Ray Blanco:

'Pharma Bro' Shkreli Runs Afoul of Court's Lifetime Pharma Ban

Martin Shkreli, the scorned "pharma bro" who drew the ire of patients for his actions as a pharmaceutical company executive, has come under the scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly violating his lifetime ban from the industry.

The FTC asked a judge to hold Shkreli in contempt, presenting evidence that he has "flagrantly and repeatedly" violated the court order that has been in place since 2022, according to a Tuesday press release. The disgraced executive has been trading in pharma stocks and "broadcasting his opinions about the business and management of many pharmaceutical industry companies," according to the complaint.

In the complaint, the FTC recapped the actions that led to the lifetime pharma ban. Shkreli was originally found guilty of securities fraud in 2018 and sentenced to seven years in prison. In a separate case brought by the FTC in 2020, a court in 2022 found that Shkreli, in his capacity as executive of companies Vyera Pharmaceuticals and Phoenixus, and his co-defendants executed an anticompetitive scheme to prevent the entry of low-cost generics to the market.

The FTC on Tuesday went further and asked the court to force Shkreli to divest his shares and issue a fine in the amount he has profited. Shkreli should also face escalating penalties for continued violations of the lifetime ban, the agency said.

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Greg Guenthner:

Bitcoin Falls as Hot Inflation Puts a Fed Hike Back on the Table

Bitcoin fell 1.5% to $82,142 on Wednesday after U.S. inflation came in hotter than expected, dragging most of the crypto market down with it. Ethereum dropped 2.8% to $2,440, while total crypto market cap shed 0.7% to $2.8 trillion.

Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.6% annually against a 2.5% forecast for the month of September. Core CPI is the reading the Federal Reserve watches most closely.

When inflation runs hot, the Fed raises interest rates to cool spending. It already hiked in September to a 3.75%-4.00% range, and traders now see roughly 44% to 49% odds of another hike at its October 27-28 meeting, up from 22% before the report.

The 2-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks Fed rate expectations, jumped about 10 basis points to roughly 4.9%, while the 10-year climbed to about 5.3%, near 24-year highs.

Higher yields hit crypto directly. A government bond paying 5.3% with almost no risk competes with Bitcoin, which pays nothing. Rising rates also make borrowing more expensive and tend to strengthen the dollar, draining the cheap money speculative assets feed on.

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Davis Wilson:

Save This Investing Tip for 2031

Over the last two weeks, investor sentiment has taken a sharp turn for the worse. AI stocks have been hit particularly hard. Suddenly, the financial news is filled with reasons to worry.

Here are the biggest concerns: the OpenAI revenue scare, rising interest rates, and the war in Iran. However, none of these concerns have fundamentally changed the businesses we're investing in.

Hyperscalers aren't canceling their AI infrastructure projects. Demand for computing power hasn't disappeared. Companies aren't suddenly abandoning the massive data centers they've spent years planning. Yet stocks are moving lower and investors are panicking.

It's starting to feel a lot like Apple (AAPL) in early 2023 or Meta (META) in late 2022.

Of course, if you actually traveled back to those moments, you wouldn't know Apple was near a bottom or that Meta was about to begin an incredible run. But the best buying opportunities rarely feel like buying opportunities when you're living through them.

I think that's exactly what we're experiencing today. I suggest you invest accordingly.

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