JBS shareholders to sue Batista brothers, former managers for damages

https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/24047-jbs-shareholders-to-sue-batistas-former-managers-for-damages

• JBS shareholders have voted in favor of suing Joesley and Wesley Batista for losses incurred after the Batista brothers confessed to bribing thousands of public officials.
• In 2017, Brazilian federal prosecutors discovered that the Batista brothers approved the sale of millions of JBS shares. This occurred just weeks before evidence was submitted that the brothers bribed nearly 2,000 Brazilian public officials.
  • The brothers sold the shares well aware that once the bribery evidence was uncovered, the company’s share price would fall.
• The Batista brothers went on to secure a plea agreement between prosecutors concerning the bribery charges, and this resulted in a sell-off of shares on the Brazilian stock exchange. The Batistas then turned around and repurchased the shares at a significantly lower price.
• BNDESpar, the largest minority shareholder in JBS, is seeking relief for financial damage caused to JBS by controlling shareholders and others involved in the acts that were confessed as part of the plea deal.
• Additionally, due to the shareholder vote, JBS will also take legal action against former members of the JBS management.
• The Batista brothers were banned from holding management positions in companies owned by J & F Investimentos, the parent company of JBS, after federal prosecutors charged them with insider trading.
  • However, this injunction was lifted when defense attorneys asked the court to dismiss the ban because the Covid-19 pandemic made the brothers’ return to management positions at J & F vital.

Heitkamp, Kolbe predict Biden victory but see problems ahead

https://www.tsln.com/news/heitkamp-kolbe-predict-biden-victory-but-see-problems-ahead/

• Yesterday morning, former Senator Heidi Heitkamp, D-ND, and former Representative Jim Kolbe, R-AZ, were featured in a “Morning After” Zoom event sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
  • Both predicted Biden to be elected president, but say there are many problems ahead both in the transition period and Biden presidency amongst the continuing urban-rural divide.
• According to Kolbe, the U.S. is a very divided country, which is a worrisome situation for our friends in Europe and around the world. “I am personally discouraged and pessimistic about how we are going to go forward here,” he stated.
• If Biden is elected president, the divisions between the Democratic-led House and the Republican-led Senate will continue to plague the presidency, said both Kolbe and Heitkamp.
  • President Trump governed by executive order, and if Biden takes office, there will be tremendous pressure from the left to use executive orders, according to Heitkamp.
• Both Heitkamp and Kolbe believe that Biden will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord by executive order. Former President Obama joined it by executive order and did not seek Senate approval.
• Heitkamp concluded by saying that Joe Biden can’t heal the country until we stop yelling at each other.

Record high cattle inventory in Brazil

https://www.nationalbeefwire.com/cattle-flash

• So far in 2020, Brazil’s cattle inventory has increased 5.99 million hd. from 2019, up to 244.1 million hd.
  • This is the largest cattle inventory in Brazil on record.
• Since 2000, Brazil’s cattle inventory has grown every year, up 98 million hd. since that time.
• In 1979, Brazil’s cattle inventory exceeded 100 million hd., and in 2013, their cattle inventory exceeded 200 million hd.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $210.19 (+0.75)
• Select boxed beef: $197.05 (+1.60)