What the Pros Say (Amazon, Bitcoin, AI & Investing Post-Tax-Reform)

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Amazon. A technical but interesting piece by Benedict Evans.

Bitcoin. "Chaos Proxy."

Artificial Intelligence. Wall Street is effed. And, generally speaking, "There's going to be huge displacement," says Mark Cuban (video).

Investing. Stanley Drunkenmiller has some thoughts (video) about the markets today including, among other things, how "monetary radicalism" has created an environment for sh*tshows like Steinhoff International Holdings (owner of the ubiquitous Mattress Firm), Bitcoin, and the hunt for yield. And Jeffrey Gundlach thinks that junk bonds are going to be the victim of unintended consequences of the tax plan (video). Of course, this may increase the likelihood of default and spark more bankruptcy filings. 

What the Pros Say (Amazon, Canada, Makewhole, Third Party Releases)

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Amazon & Antitrust. This law journal piece runs through the anticompetitive aspects of Amazon's structure.

Canada and Environmental Issues. As Baker McKenzie's Michael Nowina and Glenn Gibson write here, the Supreme Court of Canada will revisit whether secured creditors ought to be paid before environmental claims stemming from abandoned oil and gas wells.

Energy. Lazard Ltd. shares its analysis of the levelized cost of (wind and solar) energy.

Makewhole/Interest Rate. While In re MPM Silicones LLC (Momentive) gives restructuring geeks subjects to opine on (here, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP's Greg Horowitz and Marsha Sukach; here, King & Spalding LLP's Austin Jowers; here, Latham & Watkins LLP's Mitchell Seider, David Hammerman, Keith Simon, Jeffrey Mispagel, and Annmarie Reilly), the company's owners are moving forward towards an exit. The company plans a $350mm IPO. In the fiscal year closed June 30, the company had sales of $2.3b and losses of $146mm. The largest owners are Apollo Capital Management, Oaktree Capital Management, D.E. Shaw, and Pentwater Capital Management.

Third Party Releases. A lineup of Shearman & Sterling LLP partners summarize recent Delaware caselaw.

What the Pros Say (Amazon, Canada, Distressed Banks, Retail)

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Amazon. FTI Consulting's Christa Hart and Khaled Haram ask whether the retail behemoth is invincible.

Canada & Oil/Gas Remediation. Michael Nowina and Glenn Gibson of Baker McKenzie write about a significant (and somewhat perplexing) decision about who bears the costs of remediation of abandoned oil and gas wells.

Distressed Banks. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff weighs in on how to treat them. 

Retail. In this ABI podcast (audio, obvi), Bradford Sandler of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP and Amir Agam of FTI Consulting discuss recent trends in the retail space. 

Recommendation: The Amazon Echo (Game Changer)

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Much like everyone else focused on disruption, we talk about Amazon A TON. It's unavoidable. And so a few weeks back we publicly dared you all to go down the Amazon rabbit hole with us, get an Echo, and try it out. So, we followed through. What happened? Well, now we listen to TuneIn Radio(Bloomberg, CNN) in the office all day, we control our Nest thermostat with our voices, we order Ubers, Domino's pizza, get CNBC news briefings, the weather, etc. There are hiccups as the software develops over time but "voice" is the next big thing. You won't be able to speak educatedly to your clients unless you've tried it. So, in the wise words of sagemaster Shia LaBeouf, "Just Do It". You can pick up the Echo here.