Category: Financial News

Amazon’s (AMZN) stock is sucking wind into 2023 as investors fret about still-bloated costs and what is shaping up to be a disappointing holiday shopping season.

Shares of the tech giant are now hovering at a fresh 52-week low and down 50.3% year to date, according to Yahoo Finance data. The stock is rivaling dreadful performances from its partners in the closely followed FAANG (Facebook/Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) complex, as Meta Platforms (META) has suffered a 63% drop and Netflix (NFLX) has plunged about 53 %.

The stock has shed about 12% in December alone, pressured more recently by a lackluster government retail sales report for November.

“Consistent with our recently published 2023 uutlook report, we are lowering our estimates and price target on Amazon in the wake of several proprietary datapoints that suggest ongoing softness in online retail and cloud computing demand,” EvercoreISI tech warned Mark Mahaney

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The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) have entered the second round of consultation with members on the proposed merger of the two associations.

The FPA and the AFA agreed in principle in September 2022 to explore a merger between the two associations, with a goal of creating a united voice for the financial advice profession.

Recently, members have been invited to complete a survey to help guide the development of a new name for the proposed merged association.  And this week, members have also received a merger summary document and a draft constitution for the proposed merged association, and are encouraged to provide their feedback.

Sam Perera, National President of the AFA, said the boards of each organisation are gathering valuable insights from members through the consultation process.

“We have had the opportunity to meet and consult with

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The Financial Planning Association has welcomed Michelle Levy’s handing down of the final report of the Quality of Advice Review to the Government, and eagerly awaits its findings by the Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones.

FPA CEO, Sarah Abood, said it is crucial the Minister moves quickly to reduce the regulatory burden that financial planners are under, which has seen significant cost added to the profession over the past 10 years.

“The Review is a critical opportunity to reduce the cost of providing advice in Australia and improve the ability of Australians to get access to high quality professional financial advice.

“While we are waiting to see the final recommendations, our members were encouraged by those made in the Proposal Paper earlier this year, including a more principles-based approach to regulating the provision of financial advice.

“The FPA believes the regulatory costs of providing personal advice

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The judge who presided over the criminal fraud trials of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her co-defendant and one-time boyfriend, Theranos COO and president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, sentenced Balwani on Wednesday to nearly 13 years in prison plus three years of probation .

“They misled investors, they misled patients,” US District Court Judge Edward Davila said during Balwani’s sentencing hearing in San Jose, California, according to NBC News.

“I think it’s just that enduring question of why did such a promising company come to an end,” added Davila, according to a tweet from Law360’s Dorothy Atkins.

Balwani, 58, was sentenced to 155 months behind bars for a dozen wire fraud and conspiracy convictions tied to his role as chief operating officer in the collapsed blood-testing company. His convictions followed convictions against Holmes on four criminal fraud counts reached by a separate jury in January.

Davila based Balwani’s sentence on

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