Business

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

Chances are you’ve never heard of William White.

You might have heard of the organization that he used to manage—the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).

The BIS is often called the central bank of central banks; their role is essentially to facilitate international financial transactions among the world’s central banks.

So they are a major component in the international financial system, just like the IMF and World Bank.

There’s been no shortage of commentary from market heavyweights this week thanks to the World Economic Forum in Davos, but for anyone who hasn’t yet gotten their fill of billionaire talking heads, George Soros gave a sweeping interview to Bloomberg TV on Thursday, touching on everything from China to Fed policy to Vladimir Putin to Europe’s worsening refugee crisis.

http://www.bloomberg.com/api/embed/iframe

Jack Dorsey, thanks to the implosions in Twitter and Square stock, lost the illustrious 'three commas' billionaire title yesterday, proving, as ValueWalk's Clayton Browne reports, it's not been easy being a unicorn recently...

With the financial markets crashing, global consumers retrenching and competition heating up, quite a few so-called “unicorns” (high-flying, new economy tech firms) are likely to be facing difficult decisions in the coming months.

Investment managers are warning that markets probably have further to fall as China’s growth slows, oil prices plunge and central bankers lack tools to prop up economies. As Bloomberg reports, from the largest asset manager in the world to the most niche investment expert, many of the best known 'gurus' are warning there is more to come just as Morgan Stanley's James Gorman warned this morning "the size of the correction suggests it's not temporary," adding that "it might be too soon to step back into the market."

WalMart’s attempt to pacify the living wage crowd by giving the company’s lowest paid employees a tiny, across-the-board raise has been nothing short of a disaster.

The fiasco started early last year when the world’s largest retailer decided to spend some $1 billion to appease those who claim the company’s hourly workers don’t make enough to live with some semblance of dignity.