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  • Big Tech Antitrust Tracker: Current Noise to Set Course of Travel In this edition of Capstone’s Big Tech Antitrust Tracker, we identify key headline risks we think will set the course for the future of antitrust enforcement action. March 18, 2021 – Capstone believes that despite sharply increasing pressure against Alphabet Inc.’s Google (GOOGL) and the market power of the Big Tech platforms, seismic changes to US […]Learn More
  • EU Digital Services Package Poses Big Tech Risk; Weakened Ability to Leverage Data and Increased Transparency Likely March 2, 2021 – Capstone believes the European Commission’s proposed overhaul of internet regulation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) will likely present long-term headwinds for Big Tech companies. Of the two proposals, we believe the DMA presents the highest risk, as it has sharper teeth and could meaningfully alter the […]Learn More
  • Charts of the Month: Cruises, Climate Change, and Credit Servicers Capstone’s Charts of the Month highlight regulatory, legislative, and policy-driven developments that investors should be paying attention to. All graphics were recently published in Capstone research. Learn More
  • Policy Shakeout from the GameStop Saga: Retail Brokers, Short Selling & Market Making In this research commentary, Capstone discusses four policy debates we expect to emerge from the recent market volatility. February 5, 2021 – Last week’s market volatility was remarkable on many fronts—the magnitude of the GameStop Corp. (GME) short squeeze, the breadth with which volatility spread across the market to other heavily shorted stocks, and the […]Learn More
  • CFPB to Consider Overdraft Fee Limits, an Underappreciated Risk for Banks The CFPB will likely pursue overdraft rulemaking, an underappreciated risk to 30% of net income for TD, TCF, and Regions banks. January 28, 2021 – Capstone believes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is likely to undertake rulemaking to increase restrictions on overdraft charges for automatic teller machine (ATM) and one-time or point-of-sale (POS) debit […]Learn More
  • EU Plastics Regulations to Present Headwinds for Dow Inc, LyondellBasell Stricter plastics regulations in the EU would soften polymer demand, which Dow and LyondellBasell manufacture. January 11, 2021 – Capstone believes the European Commission’s Single-Use Plastic Directive (SUP)—effective July 2021—signals a growing trend toward stricter packaging regulations that will lower demand for single-use plastics in the European Union, developments we believe the market is underappreciating. […]Learn More
  • State AGs Target Credit Acceptance’s Deep Subprime Model The attorneys general are likely to push for “ability to repay” analyses, which would be a material negative for Credit Acceptance. September 17, 2020 – Capstone believes state attorneys general (AGs), as part of their ongoing investigations into Credit Acceptance Corp.’s (CACC) business practices, will attempt to force the company to conduct an “ability to […]Learn More
  • COVID-19 State Reopening Tracker Winter is coming, and with it, another wave of new Coronavirus cases October 1, 2020 – Capstone believes states removing restrictions on indoor gatherings, entering the fall season, will lead to a third wave of new COVID-19 cases by November, possibly coinciding with election day and hampering voter turnout. While we believe at least one […]Learn More
  • Opioid Litigation Focus Will Shift to Chain Pharmacies Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, and Walmart face $30 billion-35 billion in liabilities. August 14, 2020 – Capstone believes the focus of state attorneys general and municipalities opioid litigation will shift to chain pharmacies—primarily Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA), CVS Health Corp. (CVS), Rite Aid Corp. (RAD), and Walmart Inc. (WMT)—as opioid distributors and several opioid […]Learn More
  • Six Policy Catalysts Driving the Battery Storage Industry June 9, 2020 – On June 8th, Capstone held a conference call exclusively for clients with the Energy Storage Association (ESA) to review the federal and state policy landscape and the probabilities of congressional action to extend clean energy tax credits. We believe there are strong market signals for battery storage and other forms of […]Learn More