Investors are expected to approve Amazon’s bid.þþShareholders of Whole Foods Market are scheduled to meet Wednesday to vote on Amazon’s $13.4 billion takeover bid for the grocery chain. Investors are expected to approve the offer, worth $42 a share — or 27 percent higher than the price that Whole Foods’ shares had been trading at before the bid was announced in June. Michael J. de la MercedþþECONOMYþþHome sales figures may hint at continued economic growth.þþThe American economy is on increasingly solid footing, posting solid growth in consumer and business spending. This has led many economists to forecast that the United States’ gross domestic product will grow at or around 3 percent this quarter — a rate the economy hasn’t hit since 2015. Will this pace hold? Two indicators this week — new home sales in July, released Wednesday, and existing home sales that same month, released the next day — will give added insight into whether the recent gains in consumer and business sentiment have filtered more broadly into the economy and housing market. Conor DoughertyþþThe Fed chairwoman is likely to address regulatory issues.þþJanet Yellen, the Federal Reserve chairwoman, will deliver a speech on financial stability on Friday at the Fed’s annual economic policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo. The Fed is widely expected to announce in September that it will begin to reduce its investment portfolio of Treasury securities and mortgage bonds, but Ms. Yellen is not expected to address monetary policy at the conference. Instead, the speech is likely to focus on regulatory issues. President Trump is seeking to loosen some of the constraints imposed on the financial industry in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Ms. Yellen and other Fed officials see room for improvement, but have cautioned against reversing those changes, which they regard as important protections against crises. This could be Ms. Yellen’s last speech at Jackson Hole as Fed chairwoman. Her term ends in February, and Mr. Trump is considering whether to replace her. Binyamin AppelbaumþþThe European Central Bank’s chief may also demur on policy.þþMario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, will be the lunchtime speaker at the economic policy symposium in Wyoming. In 2014, Mr. Draghi used the same event to signal that the European Central Bank would begin a stimulus program based on purchases of government bonds. There had been speculation that he might use this appearance at Jackson Hole to signal that the European Central Bank was preparing to wind down the stimulus program. But lately, the central bank has been lowering expectations of a major policy speech. Jack EwingþþSOUTH KOREAþþA verdict is pending for the Samsung heir accused of bribery.þþOn Friday, a verdict is expected in the trial of Lee Jae-yong, the vice chairman and heir apparent of Samsung Group. Mr. Lee faces charges that he bribed South Korean government officials to solidify his family’s control of Samsung, one of the world’s biggest business empires. Prosecutors recommended that Mr. Lee be sentenced to 12 years in prison and other Samsung executives to 10 years in a trial that has been obsessively followed by the South Korean public. Analysts have said it is also a referendum on the country’s commitment to punishing corporate oligarchs who have often been able to skirt tough sentences and convictions in the past.
Source: NY Times
