Yellen’s Headache

Good morning and welcome to this week’s edition of 4 Customs Street, our weekly newsletter on the stock market.

The newsletter is divided into two:?

• Green White Green—focused on the Nigerian stock market.?
• Star-Spangled Banner—focused on the US stock market.

Green White Green Last Week?

Seplat vs. ABC?

Seplat Energy Plc announced the termination with immediate effect of the consultancy agreement between the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary and its co-founder, Dr. A.B.C Orjiako, acting through Amaze Limited.

The termination follows the suspension of the consultancy agreement on February 13, 2023, following repeated warnings about breaches of a material nature, such as unilaterally making significant commitments, on Seplat’s letterhead without prior board authority or knowledge.?

The company has commenced legal action against Dr. Orjiako and Amaze Limited at the Federal High Court in Abuja, to seek appropriate legal remedies.

Green White Green This Week?

A couple of companies have promised to release their audited financial statements on or before the ending of the month (which falls on a Friday).?

They include Okomu Oil, Fidson, May and Baker.

Star-Spangled Banner Last Week?

More layoffs from Amazon?

Amazon announced it would eliminate 9,000 more corporate roles across Amazon Web Service (AWS), Twitch, People Experience and Technology Solutions divisions. In January, management announced the company would be laying off 18,000 people.?

Google lets Bard out of the bag

Bard, Google's response to the popular chatbot ChatGPT, is now available to the general public, but the company is holding off on incorporating the new feature into its main search engine.

Yellen’s headache?

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US government is prepared to take further action if needed to stabilise the banking sector.? The treasury secretary is essentially the same as the minister of finance in other climes.?

Smaller banks in the United States have been under pressure from depositors following the collapse of Silvergate and SVB banks as well as the takeover of Signature.

There have been calls for the government to have a temporary guarantee on all bank deposits in the United States.?

While Yellen has expressed willingness to do so, that essentially would be a $17 trillion insurance cover. An amount the government isn't willing to forkout directly. That means deposit insurance fees may go up.?

Star-Spangled Banner This Week

It's a fairly quiet week in terms of company quarterly results. The few notable names that will be dropping theirs include Walgreens Boots Alliance, Lululemon Athletica and McCormick & Company.

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