>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 28th of April 2022

>>> Up
* Dassault Systemes Raised to Overweight at Barclays; PT 48 euros
* Fjordkraft Raised to Neutral at SpareBank; PT 25 kroner
* Gjensidige Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 230 kroner
* Gjensidige Raised to Hold at Arctic Securities; PT 210 kroner
* Grainger Raised to Buy at Citi; PT 369 pence
* Huhtamaki Raised to Outperform at Exane; PT 40 euros
* Inficon Raised to Add at Baader Helvea; PT 1,027 Swiss francs
* InPost Raised to Buy at Goldman; PT 9.10 euros
* Kemira Raised to Accumulate at Inderes; PT 13 euros
* Lloyds Raised to Buy at BofA
* Thule Raised to Buy at Handelsbanken
* Valmet Raised to Buy at Inderes; PT 32 euros
* Yara Raised to Buy at Arctic Securities; PT 500 kroner

>>> Down
* Allegro Cut to Neutral at Goldman; PT 31 zloty
* Enea Cut to Hold at ABG; PT 130 kronor
* Holcim Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; PT 53 Swiss francs
* Kitron Cut to Neutral at SpareBank; PT 20 kroner
* Spotify Cut to Neutral at Guggenheim; PT $95
* Wienerberger Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; PT 30 euros

>>> Initiation
* Allianz Reinstated Buy at Goldman; PT 270 euros
* Expert.ai SpA Rated New Buy at Intermonte; PT 2.20 euros
* Karnov Group Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT 85 kronor
* Zurich Ins. Reinstated Neutral at Goldman; PT 510 Swiss francs

>>> Call
* Grainger Growth Potential Undervalued, Raised to Buy at Citi
* Huhtamaki Gets Clean Sweep of Buys With Exane BNP Upgrade
* Tenaris Results Boosted by Revenue Growth, Stable Margins: Cowen

>>> What to look at today - 28th of April 2022

U.S. equity futures and Asian stocks rose Thursday amid steadier sentiment following a surge in Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and as investors digested official pledges of economic support in China. Contracts for the Nasdaq 100 climbed over 1%, while Japan and Hong Kong led an Asia-Pacific share index higher, after Wall Street stocks eked out a gain. Meta jumped 18% in extended trading. Facebook’s main social network added more users than projected, brightening the mood toward megacap U.S. tech firms and bolstering the biggest ETF that tracks the Nasdaq 100.
Meanwhile, the yen slid toward the closely watched level of 130 per dollar after the Bank of Japan doubled down on dovish policy, saying it would carry out fixed-rate bond buying every business day to defend its 10-year yield target.
The currency’s drop spurred some foreign-exchange market volatility: the offshore yuan retreated and a dollar gauge extended an advance. Treasuries were little changed as investors calibrated risks from the prospect of aggressive Federal Reserve monetary tightening to tackle high inflation. Volatility remains the watchword in markets, stoked by China’s struggle to suppress Covid, Russia’s war in Ukraine and worries that Fed tightening may tip the world’s largest economy into a recession. There are lingering hopes that robust U.S. corporate earnings could improve the mood. In China, officials have stepped up pledges of economic assistance amid Covid lockdowns. The latest move was a vow to stabilize employment, following President Xi Jinping’s pledge for more infrastructure spending. The virus outbreak in Shanghai continued to show signs of moderating. Oil dropped toward $100 a barrel, goldretreated and Bitcoin struggled to break above $40,000.

Nikkei +1.60% Hang Seng 0.35% CSI -0.52% Shanghai -0.69% Shenzen -1.86%

Eur$ 1.0504 CNH 6.6455 CNY 6.6034 JPY 129.87 GBP 1.2506 CHF 0.9719 RUB 73.5379 TRY 14.8235 WTI$ 100.63 -1.36% Gold 1,876.31 -0.51% BTC 39,370 +0.67% ETH 2,885 +0.68%

S&P +0.90% Nasdaq +1.42% EuroStoxx +0.96% FTSE +0.32% Dax +0.87% SMI

Macro :
- ECB’s Lagarde: ‘Unwavering Commitment’ to Deliver Inflation Goal
- EU Tells Companies Not to Bend to Russian Gas Demands

Keep ana eye on :
- ADE NO : Adevinta to Transfer Kufar to Local Team, Exiting Belarus
- ADJ GY : Adler Closes at Record Low As Investors Digest KPMG Findings
- AIR FP : Boeing Rout Risks Sending Market Cap Below Airbus for First Time
- ATSPU US (Spac) : SPAC Bringing SoundHound Public Slumps 18% Ahead of Debut
- AKERBP NO : Aker BP 1Q Net Income Beats Estimates
- ABIO FP : KKR Said to Near Deal for French Renewable Energy Firm Albioma
- BABA US : China’s Hangzhou, Home to Alibaba, to Start Mass Covid Testing
- ALV GY : Allianz Says Structured Alpha Proceedings With U.S. Are Ongoing
- ATE FP : Alten 1Q Revenue Beats Estimates
- ATEA NO : Atea 1Q Ebit Misses Estimates
- BAR BB : Barco Sets Issue Price Stock Dividend at EU19.60
- BEI GY : Beiersdorf Sees FY Tesa’s Op. Ebit Margin ‘Noticeably Down’
- BETSB SS : Betsson 1Q Revenue SEK170.2M Vs. SEK157.4M Y/y
- BYND US : McDonald’s Disputes Report on McPlant Burger Expansion
- BOL SS : Boliden 1Q Adjusted Operating Profit Beats Estimates
- BUCN SW : Bucher 1Q Sales CHF830M Vs. CHF733M Y/y
- CAP FP : Capgemini 1Q Revenue Beats Estimates
- CAPMAN FH : CapMan 1Q EPS Beats Estimates
- CAV1V FH : Caverion 1Q Adjusted Ebitda Misses Estimates
- CLNX SM : Cellnex 1Q Adjusted Ebitda Meets Estimates
- COFB BB : Cofinimmo Buys Six Healthcare Properties in Finland for ~EU21m
- CVNA US : Carvana Revamps $3.3 Billion Junk Bond in Effort to Lure Buyers, Apollo to Purchase $1.6 Billion of Carvana Bonds
- CRES IM : Qatar Holding’s Evergreen Bids for Coima RES at EU10/Share
- DHER GY : Delivery Hero 1Q Gross Merchandise Value Meets Estimates
- DIE BB : D’Ieteren Automotive to Increase Sales Above 10% CAGR 2021-25
- DTE GY : *DEUTSCHE TELEKOM OFFERS TO RAISE GERMAN STAFF PAY BY UP TO 4.2%
- DEZ GY : Deutz Prelim 1Q Revenue Beats Estimates
- DNB NO : DNB Bank 1Q Net Income Beats Estimates
- DRW3 GY : Draegerwerk 1Q Ebit Loss EU35.1M Vs. Profit EU128.9M Y/y
- ENI IM : Eni Prepares to Open Ruble Accounts for Gas as EU Warns Firms
- ERA FP : Eramet Sees FY Ebitda Above EU1.50B, Saw About EU1.2B
- EUCAR FP : Hertz Profit Rises on Leisure Demand as Corporate Travel Lags
- EVO SS : Evolution 1Q Ebitda EU229.7M Vs. EU160.1M Y/y
- EPR NO : Europris 1Q Ebitda Beats Estimates
- FIE GY : Fielmann 1Q Sales Misses Estimates
- GOG LN : Go-Ahead hastens renewal of audit contract after Deloitte probe announced
- HFG GY : HelloFresh Steady 1Q Reassures on Its Healthy Growth Goal, HelloFresh Active Customers Beats Estimates
- HOFI SS : Hoist Finance 1Q Pretax Loss SEK155M Vs. Loss SEK108M Y/y
- HOLMB SS : Holmen 1Q Adjusted Operating Profit Beats Estimates
- HOME SM : *NEINOR MULLS SELLING 1,500 APARTMENTS FOR EU400M: EXPANSION
- INWI SS : Inwido 1Q Net Sales Beats Estimates
- KIN BB : Kinepolis 1Q Change in Attendance +1,380.3%
- KGX GY : Kion 1Q Adjusted Ebit Beats Estimates
- LPK GY : LPKF Sees 2Q Revenue EU25M to EU30M
- MAREL IR : Marel to Buy Wenger With Total Investment of $540M
- MIPS SS : Mips 1Q Net Sales Beats Estimates
- NCCB SS : NCC 1Q Net Sales Beats Estimates
- NCCB SS : NCC to Buy Back Up To SEK1.5b Shares, Adjusts Div Policy
- NEM GY : Nemetschek 1Q Ebitda Beats Estimates
- NXI FP : Nexity Sees FY Current Operating Income at Least EU380M
- NOKIA FH : Nokia 1Q Adjusted Operating Profit Beats Estimates
- NDA SS : Nordea Bank Posts Net Income Miss as Russia Exit Completed
- NOVOB DC : Merck, Novo Nordisk Spared From 1,500 Suits Over Diabetes Drug
- NSKOG NO : Norske Skog 1Q Ebitda Beats Estimates
- NOVOB DC : Novo, Arla Seek Permission to Switch From Gas to Oil: Borsen
- OKDBV FH : Oriola 1Q EPS Misses Estimates
- RI FP : Pernod Ricard Sees FY Recurring Ops Profit Org. About +17%
- REC BB : Recticel 1Q Sales EU294.7M Vs. EU206.2M Y/y
- SAB SM : *SABADELL 1Q NET INCOME EU213M, EST. EU151.3M
- SAN FP : Sanofi Profit Exceeds Estimates on Growth in Key Blockbuster
- SQZ LN : Serica Holder BP Exploration Operating Offers Up to 13.5m Shares
- SINCH SS : Sinch 1Q Net Sales Beats Estimates
- SRG IM : Snam Names Stefano Venier as CEO, General Manager
- SWTQ SW : Schweiter Technologies Takes 25% Stake in Swedboard
- SOI FP : SOITEC 4Q Revenue Beats Estimates
- STAN LN : Standard Chartered Beats Estimates on Jump in Trading
- STMN SW : Straumann 1Q Revenue Beats Estimates
- SWEDA SS : Swedbank Revenue Edges Past Expectations on Higher Loan Volumes
- SNBN SW : SNB 1Q Loss CHF32.78B
- SRV1V FH : SRV Writes Down Almost All of Assets in Russia, Fennovoima
- STERV FH : Stora Enso 1Q Operating Ebit Beats Estimates
- SCMN SW : Swisscom 1Q Ebitda Beats Estimates
- S30 FP : Solutions 30 FY Adjusted Ebit Misses Estimates
- TKTT FP : Tarkett 1Q Net Sales EU684.7M Vs. EU558.8M Y/y
- TE FP : TechnipFMC 1Q Revenue Misses Estimates
- TNET BB : Telenet 1Q Revenue Meets Estimates
- TEN IM : Tenaris 1Q Net Sales Beats Estimates
- TSLA US : Top Bid for Lithium Up 140% After Musk’s ‘Insane Levels’ Call
- HO FP : Thales 1Q Sales Meets Estimates
- TWTR US : Musk’s Twitter Will Have to Follow EU’s Rules, Official Says
- URW NA : Unibail 1Q Revenue EU734.5M VS. EU539.4M Y/Y
- ULVR LN : Unilever 1Q Underlying Sales Beats Estimates
- UPONOR FH : Uponor 1Q Adjusted Operating Profit Beats Estimates
- VERK FH : Verkkokauppa.com 1Q Net Income Misses Estimates
- VOLVB SS : Volvo Cars 1Q Operating Income Beats Estimates
- VOS GY : Vossloh 1Q Ebit Margin 3.6% Vs. 5.8% Y/y
- VOW GY : manager magazin: Volkswagen: Software problems at Cariad threaten schedule for Trinity, Artemis and Macan https
- WCH GY : Wacker Chemie Boosts FY Sales Forecast
- WRT1V FH : Wartsila 1Q Net Sales Beats Estimates

>>> After Hours Summary: LC +20.2%, FB +17.7%, UPWK +13.5%, PINS +11%, NOW +8.1%

After Hours Summary: LC +20.2%, FB +17.7%, UPWK +13.5%, PINS +11%, NOW +8.1%, QCOM +5.4% higher on earnings; TDOC -36.9%, ALGN -20.1%, ORLY -7.5%, AMGN -6.2% lower on earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: LC +20.2%, FB +17.7%, WSC +15.2%, UPWK +13.5%, PINS +11%, NDLS +10.6%, PTC +8.6%, NOW +8.1%, CCS +7.4%, NEX +5.5%, PPC +5.5%, QCOM +5.4%, UCTT +4.8%, PYPL +4.7%, FICO +4.6%, ICLR +4.6%, AXS +4.2%, URI +3.7%, PGRE +3.5%, BMRN +3.3%, MAT +3.2%, AR +3.1%, ETWO +3%, OII +2.9%, DFS +2.8% (also approves $4.2 bln share repurchase plan; increases dividend), CHRW +2.3%, MXL +2.3%, FTI +2.2%, TS +2.2%, HTZ +2%, NLY +1.9%, EQT +1.8%, GGG +1.8%, CG +1.6%, F +1.1%, AUY +1%, AWK +1% (also names new CFO), LVS +1%, AFL +0.8%, EQIX +0.8%, AGI +0.5%, CAKE +0.4% (also dividend and buyback reinstated), ASGN +0.3% (also names new CFO), ESI +0.3%, TROX +0.3%, TYL +0.2%, FIX +0.1% (also increases dividend), HPP +0.1%, RE +0.1%, RRX +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: VALE +4.2% (announces new share buyback of up to 500 mln shares and ADRs), CSWC +3.3% (declares special dividend of $0.15/sh), CLPT +2.4% (expands license and research agreement with Philips), STLA +1% (amends and extends financing partnership with Santander Consumer USA), NEE +0.6% (wins transmission line project), NKLA +0.5% (launches truck production in AZ), HPK +0.3% (to acquire the Howard County assets of Hannathon Petroleum), SNPS +0.1% (to acquire WhiteHat Security for $330 mln), UDR +0.1% (stock offering)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: TDOC -36.9%, ALGN -20.1%, COUR -8.4%, ORLY -7.5% (also names new CFO), AMGN -6.2% (also receives notice of deficiency from IRS), CACI -5%, ACGL -4%, CP -2.9%, FARO -2.1%, ALSN -2%, INFA -2%, HOLX -1.8%, AM -1.4%, NTGR -1.3%, COTY -0.6%, CLB -0.4%, EIG -0.4% (also declares a $1.00/sh special dividend and increases regular dividend; authorizes $50 mln increase to its existing share repurchase program), CLS -0.2%, MSA -0.2%, MTH -0.2%, UIS -0.2%, STC -0.2%, CYH -0.1%, DRE -0.1%, INVH -0.1%, MC -0.1%, PDM -0.1%, RJF -0.1%, WRE -0.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: VAL -3.1% (sells jackups to ADES Saudi for $125 mln), PLBY -2.1% (stock offering), ARKK -1.3% (down on TDOC earnings), IKNA -0.9% (files for $300 mln mixed securities shelf offering), COTY -0.6% (to wind down its Russian operations), FHN -0.5% (files mixed securities shelf offering), HRTG -0.4% (announces preliminary Q1 weather losses), INSP -0.1% (reports equity investments in EnsoData and Ognomy)

WSJ : Amgen Says IRS Seeks $7.1 Billion in Back Taxes, Penalties

Amgen Says IRS Seeks $7.1 Billion in Back Taxes, Penalties
Bill is for taxes and penalties that IRS says the biotechnology company owes for the years 2013 to 2015

Amgen Inc. has been hit with a bill for more than $7 billion in unpaid taxes and penalties from the Internal Revenue Service, the company said Wednesday, the latest salvo in the company’s dispute over back taxes related to its operations in Puerto Rico.

Amgen said it received a notice from the IRS on April 18 that seeks to increase Amgen’s federal taxes by $5.1 billion, plus interest, and $2 billion in penalties for the years 2013 to 2015.

The new bill comes on top of the $3.6 billion in back taxes plus interest that the biotechnology company disclosed last August that the IRS was seeking for the years 2010 to 2012. Amgen said it had filed a petition in U.S. Tax Court to dispute those charges.

Amgen said the IRS adjustments to its tax bill are without merit. “Amgen will vigorously contest the adjustments and penalties proposed by the Internal Revenue Service” for the 2010 to 2015,” the company said. “Amgen is confident in its position in the dispute.”

Amgen, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., had $25.97 billion in global sales last year. The IRS claims relate to the way Amgen allocates profits between Puerto Rico, where it has significant manufacturing operations, and the U.S. mainland, where it is based.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, but is considered a foreign jurisdiction for tax purposes, and Amgen receives tax incentive grants for profits it earns on the island, the company has said.

The company has had a manufacturing presence in Puerto Rico for more than 30 years and employs 2,400 highly skilled staff members there

WSJ : Facebook Parent Meta Posts Slowest Revenue Growth Since IPO

Facebook Parent Meta Posts Slowest Revenue Growth Since IPO
Shares jump in late trading as results were better than analysts expected

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. FB -3.32% posted its slowest revenue growth since going public a decade ago, as the company navigates growing competition for users and privacy headwinds on its advertising business.

Meta’s advertising revenue for the first quarter was $27.9 billion, up 6.6% compared with a year prior. Analysts had predicted Meta’s advertising revenue would rise to $28.3 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

The revenue growth marked the lowest rate since the company went public in 2012, signaling the impact that ad-tracking changes introduced by Apple Inc. last year have had on its advertising business. Last quarter, the company warned that those changes would cost Meta some $10 billion in 2022.

Meta reported net income of $7.5 billion, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.1 billion.

Meta’s share price climbed sharply in after-hours trading, up more than 12% shortly after results were announced.

The company’s user base grew to 1.96 billion daily active users, up from 1.93 billion reported in February. Analysts expected Meta to report an uptick in its daily users to 1.95 billion. In the prior quarter, the company’s daily active user base fell by two million users, which was the first time the company had reported a decline in users.

Meta also forecast that it is expecting revenue between $28 billion and $30 billion for the second quarter, shy of the $30.7 billion expected by analysts, according to FactSet.

Meta’s stock price was battered in February when it posted quarterly results that showed a sharper-than-expected decline in profits, a gloomy revenue outlook and a dip in its daily active users.

Since that report, Meta shares have fallen nearly 44% and the company has lost nearly $388 billion in market cap.

>>> US Close Dow +0,19% S&P +0,21% Nasdaq -0,01% Russell -0,34%

Closing Stock Market Summary

The S&P 500 increased 0.2% on Wednesday in a volatile session in which the benchmark index traded between a 0.3% decline and 1.6% gain. The Nasdaq Composite (unch), Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.2%), and Russell 2000 (-0.3%) closed mixed and little changed, also fading intraday gains. 

Intraday highs were largely mechanical in the sense that the market tried to rally from an oversold condition, although some attributed good earnings news from the likes of Microsoft (MSFT 283.22, +13.00, +4.8%), Visa (V 214.11, +13.01, +6.5%), and T-Mobile US (TMUS 129.84, +4.88, +3.9%) as an influential factor. 

The whole earnings picture, when considering reactions and guidance, was somewhat mixed, though. Alphabet (GOOG 2300.41, -89.71, -3.8%) and Boeing (BA 154.46, -12.58, -7.5%) both struggled following their reports while Texas Instruments (TXN 169.39, +0.95, +0.6%) issued downside Q2 guidance. 

The S&P 500 communication services sector (-2.6%) was easily the worst-performing sector, as weakness in Alphabet spread over to Meta Platforms (FB 174.95, -6.00, -3.3%) ahead of its earnings report after the close, and the bleeding continued in Netflix (NFLX 188.54, -9.86, -5.0%).

Conversely, the information technology (+1.4%), materials (+1.5%), and energy (+1.5%) sectors each gained roughly 1.5%. The outperformance of the heavily-weighted technology sector overshadowed an underlying negative bias in the broader market: declining issues outpaced advancing issues at both the NYSE and Nasdaq.

Besides the mixed earnings picture, buying conviction was restrained by global growth concerns, the inability for the market to sustain a rebound rally, and weakening technical factors. 

Elsewhere, the Treasury market saw modest selling pressure after two days of gains. The 2-yr yield increased two basis points to 2.57%, and the 10-yr yield increased five basis points to 2.82%. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.7% to 102.97. WTI crude futures rose 0.3%, or $0.33, to $101.75/bbl. 

Reviewing Wednesday's economic data:

  • The Advance report for International Trade in Goods for March showed a deficit of $125.3 billion, versus a revised $106.4 billion (from $106.6 billion) in February. The Advance report for Retail Inventories for March rose 2.0%, and the Advance report for Wholesale Inventories for March rose 2.3%.
  • Pending home sales decreased 1.2% m/m in March (consensus -1.5%) following a revised 4.0% decline (from -4.1%) in February.
  • The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index fell 8.3% following a 5.0% decline in the prior week.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the advance estimate for Q1 GDP and the weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report on Thursday.

  • Dow Jones Industrial Average -8.4% YTD
  • S&P 500 -12.2% YTD
  • Russell 2000 -16.1% YTD
  • Nasdaq Composite -20.2% YTD

TechCrunch : Leaked Facebook ads document raises fresh questions over GDPR enfor

Leaked Facebook ads document raises fresh questions over GDPR enforcement

Motherboard/Vice had an explosive report on Facebook’s business yesterday that’s sure to raise fresh questions over the lack of enforcement of European privacy laws against the adtech giant.
The report is based on a leaked internal document written last year by privacy engineers on its Ad and Business product team.
The document, which is entitled “ABP Privacy Infra, Long Range Investments [A/C Priv],” appears to show engineers at the tech giant now known as Meta scratching their heads at the nightmarish task they’re facing: Trying to make Facebook’s data-ingesting ads business compliant with a “tsunami” of global privacy regulations that need it to know how user data flows through its systems so the company can apply policies that control what’s done with people’s information and perform basic stuff like reflect people’s privacy choices. So next time Sheryl Sandberg talks about Meta’s “regulatory headwinds” this is the contextual meat to graft on those euphemistic bones.
Meta’s text deploys some internal business shorthand/acronyms whose literal meanings aren’t always clear. But the gist of the read — and it’s worth reading in full if you can spare the time for 15-pages of text, diagrams and a few colorful analogies such as one comparing a person’s information to a bottle of ink being poured into a giant lake (oopsy!) — is that Meta has ‘designed’ its ad system in such a totally unsiloed way that it’s very, very, very far from being able to comply with (even existing) laws like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which has a purpose limitation principle meaning you need a legal basis for each use of personal data. Nor, per the document, do Meta’s engineers sound confident of being able to transform the mess and achieve timely compliance with a bunch of other, incoming global regulations either. (And don’t even get them started on what AI regulations might mean for the business.)
Meta disputes that the document shows non-compliance with any privacy laws, of course.
In a statement to Motherboard, the company claims the document “does not describe our extensive processes and controls to comply with privacy regulations”; adding therefore that “it’s simply inaccurate to conclude that it demonstrates non-compliance”; and further claiming: “New privacy regulations across the globe introduce different requirements and this document reflects the technical solutions we are building to scale the current measures we have in place to manage data and meet our obligations.”
But, well, they would say that, wouldn’t they?

Independent privacy researcher, Wolfie Christl — an expert in forensic analysis of ad data flows — takes a different view of what the leaked document reveals — dubbing it “dynamite” and a “confession” (albeit one not intended by Meta for public consumption) that it does not comply with the GDPR. See his detailed Twitter thread here — where he unpacks and contextualizes the implications of the engineers’ observations, as he sees it.

“The document is a straight and clear confession that Facebook’s whole business is based on a massive GDPR violation at the most fundamental level,” Christl tells TechCrunch. “Purpose limitation is one of the most basic principles in the GDPR. A company can generally only collect personal data for a specified purpose. If a company cannot specify the purpose it collects personal data for, it is simply not allowed to process it under the GDPR.”
Asked what Meta’s lead data protection regulator in the EU should do, Christl adds: “The Irish regulator must take action now. If Facebook cannot make clear how exactly its surveillance advertising machine uses personal data, it must be ordered to stop processing it.”
TechCrunch contacted the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) to ask whether it will be opening an investigation into Meta’s ad data flows in light of what the document appears to show is, basically, an ads system that, either by design or systemic build creep, exists (or existed in 2021) in a state that’s antithetical to regulation — and, indeed, whether the document is of relevance to any of the (several) ongoing investigations it has into aspects of Facebook’s business.
The regulator did not provide a statement but deputy commissioner Graham Doyle confirmed it had only seen the document for the first time when Motherboard/Vice published it.
That may raise further questions, given the DPC has — on paper — been investigating whether Facebook’s ads business complies with the GDPR’s requirement to have a valid legal basis for processing people’s data for almost four years now.
For example, the DPC has been considering a complaint against Facebook, focused on its legal basis for processing user data for ads, since May 2018, when the regulation entered into force.
A draft DPC decision on that inquiry, which was published (not by the DPC) last fall, was quickly branded a joke by privacy campaigners as the regulator appeared to be intending to accept a tactic by Meta to evade the GDPR’s standard for consent-based processing by claiming a cunning contractual bypass.
The tl;dr here is that for consent to be valid under the GDPR, data subjects must be given a free choice. Consent must also be purpose specific (aka no bundling); and it must be informed.
None of which happens if you use Facebook — where the platform makes processing your information for ad targeting a condition of use. Click ‘agree to ads’ or no Facebook account for you.
But, per last year’s leaked draft DPC decision, Facebook claims users are actually in a contract with it to receive targeted ads — and the DPC didn’t appear to see reason to object to that GDPR-bypassing construction.
Given GDPR complaints are still floundering on such legal basics, is it any wonder that the deep, dark, underbelly of Meta’s ad-targeting machinery contains, as this document tells it, a vast ocean of surveillance data on web users but so little apparatus to order this information according to people’s own wishes?
The bottom line is that the EU is almost four years into enforcement of its ‘flagship’ data protection regime and Facebook itself remains untouched by GDPR enforcement. (Its messaging platform WhatsApp was hit by a fine last year.)
The European Union also didn’t suddenly invent privacy regulation in 2018, when the GDPR came into force. Before that law there was the Data Protection Directive, which included many of the same principles.
So — in Europe at least — if a company like Facebook had actually been paying attention to legal requirements around privacy by design — and if EU regulators had been muscularly enforcing these long-standing rules — Meta might not now be warning investors about the ‘regulatory headwinds’ coming for their shareholder value. Nor facing what sounds to be a monumentally expensive and resource intensive re-engineering challenge — not so much akin to landing on the moon as more like needing to reconstruct the whole of the planet from pulverized moondust in a way that ensures every tiny piece of rock and dust is put back in exactly the place it originated for. Oh, and — guess what! — the deadline for doing all that already passed. Call it the ‘Zuckerberg’s moonshot.’
A Meta spokesperson did not respond to a question asking whether, following the Motherboard report, it had contacted the DPC to provide its lead EU regulator with information on how its ads system functions.
The company sent us the same statement it provided Motherboard earlier, which concludes with this lament: “This analogy lacks the context that we do, in fact, have extensive processes and controls to manage data and comply with privacy regulations.”
The European Commission is ultimately responsible for monitoring the application of the GDPR by EU Member State agencies.
We asked the Commission if it had any concerns in light of the leaked document and/or a view on whether the DPC should open an investigation into Meta’s ads data flows. But at the time of writing it had not responded.
In February, following a complaint against the Commission by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties — which accuses the EU’s executive of neglecting its duty to act on Ireland’s “failure to properly apply” the GDPR — the EU’s ombudsperson opened an inquiry — giving the Commission until May 15 to provide it with a “detailed and comprehensive” account of the information it has collected so far around whether the regulation is applied “in all respects” in Ireland.

>>> Goldman Prime: Hedge Funds Were Calm Amid Yesterday's Carnage, Here's Why...

Goldman Prime: Hedge Funds Were Calm Amid Yesterday's Carnage, Here's Why...

One would think that as stocks careened off the cliff yesterday, that hedge funds were among the most active sellers. One would be wrong for two reasons: hedge funds were already extremely bearish heading into the latest market meltdown, drastically cutting down on net leverage, and they were also aggressively hedging for just this slide, having bought up huge amount of puts protecting against a downturn.
According to the Goldman prime desk, as stock markets sold off sharply yesterday, US equities on the GS Prime book were only "modestly" net sold (1-Year Z score -0.3) driven by short sales outpacing long buys.
Some more details from GS Prime:
  • Macro Products (Index and ETF combined) and Single Stocks were both net sold, driven by short sales; however, magnitude of the selling for both was fairly modest in $ terms. Note that activity level across the GS high touch channels yesterday was characterized as a 4 on 1-10 scale.
  • US ETF shorts on the GS Prime book increased +2.1% yesterday (after decreasing -2.7% on Monday), driven by shorting in Corporate Bond and Large Cap Equity ETFs.
  • Single Stock shorts increased +0.6% (and are now up +2.2% WoW and up +6% MoM), as 8 of 11 sectors saw increased shorting activity. On a MTD basis across all US Single Stocks, cumulative $ short selling on the GS Prime book has outpaced the cumulative $ long buying by nearly 6 to 1.
  • Info Tech, Industrials, Comm Svcs, and Utilities were the most $ net sold US sectors yesterday, while Staples, Real Estates, and Consumer Disc were the most $ net bought.
Turning attention to tech names, the Goldman TMT mega caps (FAAMG) collectively were net sold for a 5th straight day, driven by long-and-short sales.
  • In $ terms, the cumulative net selling across the FAAMG complex over the past week was the largest over any 5-day period YTD.
  • The aggregate FAAMG long/short ratio (MV) ended yesterday at 9.0 (vs. the YTD peak of 19.9 on 3/24 and 15.4 at the start of April), the lowest level since late January (in the 5th percentile vs. the past five years).
And visually:

(ZH) Joe Biden Has $5.2 Million In 'Unexplained' Income

Joe Biden Has $5.2 Million In 'Unexplained' Income

According to financial records, Joe Biden has $5.2 million in “unexplained income” that (by pure coincidence, of course) was acquired around the same time Hunter Biden was raking in big bucks from foreign business deals and earmarking “10 percent for the Big Guy.”
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
The Daily Mail reports that Joe Biden agreed to pay Hunter’s legal fees for his deal with CEFC, a company linked to the Chinese government.
This bombshell comes on top of a report from Monday that visitor logs from the Obama administration show that Hunter Biden’s top business partner visited the White House 19 times while Joe Biden was vice president, contradicting Joe’s claims that he was never involved in his son’s business dealings.
“The revelation ties the president even closer to Hunter’s overseas business dealings – and makes his previous claims that he never discussed them with his son, even less plausible,” the Daily Mail reports.
“Joe was able to pay the bills after earning millions of dollars through his and his wife’s companies after he left office as vice president.”
While some of the Bidens’ income came from book deals and speaking engagements (imagine people paying to watch Biden speak!), there is a $7 million discrepancy between the income declared on his tax returns and the income he declared on government transparency reports.
“Some of that difference can be accounted for with salaries earned by First Lady Jill Biden and other sums not required on his reports – but still leaves $5.2million earned by Joe’s company and not listed on his transparency reports,” the Daily Mail‘s investigation concludes.
“The ‘missing millions’ – combined with emails on Hunter’s abandoned laptop suggesting Joe would have a 10% share in Hunter’s blockbuster deal with the Chinese – raise a troubling question: did Joe Biden receive money from the foreign venture?”
Hm … a $5.2 million discrepancy? That’s not small potatoes. What exactly was Biden trying to hide? Was it his cut of Hunter Biden’s shady foreign business deals? There are a lot of unanswered questions here