BlackRock is laying off 500 employees around the world, or about 3% of its workforce, as the world's largest asset manager grapples with "market uncertainty" and evolving "investor preferences," according to an internal memo obtained by Axios. It's unclear in which units within BlackRock the job cuts will occur.
The big picture: BlackRock and other asset managers had a tough 2018 with market volatility and pressure from lower-fee options across the industry, with shares of BlackRock falling more than 20% last year. In the memo, BlackRock President Rob Kapito said the cuts will allow the firm to continue to reinvest in high-growth markets and technology.
President Trump told reporters outside the White House on Thursday that he finds China, a key adversary in his ongoing trade war, "in many ways to be far more honorable" than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. He added, "I think that China is actually much easier to deal with than the opposition party."
The big picture: Trump has been trying to get Pelosi and Schumer to agree to his demands for $5.7 billion to fund a border wall, but he called their latest meeting on Wednesday "a total waste of time." Meanwhile, he's spoken positively of trade talks with China, tweeting earlier this month that the U.S. is "doing well" in various trade negotiations, despite the fact that both countries just held their first talks this week since agreeing to a 90-day trade war ceasefire in December.
Shares of Constellation Brands, which took a major stake in marijuana producer Canopy Growth last year, fell to a two-year low after the company cut its 2019 profit forecast.
Why it matters: Constellation put the blame on weakness in its booze business, but also cited higher interest payments for its now $4 billion stake in Canopy Growth. Canopy lost $164 million in value during the fourth quarter, Reuters reports.
Sears chairman Eddie Lampert has upped his bid for some of the failed company's stores to $5 billion, hoping to shield it from liquidation, Reuters reports.
The state of play: The offer is 13% higher than Lampert's previous bid, which was rejected earlier this week.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's televised response to President Trump on Tuesday night got higher ratings than Trump's address, The Hill reports.
By the numbers: Schumer and Pelosi's rebuttal got a combined 29.3 rating on NBC, Fox News, CNN, CBS, MSNBC and ABC, according to early numbers from Nielsen. Trump's address had a 28.1 rating on those same networks.
Jerome Powell's goal since he became chairman of the Federal Reserve has been to keep a low profile and rebuild trust and confidence in the U.S. central bank — among lawmakers and the public.
Why it matters: Though his goal has been to make the public think that the economic data is steering the economy rather than the Fed, he's done just the opposite.
Barclays became the latest Wall Street firm to lower its 2019 year-end price target for the S&P 500, dropping it to 2,750 from 3,000 on Tuesday.
The big picture: Six firms have moved their guidance lower just eight days into the year. Barclays cited retail sentiment that has turned "significantly bearish," and an economic growth outlook outside the U.S. that was "not as constructive."
The health care industry spends roughly $30 billion per year on marketing, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That’s about a 70% increase over the past 20 years.
By the numbers: Marketing to doctors makes up the biggest share of promotional spending, but direct-to-consumer advertising is growing the fastest. And pharmaceutical companies are by far the biggest spenders.
Sears chairman and hedge fund billionaire Eddie Lampert today won an 11th-hour court ruling staying the chain's liquidation. If he can get a $120 million ante together by tomorrow, he can take part in an auction next Monday that could perhaps save the chain along with its more than 50,000 jobs, CNBC reports.
The backdrop: After 126 years and a long, painful run-up, it looked like the end of Sears as we knew it. Now, though, Lampert is trying again to entice the board with a bid to buy the company out of bankruptcy.
