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Huawei Sees Colossal Decline In Smartphone Revenue

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Why Bitcoin, Ethereum And Dogecoin Could Be In For A Bumpy Road Ahead

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EXCLUSIVE: Kevin O'Leary On Expanded FTX Partnership, Crypto Regulations

Last week, the executive arm of the European Union, the European Commission, proposed a new <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_4613">rule&nbsp;</a>that would require all smartphones to adopt USB-C ports for physical charging.

The commission aims to provide one charger for multiple devices in an effort to reduce e-waste.&nbsp;

This has come as a shocker to&nbsp;Apple Inc&nbsp;(NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AAPL#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>), which uses its Lightning connector to charge its iPhones.&nbsp;

Apple has argued against the&nbsp;rule and&nbsp;<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/2020-Standard-chargers-for-mobile-phones/F18119_en" target="_blank">sa</a><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/2020-Standard-chargers-for-mobile-phones/F18119_en">id</a>, &ldquo;Apple stands for innovation and deeply cares about the customer experience. We believe regulation that forces conformity across the type of connector built into all smartphones stifles innovation rather than encouraging it and would harm consumers in Europe and the economy as a whole.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&ldquo;We share the European Commission&rsquo;s commitment to protecting the environment and are already carbon neutral for all of our corporate emissions worldwide,&rdquo; Apple added.&nbsp;

European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement, &ldquo;European consumers were frustrated long enough about incompatible chargers piling up in their drawers.&rdquo;

&nbsp;&ldquo;We gave industry plenty of time to come up with their own solutions, now time is ripe for legislative action for a common charger. This is an important win for our consumers and environment and in line with our green and digital ambitions,&rdquo; she added.&nbsp;

However, studies suggest that forcing a single connector standard could&nbsp;<a href="https://www.copenhageneconomics.com/publications/publication/eu-consumers-evidence-shows-innovation-and-environmental-impacts-with-possible-common-charger-regulation" target="_blank">harm</a>&nbsp;consumers more than it helps and <a href="https://www.digitaleurope.org/resources/rpa-study-on-the-common-charger-2-0/" target="_blank">might</a>&nbsp;not achieve the EC&rsquo;s goals.&nbsp;

EU Commissioner Thierry Breton noted that &ldquo;with more and more devices, more and more chargers are sold that are not interchangeable or not necessary. We are putting an end to that.&rdquo;

If the new legislation becomes law, many device makers may have only two years to comply with the new regulations.

Related Link:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/21/09/23089082/wedbush-analyst-provides-outlook-on-apple-stock-given-strong-early-demand-for-iphon">Wedbush Analyst Provides Outlook On Apple Stock Given Strong Early Demand For iPhones</a>

EU Rules Could Make USB-C Chargers Mandatory, Apple iPhones May Need Redesign

Huawei&rsquo;s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-welcomes-huawei-executive-home-silent-freed-canadians-2021-09-25/" target="_blank">arrived</a>&nbsp;in China on Saturday after ending her three-year U.S. extradition case.&nbsp;

On the same day that two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, detained by Beijing, returned home.

What Happened: On Friday, daughter of Huawei Technologies founder Ren Zhengfei, Meng was given permission to go home after agreeing with prosecutors in the U.S. to end a bank fraud case.

According to Chinese officials, the case had to be dropped to mend ties between Beijing and Washington.&nbsp;

The so-called &ldquo;hostage diplomacy&rdquo; comes two weeks after U.S. President Joe Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-25/u-s-move-to-end-huawei-saga-improves-china-ties-at-a-cost?srnd=premium&amp;sref=TBDibEcD" target="_blank">called</a>&nbsp;Chinese leader Xi Jinping in frustration over Beijing&rsquo;s move to link progress on climate change with other demands, including Meng&rsquo;s release as well as lifting sanctions and removing punitive tariffs.&nbsp;

&ldquo;This is a very significant move and symbolizes a new beginning for China and the U.S.,&rdquo; Bloomberg quoted Henry Wang Huiyao, president and founder of the Center for China &amp; Globalization policy research group in Beijing, as saying.&nbsp;

&ldquo;I am finally back home. Waiting in a foreign country was full of agony. The moment my feet touched the ceramic, I was speechless,&rdquo; Reuters quoted Meng saying in the Global Times tabloid.&nbsp;

Why It&#39;s Important: These latest&nbsp;developments will likely impact U.S. relations with China moving forward.&nbsp;&ldquo;By agreeing to allow Meng to return to China, the Biden administration is signaling that it hopes to address the mess left by the former Trump administration,&rdquo; said Wu Shinbo, dean of the Institute for International Studies at Fudan University.

According to the report, Meng was detained in December 2018 after a New York court in Vancouver issued an arrest warrant against her.&nbsp;

The warrant said that she had tried to cover up her&nbsp;company&#39;s&nbsp;links to a firm that tried&nbsp;to sell equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.&nbsp;

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the allegations against her were &ldquo;fabricated&rdquo; in an effort to suppress the country&rsquo;s high-tech industries.

Meanwhile, critics have accused China of using the two Canadians as political bargaining chips. Spavor was charged with providing photographs of military equipment to Kovrig and was sentenced in August to 11 years in prison.&nbsp;

This could be a win-win situation for Huawei after the release of Meng. Still, its competitors like HP&nbsp;Inc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/HPQ#NYSE">HPQ</a>), Lenovo Group Limited (HKG 0992), Ericsson Nikola Tesla, Ericsson, ZTE, Apple (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AAPL#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>), and Nokia may need another reason to rejoice depending on the performance of the company.

Related Link:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/23093130/huawei-sees-colossal-decline-in-smartphone-revenue">Huawei Sees Colossal Decline In Smartphone Revenue</a>

Photo: Courtesy of Unsplash

Legal

U.S. Move To End Huawei Saga Helps China Ties, China Welcomes Huawei Executive Home

The star of the popular space franchise &ldquo;Star Trek&rdquo; is headed to space, according to <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/william-shatner-90-set-to-fly-into-space-with-jeff-bezos-blue-origin">reports </a>from TMZ. Here are the details on William Shatner going to space.

What Happened: Shatner will board the second civilian flight from Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon.com (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AMZN#NASDAQ">AMZN</a>) founder <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/04/20675447/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-jeff-bezos?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=facebook">Jeff Bezos</a>.

Shatner celebrated his 90th birthday in March. The &ldquo;Star Trek&rdquo; actor will become the oldest person in space, surpassing the record set on the <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/07/22048561/how-to-watch-the-jeff-bezos-blue-origin-space-launch">last </a>Blue Origin space flight by 82 year old Wally Funk, who <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/07/22062966/blue-origin-successfully-completes-journey-to-space-virgin-galactic-shares-tumble">broke </a>a former John Glenn record.

The flight will happen in October aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket, according to the reports.

The 15-minute space flight will be recorded as a documentary that is currently being shopped to media outlets.

No other passengers have been announced for the flight, and it is unclear how much Shatner is paying as a passenger on the Blue Origin rocket.

While this will be Shatner&rsquo;s first physical trip to space, his name was one of more than two million that were included on the InSight Mars rover by NASA in 2018.

Shatner will also technically be the second member of &ldquo;Star Trek&rdquo; to go to space, as the ashes of his co-star James Doohan who played Scotty were <a href="https://www.space.com/15810-scotty-ashes-spacex-rocket-launch.html">sent </a>to space aboard a rocket from SpaceX in 2012.

Related Link: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/06/21497420/jeff-bezos-vs-richard-branson-who-will-get-to-space-first">Jeff Bezos Vs. Richard Branson: Who Will Get To Space First?&nbsp;</a>

Why It&rsquo;s Important: Many celebrities are among the hundreds of people reserving flights with Virgin Galactic (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SPCE#NYSE">SPCE</a>) for six figures per seat. Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber are among those who have booked future flights.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSLA#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>) CEO Elon Musk also <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/spacex-ceo-elon-musk-books-a-flight-with-richard-bransons-virgin-galactic/ar-AAM4h0w?ocid=BingNewsSearch">reserved</a> a future seat on a Virgin Galactic spaceflight.

Shatner is among the most famous celebrities and his connection to space could make this a huge event for Blue Origin.

Could Shatner become the new face and spokesperson for Blue Origin? Shatner famously <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/03/20279943/priceline-celebrates-william-shatners-90th-birthday-with-weeklong-discount-promotions">represented </a>the Priceline.com brand, now owned by Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BKNG#NASDAQ">BKNG</a>). As the &ldquo;Priceline Negotiator&rdquo; Shatner was featured in commercials helping travelers save money on vacations.

Shatner has been <a href="https://www.space.com/william-shatner-private-spaceflight-sdcc-2020.html">vocal </a>about wanting to go to space and hinted at a private flight in 2020. The &ldquo;Star Trek&rdquo; actor also tweeted at NASA in 2020 that his suit still fit if they wanted to use him on a flight.

&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a possibility that I&rsquo;m going to go up for a brief moment and come back down,&rdquo; Shatner said at a 2020 Comic-Con.

Shatner recently launched a new CD called &ldquo;Bill&rdquo; that he has been promoting on <a href="https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/1441809725511782409">Twitter </a>and its availability on Amazon.com.

Disclosure: Author is long shares SPCE.

BKNG

SPCE

Beam Me Up Bezos! Star Trek Star William Shatner Headed To Space

One of the most recent companies to make the transition from privately owned to publicly traded is Enact Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ACT#NASDAQ">ACT</a>), a Raleigh, North Carolina-headquartered provider of private mortgage insurance. Enact was founded in 1981 and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GNW#NYSE">GNW</a>).

Enact&rsquo;s shares opened for trading on Sept. 16 at $20, compared to the $19 per share of the initial public offering that saw 15.3 million shares sold, and made its stock market debut with a $3.26 billion valuation.

In this Benzinga interview, Enact&rsquo;s President and CEO Rohit Gupta offers his view on this new chapter in his company&rsquo;s journey.

Q: Why did you decide to take the company public?

Gupta: This is good for Genworth and good for Enact &ndash; we were able to create separation between the two companies. We have done very well under our 100% ownership by Genworth in the past and we have delivered very strong results coming out of the global financial crisis &ndash; and even during the pandemic, our results have been very strong.

But there were some pressures on our business due to our ownership by Genworth and its leverage, which has been high for the past several years. As a result, our credit ratings &ndash; which are very important for us as a financial services company &ndash; have been pressured compared to our competitors.

Also, we operate in a cyclical business in <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/mortgage-lenders-no-tax-returns/">mortgage</a> insurance &ndash; so when times are good, we have very good results and generate a lot of capital for our shareholders. But during tough times we need access to capital, either from debt or equity markets. By doing the IPO, it opens an extra access to capital for our business by actually having direct access to equity markets.

Q: In April, Genworth terminated a proposed acquisition by China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. that was first proposed in 2016. Did that play any role in your decision to go public?

Gupta: A portion of our customers had concerns with our business being bought by a private Chinese company. The Oceanwide transaction was terminated back in April of 2021 and that started becoming more of a tailwind in terms of the customers who did not feel comfortable doing business with us started opening the doors.

And now with an <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/ipos">IPO</a> by using an independent board &ndash; eight out of our 11 board members are independent directors &ndash; and having a new brand, as well as having confidence that all three credit rating agencies are going to upgrade our ratings, that created the right structure for our company and gave us an ability to unlock our true potential as a company.

Q: Speaking of the ratings agencies, how did they react to your going public?

Gupta: Since we conducted the <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/ipos">IPO</a>, we have already received upgrades from Moody&#39;s and Fitch and we expect S&amp;P to take action within the next few days. Fitch upgraded our ratings by two notches, so we are now BBB+ and on Moody&#39;s we are now Baa2. We have seen a very positive response from our customers.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G0r4-N_gfxk" width="560"></iframe>

Q: Enact is one of the latest companies within the mortgage space to be going public. In your opinion, why are so many companies within the mortgage space deciding to travel this route?

Gupta: There are different reasons for different companies within the mortgage ecosystem, which is pretty broad and wide in terms of participants, their business models and the value proposition to shareholders.

A lot of mortgage originators have gone public in the last year or so because valuations were really good and it also gives those mortgage banking companies direct access to equity capital. You saw a lot of companies trying to go public in the third and fourth quarter of 2020 and early this year. And you have seen some fintech companies in mortgage finance go public because fintech companies get a validation on their valuation and are able to raise fresh capital for growth.

Our business is different. There are only six mortgage insurance companies in the U.S. and the other five are our peers who already went public &ndash; we were the only company that wasn&#39;t public.

Q: What&#39;s on the company&#39;s agenda for the remainder of this year and going into 2022?

Gupta: We have a very broad and diverse customer base. In 2020, we ended the year with 1,800 active lender partners, which includes 19 out of the top 20 originators in the country. For all of the customers who gave us business in the year 2020, 92% of them have given us business every year for the previous five years.

When we think about moving forward, we are going to leverage that customer base and break into new accounts using our ratings. We think that the housing market is on a very strong footing &ndash; and while home prices have been going up higher than normal times, we think that it is driven by fundamental demand and not speculation. So, we intend to leverage this momentum in the housing market.

Lastly, I don&#39;t want to forget that we are still recovering from the pandemic&rsquo;s increase in delinquencies. We are focused on bringing those delinquencies to the right conclusion by helping consumers stay in their homes through this difficult time, and then transitioning into 2022 with more confidence on the pandemic recovery side.

Photo: Courtesy of Rohit Gupta.

Penny Stocks

Small Cap

Real Estate

EXCLUSIVE: Enact Holdings' CEO Rohit Gupta On The Mortgage Insurer's Decision To Go Public

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) have developed inside bar patterns on the daily chart. An inside bar pattern indicates a period of consolidation and is usually followed by a continuation move in the direction of the current trend.

An inside bar pattern has more validity on larger time frames (four-hour chart or larger). The pattern has a minimum of two candlesticks and consists of a mother bar (the first candlestick in the pattern) followed by one or more subsequent candles. The subsequent candle(s) must be completely inside the range of the mother bar and each is called an &quot;inside bar.&quot;

A double, or triple inside bar can be more powerful than a single inside bar. After the break of an inside bar pattern, traders want to watch for high volume as confirmation the pattern was recognized.

<ul>
	<li>Bullish traders will want to search for inside bar patterns on stocks that are in an uptrend. Some traders may take a position during the inside bar prior to the break while other aggressive traders will take a position after the break of the pattern.</li>
	<li>For bearish traders, finding an inside bar pattern on a stock that&#39;s in a downtrend will be key. Like bullish traders, bears have two options of where to take a position to play the break of the pattern. For bearish traders, the pattern is invalidated if the stock rises above the highest range of the mother candle.</li>
</ul>

See Also:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/09/23101058/dogecoin-bitcoin-ethereum-see-buying-opportunity-after-another-china-crackdown">Dogecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum See Buying Opportunity After Another China Crackdown</a>

The Bitcoin Chart: Bitcoin was printing an inside bar on the daily chart just above a support level at $42,223. The crypto is trading in a short uptrend within a larger downtrend. Bitcoin will have to make a higher high above the $55,200 level for confirmation the downtrend is over.

<img alt="btc_sept._25.png" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u278075/btc_sept._25.png" style="height:768px; width:1366px" />The Dogecoin Chart: Dogecoin is trading in a steep downtrend but holding above a key support level of $0.197. The crypto&#39;s inside bar on Saturday demonstrates consolidation. If Dogecoin loses support at its key level it could fall toward the 16-cent mark.

<img alt="doge_sept._25.png" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u278075/doge_sept._25.png" style="height:768px; width:1366px" />The Ethereum Chart: Like Bitcoin, Ethereum may be working to reverse course into an uptrend but will need to shoot up above Thursday&#39;s high of $3182 for confirmation. Otherwise, the crypto could continue lower in its larger downtrend following Saturday&#39;s inside bar.<img alt="eth_sept._25.png" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u278075/eth_sept._25.png" style="height:768px; width:1366px" />

<ul>
	<li>Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas" target="_blank">favorite stocks</a> over the past week. </li>
	<li>Last week&#39;s bullish calls included picks from Gene Munster and the maker of a potentially blockbuster Alzheimer&#39;s treatment.</li>
	<li>Software and leisure apparel giants, as well as the most popular cryptocurrency, were among the bearish calls seen.</li>
</ul>

Another volatile week had the big three U.S. indexes in the red early on, due to a sell-off prompted by <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/21/09/23022505/major-indices-fall-on-chinese-real-estate-debt-eyes-are-on-fed" target="_blank">a real estate crisis in China</a>. Following the latest <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/21/09/23060551/stocks-hold-most-gains-following-fed-meeting-with-tapering-seen-likely-later-in-year" target="_blank">commentary from the Federal Reserve</a>, the indexes managed to end the week&nbsp;with the Dow Jones industrials and the S&amp;P 500 up fractionally and the Nasdaq essentially flat.

However, all three indexes are down 2% or more since the beginning of the month, but at least 14% higher year to date.

Benzinga continues to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week&#39;s most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

<h3>The Bulls</h3>

&quot;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/21/09/23031173/3-top-stocks-for-the-next-year-according-to-gene-munster" target="_blank">3 Top Stocks For The Next Year, According To Gene Munster</a>&quot; by Adam Eckert explores what this renowned investor likes about Apple Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AAPL#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>) and his other top picks (including a SPAC) for the next year.

In &quot;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/21/09/23053739/why-bofa-remains-a-disney-bull-despite-disappointing-q4-outlook" target="_blank">Why BofA Remains A Disney Bull Despite Disappointing Q4 Outlook</a>,&quot; Priya Nigam reveals why the featured analyst believes that the near-term headwinds faced by Walt Disney Co (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/DIS#NYSE">DIS</a>) theme parks and video streaming are transitory.

Shanthi Rexaline&#39;s &quot;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/21/09/23074335/aduhelms-blockbuster-potential-is-underappreciated-says-biogen-analyst" target="_blank">Aduhelm&#39;s &#39;Blockbuster Potential&#39; Is Underappreciated, Says Biogen Analyst</a>&quot; discusses why the Biogen, Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BIIB#NASDAQ">BIIB</a>) Alzheimer treatment could be worth billions.

For additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following:



<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/21/09/23038263/why-josh-brown-says-uber-could-be-one-of-the-best-performers-among-large-cap-tech-stocks" target="_blank">Why Josh Brown Says Uber Could Be &#39;One Of The Best Performers&#39; Among Large-Cap Tech Stocks</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/21/09/23076955/is-jpmorgan-setting-up-for-a-breakout-heres-how-high-this-investor-thinks-it-could-go" target="_blank">Is JPMorgan Setting Up For A Breakout? Here&#39;s How High This Investor Thinks It Could Go</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/21/09/23087123/why-analysts-see-up-to-32-upside-in-salesforce" target="_blank">Why Analysts See Up To 32% Upside In Salesforce</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>The Bears</h3>

In Wayne Duggan&#39;s &quot;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/general/education/21/09/23034675/is-microsofts-stock-overvalued-or-undervalued" target="_blank">Is Microsoft&#39;s Stock Overvalued Or Undervalued?</a>,&quot; find out why, despite its impressive growth numbers, some investors are wondering if there is any value left in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MSFT#NASDAQ">MSFT</a>) stock.

&quot;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/21/09/23090594/nike-sees-strong-demand-but-supply-hurdles-hurt-guidance-analyst" target="_blank">Nike Sees Strong Demand, But Supply Hurdles Hurt Guidance: Analyst</a>&quot; by Priya Nigam examines what one key analyst expects from Nike Inc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NKE#NYSE">NKE</a>) in the wake of its mixed results for the fiscal first quarter.

Is the setback for top cryptocurrency Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) a reflection of weak demand by institutional investors? Find out in &quot;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/21/09/23084517/institutional-investors-are-preferring-ethereum-over-bitcoin-says-jpmorgan" target="_blank">Institutional Investors Are Preferring Ethereum Over Bitcoin, Says JPMorgan</a>&quot; by Shivdeep Dhaliwal.

For more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts:



<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/23085537/whats-going-on-with-palantir-stock-today" target="_blank">What&#39;s Going On With Palantir Stock Today?</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/21/09/23049544/analysts-cut-fedex-price-targets-after-disappointing-q1-results" target="_blank">Analysts Cut FedEx Price Targets After &#39;Disappointing&#39; Q1 Results</a></li>
</ul>

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following <a href="https://twitter.com/Benzinga" target="_blank">Benzinga</a> on Twitter.

After the latest reports about a cryptocurrency ban being enforced by Chinese authorities once again, bears pushed&nbsp;Bitcoin&#39;s&nbsp;(CRYPTO: BTC) price down to under $41,000 and most of the cryptocurrency market followed suit &mdash; but many suggest that this is just a momentary setback and a buying opportunity.

See Also:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/is-crypto-banned-in-china/">IS CRYPTO BANNED IN CHINA?&nbsp;</a>

What Happened:&nbsp;According to a Friday Fortune&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/2021/09/24/china-bans-crypto-bitcoin-buying-opportunity-historical-averages/" target="_blank">report</a>, the selloff in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin,&nbsp;Ethereum(CRYPTO: ETH) and&nbsp;Dogecoin&nbsp;(CRYPTO: DOGE) is not without precedent. In fact, while this is admittedly &quot;the most aggressive [ban] to date,&quot; China has been banning Bitcoin regularly since 2013.

News about China&#39;s regulatory pressure over the crypto space has caused numerous selloffs over the past eight years but &quot;when the news cycle is over, inevitably, crypto prices have started to rise again.&quot; On Dec 5, 2013, China&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-12-05/china-s-pboc-bans-financial-companies-from-bitcoin-transactions" target="_blank">forbade financial institutions from handling</a>&nbsp;Bitcoin transactions because the central bank found that it wasn&rsquo;t a currency with &ldquo;real meaning.&rdquo; Bitcoin&#39;s price fell by 20% to $889 but is now 4,600% up compared to that price.

In late March 2014, China did it again. Rumors&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/27/bitcoin-stumbles-on-fears-of-china-clampdown.html" target="_blank">suggested</a>&nbsp;that local authorities would penalize banks that facilitated Bitcoin transactions and the coin&#39;s value fell by 12% to $562 &mdash; but the current price is 7,345% higher.

In early February 2017, China renewed efforts to suppress&nbsp;Bitcoin and the now booming crypto space. The country&#39;s central bank was&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/2017/02/12/bitcoin-markets-china-regulation/" target="_blank">tightening regulatory pressure</a>&nbsp;and enforcing anti-money laundering rules for local cryptocurrency exchanges. Bitcoin&#39;s price fell over 7% to $988 and took altcoins down with it &mdash; Bitcoin is up 4,135% since China took those measures.

In late August 2018 Chinese authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/03/china-clamps-down-on-cryptocurrency-speculation.html" target="_blank">stepped up pressure</a>&nbsp;on cryptocurrency speculation and issued a warning about illegal fundraising&nbsp;with the use&nbsp;of crypto. The market largely ignored that&nbsp;ban, with Bitcoin closing the day up 4%,&nbsp;and&nbsp;has since increased&nbsp;by 520%.

On May 21, Chinese authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/2021/05/21/china-ban-bitcoin-price-bubble-crypto/" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;that tighter security was needed to protect the financial system and called&nbsp;for a crackdown on Bitcoin mining causing its price to fall by over 8.5%, which&nbsp;bought the rest of the crypto market down with it &mdash; Bitcoin is now 12% higher. If history is of any indication, China&#39;s ban matters little more than a short-term downturn and a buying opportunity for Bitcoin and altcoins such as Dogecoin and Ethereum.

Related Link:<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/09/23062111/if-you-invested-1-000-in-bitcoin-10-years-ago-heres-how-much-youd-have-now">&nbsp;If You Invested $1,000 In Bitcoin 10 Years Ago, Here&#39;s How Much You&#39;d Have Now</a>

Dogecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum See Buying Opportunity After Another China Crackdown

One big advantage that special guests have by being interviewed on the PreMarket Prep Show is that we are not limited on time. One big advantage our listeners have is they can ask our guests questions through the live chat&nbsp;feature.

Along these lines, it is time to announce our first segment of &quot;Gene Munster vs. Mystery Guest&quot; at 1 p.m. Sept. 28.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.premarketprep.com/event-registration/">Join us for this exciting event</a> with tech stocks strategist Gene Munster&mdash;&nbsp;and a special mystery guest &mdash; by registering with your VIP access code below.

Since 1995, no one on Wall Street has been more spot-on in the technology <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/best-sectors-to-invest-in-right-now/">sector</a> than Munster, of Loup Funds, and his track record speaks for itself.

He&#39;s moved on from being a Wall Street analyst and has started his own venture capital fund. His penchant for looking far into the future for investment opportunities has prompted him to create the Innovator Loup Frontier Tech ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/LOUP#NYSE">LOUP</a>).&nbsp;

Since becoming&nbsp;public in July 2018, it has yielded 112% based on Thursday&rsquo;s closing price ($53.73) compared to the opening day closing price ($25.34).

Who is the mystery guest, you ask?

Our first mystery guest has made several tremendous calls on our shows and is excited to match wits with the industry&rsquo;s top technology analyst. Not only is he proficient at fundamental analysis, but his proprietary technical skills are second to none.

Finally, he incorporates &ldquo;sentiment&rdquo; into his investment decisions, which leads to many of his accurate contrarian calls.

What will be the most interesting to watch is not so much what they disagree on, but rather what issues Munster and the mystery guest are both bullish or bearish on.

This is an event you won&rsquo;t want to miss! Viewing is limited and by invite only. <a href="https://www.premarketprep.com/event-registration/">Register today</a> with code PMPMYSTERY28!

Event Registration Deadline: Noon on Sept. 27.&nbsp;

Benzinga&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/premarket/">PreMarket Prep</a>&nbsp;airs every morning from 8-9 a.m. ET. During that fast-paced, highly informative hour, traders and investors tune in to get the major news of the day, the catalysts behind those moves and the corresponding price action for the upcoming session.

On any given day, the show will cover at least 20 stocks determined by co-hosts Joel Elconin and Dennis Dick along with producer Spencer Israel.

Previews

Events

LOUP

Tech Stock Strategist Gene Munster, Mystery Guest Join Benzinga's PreMarket Prep Crew Sept. 28: What Questions Will You Ask?

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a large-scale defense spending bill on Thursday, just days after <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/21/09/23051550/u-s-house-passes-cannabis-banking-reform-as-part-of-defense-spending-bill">passing</a> cannabis banking reform which was part of the legislation. So, it seems that cannabis banking could end up on President Biden&#39;s desk along with the all-important&nbsp;defense budget.

The cannabis banking reform measure &ndash; approved&nbsp;Tuesday on a voice vote - would allow banks to do business with cannabis companies without being penalized by federal regulators.

The vote&nbsp;came after the House Rules Committee made in order the amendment from Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) for floor consideration. It was one of various drug policy proposals lawmakers were hoping to attach to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Marijuana Moment reported.

The latest breakthrough is the fifth time that the House has passed the cannabis banking reform in recent years.

<h3>Pushback From Key Senators</h3>

Perlmutter indicated that he was&nbsp;optimistic about including banking reform in&nbsp;the NDAA as the vehicle to send it to the Senate floor.

&ldquo;I think the fifth time is the charm,&rdquo; Perlmutter told <a href="https://www.marijuanamoment.net/house-officially-passes-defense-bill-with-marijuana-banking-protections-but-key-senators-may-block-path-ahead/">Marijuana Moment</a>. &ldquo;I mean, obviously, we still have to do some work to make sure that it remains part of the NDAA as the House and the Senate go to conference. So we still have work to do with the Senate to make sure that it remains part of it. But I think that it will.&rdquo;

However, some key senators, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), have insisted on passing comprehensive justice-focused marijuana legalization first, arguing that passing the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act first could affect support for broader reform.

A&nbsp;tweet posted by Politico&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/natsfert/status/1440810703552536579">Natalie Fertig</a>&nbsp;cited a&nbsp;Schumer spokesperson who said the senator&rsquo;s position -&nbsp;that both reforms should move &ldquo;at the same time&rdquo; -&nbsp;had not changed.

On Wednesday, Booker, who is working on a final legalization bill with Schumer and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), told Politico that cannabis banking is &ldquo;something that should not be included&rdquo; in the defense budget.

&ldquo;It undermines the ability to get comprehensive marijuana reform and the kind of things that are harder to get done like expungement of people&rsquo;s records,&rdquo; Booker said, as per Fertig&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/natsfert/status/1440809596902273028">tweet</a>.

&nbsp;

Photo: Courtesy of <a href="https://www.pexels.com/@liliana-drew?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels">Liliana Drew</a> from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-standing-in-front-of-a-machine-8555256/?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels">Pexels</a>

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Will Cannabis Banking Reform End Up On President Biden's Desk Along With The Defense Bill?

Longtime Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSLA#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>) bull Cathie Wood successfully predicted the rise of the electric vehicle leader&rsquo;s share price when many weren&rsquo;t as bullish on the company.

The Ark Invest CEO recently admitted to a target price that would see her trim the position sizably.

What Happened: Earlier this year, Wood told Benzinga on an episode of &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUehKZBLBCQ">The Raz Report</a>&rdquo; that Ark would announce a new price target for Tesla shares.

Shortly after the interview with Benzinga CEO Jason Raznick, Ark <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/03/20266923/cathie-wood-ark-funds-lay-out-new-3-000-price-target-for-tesla-shares-what-investors-should-know">announced </a>a price target of $3,000 for Tesla shares.

That $3,000 price target for the year 2025 could be a topping event for Ark&rsquo;s investment in Tesla.

&ldquo;If nothing were to change in our outlook and we got to $3,000 next year, my guess is that we would be peeling out of it,&rdquo; Wood <a href="https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-bull-ark-ceo-names-price-to-sell-tsla-holdings/">said </a>at the Morningstar Investment Conference earlier this week.

Ark uses a Montel Carlo analysis to build its price target, which is based on a series of simulations to determine the probability of different outcomes with random variables.

The price target was based on 34 inputs, and over 40,000 possible simulations were used to create the new price target.

The price target takes&nbsp;into account the building of more gigafactories and adding car insurance. The impact of the price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), which is held on the Tesla balance sheet, was not part of the valuation calculations. Tesla&rsquo;s energy storage and solar business were also not included in the&nbsp;pricing model.

Related Link: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/01/19082834/with-tesla-over-800-arks-catherine-wood-proves-doubters-wrong-on-huge-bullish-call-from-2018">With Tesla Over $800, Ark&#39;s Catherine Wood Proves Doubters Wrong On Huge Bullish Call From 2018&nbsp;</a>

Why It&rsquo;s Important: Tesla is the largest holding in the&nbsp;Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ARKK#NYSE">ARKK</a>), representing 10.1% of assets with over 2.9 million shares and almost $2.2 billion in value.

Tesla is also the largest holding of the Ark Next Generation ETF (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ARKW#NYSE">ARKW</a>) representing 10.2% of assets, with over 745,000 shares representing over $560 million in value.

Wood has been <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/22982385/cathie-wood-further-trims-tesla-stake-selling-31-4m-shares-on-thursday">trimming </a>the stake in Tesla shares recently both on a share basis and also as a percentage of holdings. Earlier this year, Tesla represented 10.5% of assets in both funds.

Tesla is the <a href="https://ark-funds.com/active-etfs">largest holding</a> in both ETFs by a considerable margin. The next closest assets are Teladoc Health (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TDOC#NYSE">TDOC</a>) in ARKK and Twitter Inc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TWTR#NYSE">TWTR</a>) in ARKW at 5.7% and 5.6%, respectively.

Cutting the stake in Tesla significantly would greatly change the structure of the Ark ETFs.

Sector ETFs

ETFs

ARKK

ARKW

TDOC

TWTR

If Tesla Stock Hits This Price, Cathie Wood Could Sell Her Position

Does crime pay?

Wall Street Crime and Punishment is a weekly series by Benzinga&#39;s Phil Hall chronicling the bankers, brokers and financial ne&rsquo;er-do-wells whose ambition and greed take them in the wrong direction.

The newly terminated employees from Lehman Brothers slowly marched in groups of fours and sixes from the elevators of their towering glass skyscraper through the building&rsquo;s lobby and onto Manhattan&rsquo;s Seventh Avenue, swaying a slow, numb procession, shell-shocked warriors moving from one battleground to another.

Their workspace possessions &mdash; framed photographs, plaques, knick-knacks, small plants and folders overflowing with papers &mdash; were clustered&nbsp;together in a haphazard manner and hurriedly put into cardboard boxes and plastic bags collected from lunch deliveries.

The ebb and flow of Seventh Avenue&rsquo;s pedestrian traffic barely noticed this flotsam cast into the open air, and few in the Lehman Brothers refugee stream seemed cognizant of the noise and commotion that midtown Manhattan had to offer. They were still too shocked to comprehend what occurred.

Despite the C-suite&rsquo;s Micawber-worthy hope of something better on the way, there was no white knight to save Lehman Brothers and the workers knew the firm&rsquo;s demise had no longer become a case of &ldquo;if&rdquo; but &ldquo;when.&rdquo;

But what they could not wrap their minds around was the &ldquo;how&rdquo;: Lehman Brothers was supposed to be indestructible, like Egypt&rsquo;s pyramids and China&rsquo;s Great Wall, standing forever as a testament to man&rsquo;s genius. It was supposed to be a corporate story without an ending, and certainly not one as ignoble and humiliating for those whose careers were quickly stuffed into flimsy boxes and tacky bags.

But Lehman Brothers did fall, shattering in the self-immolation of cupidity and stupidity. And when it crashed, its collapse resonated around the world.

When Cotton Was King: The Lehman Brothers odyssey did not begin amid Manhattan&rsquo;s concrete canyons, but rather in the dusty confines of Alabama&rsquo;s capital city of Montgomery in 1844, when a young German-Jewish immigrant named Hayum Lehmann arrived with limited English skills and limitless energy. Reinventing himself as Henry Lehman, he managed to save enough funds to open a dry goods shop in 1847. His siblings Emanuel and Mayer joined him in Alabama, both adapting the Lehman surname to enable the new Lehman Brothers brand.

The enterprising trio found their way into the South&rsquo;s lucrative cotton business, initially by serving as cotton factors who coordinated the sale of the valuable cash crop on behalf of planters and later as traders of the profitable commodity.

Henry Lehman only enjoyed the early rewards of this endeavor &mdash;&nbsp;he died from yellow fever in 1855 at the age of 33 &mdash;&nbsp;but Emanuel and Mayer grew the business further, taking advantage of enslaved labor to solidify their financial foundation.

Emanuel relocated to New York City in 1858 when the rumblings of a war between the states forced the relocation of the majority of U.S. cotton trading to the North. When war finally broke out in 1861, the Lehmans teamed with a cotton merchant named John Durr who helped circumvent the Northern efforts to halt cotton sales from the secessionist Southern states.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Lehman Brothers moved its headquarters to New York City, leaving the Southern-based operations under the control of Benjamin Newgass, the brother of Mayer&rsquo;s wife Babette. While the Lehmans offered input with the creation of the New York Cotton Exchange in 1870, they eventually looked beyond that commodity and expanded into investment banking.

Over the decades, Lehman Brothers was responsible for enabling a parade of promising corporations to become publicly-traded, beginning with International Steam Pump Company in 1899 and later followed by Sears, Roebuck and Company, F.W. Woolworth Company, May Department Stores Company, Gimbel Brothers, Inc., R.H. Macy &amp; Company, The Studebaker Corporation, the B.F. Goodrich Co., Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and Digital Equipment Corporation.

The company underwent leadership changes over the years, with the Lehman family eventually losing control of the reins. A 1984 to 1994 union with American Express Company (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AXP#NYSE">AXP</a>) that was later joined by E.F. Hutton nearly erased Lehman Brothers&rsquo; distinctive personality, but it managed to emerge by the end of the 20th century as one of the most powerful and influential U.S. financial services firms.

<img alt="lehmans.jpg" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u200644/lehmans.jpg" style="height:144px; width:234px" />

Mayer and Emanuel Lehman; no photograph or portrait of Henry Lehman is known to exist.

The Loan Wolf: In 1997, Lehman acquired Aurora Loan Services, a Littleton, Colorado-based mortgage lender specializing in Alt-A loans. Alt-A occupied the ground between the prime and subprime loans, and the mortgages originated by this company would be packaged into mortgage-backed securities for sale in the secondary market.

Lehman Brothers justified this acquisition, its first in the mortgage space, based on dramatic shifts in federal housing policy. The Clinton administration, particularly its Department of Housing and Urban Development under the stewardship of Andrew Cuomo&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;an attorney who never worked a day in the private sector housing or mortgage industries and was the son of New York Gov. Mario Cuomo &mdash;&nbsp;decided it was in the national interest to expand the U.S. homeownership rate, particularly among minority communities who had historically been denied access to homeownership opportunities due to redlining policies.

While Alt-A loans became more popular, subprime mortgages gained even greater popularity&nbsp;and Lehman Brothers latched on to this by purchasing an ownership stake in Irvine, California-based subprime lender BNC Mortgage in 2000; a complete takeover of the company happened three years later.

Lehman Brothers theorized it was on the right track with nonprime mortgages &mdash;&nbsp;after all, the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 appeared to erase the potential that digital technology start-ups offered. And with the federal government actively encouraging more people to buy homes, nonprime vehicles helped speed borrowers who would be shut out of homeownership into the American dream.

By 2004, the U.S. homeownership rate reached a historic peak of 69.2%; 10 years earlier, it had been 64%. However, this rapid growth came at a cost: loan quantity trumped quality, as too many mortgages were approved for borrowers who did not meet the underwriting guidelines needed for the origination of prime mortgages and did not fully comprehend the complex machinery of the subprime documents they were signing.

At first, it was a joyous boom time.&nbsp;The combined forces of Aurora Loan Services and BNC Mortgage generated approximately $50 billion per month in nonprime mortgage originations in 2006.

Related Link: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/topic/wall-street-crime-and-punishment">The complete Wall Street Crime and Punishment series</a>

The Foreclosure Hole: In March 2007, relatively few people noticed when the Ohio Housing Finance Agency issued $100 million in taxable municipal bonds to help 1,000 families with the refinancing of their toxic mortgages.

&ldquo;We were the first state housing finance agency to roll out a refi product,&rdquo; recalled Douglas A. Garver, the agency&rsquo;s then-executive director, in a 2011 interview with the housing industry news resource <a href="https://mortgageorb.com/the-fall-and-rise-of-the-housing-market-part-one">MortgageOrb</a>. &ldquo;There was no product for us to duplicate &mdash;&nbsp;we were on our own in that regard.&rdquo;

The bond sale was the first acknowledgment that the excessive origination of nonprime mortgages was creating more problems than solutions. Sloppy underwriting in many of the nonprime mortgages resulted in too-risky home loans being shoved into mortgage-backed securities that were rubber-stamped with credit rating agencies&rsquo; seals of approval. Wall Street juiced up its sales mechanism for these securities and investors couldn&rsquo;t get enough of them.

In February 2007, Lehman&#39;s stock price peaked at $86.18 per share, resulting in a market capitalization of roughly $60 billion. The following month, the stock went into its greatest free-fall in five years as news of increasing defaults on nonprime mortgages began to circulate.

The company&rsquo;s leadership, particularly Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan, insisted the risks created by mortgage delinquencies were contained and there was nothing to worry about.

At first, calm took hold and both Wall Street and the federal government tried to pooh-pooh concerns that the housing market was in peril. Then in August 2007, a pair of Bear Stearns hedge funds failed and the resonance reached Lehman Brother, which could no longer pretend all was copacetic. BNC Mortgage was abruptly shuttered, Aurora shut down several of its offices across the country and 1,200 jobs in the company&rsquo;s mortgage operations were axed.

The initial thought was that the situation would correct itself. After all, Lehman Brothers&rsquo; $110 billion mortgage-backed securities portfolio was the nation&rsquo;s largest and&nbsp;the prevailing logic was the company&rsquo;s size guaranteed safety, and failure was not an option. But that portfolio was also about four times the firm&rsquo;s shareholder&rsquo;s equity.

Even worse, the over-leveraged company was dependent on a strong economy. As 2007 transitioned into 2008, economic conditions deteriorated as the housing bubble slowly began to pop. Lehman Brothers&rsquo; shares sank by nearly 48% on March 17, 2008, amid fears that it could not maintain its equilibrium with an oversized and problematic mortgage-backed securities portfolio.

The company&rsquo;s peril brought in U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who expressed their fears to Lehman Brothers President Richard Fuld that he was facing a potential bankruptcy the federal government could not avert.

<img alt="rf.jpg" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u200644/rf.jpg" style="height:198px; width:299px" />

Richard Fuld at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Bear Stearns avoided that fate by attracting JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/JPM#NYSE">JPM</a>) as a buyer and Paulson reached out to Bank of America Corp (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BAC#NYSE">BAC</a>) and Barclays PLC (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BCS#NYSE">BCS</a>) to consider buying Lehman Brothers, but neither was willing to make an acquisition without government assistance and Paulson was powerless to funnel federal dollars to that endeavor.&nbsp;The Fed couldn&rsquo;t help since Lehman Brothers did not fall under its regulation.

On June 7, 2008, Lehman announced a second-quarter loss of $2.8 billion, its first negative quarterly performance in 14 years. Although it raised $6 billion from investors within a week, that barely helped. An unlikely outreach for help was dispatched to the Korea Development Bank, but South Korea&rsquo;s government was unwilling to get involved.

The company&rsquo;s third-quarter loss of $3.9 billion, which included a $5.6 billion write-down, proved to be the start of its death knell despite efforts by Fuld to improvise mitigation, including the spinoff of the company&rsquo;s commercial real estate assets.

Lehman Brothers&rsquo; stock tumbled by 42% on Sept. 11, 2008. Four days later, the company declared bankruptcy while holding $619 billion in debt.

It was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, a feat that was never topped.

On the day Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, its stock crashed by 93% from its previous close. A domino effect of that announcement was the cratering of the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 504.48 points, its greatest drop in seven years. Lehman Brothers&rsquo; collapse has been cited as the starting point of the economic bedlam that gave rise to the Great Recession.

Who&rsquo;s To Blame? In the aftermath of the collapse, bankruptcy court examiner Anton Valukus uncovered an accounting scheme dubbed by the company&rsquo;s insiders as &ldquo;Repo 105&rdquo; that perverted the common repo transaction &mdash;&nbsp;raising cash through the sale of an asset with the promise of a buyback later &mdash;&nbsp;by intentionally misidentifying the transaction as a permanent sale and thus removing the risky assets from its books. During the first half of 2008, the company&rsquo;s Repo 105 scheme slashed its balance sheet by $50 billion and shrank its leverage ratio from 13.9 to 12.1.

Ernst &amp; Young LLP, the company&rsquo;s external accounting firm, was sued by then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for enabling Lehman Brothers to deceive investors. Ernst &amp; Young paid a $10 million settlement.&nbsp;Schneiderman&rsquo;s lawsuit was the only action taken by a law enforcement authority in connection with Lehman Brother&rsquo;s downfall.

Although ex-president Fuld was brought before a congressional hearing and chastised for the $485 million in salary, bonuses and options that he earned between 2000 and 2007, he never faced criminal or civil charges. He began a consulting firm for high-net-worth clients and would not speak publicly about what transpired until he gave a speech at a financial conference in 2015 where he absolved the now-defunct company of blame and pointed to Washington as the culprit.

&ldquo;Regardless of what you heard of Lehman Brothers&rsquo; risk management, I had 27,000 risk managers, because they all owned a piece of the firm,&rdquo; he said, adding &ldquo;the government pushed for non-qualified homeownership. The government clearly wanted everybody to fulfill their view of the American dream.&rdquo;

After Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, Nomura Holdings&nbsp;Inc&nbsp;(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NMR#NYSE">NMR</a>) crafted a deal to buy Lehman Brothers&#39; franchise in the Asia Pacific region for $225 million. Barclays agreed to a deal to purchase Lehman Brothers&rsquo; U.S. capital markets division at $1.75 billion; the British bank also acquired the Seventh Avenue headquarters, formerly home to some of the 25,000 Lehman Brothers employees who lost their jobs.

When Lehman Brothers failed and its workforce was ordered to leave their offices, some went into local bars to tranquilize their sorrow with beer bottles and cocktail glasses. Others hailed cabs and rode away, lost in their thoughts amid the miasma of Manhattan&rsquo;s traffic.

And others found their way down into the city&rsquo;s subways, waiting amid the humid swelter of the underground stations for a train to take them somewhere better. It would be a very long and crowded ride:&nbsp;by the time the Lehman Brothers-fueled Great Recession abated, more than 8 million people lost their jobs.

<img alt="lbt.jpg" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u200644/lbt.jpg" style="height:400px; width:300px" />

Photos: Lehman Brothers headquarters in 2006 by Sachab; Lehman Brothers headstone by FutureAtlas.com, both via Flickr Creative Commons.

Wall Street Crime and Punishment: When Lehman Brothers Collapsed And The Economy Followed

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AMC#NYSE">AMC</a>) was trading slightly lower when the markets opened Friday morning, but at 10:15 a.m. bullish volume came into the stock and propped it up.

The short interest on the stock has been increasing and as of Aug. 31 the number of shares held short came in at 95.94 million, meaning 18.76%. The figure is up from 85.85 million in July.

The amount of naked shorting on <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/buy-amc-stock/">AMC Entertainment</a> is not included in the number of registered shares held short and could be significant. Naked shorting is an illegal market manipulation tactic where synthetic shares are lent between brokers and large hedge funds.

AMC also has a massive amount of trading activity occurring over the dark pool. The dark pool allows financial institutions and hedge funds to trade anonymously and can be used as a predatory practice. As of Friday at 10 a.m. ET, over 60% of AMC&rsquo;s <a href="https://chartexchange.com/symbol/nyse-amc/stats/">trading volume</a> was completed over dark pools.

See Also:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/23084245/5-stocks-to-consider-for-world-gorilla-day">5 Stocks To Consider For World Gorilla Day</a>

The AMC Chart: After hitting a high of $52.79 on Sept. 13, AMC entered into a downtrend and declined about 28% to a low of $37.74. The stock then created a double bottom pattern and the level and bounced up about 10% higher.

The decline set AMC&rsquo;s stock into a falling channel pattern where it made a series of lower highs and lower lows between two parallel lines. On Thursday, the stock broke up bullishly from the falling channel, tested the upper descending trendline of the channel as support and closed the trading day above it. On Friday, AMC was holding above a support level at $39.07, possibly consolidating the break of the pattern.

<ul>
	<li>If AMC is working on a bullish trend change, Friday&rsquo;s action may serve as the higher low. Bulls can watch for future trading action to create a higher high above $42 level. Sideways price movement on low volume indicates consolidation as opposed to downward pressure.</li>
	<li>Bears will need to see a break of the $39 level and for big bearish volume to push the stock down to a lower low below $37.74. Below the level, AMC has support at $31.81.<img alt="amc_sept._24.png" src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/u278075/amc_sept._24.png" style="height:768px; width:1366px" /></li>
</ul>

Why AMC Entertainment Stock Could Go Bananas

The call for members of Congress to be banned from buying and selling stocks continues to heat up with a new report that seven members of the House of Representatives failed to&nbsp;disclose their stock trades.

What Happened: An ethics group found that seven U.S. House of Representatives members didn&rsquo;t report stock trades. The members of Congress included in the report are four Democrats and three Republicans, NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/22/1039287987/outside-ethics-group-says-7-house-lawmakers-didnt-disclose-stock-trades">reports</a>.&nbsp;

Five of the seven named parties serve on the House Financial Services Committee, which could give them early information on government policies.

The report was filed by the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan entity.

The STOCK Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2012, was put into place to discourage insider trading by members of Congress. The law, also known as Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, made it mandatory for members of Congress to file reports when they bought or sold stocks within 45 days of each trade worth over $1,000.

The new report shows that in the case of the seven named parties, they never filed a proper disclosure at all.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The lack of accountability we&rsquo;ve seen in regard to STOCK Act compliance is basically giving elected officials the green light to buy and sell stocks based on information gained from committee meetings without any transparency for their voters,&rdquo; Campaign Legal Center&rsquo;s General Counsel Kedric Payne said.

Related Link:<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/20/12/18657252/8-stocks-prolific-trader-sen-david-perdue-sold-while-in-congress"> 8 Stocks Prolific Trader Sen. David Perdue Sold While In Congress</a>

The Seven Named Parties: Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York, failed to disclose 300 stock transactions, according to the report.

&ldquo;The Congressman&rsquo;s investments are managed through independent advisors with discretion over all transactions. Every transaction has been reported on his annual financial disclosure and all proper periodic disclosures will be filed on a going forward basis,&rdquo; a spokesperson for Suozzi told NPR.

Other parties include Democrat Cindy Axne of Iowa, Republican Warren Davidson of Ohio, Republican Lance Gooden of Texas, Democrat Michael San Nicolas of Guam, Democrat Bobby Scott of Virginia and Republican Roger Williams of Texas.

Axne, Davidson, Gooden, San Nicolas and Williams are all members of the House Financial Services Committee.

Davidson sold shares of Workhorse Group (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/WKHS#NASDAQ">WKHS</a>) valued between $50,000 and $100,000. Workhorse missed out on a significant deal from the United States Postal Service that sent shares crashing.

Some of the other stocks mentioned in the report including cruise lines and airlines, two sectors that got hit hard when coronavirus shutdown orders were put in place.

What&rsquo;s Next: In 2021, there have been numerous violations to the STOCK Act, with members of Congress failing to disclose purchases or making the disclosure months after the deadline.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been among those in the spotlight for <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/government/21/01/19322304/nancy-pelosi-buys-tesla-calls-stands-to-benefit-from-new-biden-ev-plan">disclosing trades</a> made by her husband that could come from information the Congresswoman knows.&nbsp;

Rand Paul recently <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/government/21/08/22467328/what-to-know-about-rand-paul-failing-to-disclose-gilead-stock-purchase-for-16-months">failed </a>to disclose a purchase of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GILD#NASDAQ">GILD</a>), a company that stood to benefit from ruling on a COVID-19 treatment option.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had several examples where members of Congress bought or sold stocks that pertain to their work, and there actually were follow-up investigations to see whether or not they bought or sold those stocks based on nonpublic inside information,&rdquo; Sen.&nbsp;Kirsten Gillibrand told NPR.

Gillibrand, who helped write the STOCK Act, said the rule is working.

Senator Jeff Merkley,&nbsp;who voted the 2012 law into place, was less enthusiastic.

&ldquo;The STOCK Act is pretty much useless,&rdquo; Merkley told NPR. The Congressman calls for the banning of trading stocks by members of Congress.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a huge conflict of interest for someone to be trading in, say, pharmaceutical stocks at the same time as making policy for pharmaceutical companies.&rdquo;

Merkley has introduced a bill that would make it a requirement for members of Congress to divest their stock holdings within six months of taking public office.

&ldquo;I can guarantee you that every year there&rsquo;ll be a scandal related to stock trading.&rdquo;

Merkley said he has the support from some Democratic colleagues, but the topic is not popular. A push for creating a STOCK Act 2.0 is gaining steam from some members of Congress.

GILD

WKHS

7 Members Of Congress Failed To Disclose Stock Transactions: Who Was Named, And What's Next?

Elon Musk may be taking Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) to the moon, but his Canadian singer gal-pal Grimes won&rsquo;t be joining him for that lunar journey &mdash;&nbsp;the power couple has split after three years together.

What Happened: The New York Post&rsquo;s <a href="https://pagesix.com/2021/09/24/elon-musk-and-grimes-break-up-after-three-years-together/">Page Six</a> learned of the breakup from the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSLA#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>) CEO himself, who termed their disunion as &ldquo;semi-separated.&rdquo; 
&ldquo;We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms,&rdquo; Musk said.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas and her work is primarily in LA. She&rsquo;s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Baby X&rdquo; is a reference to their son X &AElig; A-Xii Musk, who was born in May 2020, two years after Musk and Grimes became a couple.

Related Link: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/23084245/5-stocks-to-consider-for-world-gorilla-day">5 Stocks To Consider For World Gorilla Day (Including Tesla!)</a>

How It Happened: The couple were last seen together in public earlier this month during New York City&rsquo;s Met Gala, where Grimes was part of the parade of high-profile celebrities wearing extravagant and often outrageous fashions. Musk declined to be part of fashionista display for the cameras and joined her inside the event.&nbsp;He later hosted an afterparty at the exclusive Zero Bond club with Grimes in attendance.<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9p58g3S4wVQ" width="560"></iframe>

Musk was married from 2000 to 2008 to author Justine Wilson, with whom he has six sons &mdash;&nbsp;their first child died of sudden infant death syndrome at the age of 10 weeks. He married actress Talulah Riley in 2010. They divorced in 2012, remarried in 2013 and divorced again in 2016.

Musk has also been linked to actress Amber Heard&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp, accused Musk of having an affair with his wife while they were still married.

Grimes was never married but has been romantically linked with singer Devon Welsh and songwriter-musician Jaime Brooks.

Photo: OnInnovation / Flickr Creative Commons.

Elon Musk Splits With Grimes After Three Years Together

The People&rsquo;s Bank of China reiterated its anti-crypto stance on Friday with a &ldquo;fresh notice&rdquo; declaring all cryptocurrency-related activities illegal.

What Happened: China&rsquo;s central bank <a href="http://www.pbc.gov.cn/goutongjiaoliu/113456/113469/4348521/index.html">published a notice</a> on its website stating that all services offering trading, order matching, token issuance&nbsp;and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly prohibited.&nbsp;

Following the news, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) shed $3,000&nbsp;from its price within a span of two hours. The market-leading cryptocurrency was trading at $45,000 before it dropped 6% to a low of $40,900 at the time of writing.

Yet according to reports from several Chinese residents, the PBOC notice itself was originally issued on Sept. 15 and was only posted online earlier Friday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
PBOC&rsquo;s announcement about ban crypto got widespread today is was ANNOUNCED ON SEPTEMBER 15TH, but got posted online today. The market already reacted on those regulatory fud.<a href="https://t.co/BPlVQEMVMt">https://t.co/BPlVQEMVMt</a> <a href="https://t.co/e0U7gbEHnY">pic.twitter.com/e0U7gbEHnY</a>
&mdash; Molly (@bigmagicdao) <a href="https://twitter.com/bigmagicdao/status/1441333309796077570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2021</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
2017: China bans crypto = 40% dip as Chinese traders and exchanges frantically try to find a way to survive 
 
2021: Media picks up 9 day old article about China banning crypto = 10% dip as noobs panic sell 
 
The difference is clear
&mdash; Boxmining (@boxmining) <a href="https://twitter.com/boxmining/status/1441363757632917511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2021</a></blockquote>

The notice itself was a reiteration of the Chinese authorities&#39; previous stance on cryptocurrencies, with only a few new takeaways.

One of those takeaways&nbsp;is that even overseas crypto exchanges are now&nbsp;subject to scrutiny if they facilitate trading activities in mainland China in any way.

These exchanges would not be exempt from illegal status in the country, said the PBOC, which <a href="7" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">reportedly plans</a> to investigate workers employed by these foreign crypto exchanges.

As noted by Chinese journalist Colin Wu, the most severely impacted tokens are those belonging to major crypto exchanges used primarily by Chinese residents.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Affected by the policy, the tokens of several major exchanges, which are mainly Chinese users, fell sharply. HT fell 18%. <a href="https://t.co/sq0xFGdSTZ">pic.twitter.com/sq0xFGdSTZ</a>
&mdash; Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) <a href="https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain/status/1441348994072920104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2021</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">&nbsp;</blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The notice also named stablecoin Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) in addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) as an &ldquo;illegal&rdquo; crypto asset.

At the time of writing, market-wide fear was still imminent as cryptocurrencies continued to sell off.

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) fell by 9% to a low of $2,800 along with most large-cap altcoins.

Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) lost 10%, falling to a price of 19 cents. Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) fell by 5% and 10%, respectively.

Crypto-focused stocks like Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/COIN#NASDAQ">COIN</a>) and MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MSTR#NASDAQ">MSTR</a>) sold off during premarket trading, dropping by more than 5%.

$ADA

$SOL

MSTR

China's 'New' Crypto Ban Is 10 Days Old, But Panic Sellers Send Bitcoin To $40,900

A well-known art gallery owner and entrepreneur team are launching the first independent online auction platform for NFTs and digital works created by a gallery.

What Happened: <a href="https://www.artofficial.com/">ArtOfficial </a>launched Friday, Sept. 24 to provide a new way for acclaimed artists to sell their <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/what-is-a-non-fungible-token-nft/">non-fungible tokens</a> and digital works.

&ldquo;ArtOfficial is an online platform to exhibit and sell original works by foremost artists exploring new mediums, including digital artworks and NFTs,&rdquo; the company said.

The company was created by art gallery owner&nbsp;Vito Schnabel, AJ Vaynerchuk and Gary Vaynerchuk. Owen Laub serves as the director of ArtOfficial, running the day-to-day operations.

&ldquo;ArtOfficial aims to broaden the experience of digital art and make its acquisition more accessible and transparent for the public,&rdquo; according to the company.&nbsp;

Auctions can be paid for using <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-buy-ethereum/">Ethereum </a>(CRYPTO: ETH).

&ldquo;This is a profound moment in the evolution of art history, with digital art and NFTs ushering in a paradigm shift,&rdquo; Vaynerchuk said.

Vaynerchuk called the platform creation a merger of talents and areas of expertise. The platform was designed to provide value to artists and offer a platform for new collectors.

Related Link: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/04/20557845/exclusive-gary-vee-on-sports-cards-investment-options-whats-ahead-for-nfts">Exclusive: Gary Vee On Sports Cards Investment Options, What&#39;s Ahead For NFTs</a>

The First Auctions: The inaugural ArtOfficial auctions are open for bids from Sept. 24 through Oct. 4.

Among the first items up for bid is the first digital work created by renowned visual artist Francesco Clemente. The winner of the Clemente digital piece will also receive a live portrait session with the artist for a watercolor painting.

&ldquo;The Sea Far From Our Native Lands&rdquo; is part of a new NFT series featuring music from composer and pianist Philip Glass.

What&rsquo;s Next: Future auctions from ArtOfficial include NFTs from Schnabel, Jordan Kerwick, Spencer Lewis, Robert Nava, Ariana Papademetropoulos, Julian Schnabel and Gus Van Sant.

&ldquo;The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs&rdquo; composer Mason Bates will feature a new visual and aural work at a future ArtOfficial auction.

Vee has been a top voice in the growth of NFTs and launched his own NFT project VeeFriends earliler this year. Vee recently <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/09/22936501/gary-vee-nft-artwork-will-be-auctioned-at-christies-what-you-should-know">announced </a>that original artwork used for the creation of VeeFriends would be auctioned at Christie&#39;s.&nbsp;

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9LEZSjPEt1s" width="560"></iframe>

Gary Vee, Vito Schnabel Launch NFT Auction Platform: What NFT Investors Should Know

BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BB#NYSE">BB</a>) has emerged as the most-discussed stock on Reddit&rsquo;s r/WallStreetBets forum as of Thursday night, while SmileDirectClub Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SDC#NYSE">SDC</a>), Canoo Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GOEV#NASDAQ">GOEV</a>), &nbsp;TMC the metals company Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TMC#NASDAQ">TMC</a>) and Nike Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NKE#NYSE">NKE</a>) are also seeing high interest.

What Happened: Exchange-traded fund SPDR S&amp;P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SPY#NYSE">SPY</a>) is seeing the highest interest on the forum with 660 mentions as at press time, followed by Canada-based cybersecurity company BlackBerry with 348 mentions, data from Quiver Quantitative showed.

Oral care company SmileDirectClub and electric vehicle startup Canoo are in the third and fourth positions, having attracted 181 and 179 mentions, respectively.

Apart from deep sea mining startup TMC the metals company and sports apparel retailer Nike, the other stocks trending on the forum include data analytics company Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/PLTR#NYSE">PLTR</a>), e-commerce company ContextLogic Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/WISH#NASDAQ">WISH</a>), cybersecurity company IronNet Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/IRNT#NYSE">IRNT</a>) and home d&eacute;cor retailer Kirkland&rsquo;s Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/KIRK#NASDAQ">KIRK</a>).

See Also:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/23085537/whats-going-on-with-palantir-stock-today">What&#39;s Going On With Palantir Stock Today?</a>

Why It Matters: BlackBerry continues to see high interest on the forum after the company reported <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/21/09/23064722/why-blackberry-stock-shot-up-today">better-than-expected earnings results</a> for the second quarter on Wednesday.

Canoo has emerged among the most-discussed stocks on the forum. A <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/ptvbbb/goev_an_ev_bangbus_on_a_highway_to_tendie_town/">post</a> on the forum noted that the company meets the conditions for a short squeeze as it has a short interest of 31.2% and a low float of 99.24 million shares.

Shares of Nike tumbled almost 4% in the after-hours trading session after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, while revenues missed estimates and the company lowered its fiscal 2022 sales outlook.

See Also:&nbsp;

Price Action: SPDR S&amp;P 500 ETF Trust&rsquo;s shares closed 1.2% higher in Thursday&rsquo;s regular trading session at $443.18 and further rose less than 0.1% in the after-hours session to $443.55.

BlackBerry&rsquo;s shares closed almost 10.9% higher in the regular trading session at $10.60 and further rose almost 0.5% in the after-hours session to $10.65.

SmieDirectClub&rsquo;s shares closed almost 2.6% lower in the regular trading session at $6.10, but rose almost 1.2% in the after-hours session to $6.17.

Read Next: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/21/09/23073632/where-cramer-stands-on-tesla-fisker-following-mixed-analyst-ratings">Where Cramer Stands On Tesla, Fisker Following Mixed Analyst Ratings</a>

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BlackBerry Emerges As Top WallStreetBets Interest; SmileDirectClub, Nike, Palantir, Canoo Are Other Top Trends

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Compliance and Business in Cannabis, Win a TESLA Stock From Benzinga!

Investors who&nbsp;added Innovative Industrial Properties Inc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/IIPR#NYSE">IIPR</a>) to their portfolio one year ago are living the high life.

Since September 2020, Innovative Industrial stock&#39;s 1-year return has outperformed a number of the world&rsquo;s most popular tech, clean energy and entertainment companies: Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSLA#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>), Nio Inc - ADR (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NIO#NYSE">NIO</a>), General Motors Company (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GM#NYSE">GM</a>), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AAPL#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>), Walt Disney Co (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/DIS#NYSE">DIS</a>) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MSFT#NASDAQ">MSFT</a>).

For the uninitiated- Innovative Industrial is a <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/real-estate-investment-companies/">real estate investment</a> trust engaged in the acquisition, ownership and management of specialized industrial properties leased to state-licensed operators for their regulated medical-use cannabis facilities.&nbsp;

Innovative Industrial mainly targets medical-use cannabis facilities for acquisition, including sale-leaseback transactions, with tenants that are licensed growers under long-term, triple-net leases.&nbsp;

Here&#39;s how the returns break down from September 2020 to present:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Tesla is up from $407.34 a share to $774.39 for a return of 90.11%</li>
	<li>Nio is up from $18.32 a share to $35.38 for a return of 93.12%</li>
	<li>GM is up from $29.00 a share to $52.23 for a return of 80.10%</li>
	<li>Apple is up from $112.28 a share to $146.92 for a return of 30.85%</li>
	<li>Disney is up from $124.00 a share to $176.00 for a return of 41.94%</li>
	<li>Microsoft is up from $207.82 a share to $299.34 for a return of 44.04%</li>
	<li>And finally, Innovative Industrial is up from $123.36 a share to $244.88 for a return of 98.51%</li>
</ul>
Related Link:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/21/09/23015406/cannabis-reit-innovative-industrial-properties-enters-missouri-via-28-3m-deal-with-calyx-peaks-s">Cannabis REIT Innovative Industrial Properties Enters Missouri Via $28.3M Deal With Calyx Peak&#39;s Subsidiary</a>

IIPR

This Cannabis Stock Has A Better 1-Year Return Than Tesla, Nio, GM, Apple, Disney And Microsoft

Tesla&nbsp;(NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSLA#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>) launched a button allowing its car users to request access to the beta testing program of its full self-driving software.

See Also:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-buy-tesla-stock/" target="_blank">HOW TO INVEST IN TESLA STOCK&nbsp;</a>

What Happened:&nbsp;According to a tweet&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1441560961593262081" target="_blank">published</a>&nbsp;on Saturday by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the button allowing to request access to the full self-driving beta program will be pushed to vehicles in an over-the-air software update tonight.

Although, full self-driving software version 10.1 &ldquo;needs another 24 hours of testing&rdquo; so it will not be released before tomorrow night. The announcement follows recent&nbsp;<a href="https://electrek.co/2021/09/17/tesla-make-sure-good-driver-before-giving-access-full-self-driving-beta/" target="_blank">reports</a>&nbsp;that Tesla cars will monitor and judge its users&#39; driving capabilities and only allow good drivers to access its full self-driving beta testing program.

The release will be available to customers&nbsp;who have purchased the $10,000 software upgrade, and those who have purchased a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1439787780180221954?s=20" target="_blank">subscription&nbsp;</a>from Tesla for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tesla.com/support/full-self-driving-subscriptions" target="_blank">about&nbsp;</a>$100 to $200 per month.

Why It&#39;s Important: The software in question also finds itself amid renewed controversy, as the San Francisco County Transportation Authority&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/23084350/sftca-raises-concerns-over-tesla-full-self-driving-name-safety-ahead-of-wider-beta-release" target="_blank">raised concerns</a>&nbsp;that its name is misleading since it claims that it in fact is an advanced driver assistance program, not an autonomous vehicle system.

Similarly, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/23003490/ntsb-says-teslas-use-of-term-full-self-driving-is-irresponsible-should-address-basic-safety-issues-f" target="_blank">described</a>&nbsp;Tesla&#39;s use of the term &ldquo;full self-driving&rdquo; in its driver-assistance technology as &ldquo;irresponsible.&rdquo;

See Also: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/tesla-stock-competitors/">TESLA STOCK COMPETITORS</a>

Hands On The Wheel! Tesla Launches Full Self Driving Beta Request Button

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Baidu shares are trading lower following reports Chinese antitrust regulators could veto the company's acquisition of JOYY's live streaming business.

COST

Costco shares are trading higher after the company reported Q4 EPS results up from last year and better-than-expected sales results. The company also reported Q4 comparable sales and e-commerce sales were up year-over-year.

Why is it Moving?

In 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Act provided payments of $1,200 to eligible adults and another $500 for those with qualifying children.

The CARES Act was the <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-American-families-and-workers">first </a>of three rounds of stimulus payments for Americans since March 2020.

The Tax Relief Act of 2020 in December declared additional payments of $600 per eligible adult and up to $600 for those with qualifying children.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided an additional $1,400 payment to eligible adults and up to $1,400 for those with qualifying children.

The stimulus money was used by Americans for various items, including helping offset increased expenses or lower income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Others <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/money/should-i-save-or-invest-my-stimulus-check/">saved </a>the money or <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-invest-in-cryptocurrency-with-your-stimulus-check/">invested </a>it.

Here is a look at the return a consumer would have had if they put their stimulus checks ($1,200, $600 and $1,400) into leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ethereum on the respective dates of April 11, 2020, December 29, 2020, and March 12, 2021.

Stimulus Checks in Bitcoin: Investing in <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-buy-bitcoin/">Bitcoin </a>(CRYPTO: BTC) with a portion of stimulus checks may have been a popular option for investors and people looking to store some of the payment from the US government.

Bitcoin traded at $6,926 on April 11, 2020, $27,370 on December 29, 2020 and $57,996 on March 12, 2021. A person who put all $3,200 from the stimulus checks into Bitcoin would have been able to purchase a total of 0.219 of the cryptocurrency. Based on a price of $42,588.24 for Bitcoin today, that $3,200 would now be worth $9,326.

Related Link: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-invest-your-1400-stimulus-check/">How To Invest In Cryptocurrency With Your Stimulus Check</a>



Stimulus Checks in Dogecoin: The meme cryptocurrency known as <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-buy-dogecoin-doge/">Dogecoin </a>(CRYPTO: DOGE), which has gained interest and value thanks to support from people like Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSLA#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>) CEO Elon Musk, was also a place some people put their stimulus checks.

Dogecoin traded at $0.0020 on April 11, 2020, $0.0046 on December 29, 2020 and $0.0570 on March 12, 2021. A person who put all $3,200 from the stimulus checks into Dogecoin would have been able to purchase 754,996 Dogecoin. Based on a price of $0.2079 today, that $3,200 would now be worth $156,963.

Stimulus Checks in Ethereum: One of the fastest growing cryptocurrencies in 2021 is <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-buy-ethereum/">Ethereum </a>(CRYPTO: ETH), thanks to its connection to <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/what-is-a-non-fungible-token-nft/">non-fungible tokens</a>.

Ethereum traded at $161.17 on April 11, 2020, $737.95 on December 29, 2020 and $1,839.50 on March 12, 2021. A person who put the $3,200 into Ethereum would have been able to purchase 9.02 of the coins. Based on a price of $2,906.61 for Ethereum today, that $3,200 investment would now be worth $26,218.

Stimulus Checks In All 3 Cryptocurrencies: A more diversified approach from an investor could have seen investments in Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ethereum. Splitting the $3,200 into equal investments of the three cryptocurrencies on the respective stimulus payout days would have given an investor .0731 Bitcoin, 251,665 Dogecoin and 3 Ethereum. The three cryptocurrencies would be worth $64,154 today based on equal investments from the three stimulus checks.

Analyst ratings measure the expected performance of a stock during a given time period.&nbsp;

Traders and investors should know analysts and brokerage firms often use ratings when they issue stock recommendations to stock traders.

In general, analysts arrive at stock ratings after they research companies&rsquo; public financial statements, communicate with executives and customers and interact with companies in other ways.

Amid another busy week of trading, here&rsquo;s the latest analyst ratings and updates for Plug Power, Roku, Dave &amp; Buster&#39;s and Salesforce.

Piper Sandler analyst Pearce Hammond upgraded Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/PLUG#NASDAQ">PLUG</a>) from Neutral to Overweight and announced a $33 price target.

Shares of Plug Power soared higher last week. The clean energy manufacturing company opened Monday&rsquo;s session at $25.32 and closed Friday higher by 6.52% at $26.97 for the week.

Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris upgraded Roku Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ROKU#NASDAQ">ROKU</a>) to Buy from Neutral with a $395 price target.

Shares of Roku traded higher last week. The digital media player company opened Monday&rsquo;s session at $316.84 and closed Friday higher by 1.60% at $321.89 for the week.

Jefferies analyst Andy Barish upgraded Dave &amp; Buster&#39;s Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/PLAY#NASDAQ">PLAY</a>) from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $40 to $56.

Shares of Dave &amp; Buster&rsquo;s climbed sharply higher last&nbsp;week. The restaurant and entertainment company opened Monday&rsquo;s session at $35.44 and closed Friday higher by 17.33% at $41.58 for the week.

Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin upgraded Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CRM#NYSE">CRM</a>) from Overweight from Neutral and increased the price target from $280 to $365.

Shares of Salesforce jumped higher last week. The cloud-based software company opened Monday&rsquo;s session at $256.59 and closed Friday higher by 11.32% at $285.63 for the week.

An iconic late night show that has entertained audiences for over 45 years is stepping up its game for the 2021 season by using technology to expand its live audience.

What Happened: The 47th season of &ldquo;Saturday Night Live&rdquo; <a href="https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/snl-kim-kardashian-host-owen-wilson-1235071542/">kicks off</a> October 2&nbsp;and will be livestreamed for the first time&nbsp;on Peacock, the streaming platform from Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CMCSA#NASDAQ">CMCSA</a>).

The premiere episode features Owen Wilson as the host and Kacey Musgraves as the musical guest.&nbsp;

Other guests for the upcoming &ldquo;SNL&rdquo; season include Kim Kardashian, Halsey, Rami Malek, Young Thug, Jason Sudeikis and Brandi Carlile.

Related Link: <a href="http://Can Live Streaming Revive Falling Saturday Night Live Ratings?">Here&#39;s Why Elon Musk Won&#39;t Win An Emmy For SNL Hosting Gig&nbsp;</a>

Why It&rsquo;s Important: Among the first announced guests for Season 47 are several that could bring in strong viewership figures. Kardashian is among the most followed people on social media and will likely draw a large online audience.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSLA#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>) CEO Elon Musk was a<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/05/21024609/how-to-watch-and-stream-elon-musk-on-snl"> guest hos</a>t in Season 46 and his episode was the third most watched episode of the season with 7.3 million viewers and even helped the show <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/09/23011645/elon-musk-wins-an-emmy-well-sort-of">win </a>an Emmy Award.

The October 23 episode features returning &quot;SNL&quot; cast member Sudeikis, who was on the show from 2005 to 2013. The two most watched episodes in Season 46 were those hosted by another&nbsp;former &ldquo;SNL&rdquo; cast member Chris Rock, along with&nbsp; Dave Chappelle.

The Musk-hosted episode was the first to feature a global livestream, with the episode airing on&nbsp;Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GOOG#NASDAQ">GOOG</a>)(NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GOOGL#NASDAQ">GOOGL</a>) unit YouTube.

Many Americans have cut the cord and chosen&nbsp;to watch live and on-demand programming on streaming platforms. Some do not have access to &ldquo;SNL&rdquo; until the next day via platforms like Hulu. By airing on Peacock live, the show could pick up some new viewers and increase its live viewership figure, which in return could boost advertising sales.

&ldquo;SNL&rdquo; is expected to get $180,000 per 30-second advertisement this season, an increase from the past season. The show made $123 million in advertising revenue in 2020, up from $114.7 million in the prior year.

Peacock saw a surge in streaming app downloads around the 2020 Summer Olympics and the release of &ldquo;The Boss Baby 2: Family Business.&rdquo; Time will tell if Season 47 of &ldquo;SNL&rdquo; could also provide a boost in Peacock&rsquo;s streaming figures.

Photo: Courtesy of Unsplash

garrettgradin520160

nelsonvivian225534057

Bitcoin, Ethereum , Dogecoin Chart Recovery With Twitter Push Even As 'Fear' Grips Investors

John Snyder

This is the stupidest comment I’ve read in a while!!!

stockme.rai425167

Thank you.  That is what I was trying to point out.  I think it is a stupid idea.

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