Anything For You All: FINANCE INSIDER: 'A huge intellectual failure'

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July 18, 2017

Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.

Goldman Sachs has a bond-trading problem.

The US bank beat earnings estimates on Tuesday, with a strong performance in equities trading, debt underwriting, and asset management helping power the beat.

But the troublesome fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution unit had a weak quarter, with revenue that was 40% lower than the second quarter of 2016 and 31% below its weak first quarter. The commodities business had its worst quarter on record. Goldman Sachs' first-half performance in FICC client execution was its worst since the US bank started reporting the results in the current format.

"We didn't navigate the market as well as we aspire to or as well as we have in the past," Goldman Sachs CFO analyst said on a call with analysts.

Bank of America beat Wall Street expectations on net income and revenue after record quarters from its global banking and wealth management units. A business that dogged the bank after the financial crisis hit a $2 billion milestone.

Flemming Ornskov, the CEO of the $50 billion drugmaker Shire, told us why big-ticket dealmaking has dropped. "I have a few people I've worked with in the past that are investment bankers, and they moan about the tough times they're going through," he said.

The stock market hasn't been this confident in 24 years. The head of $5.7 trillion fund giant BlackRock says the biggest trend in investing is just getting started. Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme ignited a $363 billion exodus by investors.

A one-word change in Yellen's remarks could have big implications for interest rates. And the Fed's misleading view of the job market reflects "a huge intellectual failure," according to David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.

An alarming number of Americans are worse off than their parents and we're not talking about it enough. The poorest Americans are suddenly worried about repaying their debts. There's a racial barrier to addressing America's huge inequality problem.

Amazon just launched a meal kit service and Blue Apron is dealing with the consequences. Chipotle is sinking after customers report symptoms that are "consistent with norovirus."

Netflix's surging stock is destroying short sellers. Here's why all the Netflix bears were wrong, according to RBC.

Snap slid below $15 for the first time. Harley-Davidson slashed its 2017 shipments forecast. Johnson & Johnson beat thanks to a boost from newer products. And UnitedHealth beat and raised its forecast.

Tesla added the CEO of Fox News' parent company to its board. And Tesla's stock price is "low if you believe in Tesla's future," according to Elon Musk.

An iconic Swiss watch company opened an enormous museum with watches that belonged to Joe DiMaggio and JFK. Lastly, check out Bombardier's next generation $73 million Global 7000 private jet.