookfield Corp (BN,BN.T) is expected to report for 4Q.
Cameco Corp (CCJ,CCO.T) is expected to report $0.11 for 4Q.
Canopy Growth Corp (CGC,WEED.T) is expected to report $-0.21 for 3Q.
Cardiovascular Systems Inc (CSII) is expected to report $-0.17 for 2Q.
Diebold Nixdorf Inc (DBD) is expected to report $-0.10 for 4Q.
First American Financial (FAF) is expected to report for 4Q.
Gates Industrial Corp PLC (GTES) is expected to report $0.13 for 4Q.
Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (HII) is expected to report $3.41 for 4Q.
ITT Inc (ITT) is expected to report for 4Q.
Interpublic Group of Cos (IPG) is expected to report for 4Q.
Kellogg Co (K) is expected to report for 4Q.
Kimco Realty Corp (KIM) is expected to report for 4Q.
Lee Enterprises Inc (LEE) is expected to report for 1Q.
Lumentum Holdings Inc (LITE) is expected to report $0.26 for 2Q.
MDU Resources Group Inc (MDU) is expected to report for 4Q.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp (MSGE) is expected to report for 2Q.
Masco Corp (MAS) is expected to report for 4Q.
Motorcar Parts Of America Inc (MPAA) is expected to report $0.42 for 3Q.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
02-09-23 0637ET
