I’m sure by now you’re equally annoyed with triple-digit market downturns in both America and Europe, all the direct result of Greece’s selfish financial ministers and incompetent governing body; however, good news, for the collective West, has finally emerged from the childish pit of gloom and doom formerly known as Greece: European leaders have withdrawn from negotiations with Alex Tsipras’ socialist representatives.
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LSU Chooses Amenities Over Education
One of the South’s most popular universities, and a flagship public college, Louisiana State University, is currently facing a $55.5 million state funding cut; not only will LSU need to restructure its annual budget, but the regents will also need to prepare for a devastating alternative: bankruptcy. That’s right, LSU is now mulling the possibility of entering into bankruptcy proceedings.
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Stocks To Move Even Higher
Although the stock market is shattering records, and publically traded companies are more valuable than ever, much of Wall Street fears an upcoming “market correction." The general consensus is that September 2015 will mark the end of the Fed’s Quantitative Easing program, and the beginning of interest rate hikes (also known as the Federal Funds Rate). In response, investors are hesitant to invest capital in the stock market.
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Three IPOs, One Clear Winner
So far this year, 43 companies have made their publicly traded debuts. As a whole, IPOs have experienced a solid year thus far, raising nearly $7 billion YTD and averaging returns of 22%. Last week alone, seven companies issued IPOs, including four companies trading at valuations of over $1 billion. Among them were popular online retailer Esty, which specializes in selling handmade goods, and high-frequency trading firm Virtu Financial (VIRT).
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Finishing What Napster Started
After finalizing a deal to raise $400 million, the insanely popular music streaming service, Spotify, now sits among the elite private ranks of Uber, Snapchat, Airbnb, and Palantir. The newly announced private investment round, led by prestigious Goldman Sachs (GS), indicates that high profile Middle Eastern investors, in addition to traditional American VC firms, want in on Spotify's "Napster-like" business proceedings.
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When Bubbles Don't Burst
On March 2, 2015 the Nasdaq Composite Index, more commonly referred to as the NASDAQ, closed above 5,000 points for the first time in fifteen years. As this occurred, Wall Street trading floors swelled with the collective anxiety of investors who had observed the same milestone during the Dot-Com era (in March 2000). Only two days after the NASDAQ eclipsed 5,000 on March 9th, the tech-oriented index began its dramatic collapse.
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Snapchat's Newest Feature
Earlier this week, Snapchat announced it had added a new feature, Snapcash, to its popular photo-sharing application. In the hopes of further monetizing the Snapchat platform, the company forged a partnership with Square, a widespread B2C payment service that Apple (AAPL) tried to acquire in early 2014 (click here to see how much Square turned down from Tim Cook).
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