The Traderszone Network

Square Inc.’s lower-than-expected pricing should actually serve as a good reality check for Silicon Valley, a bit of a slap in the face by public market investors to the frothy valuations of the so-called unicorn tech companies.
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Three People’s Bank of China officials have been given administrative warnings. Investigators found their division had padded salaries and misused official vehicles

Asian share markets rose on Thursday as Wall Street bounced on expectations the Federal Reserve would be confident enough of the U.S. economy to raise rates in December but would then proceed with great caution on further tightening. Investors also have to steer past a Bank of Japan policy meeting and minutes of the European Central Bank’s last meeting. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) firmed 1 percent, brushing aside a disappointing report on exports and imports.

Mobile payments company Square Inc priced shares at $9 late on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter, further discounting the company’s valuation before it begins trading Thursday morning. Square has raised $243.5 million in its Wall Street debut, about $80 million less than expected. The price set on Wednesday puts Square’s market capitalization at $2.9 billion, a 52 percent drop from the $6 billion valuation it had earned at its last private funding round.

Pfizer Inc is in talks to acquire Allergan Plc for $370-$380 per share, according to a person familiar with the matter, valuing the potential deal at around $150 billion, the healthcare sector’s biggest. …

Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) is betting that appliance sales will drive significant revenue growth in the future, a strategy that is likely to benefit the biggest U.S. electronics chain when it reports earnings on Thursday. The Minneapolis-based retailer, which operates 1,400 stores in the United States, is focusing on growth again after some analysts feared it was flirting with bankruptcy just a few years ago, hurt by the rise of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O). It is now in the third phase of a turnaround plan engineered by Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly, who took over in August 2012.

Victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme can expect to soon receive about $1.42 billion to help cover their losses, after two U.S. judges on Wednesday authorized the payouts. In the first payout, customers who invested directly with Madoff will receive about $1.18 billion from Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Separately, former customers of J. Ezra Merkin, a New York money manager who funneled their money to Madoff through his Ariel and Gabriel Capital “feeder funds,” will receive nearly $236 million, court papers show.