Sprott Focus Trust Stock News

Defense Wins Crucial Pause In Trial Of Former Goldman Banker ''Scapegoated'' In 1MDB Scandal Federal prosecutors'' attempt to scapegoat former Goldman banker Roger Ng for the Goldman''s massive role in the 1MDB scandal isn''t going well as they had hoped. As any voir dire attorney would tell you, jurors tend to discriminate against big banks. But in this case, this prejudice is exaberated by the fact that Goldman has already pleaded guilty itself and forked over nearly $4 billion to the Malaysian government at the DoJ''s behest. What''s more, the bank''s chief banker on the deal, the German-born Tim Leissner, has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a deal to testify. But the testimony has been nothing less than scathing, with the defense doing a great job of discrediting Leissner and defending Ng as a scapegoat, with no immunity deal to protect him. Leissner Recently, Ng Defense Attorney Marc Agnifilo successfully called for a pause before the defense will question Leissner, due to claims, acknowledged by the prosecution, that some 15K+ documents had been withheld from the defense during discovery.

Samara Capital, an India-focused private equity firm and a local partner of Amazon.com Inc., is planning to raise as much as $500 million for a new fund targeting companies in Asia’s third-biggest economy.

Cohen & Steers (CNS) announced the IPO of the Cohen & Steers Real Estate Opportunities and Income Fund wherein it raised $305M in proceeds through the issuance of 15.25M shares…

Listenership is evolving, but the music industry needs money to catch up. Lately, white male arena-rock artists have really been cashing in on their back catalogs as they…

Many other banks are also re-evaluating their overdraft and non-sufficient fund fees, which generate billions of dollars of revenue for them each year.

BlackRock <> and Warner Music Group <> are investing $750M in a fund to acquire music-rights catalogs from female and diverse artists, with a focus on younger music, the…

BlackRock Inc. and Warner Music Group Corp. have committed $750 million for a fund to invest in music catalogs from female and diverse artists, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Citing people familiar with the deal, the newspaper article said the fund is set up in partnership with Influence Media, a music investment and management firm. The new pool of capital is targeting modern, evergreen music, which is different from recent music industry deals involving decades-old music. The fund has deployed $300 for 20 catalogs thus far, including Tainy, who wrote hits for Bad Bunny and Shawn Mendes, among others; also Stereotypes, co-writer of the Bruno Mars hit, "24K Magic." Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

The VanEck Russia ETF plunged 21.7% in morning trading to a 23-month low, with all components tumbling, as Russia''s attack on Ukraine and fears of sanctions prompted investors to flee the fund. The ETF was on track to suffer its second-biggest percentage decline since it started trading in 2007, behind only the 22.3% drop suffered on Nov. 12, 2008 in the midst of the 2008-09 financial crisis. The third-biggest decline was 17.3% on March 9, 2020 amid the COVID-19 crisis, while the next three biggest declines were all during the financial crisis. Among the ETF''s U.S.-listed components, shares of search engine Yandex N.V. plummeted 56.5%, ecommerce portal Ozon Holdings PLC tumbled 42.3%, internet services VEON Ltd. sank 30.0% and wireless communications Mobile TeleSystems PJSC shed 7.8%. Elsewhere, the over-the-counter listed shares of energy company Gazprom PJSC dropped 33.6% and of commercial banker Sberbank Rossia plunged 70.9%. Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move.

On Wednesday, Vodafone Group Plc said it plans to sell 2.4% of its stake in Indus through a block deal on Thursday, and is also in talks with one of the tower company’s largest shareholders to sell another 4.7%. The UK company further said that it was in talks with ''''several interested parties'''' to also sell its residual (read: 21%) stake in the tower company.

Twitter Inc. is tapping the high-yield bond market to raise $1 billion in part to help repurchase stock, pay down existing debt and pursue potential acquisitions.

First-time investors looking for a single fund that combines multiple asset classes - equity, gold and fixed income - and that reduces volatility in returns can consider multi asset funds. This category of funds are less volatile than pure equity funds and financial planners believe this combination of negative and less-correlated asset classes reduces portfolio risk and helps beat volatility.

Prosecutors in a case involving a former Goldman Sachs executive and a Malaysian fund found 15,000 emails and other documents they need to turn over.

So far, the start of 2022 has been rough for stocks big and small – and for those in the middle, too. The Russell Midcap, an index of roughly 800 stocks with an average market value of $25 billion, fell 7.6% through Feb. 4. SEE MORE 2022''s Best Mutual Funds in 401(k) Retirement Plans That''s not shocking, says George Smith, who runs Davenport Equity Opportunities Fund ( DEOPX ) with comanager Chris Pearson, as the era of super-low interest rates and other economic stimulus measures comes to an end. Yet the fund''s long-term goal is the same: deliver double-digit returns by finding out-of-favor companies with great management teams and room to grow. The fund''s two managers, along with a team of nine analysts, pay particular attention to free cash flow (cash profits remaining after investments to maintain and expand the business). They want to know how much cash a company generates and how that money is used. SEE MORE 9 Great Growth ETFs for 2022 and Beyond For Smith and Pearson – who must both agree on whether to buy or sell a stock – a good prospect would deploy its free cash to buy another business, create a new product or find new avenues of distribution.

When interest rates rise, bond prices fall. That''s the story behind the bond market over the past 12 months, and the Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Fund ( VFSTX ) – a member of the Kiplinger 25 – shows it. The fund''s negative 2.1% return over the past 12 months trailed its peers, but beat the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, which lost 3.6%. (Returns are through Feb. 4.) SEE MORE The 12 Best Vanguard Funds for 2022 Interest rates in bonds of all maturities inched higher last year, but short-term rates lifted off from near zero. The two-year Treasury note, which 12 months ago yielded 0.11%, now sits at 1.31%. That kind of rise will create a negative total return in the fund, which invests in mostly high-quality corporate debt of one- to five-year maturities, says Arvind Narayanan, one of the fund''s three comanagers. "Even a short-term-bond fund is sensitive to interest-rate moves." A year ago, the managers positioned the fund for an economic recovery. They devoted a bigger chunk of assets to triple-B bonds, which boast higher yields.