Warren Demands SEC Address Market Manipulation, GameStop Surge

Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday asked the acting chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to explain how the agency plans to address market manipulation in response to the recent surge in share prices of companies like GameStop Corp.

“I am deeply concerned that these casino-like swings in the value of GameStop and other company shares are yet another example of the gamesmanship that interferes with the ‘fair, orderly, and efficient’ function of the market,” Warren wrote in the letter to acting SEC Chair Allison Herren Lee.

Those developments raise “raising obvious questions about public confidence in the market and those trading in it,” Warren added.

The Massachusetts Democrat, a member of the Senate Banking Commitee, asked the SEC to review its existing securities rules and find ways to “improve its enforcement capabilities.” She gave the agency until Feb. 5 to respond to her questions.

Herren Lee is at the helm of the securities regulator while Biden’s pick for chairman, Gary Gensler, awaits Senate confirmation.

Lucasfilm Names Momita SenGupta As New EVP Physical Production

EXCLUSIVE: Momita “Mo” SenGupta has joined Lucasfilm as EVP, Physical Production.

SenGupta recently served as the EVP of Production at Viacom and VP of Production at Netflix where she oversaw all physical production for original series in the US and the UK.

As EVP of Physical Production at Lucasfilm, SenGupta will report directly to Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and lead all aspects of productions, including physical production, post production, visual effects and production finance.

SenGupta inherits a robust slate of productions currently underway or in pre-production at Lucasfilm, including The Mandalorian, Andor, The Bad Batch, Willow, Rogue Squadron, The Book of Boba Fett and several others. At Disney Investor Day back in December, it was announced that there would be roughly ten new Star Wars streaming series launched in the next few years on Disney+.

Disney acquired Lucasfilm in October 2012 for $2.2 billion. On the feature side, Disney has made six Lucasfilm titles, five of them being in the Star Wars universe, as well as the animated feature Strange Magic. In total, they’ve grossed $5.93 billion at the global box office.

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Cuomo Says NYC Indoor Dining Can Reopen at 25% Capacity Feb. 14

New York City indoor dining can reopen at 25% capacity on Feb. 14, or Valentine’s Day, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

The city’s positivity went from 7.1% on Jan. 5 to 4.9% on Jan. 28. All predictive models suggest improvement will continue, Cuomo said Friday at a virus press briefing.

Of 270,518 tests conducted statewide on Thursday, 4.65% were positive, the lowest since Dec. 11, Cuomo said. There were 151 virus-related fatalities. Hospitalizations declined by 163 to 8,357.

Colombia central bank holds interest rate at 1.75%

BOGOTA, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Colombia’s central bank board held the benchmark interest rate steady at 1.75% for the fourth consecutive month at its Friday meeting, as expected by analysts.

The decision, backed by five of the seven board members, was in line with views of 17 analysts polled by Reuters on Tuesday, who predicted the bank would hold the rate steady.

Over half of Moscow residents have had coronavirus – TASS cites mayor

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that over a half of Moscow residents have already had coronavirus, TASS news agency reported citing his interview for Rossiya 1 TV channel.

“Over a half of Moscow have had it,” Sobyanin was quoted as saying.

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COVID-19: France to close borders to all countries outside the European Union

France is to close its borders to all countries outside the European Union from Sunday, according to prime minister Jean Castex.

UK records 1,245 more COVID-19 deaths on Friday

LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom recorded a further 1,245 deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test on Friday, up from 1,239 the day before, government data showed.

Oil Futures Fail To Hold Early Gains, Settle Lower On Demand Worries

Crude oil futures settled lower on Friday as worries about outlook for energy demand due to rising coronavirus cases and delay in vaccine supplies weighed on prices.

Oil prices were also weighed down by uncertainty about additional stimulus from Joe Biden administration happening anytime soon.

However, stronger than expected GDP data from Germany and France limited oil’s downside.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended down $0.14 or about 0.3% at $52.20 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were down $0.16 or about 0.29% at $54.94 a barrel a little while ago.

Crude oil futures gained about 7% in January 2020.

According to Baker Hughes, the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by six to 295 this week, rising for the ninth straight week. The total active U.S. rig count rose to 384, adding six this week.