Makwakwa and his girlfriend‚ Kelly-Ann Elskie‚ a SARS employee‚ are under investigation for « suspicious and unusual » bank transactions.
Gordhan’s comments in a series of written replies on Thursday to questions in Parliament by DA finance spokesman David Maynier attest to the breakdown in relations between the minister and Moyane which Judge Dennis Davis — who heads up the Davis Tax Committee — has previously described as « intolerable ».
Gordhan highlighted a number of Moyane’s failures‚ such as his neglect in taking immediate action when he was informed by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) about the R1.2m in deposits made into Makwakwa’s bank accounts and R450‚000 into Elskie’s.
There was also his failure to report the Makwakwa matter timeously to Gordhan as the minister responsible for SARS.
Gordhan also voiced his concern over the « lack of accountability and co-operation » from top SARS management and said he was considering the strengthening of their accountability obligations.
Gordhan believes it is vital to know why Moyane took more than four months after receiving the information from the FIC in May before taking action‚ and then only when the matter was reported in the media.
This knowledge was necessary in order to protect the reputation of SARS‚ he said.
This story was published in Business Day.

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© Source: http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2017/01/06/Gordhan-Moyane%E2%80%99s-SARS-not-reliable
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It’s been a while since we’ve had an Alibaba. In fact, it’s been at least a year since we’ve had an initial public offering that raised as much as Facebook ($16 billion), Hilton Worldwide ($2.7 billion) or even Twitter ($2.1 billion).
And yet we can’t go more than few months without a major corporate acquisition. In 2016, Microsoft bought LinkedIn, Tesla bought SolarCity, and over 1,000 other companies changed hands, often for billions of dollars. That includes hundreds of smaller private companies that in the past may have opted to go public.
IPOs and acquisitions serve similar purposes in the investment ecosystem: Both allow early investors in a private company to cash out, either by selling their stakes to the investing public or to a larger company. While some mergers are between two public companies, the majority involve a bigger company buying a small private company.
In the early ’90s, about 70 percent of firms backed by venture capitalists exited through IPOs, with the remainder taking buyouts from other firms. But following the 2000 market crash, things abruptly reversed, with more than 80 percent of exits occurring by M&A, according to data from the National Venture Capital Association.
Generally, annual M&A spending is about 40 times more than IPO proceeds, and the two measures tend to go up and down together. Since 1985, there have been two periods in our data set when they went out of sync: It’s happening today, and it happened in 1988. That’s when IPOs plummeted after the 1987 stock market crash, but a wave of mergers persisted.
The long-term decline of the IPO is far more obvious in the number of offerings. Over the last 15 years, we’ve seen an average of 108 offerings annually (excluding REITs, mutual funds and other entities that can also have IPOs but aren’t operating companies). In comparison, we saw almost 350 offerings each year on average in the 1980s and 1990s.
Of course, individual companies have their own reasons for making the decisions they do, but is there any explanation for why companies have turned away from IPOs recently while mergers have flourished? Some observers have been quick to blame onerous regulation, like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. But there have also been changes in the market that have made selling out a safer choice than going public for many companies, said professor Jay Ritter, an IPO expert at the University of Florida.
« There has been a worldwide trend going on for a couple of decades where for many industries, especially technology, getting big fast is more important than it used to be, » said Ritter. « Going public and growing organically just takes too long, and it’s typically not the profit-maximizing strategy.  »
Globalization and technology have made it harder to be a small company competing against giant conglomerates. In recent years, small companies have become less profitable and offered poor returns for investors after IPOs, according to a 2013 paper co-written by Ritter in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.
A small tech company can become profitable quickly by taking advantage of the brand name and infrastructure offered by a massive buyer like Oracle , and small pharmaceutical companies with successful drug trials can easily cash in by accepting a bid from big pharmaceutical companies. With a market hostile to small companies and potential courters flush with cheap money, it’s not surprising many smaller private companies have leaned toward mergers instead of IPOs.
« Unless the market takes a fall, I think there will be more IPOs in 2017, but by the standard of the 1980s and ’90s, it will be a very modest number in line with the last 16 years, » he said. « In particular, small tech companies have stopped going public, and I don’t expect that they ever will again. « 

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© Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/06/ipos-vs-mergers-buyouts-blow-away-ipos-when-investors-cash-out.html
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Credit Suisse on Friday upgraded Hershey to outperform from neutral, citing the potential for the candy maker to significantly reduce expenses and prove it was right to deny a takeover attempt last year and go it alone.
« After more than two years of missing expectations due to disappointing results and after rejecting a takeout offer from Mondelez, Hershey’s management is under a fair degree of pressure this year to prove to the market that it can achieve above-peer returns as an independent company. We believe that it is set up to do exactly that over the next 12 months, » equity analyst Robert Moskow wrote in a note to clients.
Strong confectionery sales in the U. S. last year, falling cocoa prices and a « more realistic outlook for growth, » could mean the Street revises Hershey’s earnings estimates higher in the upcoming quarters, Moskow said.

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© Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/06/hershey-shares-to-rally-on-lower-cocoa-prices-other-cost-savings-analyst-says.html
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(WXYZ) – When it comes to saving for retirement, we have 401Ks, savings plans and other options.
But what do you really need to do, to make sure you have enough money?
JoAnne Purtan is crunching the numbers, showing you the ways available and the one thing that could be draining your nest egg.
We’re got what you need to look out for and what you need to do now to secure your retirement.
See the special report Friday on 7 Action News at 11pm.

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U. S. stocks are dipping Friday morning after a solid but unspectacular hiring report for December. While employers kept hiring and hourly pay jumped, it wasn’t enough to allay investors’ concerns about slow economic growth. Bond yields are climbing as investors think the report shows interest rates will keep going up.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 44 points, or 0.2%, to 19,855 as of 6:47 a.m. Pacific time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gave up 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,266. The Nasdaq composite, which closed at an all-time high Thursday, rose 8 points, or 0.2%, to 5,496. The small-cap Russell 2000 index dipped 1 point, or 0.1%, to 1,370.
The Dow has lagged the other major indexes this week, held back by weakness in the insurance company Travelers, industrial coating and Post-it note maker 3M, and McDonald’s.
The Labor Department said U. S. employers added 156,000 jobs in December. Hourly pay jumped 2.9% over the same month a year earlier, the biggest increase in seven years. Overall, job growth remained steady in 2016 but slowed from 2015.
Amgen climbed and Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals fell after a court moved to block sales of Sanofi and Regeneron’s cholesterol drug Praluent. A federal jury ruled in March that Praluent infringes on two patents that belong to Amgen. Both are costly biotech drugs designed to be injected once or twice a month. Sanofi and Regeneron said they will appeal the ruling, which came from U. S. District Court in Delaware.
Amgen stock gained $6.45, or 4.2%, to $159.43 while Regeneron slid $23.96, or 6.3%, to $356.93 and Sanofi lost $1.26, or 3%, to $40.24.
Gap climbed after reporting that its sales improved over the holidays. The company said sales at older Gap and Old Navy stores improved in December and said its annual profit should be a bit higher than it expected. The stock rose 73 cents, or 3.1%, to $23.98.
Gap and other retailers slumped Thursday after Macy’s and Kohl’s posted weak November and December sales and cut their forecasts.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.40% from 2.35%. The biggest losses Friday morning went to companies that pay large dividends, including phone companies, utilities and household goods makers. Those stocks are often compared to bonds because of the steady income they provide. Verizon gave up 68 cents, or 1.3%, to $53.38 and Wal-Mart fell 84 cents, or 1.2%, to $68.37.
The dollar rose to 116.40 yen from 115.62 yen after a dip on Thursday. The euro slipped to $1.0562 from $1.0590.
Benchmark U. S. crude shed 3 cents to $53.73 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price oil sold internationally, lost 20 cents to $56.69 a barrel in London.
Germany’s DAX fell 0.2% and the FTSE 100 in Britain was little changed. The CAC-40 of France was 0.2% lower. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3% while the Kospi in South Korea added 0.4%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced 0.2%.
The 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards will take place Sunday , the popular Tower of Terror ride at Disney California Adventure has officially closed , thousands of people died trying to cross the Mediterranean in the last year alone , and California’s minimum wage is now $10.50 .
The deadliest fire in a decade has focused new attention on Ghost Ship warehouse owner Chor Ng , Congress is holding its first hearing today on the Russian cyberattacks during the presidential election , Aerospace firms are stepping up competition with Silicon Valley for young engineers and if Amazon’s Alexa is always listening, can she incriminate you in a crime?
Three family members were shot to death and one severely injured in an apartment in Fontana. Police believe another family member is to blame.
It’s snowing in the Sierra. It started snowing Jan. 4, and you can already see what Mother Nature has wrought.
California’s bracing itself for the Trump administration , California’s drought looks to be easing as snow piles up in the Sierras , protesters are shutting down Mexico’s streets over a sudden spike in gasoline prices , and nationwide, more than 84% of undergraduate computer science majors are men. Not so at Harvey Mudd.
California’s bracing itself for the Trump administration , California’s drought looks to be easing as snow piles up in the Sierras , protesters are shutting down Mexico’s streets over a sudden spike in gasoline prices , and nationwide, more than 84% of undergraduate computer science majors are men. Not so at Harvey Mudd.

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© Source: http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-financial-markets-20170106-story.html
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(REUTERS) U. S. employment increased less than expected in December but a rebound in wages pointed to sustained labor market momentum that sets up the economy for stronger growth and further interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve this year.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 156,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. The gains, however, still remain above a level that is considered sufficient to absorb new entrants into the labor market.
October and November’s data was revised to show 19,000 more jobs added than previously reported. The economy created 2.16 million jobs in 2016.

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© Source: http://www.wnd.com/2017/01/record-95102000-americans-not-in-labor-force/
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