Emerson to Merge Software Units With AspenTech

Emerson Electric aims to merge two of its software businesses, OSI  and Geological Simulation Software, with Aspen Technology in an $11 billion deal. The cash-and-stock transaction values the new company at $160 a share, the Wall Street Journal reports.The purchase price represents a 27% premium ...

By Lauren Muskett • Oct. 11, 2021

Tesla to Move HQ From California to Texas

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday that the automaker is joining the exodus of Silicon Valley tech companies to Texas.Tesla will move its headquarters from Palo Alto, Calif., to Austin, Texas, Musk said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, following through on a threat he made more th...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 8, 2021

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Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

U.S. Adds Only 194,000 Jobs in September

U.S. employers added jobs at the slowest rate of the year in September, dashing hopes of a resurgence as the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh on the labor market.The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy added 194,000 jobs last month, the smallest net gain since December 2020 a...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 8, 2021

McConnell Offer Appears to Lift Debt Stalemate

The U.S. Senate appeared on Wednesday to be moving toward ending its stalemate over raising the federal borrowing deficit, averting at least temporarily a debt default.Democratic senators indicated they would accept a proposal by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to raise the debt limit unti...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 7, 2021

IMF Sees Inflation Easing, Upside Risks

The International Monetary Fund expects headline consumer inflation to ease by mid-2022 to pre-pandemic levels but upside risks including prolonged supply shortages could result in “significantly higher” prices.IMF’s baseline forecast shows headline inflation for advanced economies peaking at 3.6...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 6, 2021

U.S. Trade Deficit Hits Record $73.3B

The U.S. trade deficit rose to a new record in August amid strong demand for imported consumer goods and industrial supplies.The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the trade gap surged 4.2% to $73.3 billion, beating economists’ expectations of a $70.5 billion deficit. The previous record w...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 5, 2021

Sun Life Boosts U.S. Business With DentaQuest Buy

Canadian insurer Sun Life has agreed to buy DentaQuest for $2.48 billion in a move that will allow it to enter the underserved market for publicly-funded dental benefits in the U.S.DentaQuest is one of the largest providers of Medicaid dental benefits in the U.S., servicing more than 33 million m...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 4, 2021

Five9 Shareholders Scotch $14B Sale to Zoom

Five9 shareholders have rejected the $14.7 billion sale of the call center software firm to Zoom Video Communications, forcing the companies to abandon a deal that would have enabled Zoom to expand beyond its remote conferencing business.The demise of the all-stock deal came after proxy advisory ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 1, 2021

IPO Activity Slows in Q3 to $94.6B in Proceeds

Global IPO activity cooled off this summer after a scorching second quarter but deals for the year so far are being made at a record pace.Data from both Refinitiv and EY showed a sequential decline in activity, with Refinitiv reporting that IPOs in the third quarter raised a total of about $94.6 ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 30, 2021

Consumer Confidence Dips on Delta Spread

U.S. consumer confidence dipped to a seven-month low in September as optimism over the economy cooled with the continued COVID-19 surge.The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 109.3 last month from 115.2 in August, the third straight monthly decline. Economists polled by R...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 29, 2021

SEC Gives Bond Dealers 3-Month Reprieve

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed implementation of a rule revision intended to protect investors from “pump and dump” schemes amid concerns over its potential impact on the bond markets.The amendments to Exchange Act Rule 15c2-11, which the SEC adopted a year ago, were due ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 27, 2021

GE Buys BK Medical in $1.4B Ultrasound Bet

General Electric said Thursday it will buy BK Medical for $1.45 billion to expand its ultrasound business from diagnostics to surgical imaging.BK Medical, owned by healthcare investment firm Altaris Capital Partners, makes imaging devices that allow physicians to see inside the body in real-time ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 23, 2021

Fed Signals Bond-Buying Taper Coming Soon

The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates at near zero but signaled it is ready to start winding down its emergency economic stimulus program.The central bank’s monthly purchases of government-backed securities have helped to support the economy since the depths of the COVID-19 crisis. But aft...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 23, 2021

U.S. Bancorp to Buy MFUG Union Unit for $8B

U.S. Bank’s parent company has agreed to buy MUFG Union Bank’s consumer business for $8 billion in a move to expand its presence on the West Coast.The acquisition will increase U.S. Bank’s loans and deposits by about 20% and improve its market share in California to 5th place from 10th. Most of M...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 22, 2021

OECD Urges Caution on Easing Fiscal Support

Governments and central banks should not rush into withdrawing emergency support for their economies, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned, citing “sizable uncertainty” about the recovery from the pandemic.In its latest Interim Economic Outlook, the OECD said the w...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 22, 2021

Probe Faults World Bank Over China Ranking

Top World Bank officials including then-Chief Executive Kristalina Georgieva unduly pressured staff to alter data in the bank’s Doing Business report to placate China, a major shareholder, according to an internal investigation.Investigators from the law firm Wilmer Hale said Georgieva, who is no...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 17, 2021

Retail Sales Rebound in August With 0.7% Gain

Consumers in the United States shrugged off the delta variant in August, delivering an unexpected gain in retail sales as a surge in online purchases helped offset continuing weakness in auto sales.The Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales rose 0.7% last month after a revised de...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 16, 2021

FTC Releases Study of Big-Tech Mergers

In another sign that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is seeking to beef up antitrust enforcement, the agency has released a study of Big Tech mergers that fly “under the radar” of reporting requirements.The FTC has been studying Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft since February 20...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 16, 2021

Mastercard to Buy CipherTrace in Crypto Bet

Mastercard said Thursday it has agreed to acquire blockchain analytics startup CipherTrace in a move to expand its push into digital assets.CipherTrace’s solutions enable banks, exchanges and other financial customers to screen blockchain transactions for fraud and money laundering.“The ability t...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 9, 2021

Workday Buys Zimit to Add Price Quote Solution

Workday said Wednesday it had agreed to acquire Zimit to add a “configure price quote” platform to its offerings for services industries.Zimit’s software, one of the first commercial solutions specifically developed for services CPQ, expedites the creation of price quotes and proposals, helping r...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 8, 2021

Workers Feeling More Hopeful About Jobs

More people in the U.S. are searching for a job and switching jobs amid growing confidence in the labor market, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.The New York Fed reported in its latest labor market survey that the proportion of individuals who reported searching for a job in the ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 7, 2021

Ida’s Economic Toll Seen as Relatively Modest

Hurricane Ida is expected to be a lot less harmful to the U.S. economy than Hurricane Katrina although extended oil production shutdowns could increase the toll.Analysts at financial consultancy Boenning & Scattergood estimate losses for the insurance industry will hit around $10 billion, one...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 31, 2021

Powell Remains Cautious on Stimulus ‘Tapering’

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has confirmed that the Fed is moving toward winding down its emergency economic stimulus program, citing progress in meeting its inflation and employment goals.The Fed has pledged to maintain reducing its monthly $120 billion asset purchase program until it ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 27, 2021

U.S. Factory Orders Decline 0.1% in June

New orders for U.S.-made goods fell slightly in July but were generally strong outside the transportation sector despite supply constraints.The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders for manufactured goods dipped 0.1% to $257.2 billion last month following a 0.8% gain in June. Demand ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 25, 2021

Topps SPAC Merger Dies After Loss of MLB Deal

The $1.16 billion deal to take Topps public through a merger with a SPAC has collapsed after Major League Baseball decided to end its 70-year relationship with the trading-card company.A day after MLB notified Topps it would be not be renewing their licensing agreement when it expires in 2025, th...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 20, 2021