What Traders Have Gotten Wrong in 2025
As foreseen: swings in sovereign bond markets have been sharp, the Japanese yen rallied, and a comeback for emerging markets is finally materializing.
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Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
SEI's Sean Denham pivots from accounting partner to CFO
This story was originally published on To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily newsletter. Sean Denham never intended to leave his role as senior partner at Grant Thornton. In fact, when the head of HR at financial services firm SEI first approached him about a CFO job, Denham declined. However, after meeting with company board members and discussing it further with CEO Ryan Hicke, he soon warmed to the idea. Reflecting on the 'last act of his career,' Denham, 52, decided to take a chance and accept the role. 'I took a bit of a leap of faith,' says Denham, 'and I have absolutely no regrets.' He officially joined SEI as CFO in March 2024 and added COO to his title in February of this year. Through his prior jobs at Grant Thornton, Ernst & Young and EisnerAmper predecessor Amper, Politziner & Mattia, Denham had the chance to peer under the hood of several large, publicly traded clients, including SEI. But he had never worked directly for a public company. He had also never worked as a CFO. In an interview with Denham talks about making the transition from private to public, how he balances operational duties with financial ones and his approach to navigating an increasingly uncertain global economy. First CFO position: March 2024 Notable previous employers: Grant Thornton Ernst & Young Amper, Politziner & Mattia This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity. SEAN DENHAM: I held a lot of meaningful roles at Grant Thornton over the years, and to be honest, I was never looking to leave. When SEI's former CFO, Dennis McGonigle, announced his retirement, I tried to help them find a replacement. SEI is a significant client for Grant Thornton, so we wanted to be helpful. I sent over probably 20 or 30 resumes. Eventually, though, the head of HR said, 'Well, Sean, what about you?' I said, 'No, thank you.' But the CEO of SEI, whom I knew from outside board service, was still interested. He suggested I meet with SEI's board members. So, after meeting them and talking it over with my family, the position became more intriguing. I'm 52 years old, and I was starting to think about the last act of my career. I knew [SEI CEO] Ryan very well, and I knew SEI very well. These opportunities don't come along too often, so I took a bit of a leap and decided to make the change. It developed me as a professional. To see how not just one company works, but hundreds. I got to see what things worked well for some companies, and what things became barriers for others. There are also lots of things I took from my time as a senior partner. Moving lock-step with other partners was truly meaningful to me, and has helped me work better with other leaders. It's taken time. I wouldn't want to say culture shock necessarily, but it's just totally different from anything I've done in my career. It took me probably a good nine months to really start feeling comfortable in the chair. As CFO, I have public filing requirements. I'm talking to investors and analysts. These are things I had never done before. Balance can be tough, but I view these two positions as an integrated role. Under the CEO, we're doing a lot of things to evolve the company. We're moving from a vertical strategy to a horizontal strategy, for instance. We're also rethinking capital allocation. I've spent a lot of time bringing focus and attention to how we can maximize the return on capital. So, when I think about capital allocation, I believe both the CFO role and the COO role tie in nicely there. Maybe not for all organizations, but certainly for ours, the two roles mesh almost seamlessly. Tariffs don't affect our industry directly, but there are some indirect ways they could affect us. When you think about tariff-induced market pullbacks, for instance, some of our revenue is driven directly from market appreciation or depreciation. In late March and early April, we were doing a lot of scenario planning. We're steadfast in scenario planning. Ultimately, we're taking control of the things we can control. Do we have plans for storms? Yes, but we're focusing on what we can control. I appreciate the work the AICPA and some state societies of CPAs have done over the last few years. They've been very active in thinking about ways to keep students interested in public accounting. The reality is that automation is here to stay, and it's only going to advance. Some companies, including Grant Thornton, have done a nice job of ensuring young folks understand the why of everything we're doing in accounting. Some basic tasks can be automated, but employees still need to understand the groundwork behind everything we do. Recommended Reading Why Trintech's CFO still values his CPA license after 30 years Sign in to access your portfolio
USA Today
8 minutes ago
- USA Today
Paramount agrees to pay $16M to settle Trump lawsuit over '60 Minutes' interview
NEW YORK - CBS parent company Paramount on July 1 settled a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over an interview broadcast in October, the latest concession by a media company to a president who has targeted outlets over what he describes as false or misleading coverage. Paramount said it would pay $16 million to settle the suit, with the money allocated to Trump's future presidential library, and not paid to Trump "directly or indirectly." "The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret," the company statement added. Trump filed a $10-billion lawsuit against CBS in October, alleging the network deceptively edited an interview that aired on its "60 Minutes" news program with then-vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris to "tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party" in the election. In an amended complaint filed in February, Trump bumped his claim for damages to $20 billion. CBS aired two versions of the Harris interview in which she appears to give different answers to the same question about the Israel-Hamas war, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Texas. CBS previously said the lawsuit was "completely without merit" and had asked a judge to dismiss the case. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. Edward A Paltzik, a lawyer representing Trump in the civil suit, could not be immediately reached for comment. A spokesperson for Paramount Chair Shari Redstone was similarly unavailable for comment. The case entered mediation in April. Trump alleged CBS's editing of the interview violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, which makes it illegal to use false, misleading, or deceptive acts in commerce. Media advocacy groups said Trump's novel use of such laws against news outlets could be a way of circumventing legal protections for the press, which can only be held liable for defamation against public figures if they say something they knew or should have known was false. The settlement comes as Paramount prepares for an $8.4-billion merger with Skydance Media, which will require approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. On the campaign trail last year, Trump threatened to revoke CBS's broadcasting license if elected. He has repeatedly lashed out against the news media, often casting unfavorable coverage as "fake news." The Paramount settlement follows a decision by Walt Disney-owned ABC News to settle a defamation case brought by Trump. As part of that settlement, which was made public on December 14, the network donated $15 million to Trump's presidential library and publicly apologized for comments by anchor George Stephanopoulos, who inaccurately said Trump had been found liable for rape. It also follows a second settlement, by Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms, which on January 29 said it had agreed to pay about $25 million to settle a lawsuit by Trump over the company's suspension of his accounts after the January 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. Why Trump sued CBS: What to know about complaint dating back to Kamala Harris interview Trump has vowed to pursue more claims against the media. On December 17, he filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register newspaper and its former top pollster over its poll published on November 2 that showed Harris leading Trump by three percentage points in Iowa. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order barring the Des Moines Register from engaging in "ongoing deceptive and misleading acts and practices" related to polling. A Des Moines Register representative said the organization stands by its reporting and that the lawsuit was without merit. On June 30, Trump dropped the federal lawsuit and refiled it in an Iowa state court. (Reporting by Helen Coster and Jack Queen in New York, Kanjyik Ghosh and Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Rod Nickel and Kate Mayberry)
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Nike Stock Raced Ahead Today
The company earned a post-earnings recommendation upgrade from an analyst. For him, it's now a buy with 15% potential upside. 10 stocks we like better than Nike › Athletic apparel and footwear star Nike (NYSE: NKE) notched a stock market victory for its investors on Tuesday with a more than 3% increase in share price. That was due in no small part to an analyst upgrade, accompanied by some rather bullish commentary. Nike's lift was in contrast to the performance of the S&P 500 index, which slumped by 0.1% on the day. Well before market open, John Staszak of Argus changed his Nike recommendation to buy (from his previous neutral) at a price target of $85 per share. That anticipates upside of more than 15% on the stock's most recent closing price. Staszak is convinced that Nike's present turnaround plan is having positive effects, according to reports, and it should help the company recover. The analyst wrote in his new note on Nike that it had success clearing its inventory in the second half of its fiscal 2025, and its current product lineup is up to date and bringing in customers. In Staszak's view, with these tailwinds at its back, Nike should continue to be a powerful force in the always-competitive athleticwear space. He waxed bullish in particular about its strength in high-end athletic footwear. The latter, he believes, is well supported by effective marketing and the many athlete endorsements it's managed to collect. Nike stock has been on quite a tear since the company published its fiscal fourth-quarter 2025 results last Thursday after market close. Revenue and headline net income were both down on a year-over-year basis, but they beat analyst expectations. Despite that, to me, those declines are concerning, and I'm not yet as convinced as Staszak that Nike is undoubtedly on the road to recovery. I'd be more hesitant to buy the stock than he is. Before you buy stock in Nike, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nike wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $722,181!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $968,402!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,069% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 177% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Nike Stock Raced Ahead Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
