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Firsthand Technology Value Fund (SVVC) is a BDC focused on venture capital. Readers with limited familiarity with BDCs should read my recent article that serves as a primer on BDCs as well as warnings about their fees, conflicts of interest and potentially poor governance.

SVVC has been trading recently around $4 per share despite the Company’s estimate that its NAV is well over three times that amount. The next few sections briefly describe the path that eventually led to SVVC’s dismal state.

Past Bright Spots

On July 17, 2014 SVVC reported an NAV of $27.30 per share and disclosed that its top two holdings were Twitter and Facebook! But the early bright spots soon began to be overshadowed by the poor performance of other portfolio companies.

Nevertheless, on 10/19/18 SVVC announced a “Preliminary NAV of $29.18 Per Share as of September 30, 2018″ and that “Holdings Include Pivotal,

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  • Zoom is introducing OnZoom, a new way to host events — free and paid — using the popular videoconferencing tool.
  • Zoom has come to be used to host all kinds of events amid the pandemic, from board meetings and conferences to fitness classes and concerts. The new OnZoom platform includes the ability to charge for tickets, as well as a directory of public event listings.
  • Zoom is also launching a new kind of app integration, called a Zapp, that can bring information from productivity tools like Dropbox, Slack, or Asana directly into a video chat.
  • Facebook launched its own features for paid videoconferencing events over the summer.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

As the pandemic drags on, Zoom is releasing a new way to host online events — importantly, now including paid events — as well as new types of apps that integrate outside business and productivity tools

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(Bloomberg) — Bank of America Corp.’s traders didn’t seize on the markets boon that lifted rival banks in the third quarter.

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Revenue from trading rose 3.6% to $3.34 billion, falling short of the $3.5 billion that analysts had forecast. While JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. each posted jumps of at least 17% at their trading desks, Bank of America’s small increase wasn’t enough to boost overall revenue as the bank’s consumer unit saw a 17% slide.

Wall Street trading desks have benefited from active markets during the pandemic, and those results have propped up lending units that are grappling with broader economic hardship in the U.S. after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered businesses and put millions of Americans out of work.

Bank of America’s results were “underwhelming,” with only a small increase in fixed-income and equities trading, Vital Knowledge founder Adam Crisafulli wrote in a note to

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  • Farmers in Thailand use armies of 10,000 “field chasing ducks” to eat their way through rice paddies after a harvest.
  • The tradition has long been practiced in Thailand and surrounding countries to rid rice paddies of pests and rice husks and reduce the cost of feeding the ducks.
  • Studies have shown this method of farming is not only beneficial to the environment, but can also increase crop yield.
  • View more episodes of Business Insider Today on Facebook.

At a farm in central Thailand, an army of 10,000 ducks isn’t just out for a stroll — it’s on the hunt.

Rice farmers in Thailand are enlisting these birds, called “field chasing ducks” to eat their way through rice paddies after a harvest. 

“They help eat golden apple snails and the remains of unwanted rice husks that remain in the field from the last harvest,” farmer Prang Sipipat told Reuters. “The ducks

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LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 12: Cars line up at a COVID19 test site at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Cars at the drive-through coronavirus testing site at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 12. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

In Monterey County, 26% of the county’s COVID-19 cases are in East Salinas, a largely Latino community of farmworkers, service employees and others living in crowded conditions as they work on the pandemic front lines.

It’s a very different story in the county’s wealthy seaside communities, including Monterey, Carmel and Pacific Grove. Combined, these locales have a population that slightly exceeds that of East Salinas — but they have only about 2% of the county’s coronavirus cases.

In Los Angeles County, Bell, a city that is 93% Latino, has had more than 4 times the number of cases as Manhattan Beach, which has about the same number of residents but is 81% white.

Until last week, these sorts of stark differences would not have stood in the way of a county’s

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SYDNEY, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Only 28% of participants in the air cargo industry feel they are well prepared to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine once available, according to a survey released on Wednesday, as the industry begins to gear up for a major logistical challenge.

Ground handlers and airports feel less prepared than freight forwarders and airlines, according to the survey conducted by The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and Pharma.Aero which found 36% of participants planned to invest in additional physical or digital infrastructure.

TIACA Vice Chairman Sanjeev Gadhia, who heads Nairobi-based air cargo operator Astral Aviation, said the global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine would be the toughest logistical challenge ever faced, with an estimated 10 billion doses requiring distribution in 2021 and 2022.

More than 40 vaccine candidates are already undergoing clinical trials, according to the World Health Organization.

“We know that as from November the first

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Germany’s leading economic institutes on Wednesday published their autumn report, which paints a more pessimistic forecast for the recovery of Europe’s largest economy than experts had predicted in their previous spring report.



a group of people sitting at a picnic table: 13 October 2020, Berlin: Unoccupied chairs of various open-air cafes and restaurants in Tauentzienstraße. Missing guests due to corona-related restrictions are causing the restaurateurs some trouble. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images)

13 October 2020, Berlin: Unoccupied chairs of various open-air cafes and restaurants in Tauentzienstraße. Missing guests due to corona-related restrictions are causing the restaurateurs some trouble. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The research institutes have revised their GDP forecasts downwards by a percentage point for both 2020 and 2021.

They now expect gross domestic product (GDP) to decline by 5.4% this year from the -4.2% they had forecast in Spring. For 2021, they expect growth of 4.7%, revised down from 5.8%. In 2022, economic output should increase by 2.7 %, they said.

“A good part of the slump from the spring has already been made up, but the remaining catching-up process represents

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More than 300 employees at three Dave & Buster’s sports bar and restaurants in Michigan will see temporary furloughs turn into layoffs next month. 



an orange ball in front of a building: Dave & Busters in Livonia on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020.

© Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
Dave & Busters in Livonia on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020.

Dave & Buster’s plans to lay off 119 employees at its Utica location, 111 employees at its Livonia location and 81 employees at its Kentwood location, according to paperwork submitted to the state of Michigan. 

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The permanent layoffs are scheduled for Nov. 8.

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The food-and-games chain plans to lay off more than 1,300 workers in seven states, according to Restaurant Business. The largest number of layoffs are set to take place at the three Michigan locations, three Massachusetts stores and two Denver locations.

Dave & Buster’s had built up a celebrity buzz

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  • With polls increasingly signaling a victory for Joe Biden in the presidential race, investors should shift their focus to Senate races, Morgan Stanley said Wednesday.
  • Senate election outcomes “will mean the difference between substantial fiscal expansion and fiscal gridlock,” strategists led by Michael Zezas wrote in a note to clients.
  • Treasuries and West Texas Intermediate crude oil are least priced for a so-called blue wave, the bank said.
  • A Democratic sweep could temporarily drag stocks lower and create a “potential dip-buying opportunity,” the team added.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

November’s Senate elections will determine whether investors can look forward to a wave of new fiscal relief or face a prolonged legislative stalemate, Morgan Stanley strategists said Wednesday.

Polls and prediction markets have increasingly pointed to a victory for Joe Biden in the presidential race. Republicans would need a “game-changing event” to keep

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PITTSBURGH, Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) today reported:

For the quarter

In millions, except per share data

3Q20

2Q20



3Q19

Net income (loss) from continuing operations

$1,532

($744)

$1,181



Net income from discontinued operations

—

$4,399

$211

Net income



$1,532

$3,655

$1,392

Diluted earnings (loss) per common share from continuing operations

$3.39



($1.90)

$2.47

Diluted earnings per common share from discontinued operations

—

$10.28



$.47

Diluted earnings per common share

$3.39

$8.40

$2.94



 

     “PNC delivered solid third quarter results against the backdrop of a continuing uncertain economy. Noninterest income increased, expenses were well managed and we continued to generate positive operating leverage. Deposits grew while loans declined as a result of lower commercial loan utilization rates, despite

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