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Powell cautions US recovery could stretch through end of 2021 – BNNBloomberg.ca

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The U.S. economy will recover from the coronavirus pandemic, but the process could stretch through until the end of next year and depend on the delivery of a vaccine, said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

“I think you’ll see the economy recover steadily through the second half of this year,” the U.S. central bank chief said in an excerpt of an interview conducted Wednesday and aired on Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” show.

“For the economy to fully recover people will have to be fully confident, and that may have to await the arrival of a vaccine,” he said.

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More than 36 million Americans have lost their jobs since February as the economy shuttered to limit virus spread. Countless companies, especially small businesses, are hurtling toward bankruptcy, while states and cities are confronting gaping budget shortfalls that could provoke a massive second wave of layoffs from the public sector.

The Fed chief said people should never “bet” against the American economy, but he took care not to promise a swift, so-called V-shaped rebound.

“This economy will recover. It may take a while,” he said. “It could stretch through the end of next year. We really don’t know.”

Powell’s full interview will be broadcast at 7 p.m. Washington time on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

Powell’s remarks follow his grave warning Wednesday that the U.S. economy faces lasting harm from the pandemic if the government doesn’t step up. The comments add support to calls for more congressional spending as Democrats push for a fresh US$3 trillion in virus aid on top of a record US$2.2-trillion package agreed in March. On Friday, the House passed the measure, though it has no future in the Republican-led Senate.

Powell can expect questions on the scale and timing of additional fiscal relief when he appears before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

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FTX says most customers will get all their money back less than 2 years after crypto fraud crisis – CBC News

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FTX says that nearly all of its customers will get back the money they are owed — and some will get more than that — nearly two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded.

FTX said in a court filing late Tuesday that it owes about $11.2 billion US to its creditors. The exchange estimates that it has between $14.5 billion and $16.3 billion to distribute to them.

The filing said that after paying claims in full, the plan provides for supplemental interest payments to creditors, to the extent that funds still remain. The interest rate for most creditors is nine per cent.

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That may be a diminished consolation for investors who were trading cryptocurrency on the exchange when it collapsed. When FTX sought bankruptcy protection in November 2022, bitcoin was going for $16,080 US.

But crypto prices have soared as the economy recovered while the assets at FTX were sorted out over the past two years.

A single bitcoin on Tuesday was selling for close to $62,675. That comes out to a 290 per cent loss, a bit less than that if accrued interest is counted, if those investors had held onto those coins. 

Customers and creditors that claim $50,000 or less will get about 118 per cent of their claim, according to the plan, which was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This covers about 98 per cent of FTX customers.

FTX said that it was able to recover funds by monetizing a collection of assets that mostly consisted of proprietary investments held by the Alameda or FTX Ventures businesses, or litigation claims.

Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison in March

A cleanshaven person with thick, curly hair wearing a suit and tie is shown standing outside.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves a federal court building on July 26, 2023, in New York. The disgraced former executive was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March for the massive fraud that occurred at FTX.  (Mary Altaffer/The Associated Press)

FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world when it filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2022, after it experienced the crypto equivalent of a bank run. 

CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigned when the exchange collapsed. In March, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the massive fraud that occurred at FTX. 

Bankman-Fried was convicted in November of fraud and conspiracy — a dramatic fall from a crest of success that included a Super Bowl advertisement, testimony before Congress and celebrity endorsements from stars such as quarterback Tom Brady, basketball point guard Stephen Curry and comedian Larry David.

The company appointed as its new CEO John Ray III, a long-time bankruptcy litigator who is best known for having to clean up the mess made after the collapse of Enron.

“We are pleased to be in a position to propose a Chapter 11 plan that contemplates the return of 100 per cent of bankruptcy claim amounts plus interest for non-governmental creditors,” Ray said in a prepared statement. 

The bankruptcy court is set to hold a hearing on June 25. 

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Shopify stock tumbles 20% after forecasting slower Q2 sales growth – Yahoo Canada Finance

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BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 14: The corporate logo of e-commerce company Shopify hangs at the building that contains the offices of Shopify Commerce Germany GmbH on December 14, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. Shopify is a leading, Canada-based company that enables online and brick-and-mortar commerce. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Shares of Shopify plummeted more than 20 per cent in early trading on Wednesday, after the company forecast slower quarterly sales growth. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (Sean Gallup via Getty Images)

Shopify’s stock (SHOP.TO)(SHOP) plunged 19 per cent on Wednesday, shedding billions in market value after the company forecast slower sales growth and a decline in gross margins.

The e-commerce software company’s first-quarter results surpassed analyst expectations on Wednesday, but concerns about slowing growth weighed on investors. While Shopify says it expects consumer spending in North America to remain resilient, sales growth is expected to slow in its upcoming quarter.

Shopify says it expects sales in the second quarter to grow at a high-teens percentage year-over-year, down from the last few quarters which saw an average growth of about 26 per cent. According to Reuters, the forecast would reflect the slowest quarterly revenue growth in two years. Adjusting for the sale of Shopify’s logistics business, revenue increased 29 per cent in the first quarter of the year. The company said it marked the fourth consecutive quarter where revenue growth was greater than 25 per cent, excluding logistics.

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Shopify also expects gross margins in the second quarter to decrease approximately 50 basis points, while operating expenses will be up low-to-mid single digits.

Shopify’s stock fell as much as 21 per cent in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday. It closed the trading day down nearly 19 per cent.

“With Shopify trading at a premium nine-times revenue multiple coming into this quarter, we sense that lofty investor expectations were not met,” William Blair analyst Arjun Bhatia wrote in a research note on Wednesday. Still, Bhatia says Shopify “is a long-term winner in the space” given its positioning in the market.

“Overall, we continue to like Shopify’s long-term positioning and, after the dust settles, would view the weakness as a buying opportunity,” he wrote, maintaining an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Shopify said its forecast will be affected by the sale of its logistics business to U.S.-based Flexport, a move that was first announced last May. Also weighing on the forward guidance is a strong U.S. dollar and softness in European consumer spending, specifically in the United Kingdom, Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister said on a conference call with analysts.

Hoffmeister also noted that the largest impact on the changing growth rate is that the company is lapping the quarter where it introduced price hikes across its monthly plans. Last year, Shopify hiked the cost of its Basic, Shopify and Advanced plans, noting at the time that its prices had remained largely unchanged for the last 12 years.

Hoffmeister says the price hikes, which went into effect in April last year, will have “a smaller combined benefit” in the second quarter, “resulting in a headwind to our revenue growth, quarter-over-quarter.”

“We remain confident in the great products and go-to market initiatives fuelling our continuous growth and our ability to further strengthen our position as a leader in unified commerce,” Hoffmeister said.

Shopify president Harley Finkelstein said on the conference call that “right now, you’re seeing the strongest version of Shopify in our history.”

“We know our team is one of our most valuable assets, and given that it makes up over half of our cost base, we believe we’ve architected ourselves to be faster and more agile, which has enabled us to consistently deliver 25 per cent revenue growth, excluding logistics, all while keeping our headcount flat for three straight quarter,” he said.

Shopify says sales in the first quarter ending March 31 reached US$1.86 billion, up from US$1.51 billion during the same period last year. The company reported a net loss of US$273 million, or 21 U.S. cents per diluted share, compared to a profit of US$68 million, or five U.S. cents per diluted share, last year.

With files from Reuters

Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.

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Boeing under investigation after workers falsified inspection records on some Dreamliners – CBC.ca

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The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has opened an investigation into Boeing after the beleaguered company reported that workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on certain 787 Dreamliner planes. Boeing said its engineers have determined that misconduct did not create “an immediate safety of flight issue.”

In an email to Boeing’s South Carolina employees on April 29, Scott Stocker, who leads the 787 program, said a worker observed an “irregularity” in a required test of the wing-to-body join and reported it to his manager.

“After receiving the report, we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating Company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed,” Stocker wrote.

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Boeing notified the FAA and is taking “swift and serious corrective action with multiple teammates,” Stocker said.

No planes have been taken out of service, but having to perform the test out of order on planes will slow the delivery of jets still being built at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Boeing must also create a plan to address planes that are already flying, the FAA said.

The 787 is a two-aisle plane that debuted in 2011 and is used mostly for long international flights.

“The company voluntarily informed us in April that it may not have completed required inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplanes,” the agency said in a written statement. “The FAA is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records.”

Company under intense pressure since January blowout

A Boeing plane is shown taxiing on a runway.
A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain on July 20, 2022. No Boeing planes have been taken out of service amid the probe, but having to perform the test out of order on planes will slow the delivery of jets still being built at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina. (Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

The company has been under intense pressure since a door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane. The accident halted progress that Boeing seemed to be making while recovering from two deadly crashes of Max jets in 2018 and 2019.

Those crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which killed 346 people, are back in the spotlight, too. The families of some of the victims have pushed the Justice Department to revive a criminal fraud charge against the company by determining that Boeing’s continued lapses violated the terms of a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.

In April, a Boeing whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, testified at a congressional hearing that the company had taken manufacturing shortcuts to turn out 787s as quickly as possible; his allegations were not directly related to those the company disclosed to the FAA last month. The company rejected Salehpour’s claims.

In his email, Stocker praised the worker who came forward to report what he saw: “I wanted to personally thank and commend that teammate for doing the right thing. It’s critical that every one of us speak up when we see something that may not look right, or that needs attention.”

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