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Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Disruption and Disintermediation: In her widely discussed takedown of Clayton Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation, The New Yorker's Jill Lepore trots out TD Bank as an example of a company that succeeded by eschewing innovations. We won't second-guess Lepore's overall critique of Christensen (plenty of others have, including Christensen himself) but we're calling baloney on the bank example. Sure, CEO Ed Clark avoided convoluted financial "innovations" like asset-backed commercial paper, a decision...

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

The FOMC and Rates: The Fed offered new insight into its thinking on interest rates at the conclusion of the central bank's two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the Wall Street Journal reported. The upshot: the Fed appears to be more aggressive in its outlook for raising rates in the next two years, but less aggressive in raising rates beyond 2016. Officials estimated the benchmark federal funds rate will hit 1.2% by...

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Allergan Case Reveals Morgan Stanley M&A Switch-Up: As drug company Allergan defends itself against a $53 billion hostile takeover bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals, it is shedding light on Morgan Stanley's mergers and acquisitions practices. Allergan, the Irvine, Calif. Maker of Botox, has published excerpts from emails written by senior Morgan Stanley investment bankers that it says show Valeant's business model is unsustainable, the New York Times reports. Morgan Stanley is now advising...

Wall Street Journal

Lenders are making it rain for companies with junk ratings, according to the Journal. "Lending to weaker companies on easy terms is becoming more and more common as investors' appetite for higher-yielding debt grows stronger and the Federal Reserve keeps money flowing at ultralow rates," the paper reports. Banks are also forgoing loan requirements, such as periodic debt testing, which are meant to keep companies' financial health in check. What could go wrong? ...

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

BofA Settlement Deadlock: Negotiations between Bank of America and the Justice Department have stalled as the parties attempt to settle a lawsuit over mortgage-backed securities sold by Merrill Lynch, which B of A acquired during the financial crisis, according to the New York Times. The usual anonymice told the paper the Justice Department wants the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank to pay roughly $17 billion to resolve the lawsuit over securities that later soured....