BB - BlackBerry Limited
| Previous Close | 6.16 |
| Open | 6.16 |
| Bid | 6.01 x 2200 |
| Ask | 6.03 x 1300 |
| Day's Range | 5.97 - 6.16 |
| 52 Week Range | 4.86 - 10.29 |
| Volume | 3,229,767 |
| Avg. Volume | 4,963,086 |
| Market Cap | 3.323B |
| Beta (5Y Monthly) | 1.41 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | N/A |
| EPS (TTM) | -0.11 |
| Earnings Date | N/A |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | N/A (N/A) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | N/A |
| 1y Target Est | 8.02 |
- CNW Group
BlackBerry Cylance 2020 Annual Threat Report Reveals Scope of Global Attack Surface Expansion
WATERLOO, Ontario , Feb. 19, 2020 /CNW/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today released its annual 2020 Threat Report, which examines the latest adversarial techniques and tactics analyzed by BlackBerry Cylance threat researchers, and provides guidance organizations can leverage to mitigate risk. Key findings include the continued evolution of nation-state backed threat actor groups, the increased availability of sophisticated attack toolsets, as well as analysis on which targets are becoming more appealing to attackers and why. The report also details more select threats focused on targets like embedded technologies in connected vehicles, manufacturing and mobile devices, and those taking advantage of misconfigurations in cloud computing deployments.
- GuruFocus.com
Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management Buys 5 Stocks in the 4th Quarter
Firm of 'Big Short' investor also axes stake in Bed Bath & Beyond Continue reading...
- InvestorPlace
5 Top Stock Trades for Wednesday: BB, LK, AMD, WMT, M
Stocks are under pressure Tuesday, as coronavirus concerns again dominate the conversation in the stock market. That said, let's look at a few top stock trades heading into the holiday-shortened trading week. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 1: BlackBerry (BB) Click to Enlarge Source: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comBlackBerry (NYSE:BB) stock continues to bleed lower, but investors are looking to turn around the ship.After bottoming in October, shares have been participating in a slow but steady trend higher. After reclaiming the 100-day moving average in December, BB is now finding this measure to be support.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsHowever, Tuesday's rally is being cut short, as both the 20-day and 50-day moving averages are setting up as resistance. For traders, this gives us an opportune setup. * 9 Food and Restaurant Stocks to Dine In On If support at the 100-day moving average fails, it puts the $5.25 to $5.50 zone in play. Should resistance give way, however, it puts the $6.50 to $6.75 zone on the table. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 2: Luckin Coffee (LK) Click to Enlarge Source: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comLuckin Coffee (NASDAQ:LK) continues to shake off the short-report from Muddy Waters. And despite the coronavirus-related revenue warning from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), LK is rallying Tuesday -- up over 6%.The $34 mark held impressively, as LK has now reclaimed all of its major moving averages in the past few sessions. Now flirting with a move over $40, bulls are still in control of Luckin stock.If LK can clear $40, technically speaking, it puts $50 back on the table. Given the coronavirus headlines, however, it's hard to imagine LK stock getting back to this level in rapid fashion. Above all else, though, we follow price, not news.Below the 50-day moving average, and $34 is back on the table. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 3: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Click to Enlarge Source: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comAdvanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) continues to move well, surging to new all-time highs on Tuesday.Last week, AMD burst up to and over $50, drifted higher into Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) earnings and continued rallying after the report. From here, I want to see if shares can get to $60.It's worth noting that AMD is running into uptrend resistance (thin blue line), although I don't like to limit a stock's potential with these types of measures. Still, it's there and worth pointing out.On a dip, see if the $54 to $56 zone acts as support, as well as the 20-day moving average if it catches up before a pullback. Below puts $52 in play. * 15 Stocks to Buy Based On The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election Overall, AMD continues to move really well for the bulls. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 4: Walmart (WMT) Click to Enlarge Source: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comWalmart (NYSE:WMT) missed on earnings, reported in-line revenue and disappointed with its outlook and still managed to rally slightly on the day. That's how you know buyers are beating out the sellers right now.The stock's maintaining above the 50-day moving average, but struggling with $120 -- a notable level over the past six months. If WMT can clear $120, $124 is technically possible, although shares have struggled to maintain traction above $122.Either way, north of $120 is bullish for Walmart. What's not bullish? A close below the 50-day moving average and short-term uptrend support (blue line). That would put $114 and the 200-day moving average in play. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 5: Macy's (M) Click to Enlarge Source: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comMacy's (NYSE:M) has a similar setup to BlackBerry, which includes breaking out over long-term downtrend resistance and a recent push through the 100-day moving average (which is now acting as support).Below the 100-day moving average, however, and the tone again shifts more bearish.It will put uptrend support (blue line) in play, with sub-$14 possible on a move below that. If the 100-day moving average holds as support, though, look for a rebound. Back over the 20-day and 50-day moving averages and $17.50 to $18.50 is possible. Over the latter, and $20 is possible.Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell is long AAPL and NVDA. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 9 Food and Restaurant Stocks to Dine In On * 7 Micro-Cap Stocks That Could Double * 7 U.S. Stocks to Buy on Coronavirus Weakness The post 5 Top Stock Trades for Wednesday: BB, LK, AMD, WMT, M appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Barrons.com
Giant Canadian Fund Sold Disney and Starbucks Stock. Here’s What It Is Buying.
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, one of the biggest pensions in the world, more than doubled its BlackBerry stockholdings in the fourth quarter.
- InvestorPlace
The iPhone’s Days as the Driver of Apple Stock Are Numbered
The phenomenal growth of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has largely been driven by one product: the iPhone. For as long as many investors can remember, the iPhone has defined Apple. However, it's 2020 and the iPhone's days of being the primary driver of Apple stock value are over. 2007 to 2017: The iPhone Lit a Rocket Under Apple Source: Shutterstock Prior to the launch of its smartphone, Apple was on a roll. In the late 90s, Steve Jobs returned to once again become the company's CEO. That was followed by the launch of the iMac and then the wildly successful iPod. By the start of 2007, Apple dropped the "Computer" from its name to reflect the fact that with the iPod it had increasingly become a consumer electronics company, not just a PC maker with a side business.That summer, the company released its true game-changer, the iPhone.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsSales of the smartphone exploded and so did the value of Apple's shares. The iPhone destroyed previous leaders of the mobile device like BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BB) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK). When the company celebrated the tenth anniversary of the iPhone in June, 2017, Apple stock had increased in value by 1112% since the iPhone was first announced. In comparison, the S&P 500 had increased by 60% over the same decade. Since then, AAPL has gone from $144.73 to $324.60 for an additional 124% gain. That includes the recovery from a massive drop in the fourth quarter of 2018. Apple stock dropped 34% in just three months amid signs that the global smartphone market was in decline, and Apple announced that it would no longer report iPhone unit sales. If the Era of iPhone Growth Is Over, What Will Drive Apple Stock Going Forward?The iPhone still accounts for over half of AAPL's revenue, but the days of record launch weekends causing wild rallies of Apple's shares are clearly over. So what will come next? * 7 Exciting Stocks to Buy for Aggressive Investors In an email to InvestorPlace, Jack Choros, content manager for SophisticatedInvestor, laid out his thoughts on Apple:"Apple stock is up over 100% over the last year. Contrast that with the fact the S&P 500 is up just 25% and investors who bet on the stock are winning big. Once the fear over coronavirus calms down in 2020 and the broader stock market bounces back, Apple stock will rise and fall based on its non-iPhone related businesses such as the revenue generated by wearables like the Apple Watch and their service business. The iPhone is the King of mobile technology. Apple's future growth depends on other businesses." The revenue of the company's services and wearable products are both growing quickly, and they are a potent combo. Wearables -- the Apple Watch, AirPods and Beats headphones -- bring in the big hardware dollars. Services, including Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade, bring in recurring revenue through monthly subscriptions.Both also lift iPhone sales. In turn, iPhone buyers are more likely to buy one of Apple's wearables or subscribe to one of its services. That "halo" effect is real, and AAPL leverages it to great effect. The Bottom Line on Apple StockIf you have doubts that wearables and services have the potential to significantly move the needle for Apple in 2020, there are some numbers that might help to make the case. In the fiscal first quarter of 2020, those two divisions brought in a combined $22.7 billion of revenue. That's a 24.7% year-over-year increase from the $18.2 billion they brought during the same period a year earlier. An estimated 30.7 million units of Apple Watch were shipped in 2019, outselling the entire Swiss watch industry in 2019. Sales of Apple's AirPods wireless earbuds nearly doubled in 2019 (to the tune of an estimated $6 billion) and dominate the category. AppleInsider ran a report last year making the case that if AirPods was an independent company, it would have a $175 billion valuation. Services has huge growth potential as well. For example, at last count Apple Music had 60 million subscribers. While the company does offer student and family discounts, at the base subscription rate of $9.99 that service alone could be worth $600 million per month in revenue or $7.2 billion annually.With over 1.4 billion active Apple devices, the company has a huge user base to sell its growing stable of services to. And it has the ability to install apps on every one of those 1.4 billion devices when they are purchased or run a system update.Apple stock is up 10% so far in 2020. Look for continued growth this year, but with wearables and services increasingly doing the heavy lifting instead of the iPhone.As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Exciting Stocks to Buy for Aggressive Investors * 20 Stocks to Buy From the Law of Accelerating Returns * 7 U.S. Stocks to Buy on Coronavirus Weakness The post The iPhoneas Days as the Driver of Apple Stock Are Numbered appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Bloomberg
The Mystery Millionaire Who Haunted London’s Insider-Trading Trial
(Bloomberg) -- (Updates story originally published July 3, 2019, to add post-publication comments from Fiyaz spokeswoman.)When Alshair Fiyaz, a wealthy businessman with a shaggy mane of hair, walked into the garden of London’s Four Seasons Hotel on a pleasant June evening five years ago, he had no idea he was being followed. He was there to meet Walid Choucair, a trader wearing a hoodie who collected “Star Wars” memorabilia and expensive guitars. Neither one noticed an officer from the National Crime Agency stick a recording device in the greenery.The investigator was tracking Fiyaz in connection with an insider-trading probe being conducted by the NCA, the U.K. equivalent of the FBI. Choucair wasn’t a suspect, and the officer didn’t know who he was before planting the bug. But after the meeting, the officer followed Choucair to an apartment near the Royal Albert Hall on the edge of Hyde Park. That fateful encounter at the Four Seasons, recounted in court, would turn Choucair, whose life was an adrenaline-charged chase for information about big deals, into Europe’s most high-profile insider-trading defendant. And his two trials—the first ended last year in a hung jury, the second with a conviction last week—opened a window on a loose network of traders from London to Dubai as well as a multinational investigation into suspected insider trading.Fiyaz’s name, and details of the Four Seasons meeting, came up frequently at the trials. Choucair said he often discussed trades with Fiyaz, who was so successful he’d bought an 86-meter yacht and a polo club. The two had partied at Tramp, a London club frequented by rock stars and royals, where they spent thousands of dollars on three-liter bottles of Cristal—although the manager of Tramp testified he had no knowledge of Choucair and Fiyaz being friends. Financial institutions alerted U.K. regulators about Fiyaz’s trading 71 times in 2013 and 2014, Choucair’s lawyer told the court, citing information from the regulator. A spokeswoman for Fiyaz said the suspicious activity reports related to only 27 trades and were triggered because financial institutions are required to flag transactions when a trader makes more than 10,000 pounds ($13,000) a day. She said he has never been interviewed or charged in relation to any crime and denies any suggestion of wrongdoing. But evidence, testimony and legal filings from Choucair’s trials, as well as interviews with traders, their friends, lawyers and people close to the investigation suggest Fiyaz may have been part of a network that cultivated ties to bankers, shared tips via burner phones to avoid detection, fed information to journalists and often secretly monitored each other’s trades. Using their own money or funds from wealthy associates, they made tens of millions of dollars betting on stocks just before a news splash popped the share price. In 2014, the core group of about a dozen traders made more than $100 million, a figure arrived at by adding up figures in legal filings and conversations with traders. Regulators in France and the U.K., where abnormal trading occurs ahead of more than one in five takeovers, spotted the uncanny timing of transactions by Fiyaz, Choucair and others. In addition to Choucair and Fabiana Abdel-Malek, a UBS Group AG compliance officer convicted at the same trial of providing him with information from a confidential bank database, seven men, including Geneva-based trader Alexis Kuperfis and former Societe Generale SA banker Stephane Fima, have been charged with insider trading in France. All have contested the charges. Another trader was arrested in Serbia in November on a U.S. warrant that alleged he committed securities fraud and was extradited in May, Serbian court officials confirmed. U.S. prosecutors are working with European counterparts on their own probe, Bloomberg News reported last month.Fiyaz’s spokeswoman said he hasn’t been questioned about insider trading or financial misconduct by authorities in France or any other jurisdiction. Loic Henriot, a lawyer for Kuperfis, said his client has never been part of a network of traders exchanging information. David-Olivier Kaminski, an attorney for Fima, said his client has nothing to do with the investigations that led to Choucair’s conviction.Choucair, now 40, testified at his trial about his first conversation with Fiyaz, six years his senior, at a pricey Chinese restaurant in London around 2005. They had seen each other at Tramp, where Choucair, the son of a Lebanese construction executive, was a member. Fiyaz and his brother Javed started showing up that year, according to two people familiar with the club scene. They would arrive in separate Rolls-Royces, descend the stairs, pass the red-neon Let’s Get Tramped sign, and set up camp in a corner, surrounded by a clutch of women. Choucair would spend thousands of dollars in that den two or three times a month. Whenever he ordered a $4,000 bottle of champagne, the staff would play the “Star Wars” theme music and announce “Lebanon is in the house,” according to people who’d been there with him.Choucair was out with a friend who knew Fiyaz when they spotted each other at the Chinese restaurant. They got to talking. “We spent the whole night having drinks, which I was very good at, and having a conversation, which he was very good at,” Choucair would testify at his trial 14 years later, trying to explain that his stock tips were coming from traders like Fiyaz and Kuperfis and not from his friend at UBS.Choucair had a privileged upbringing in London. He boarded at Mill Hill, a 212-year-old school set on 150 acres of lush parkland. But it was something more avant-garde that first got his heart racing as a young boy. Watching TV one day, he saw Guns N’ Roses’ wild-haired guitarist Slash tear through a solo and decided he, too, wanted to be a guitar hero. When he was 18, his father died and he inherited a fortune. He spent the next years in a blur of benders, and, in his sober moments, completed a business degree at King’s College London, he said at his trial. He bought an Aston Martin, started collecting guitars and filled his apartment with life-size figures from his other boyhood obsession, “Star Wars.” Fiyaz was raised with his brother in Belgium, where their father, a Pakistani businessman, had settled. They got started at the family company and made their money from shipping and investments ranging from Nigerian oil blocks to Danish department stores and a chocolatier, according to people who’ve met them and information on their websites. But they also attracted the attention of Belgian police, who suspected them of carrying out a scheme to avoid paying value-added taxes, two people familiar with the matter say. The investigation was closed after Fiyaz and his brother agreed to a settlement including a seven-figure payment, one of the people said. Neither was charged and there was no admission of wrongdoing. Fiyaz’s spokeswoman said the dispute was over whether sales by his company were exempt.By the mid-2000s, the brothers had moved to London, where they caused a stir in the Mayfair social scene. Alshair, the younger and more athletic of the two, was permanently dressed to go out. He and Javed faced each other across a pair of imposing desks in an office behind the Dorchester Hotel, where they ran their shipping business. They told people they were looking for fresh investment opportunities. When Choucair saw Fiyaz’s trading setup, he testified, he was intrigued and wanted in. He said that Fiyaz and Kuperfis, nicknamed the Cowboy because he hit the mark so often, showed him how to competitively trade contracts for difference, or CFDs, derivatives that allow a person to bet on a company’s stock without owning shares. It’s a way of trading on margin. With a relatively small down payment, profits and losses can exceed those when buying shares. Many countries have restricted their sale because retail investors can underestimate the risks and incur outsize losses. Choucair and his associates were a paradoxical bunch. They relied on each other for tip-offs but were suspicious that others were spying on them. Fiyaz accused his brokers of telling people about his positions in the market, according to four of the traders, none of whom were witnesses in the case. Some accused him of scoping out their trading positions. Discretion was paramount, and that included using untraceable communications, Choucair testified. Choucair soon had four handsets with unregistered SIM cards for the traders he was talking to. Fiyaz insisted he keep a line dedicated to him, Choucair said in court. Every few months, the traders replaced their SIM cards, and, often, their devices. Fiyaz’s spokeswoman declined to comment on the specifics of Choucair’s testimony but said the jury that convicted Choucair clearly found his attempt to blame Fiyaz untruthful.In 2011, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission froze assets of companies belonging to Fiyaz and another trader, saying the firms were suspected of making millions of dollars with the help of inside information to trade on Lonza Group AG’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Arch Chemicals Inc., which Fiyaz benefited from. Authorities dropped the case the next year because of a lack of evidence, and Fiyaz wasn’t accused of insider trading. Investigators lamented that the other trader had harmed the probe by discarding a BlackBerry that SEC lawyers believed contained text messages about his activity, according to U.S. court filings.In Choucair’s case, the Financial Conduct Authority, which led the probe, was convinced it had found his insider. Choucair met Abdel-Malek through their mothers. Choucair’s had asked Abdel-Malek’s to make curtains for the tall windows in her son's apartment. They hit it off and introduced the two children to each other. Abdel-Malek, the oldest of three daughters of religious Coptic Christians from Egypt, was kept on a tight leash, even when she got a position at UBS in London in 2007. By early 2013, Abdel-Malek was a relatively experienced compliance officer at a newly restructured division of the bank. She could look at any deal in which UBS was involved. She had little contact with Choucair for years. But that spring they reconnected, and he invited her and a friend to Tramp to celebrate his birthday, she testified in court. He spent 10,000 pounds that night on champagne, vodka and club sandwiches, it came out in court, and the party lasted until 3 a.m. Their friendship developed, though both said the relationship wasn’t romantic. Later that spring, he bought her a BlackBerry identical to her work model with a disposable SIM card.Prosecutors had company database records showing Abdel-Malek was trawling for deals. She testified that she did this to improve her deals literacy, something her managers had asked her to do. Over the next year, prosecutors said, there were about 30 deals she kept coming back to, telling Choucair when something was imminent, though the pair were only charged in connection with five of them. When prosecutors presented a motive to the jury, they said the glamour of going to Tramp was enough. Meanwhile, the wider group of traders kept nailing stock picks before news of pending mergers broke. Fiyaz and Kuperfis made a combined 55 million euros ($62 million) trading ahead of the announcement of General Electric Co.’s 2014 deal to acquire most of Alstom SA, court records and people familiar with the matter said. Fiyaz’s spokeswoman said she was unwilling to comment on his trading earnings but denied any impropriety.Over time, Fiyaz acquired a mansion on the outskirts of Paris, the Polo Club of St. Tropez and a yacht named Ecstasea with two helicopter landing pads that once belonged to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. While it’s unknown how much Fiyaz paid for the yacht, the previous owner bought it for 100 million euros in 2009, according to a U.K. court document. In 2016, Fiyaz hosted a party aboard Ecstasea for the benefit of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, his spokeswoman said. She declined on privacy grounds to say how much he paid for the yacht.But the trading network was heading for trouble. Even before the GE-Alstom deal, a friend of another member of the group, a deals lawyer, was getting divorced. It got nasty, and the lawyer’s former brother-in-law wrote a letter to French investigators saying he’d overheard him exchanging tips with a trader, according to people familiar with the information. Investigators had already dedicated resources to cracking down on insider trading, spurred in part by the French government’s anger that information about the GE-Alstom deal was leaked to the press. The regulators built up phone records connecting the group, the people familiar with the matter said. They secured wiretaps, including for the burner phone of a hair salon owner at one of Paris’s most exclusive hotels, whom they suspected of being a go-between, according to French investigative documents. The trail led to French ski resorts, the Cayman Islands, Geneva and eventually to the garden of London’s Four Seasons Hotel.A transcript of the recording made at the Four Seasons and shown to the jury at Choucair’s trial revealed he was talking to someone on the phone about a deal for a U.S. energy company. Choucair testified that the person was Jeffrey McCracken, at the time head of deals coverage at Bloomberg News.Choucair said he often spoke to reporters, sometimes at the behest of other traders, in the hope they would confirm his tips and publish an article that would cause the share price to spike. That day, Choucair testified in the second trial, Fiyaz had come to London to discuss the energy deal. McCracken, who left Bloomberg in 2017 to join CNBC and hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing, declined to comment.Bloomberg reporters regularly receive tips from people active in the market and were first to report on several deals mentioned in this article. The news organization’s policy is not to publish any information without confirming with people who have direct knowledge of the matter. The policy also prohibits telling sources when a story will be published.Choucair seemed to know about the investigation before his arrest. In November 2014, he called Kuperfis to warn him. There’s a “big f--king investigation,” he blurted out in a conversation recorded by French investigators and played at Choucair’s trial. Within weeks, Kuperfis and two others were raided in France and Geneva. Kuperfis has been charged with insider trading in France in connection with his trading ahead of chemical producer Air Liquide SA’s $10 billion takeover of Airgas Inc., but he has challenged the legality of the wiretaps, and the case hasn’t come to trial. His lawyer said he couldn’t comment on the case other than to say the charges are unfounded. Choucair’s lawyers said in court that his client knew about the probe because he was told by Fiyaz, who, the lawyer recounted, had claimed he had gotten the information from a National Crime Agency interpreter, according to the judge's summary of the allegations, which the judge ruled should not be shared with the jury. Before his arrest, but after learning of the investigation, Choucair had written a letter that he hid under a rug in his apartment and that was discovered by investigators, according to the judge’s summary. In it, the summary said, he described what Fiyaz had allegedly told him about his NCA sources. The NCA said in December 2018 that it was investigating the matter. Fiyaz’s spokeswoman said he was not on notice of being the subject of any investigation. The NCA, which wouldn’t comment, doesn’t always put suspects on notice. The trial judge described the Choucair letter as “self-serving.”Choucair had his apartment swept for bugs, one person familiar with the matter said, though none were found. He called the FCA, his lawyer said in court. Then, at 6:30 a.m. one morning in September 2015, there was a knock on the door. About a dozen NCA officers had come to arrest him for insider trading. “I knew you were coming,” Choucair said, according to an account his lawyer gave in court. Across the street, they searched his mother’s house. A few miles away, Abdel-Malek’s sister woke her in her bedroom on the top floor of their family home. Two NCA officers were there to arrest her. They found a printout of price-sensitive information in a Chanel handbag and, according to people with knowledge of the matter, a new 30,000-pound Rolex, worth more than a quarter of her annual salary, along with a receipt. The jury wasn’t told about the watch.A few months after his release, Choucair was called back to the police station. Two FCA investigators sat opposite him in a small featureless room. They kept asking him about Fiyaz, Kuperfis and others, Choucair’s lawyer said in court. Choucair kept quiet.During the first trial last fall, Abdel-Malek’s white-haired father sat in the gallery with clenched teeth, clutching a wooden cross and family photographs. Prosecutors couldn’t point to any payments she received, and his lawyer told the jury that Fiyaz and other traders were just as likely a source of information for Choucair as Abdel-Malek. After all, they had bet far more heavily on the very same trades, and Choucair had been in frequent contact with them beforehand. In December, a few days before the end of the first trial, Choucair returned to Tramp. He was playing guitar with his band White Collar. The room was dark, and Choucair, wearing a hoodie and Converse sneakers, lingered in the background, barely moving to the music. The other four band members, wearing leather, tattoos and eye-liner, filled the tiny stage. Then Choucair stepped forward to sing Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.” By the time the group was on to Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” the electric bass player was pulling his shirt off and climbing onto the drum kit below a chandelier. One band member grabbed the microphone and egged the crowd on. “This might be our last gig,” he said, without explaining that the man who was bankrolling the group might go to jail. It wasn’t Choucair’s last gig. The jury was unable to come to a verdict. At the second trial this year, Fiyaz involved himself more in the proceedings. At times, he had as many as five lawyers in the courtroom. One was a defense counsel who told the judge that Choucair had falsely accused Fiyaz of wrongdoing. “These are very serious allegations which are made against my client,” the lawyer said. “These are allegations which he denies. He’s never been arrested or charged in relation to any of these matters. The FCA has never cautioned him or even invited him in in relation to any of these matters. He is a man of previous good character.” Then just before Choucair was cross-examined, the FCA told the jury it had received information that Fiyaz, via an intermediary, had an insider at Citigroup Inc., who it was alleged may have been in a position to provide him with information about two of the trades in the indictment. The agency said it didn’t have time to investigate if any confidential information had been passed to Fiyaz and there was no evidence that he had received any such information. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported additional details about the alleged intermediary. A Citigroup spokeswoman declined to comment. Fiyaz “vehemently denies” that he traded on inside information obtained from Citigroup or any other financial institution, his spokeswoman said.This time the Fiyaz-was-my-tipster defense didn’t work. Choucair and Abdel-Malek were both convicted on all five counts and sentenced to three years in prison. Both plan to appeal.Fiyaz wasn’t in court during the eight-week trial, or for the verdict. Traders and lawyers weren’t sure where he was. One said Argentina. Another said he’d been seen at an Alpine ski chalet. In May, Fiyaz’s name appeared on the roster of a polo team contesting the Sun Trophy at his club in France, which once paraded scantily clad models and white Bentleys in front of guests. (Fiyaz’s spokeswoman said he wasn’t involved in the day-to-day operations of the club and doesn’t condone the objectification of women.) But on an uncharacteristically rainy Sunday, there was no sign of Fiyaz on or off the polo pitch tucked away in a forest about 20 minutes west of St. Tropez by car. In the members’ section, a dozen spectators sitting in wicker armchairs, sheltered by awnings, braved the bad weather to watch Fiyaz’s team take a 5-2 drubbing. When asked after the match why Fiyaz had been replaced by another player, a worker at the club said he had been ordered not to talk. The reason, his spokeswoman said a few weeks later, was that it happened to fall during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Fiyaz was fasting.— With assistance by Gordana Filipovic and Alan Katz (Updates to add comments from Fiyaz’s spokeswoman in the 4th, 7th, 14th and 27th paragraphs; Tramp manager testimony at Choucair trial in 4th paragraph; and FCA statements introduced at trial in 34th paragraph.)To contact the authors of this story: Franz Wild in London at fwild@bloomberg.netAaron Kirchfeld in London at akirchfeld@bloomberg.netGaspard Sebag in Paris at gsebag@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Robert Friedman at rfriedman5@bloomberg.net, Alan KatzFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Morningstar
No-Moat BlackBerry Has Some Stickiness
A fresh look yielded a lowered fair value estimate, but we still see a margin of safety.
- Zacks
BlackBerry (BB) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
BlackBerry (BB) closed at $6.05 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.5% move from the prior day.
- CNW Group
May Mitchell of BlackBerry Cylance Recognized as 2020 CRN® Channel Chief
May Mitchell of BlackBerry Cylance Recognized as 2020 CRN® Channel Chief
- Zacks
Viasat (VSAT) Q3 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates, Up Y/Y
Viasat (VSAT) fiscal third-quarter earnings gain from sustained momentum in Government Systems and Satellite Services segment, along with year-over-year rise in product and service revenues.
- Zacks
NETGEAR's (NTGR) Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Decline Y/Y
New product launches, robust subscriber base and lucrative cash flow benefit NETGEAR's (NTGR) Q4 earnings. However, trade tariffs, manufacturing shortfalls and lower shipments act as headwinds.
- Zacks
Badger Meter (BMI) Q4 Earnings Match Estimates, Revenues Up
Badger Meter's (BMI) Q4 results reflect year-over-year rise in revenues on the back of robust sales of global municipal water with a favorable mix of high-end metering solutions.
- Benzinga
BlackBerry, Trimble Partner To Offer "Unparalleled Visibility" In Transportation Management
If you still thought Blackberry (NYSE: BB) was a smartphone for nerds who want a superior typing tool, where have you been? Not only does the company no longer produce its own smartphones, but for several years now it has forged a path in the trucking industry when it comes to cybersecurity and a variety of other software solutions. As FreightWaves has reported before, the BlackBerry Radar is more than just another track-and-trace technology.
- CNW Group
BlackBerry Secures the Modern Workforce with New Digital Workplace
WATERLOO, Ontario , Feb. 5, 2020 /CNW/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced BlackBerry® Digital Workplace, a secure robust workspace that provides users simple and secure online and offline access to corporate on-premise or cloud content including Microsoft® Office 365® resources. Remote anywhere, anytime access to company resources and data is what empowers a modern, mobile workforce. Based on BlackBerry's Zero Trust Architecture, BlackBerry Digital Workplace eliminates the need for a VPN or VDI solution and provides continuous threat protection using artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable users to securely work anywhere and from any device.
- TechCrunch
Daily Crunch: Hulu CEO steps down
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch's roundup of our biggest and most important stories. Hulu CEO Randy Freer is stepping down from his role as part of a major restructuring of Disney’s streaming business. The move signals Disney’s plans to streamline its direct-to-consumer operations, which also include Disney+ and ESPN+.
- TechCrunch
BlackBerry and TCL will end their handset partnership in August 2020
Big changes are ahead for BlackBerry and TCL as the smartphone market continues to see slowing growth. The pair announced today that they would end their four-year brand licensing and tech support partnership in August 2020, with TCL ceasing to make new models of BlackBerry handsets after then. "We... regret to share... that as of August 31, 2020, TCL Communication will no longer be selling BlackBerry-branded mobile devices," says the note, posted on BlackBerry's Twitter account.
- CNW Group
Intermap Technologies Reports Preliminary 2019 Financial Results; Sharpened Focus on Government Contracting; and Director Resignation
Intermap Technologies Reports Preliminary 2019 Financial Results; Sharpened Focus on Government Contracting; and Director Resignation
- Simply Wall St.
Before You Buy BlackBerry Limited (TSE:BB), Consider Its Volatility
If you own shares in BlackBerry Limited (TSE:BB) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility...
- GuruFocus.com
Kahn Brothers' Biggest 4th-Quarter Buys
Hedge fund adds to positions in BlackBerry, ViewRay and Apple Continue reading...
- Zacks
America Movil Unit Faces Fine for Network Discrepancy Case
In order to promote healthy competition in the telco market, the Mexican telecom regulator penalizes America Movil (AMX) for anti-competitive practices.
- Zacks
Sprint (S) Q3 Loss Narrower Than Expected, Revenues Fall Y/Y
Lower Lifeline program revenues with year-over-year decline in equipment sales and wireless service revenues affect Sprint's (S) third-quarter fiscal 2019 performance.
