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The Morning Ledger: U.S. Profit Repatriation Slows In Second Quarter |
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A compilation photo showing the logos of major U.S. companies. Last year’s tax overhaul imposed a one-time tax on accumulated foreign profits. PHOTO: REUTERS
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Good day. U.S. companies brought home 43% less of their foreign profits during the second quarter than the first, a sign of a more cautious approach to repatriation, writes the WSJ's Theo Francis.
Tax law boost: The $169.5 billion second-quarter figure is down from a revised $294.9 billion repatriated in the in the first quarter. Still, both quarters are above recent averages, reflecting the impact of the tax law overhaul.
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Two leaders: Roughly 100 companies account for the vast majority of an estimated $2.7 trillion in profits parked abroad, a group that has so far repatriated about $143 billion. About two-thirds of the money came from two corporations— networking-equipment giant Cisco Systems Inc. and drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc.
Below expectations: Policy makers backing the December tax overhaul predicted it would lead companies to bring to the U.S. much of the estimated $2.7 trillion they had stockpiled offshore at least in part to avoid U.S. taxes. In turn, they argued, companies would invest much of the money in U.S. operations and jobs.
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The U.S. Labor Department will release weekly jobless claims data at 8.30 a.m. ET. Economists expect applications for unemployment benefits to climb to 210,000 from 204,000 a week earlier.
At 10 a.m. ET the National Association of Realtors will release August existing-home sales figures. Economists pridict sales rose to 5.38 million, from 5.34 million in July.
Darden Restaurants Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Steelcase Inc. are among the companies reporting earnings today.
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked Equifax Inc. to expand on its disclosure related to the 2017 cyberbreach, according to comment letters made public on Wednesday.
Regulators asked the credit-reporting company to include information about the origins of the incident and the material events that occured once Equifax received notice of the software vulnerability on March 8, 2017.
The credit-rating company said it didn’t judge the origins story as material and therefore didn’t include it in the discussion of the breach. Equifax’s first-quarter filings said “criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to our network,” with the rest of the disclosure focusing on the customer impact of the breach.
However, the company said it would expand its disclosure with details about its efforts to identify and remediate vulnerable systems.
SEC correspondence with registrants typically becomes public 20 days after the conversation is judged resolved by the regulator.
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Mini owner BMW is moving up its annual weekslong maintenance shutdown at a U.K. plant to fall right after Britain’s planned departure. PHOTO: GEOFF CADDICK/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Some of the world’s biggest companies including Pfizer Inc. and BMW AG are drawing up plans for the March divorce between Britain and the European Union, in which even some basic parameters have yet to be hammered out.
Union Pacific Corp. is adopting some strategies from the late Hunter Harrison, who ran rival CSX Corp., as it tackles congestion clogging its system.
Aston Martin, the iconic sports car brand made famous in the James Bond spy thrillers, will be aggressively pricing its coming stock listing, valuing the company at up to $6.7 billion, according to details it released Thursday.
Nike Inc. has sold 61% more merchandise since the controversial advertising campaign featuring former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick appeared earlier this month, reports Reuters. Meanwhile, investors are seeking greater transparency from Nike related to its political spending at its annual general meeting.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google struck a deal with T-Mobile U.S. Inc. to pipe location data from cellphones with Android operating systems in the U.S. to emergency call centers in move aimed at making it easier for emergency call operators to pinpoint the whereabouts of callers.
AutoNation Inc.’s outspoken Chief Executive Mike Jackson will step down in 2019 after leading the U.S.’s largest dealership chain for nearly two decades.
Apple Inc. has staggered the release of its new iPhones to sell the higher-end models first, followed five weeks later by the least expensive new model, to give itself a month without cheaper competition from itself.
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Sky has attracted takeover interest from some of the world’s biggest media companies.PHOTO: LUCA BRUNO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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British regulators said Comcast Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. will settle their takeover battle for Sky PLC via an auction starting Friday, a rare and dramatic end to a bidding war among media giants.
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The European Union regulators warned Facebook Inc. that if the company doesn’t change its “misleading terms of service” by the end of the year the technology giant will face sanctions in several countries.
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European Union antitrust authorities have launched a preliminary investigation into Amazon.com Inc.’s treatment of other merchants that sell products using its platform, starting a new regulatory front against a U.S. technology company.
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European Union regulators said Wednesday that McDonald’s Corp.’s tax arrangement in Luxembourg is legal, dropping an investigation against the U.S. fast-food company while lauding efforts to close tax loopholes in the probe’s wake.
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President Trump is set to nominate Nellie Liang, a former Federal Reserve economist who created its first office of financial stability, to the central bank’s board of governors, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Bank of America Corp. to pay a $30 million civil penalty for what it called attempted manipulation of the swaps and derivatives benchmark, reports Reuters.
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Container ships are unloaded at California’s Port of Oakland in May. The U.S. has run persistent trade deficits for decades because the country imports more than it exports. PHOTO: BEN MARGOT/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The U.S. trade gap narrowed to $101.46 billion in the second quarter from $121.71 billion in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
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U.S. housing starts increased 9.2% in August from the prior month, driven by an outsize jump in apartment building that masked weakness in the pipeline for single- and multifamily construction.
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The global population living in extreme poverty -- or on less than $1.90 a day -- fell below 750 million for the first time since the World Bank began collecting global statistics in 1990, a decline of more than 1 billion people in the past 25 years.
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The trade spat between the U.S. and China could expand into other areas given significant “ammunition” the two countries have, said the director-general of the World Trade Organization on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
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Italy’s new populist government is facing a difficult decision: How to reconcile its expensive election promises with the reality of the country’s fragile finances.
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The Center for Audit Quality, the Washington D.C. audit industry group, said Executive Director Cindy Fornelli will retire in the spring of 2019.
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Ms. Fornelli has served in the role for 12 years, and was previously the regulatory and conflicts management executive at Bank of America. Ms. Fornelli also served as the deputy director of the division of investment management of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2001 to 2004.
Prudential Financial Inc., the Newark, N.J. financial company, named Ken Tanji as chief financial officer effective Dec. 1. He succeeds Robert Falzon, who will become vice chairman of the company in December.
Mr. Tanji most recently served as treasurer, a role he’s held since 2013. Prior to that, he was CFO of Prudential’s international businesses and has held a variety of other finance leadership positions in his three decades with the company. Compensation details were not available.
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