John Key, other Palo Alto board members sued for insider trading

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John Key, other Palo Alto board members sued for insider trading, Soaring debt and deficits causing worry about threats to the economy and markets, and Anti-vaccine activist Liz Gunn has been found guilty of assault following an incident at Auckland Airport in 2023.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Technology stocks led the Nasdaq Composite to a new high Monday as investors continued to bet on the strength of U.S. consumers and interest-rate cuts. (WSJ).

• Asian stocks drifted lower while the dollar held firm on Tuesday as investors awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting to gauge the timing and extent of possible interest rate cuts this year. (Reuters).

• US stocks were mixed on Monday, wavering slightly after last week's run to record highs in the wake of an encouraging April inflation report. (BI).

• Strong earnings not enough to stop NZ sharemarket’s slide - Market close. (Herald).

Earnings and Data

• Traders are pricing in a big move for Nvidia’s shares after the chipmaker reports earnings on Wednesday, though expectations for volatility are more muted than in the past, U.S. options markets show. (Reuters).

• Palo Alto Networks tumbles on earnings once again. It’s another chance to buy the cyber stock. (CNBC).

• John Key, other Palo Alto board members sued for insider trading. (NBR).

News Summary

• Anti-vaccine activist Liz Gunn has been found guilty of assault following an incident at Auckland Airport in 2023. (Stuff).

• An Auckland man has been slapped with a $600 fine after performing a "body slam" next to an orca from a boat. (1News).

• Donald Trump's former fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen acknowledged on his final day of testimony that he stole thousands of dollars from his former boss's company. (BBC).

• A mother has been horrifically killed in a vicious mauling by a pack of 13 dogs. (NCA).

• A McDonald’s worker has been filmed drying a mop head under the restaurant’s fries warmer, centimetres away from food. (NCA).

• As nine men face trial in Greece accused of causing the worst migrant shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea for a decade, the BBC can reveal key discrepancies in the case against them. (BBC).

• A rare and highly prized feather from the extinct New Zealand huia bird has sold for NZD$46,521 (US$28,365), making it by far the world’s most expensive feather ever sold at auction. (Guardian).

• Migratory fish populations have crashed by more than 80% since 1970, new findings show. (Guardian).

• Scarlett Johansson has spoken out against OpenAI after the company used a voice eerily resembling her own in its new ChatGPT product. (Guardian).

• As footage of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend made headlines around the world, a past interview he did with Ellen DeGeneres has resurfaced on social media. (NCA).

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

• French drugmaker Sanofi on Tuesday announced it is collaborating with artificial intelligence company OpenAI and Formation Bio to boost its drug development projects through the use of Artificial Intelligence. (Reuters).

Equity Raises

• ASX-listed Alpha HPA on Tuesday upsized its equity raising to facilitate the development of its high-purity alumina (HPA) refinery in Gladstone, Queensland, to A$175-million. (MW).

Debt

• Soaring debt and deficits causing worry about threats to the economy and markets. (CNBC).

• Panthera Finance Pty Ltd, the nation’s biggest privately owned debt collector, is blacklisted from operating in Victoria due to a 2020 federal court ruling that it had unduly harassed customers for money they did not owe. (Guardian).

Daily Picks

• Parliament's pecuniary interests register, released on Tuesday, shows MPs' financial assets and the gifts they got up to 31 January - and it makes for interesting reading. (Stuff).

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