The company said it would sell off Michigan’s Adventure in Muskegon, Michigan; Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston in Texas; Six Flags Great Escape in Queensbury, New York; Six Flags La Ronde in Montreal; Six Flags St. Louis in Missouri; Valleyfair in Minneapolis and Worlds of Fun in Kansas City for around $331 million. 

“Consistent with our strategy, this divestiture enables us to concentrate our capital, leadership and operational focus on the properties that we believe generate the strongest returns and offer the greatest long-term upside,” Six Flags Entertainment Corporation chief executive John Reilly said in a news release.

EPR plans to partner with Enchanted Parks to run the six US parks. La Ronde Operations will operate the Canadian park.

The parks will continue to operate on their regular schedule and all season passes sold will be recognized through the 2026 operating season. 

Six Flags will continue to operate 34 parks across 23 locations in North America for the 2026 season.

Six Flags will sell off seven parks across the US and Canada for around $331 million. MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Cash proceeds from the transactions will be used to pay down the company’s debt. AFP via Getty Images

The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter of 2026. 

Collectively, the seven parks hosted about 4.5 million guests last year, generating about $260 million in net revenue, the company said. Cash proceeds, after taxes and transaction expenses, will be used to pay down debt, it said.

“This strategic acquisition represents a compelling opportunity to expand our attractions portfolio with high-quality experiential real estate assets in established regional markets,” EPR Properties CEO Gregory Silvers said.

The post Six Flags sells 7 theme parks across US, Canada in $331M move to cut debt appeared first on Our Story Insight.

That’s what the Financial Times reported this week – exactly two months after On The Money broke the story. The funny thing is, if history is any guide (and if my sources are to be believed), the repeat headline is an indication that UBS isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

As On The Money reported earlier, UBS hates all the regulation being heaped on by the Swiss government, including some recent, more onerous capital requirements that far exceed what any US bank needs to hold. 

UBS hates all the regulation being heaped on by the Swiss government, including some recent, more onerous capital requirements that far exceed what any US bank needs to hold.  Jack Forbes / NY Post Design

The big Swiss bank feels that it did its country a big favor taking over the ill-fated Credit Suisse and integrating the thing into its operations while eating many of the costs. It also feels that its government is jeopardizing its ability to compete globally with the likes of JPMorgan.

In September, we first reported, top UBS officials met with President Trump’s Treasury Department to explore such a move. (This was the same meeting confirmed by the FT earlier this week.)

More From Charles Gasparino

Yet there’s an adage in journalism that when outlets get around to reporting something late that’s in their own backyard, they’re literally chasing a story that has moved on. And that’s exactly what I’m hearing is the case here.

As of now, UBS is leaning toward keeping its HQ in Switzerland – and for a few simple reasons, my sources say. UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher and CEO Sergio Ermotti know that to domicile the bank in the US, they would literally have to give up their vast operations in Switzerland.

UBS would face  an avalanche of regulations and harassment by local authorities if it remained as a US bank and continued its large business presence in Geneva. To move to the US would be to relinquish everything it created as Europe’s premier banker over the past 162 years, bank executives say.

UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher (left) and CEO Sergio Ermotti. UBS is leaning toward keeping its HQ in Switzerland, sources say. REUTERS

“The Swiss will make their lives unbearable, which is why they aren’t leaving,” said one top executive at a major US bank. “If Kelleher and Ermotti think the regulation on them is tough now, wait until they set up shop in NYC.”

So what is UBS doing by meeting with the Trump administration, as we first reported in September and the FT is revisiting now? Something our president likes to call “negotiation.”

This entire dance is to force the Swiss to back off the new capital requirements that the bank says would force it to increase the size of its cushion against losses by a staggering $26 billion.

UBS would face  an avalanche of regulations and harassment by local authorities if it remained as a US bank and continued its large business presence in Geneva. REUTERS

Leaking these stories puts the government on notice that while UBS may not move its HQ out of Geneva, it can vastly increase its US footprint. The big bank already has a formidable presence in the US; its brokerage division of about 6,000 wealth advisers is considered one of Wall Street’s best.

It comprises what used to be called PaineWebber, the once formidable US investment bank and brokerage firm. I actually reported the story back in late 2000 when UBS purchased the mid-size investment bank run by two of Wall Street’s most capable executives, Joe Grano and Don Marron.

Charlie Gasparino has his finger on the pulse of where business, politics and finance meet

Sign up to receive On The Money by Charlie Gasparino in your inbox every Thursday.

Thanks for signing up!

The $10.8 billion deal is widely regarded as among the most successful bank mergers ever. Wall Street sources expect that rather than leave Geneva and all that Swiss business the government would throttle if they set up their HQ here, Kelleher and Ermotti will buy a brokerage firm or a small investment bank to beef up their US operations.

They will also continue to leak stuff about leaving, which the Trump administration has no problem confirming, casting it as a show of confidence in the US financial system. One Trump official did so unabashedly months ago, pointing out to On The Money that such negotiations with foreign companies “is what we want.”

A UBS rep declined comment.

The post UBS is threatening to move to the US. Sound familiar? appeared first on Our Story Insight.

With the latest being that casino applicants in New York might not hear about updates until early next year, MGM Resorts and Genting are now the first operators to move forward to the next stage of the process. Both have received approval from their respective Community Advisory Committees on Thursday.

The two operators are proposing to expand their existing VLT casinos into more expansive resorts. For MGM, the committee voted unanimously to advance the $2.3 billion proposal, after the company added multiple funding initiatives to its application during the review process. That adds nearly $117 million in additional projects that will help to improve the neighborhood of Yonkers and beyond.

Genting also gained unanimous approval from the committee for its plan to expand Resorts World New York City. The $5.5 billion proposal includes a 5,600,000sq.ft integrated resort made up of 6,000 slot machines, 800 gaming tables, 2,000 hotel rooms, a 7,000-seat arena, and more than 7,000 parking spaces.

New York casino licenses are a busy market

Eight bidders have also been vying for the chance to build the city proper’s very first casino throughout the summer. The state plans to issue up to three licenses, forcing developers into a battle to come out on top. The community approval process has been underway throughout the summer, with public hearings taking place throughout July and August.

MGM Resorts and Genting are the first two out of the eight to make it to this stage of the process. That leaves Caesars Palace Times Square, Freedom Plaza, Avenir, Coney Island, Hard Rock’s Metropolitan Park proposal, Bally’s Bronx, and Empire City Casino trailing behind for now.

With billions of dollars in future profits on the line, the developers will still be working hard to get their proposal into a winning spot.

Featured image: Public Domain Pictures, licensed under CC0 1.0

The post MGM Resorts and Genting are the first to move forward with New York casino licenses appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Amid all the tariff tumult of the past few months, the global yield curve has been quietly re-steepening. Also note that the previously long-watched US-based yield curve – which investors lately (and wrongly) have been ignoring – has been doing the same. 

So what’s a yield curve, again? It’s a graph showing government bond yields from 3-month to 10-year, left to right. When long-term rates top short rates, the curve slopes upward — and is deemed “steep” and historically bullish. When short-term rates top long, it is “inverted”— an historically fairly reliable though imperfect recession warning. 

The biggest market moves come from factors that have gone unnoticed – and right now, there’s a doozy lurking under the table. AFP via Getty Images

Why is that? Like a dashboard indicator, the yield curve usually predicts bank lending trends. Banks use short-term deposits to fund long-term loans — pocketing the spread. Borrow at one rate, lend at a higher rate. Steep curves mean bigger profits, so banks lend eagerly, spurring growth. 

Meanwhile, inverted curves — when short-term rates top long — shrink loan profitability. Banks lend less. Since economies rely hugely on loans to finance growth — from building inventory to funding expansion — GDP gets squashed.

For decades, the US yield curve rarely misfired, becoming a lodestar for investors. But like assuming a car’s dash is reality, they ignored its “under the hood” function — the lending. It worked until it didn’t.

After global stocks’ 2022 decline, yield curves inverted globally. Recession fears surged. Investors gnashed. Yet lending grew. US, eurozone and global GDP expanded. Pockets of contraction like Germany arose but were rare. Stocks bulled upward. 

Investors were befuddled. The curve remained inverted in 2023 and through most of 2024, with stocks rising, GDP growing. Pundits scratched their heads, then got bored, ignoring and deeming it “broken.” It seems they never asked: Why did it “break”?

Amid all the tariff tumult of the past few months, the global yield curve has been quietly re-steepening.

Under the hood, banks held tons of ultra-low-rate, COVID-era deposits. In 2020, US bank deposits ballooned 20.8% from the year earlier and another 11.7% in 2021. They stayed elevated through 2022 and 2023, echoing global trends. 

In other words: Banks didn’t need to borrow to lend. They needn’t compete for deposits by raising deposit rates. That stash of low-cost deposits kept lending profitable even as the Fed hiked to highs of 5.5% alongside other central banks globally.

Now, unseen, yield curves flipped positive, aiding global loan profits. This stems from short-term rate cuts (most heavily overseas – and rising long-term rates (which most wrongly fear, and which are also bullish).

Money flows globally between most nations, so I always monitor a GDP-weighted global yield curve. Last July, it was down 0.55 percentage points — inverted. A few months before that it was down nearly a full point. Now? It has flipped to positive 0.50 points — a quiet, nearly 1.5-point lending boost in slightly over a year. It is both bullish and explains recent trends.

A GDP-weighted global yield curve can explain recent trends. AP

America’s curve improved but remains basically flat – down 0.07 points. But Britain flipped from  down 0.99 points a year ago to positive 0.35 points now. Continental Europe’s shifted more — from down 0.47 to up 1.03!

Stocks show it matters: Regionally the MSCI Europe clocked early new highs and sits up 22% year to date. The non-US trounces America this year.

Steeper curves favor value stocks (like the eurozone and UK’s) over growth stocks (which dominate the US). Eurozone and UK Financials—up 52% and 33%, respectively—quietly lead in 2025, trouncing US Tech’s 10%. Why? A bank profit turbocharge! Europe’s value-heavy Industrials lead, too. They need lending to finance growth.

America’s curve improved but remains basically flat – down 0.07 points.

That most observers still ignore the curve is vital. It means stocks haven’t yet fully priced in this growing, bullish power. Expect it to help drive stocks higher here and to continue doing the same throughout Europe, the UK and most emerging markets.

Ken Fisher is the founder and executive chairman of Fisher Investments, a four-time New York Times bestselling author, and regular columnist in 21 countries globally.

The post All about ‘yield curves’ – and the big move for stocks they’re pointing to in 2025 appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Jim Acosta announced his new venture Tuesday — hours after signing off as a CNN anchor with an anti-Trump rant.

“Hey guys! I’ve started something new. Go check it out!” Acosta wrote in a post on X, along with a video.

His new landing spot will be similar to the route many exiled journalists have taken in recent years: Substack.

Jim Acosta’s new landing spot will be similar to the route many exiled journalists have taken in recent years: Substack. Acosta in 2018, above AFP via Getty Images

“Hey guys, it’s Jim, and let me just say this: I’ve had quite the day,” Acosta said in the video.

“But as you can see, earlier today this was my last day at CNN and I did want to jump on Substack Live for a moment and say welcome to my new venture. I’m going independent, at least for now.”

He went on to rehash his comments from his farewell tirade in which he equated frequent nemesis Donald Trump to “a tyrant.”

“Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and hope. And we’ll keep this conversation going,” Acosta said in the video.

The former White House correspondent at CNN, who often butted heads with President Trump during his first term, was reportedly slated to be relegated to the graveyard shift from his current morning slot before deciding to quit.

The former White House correspondent at CNN, who often butted heads with President Trump during his first term, was reportedly slated to be relegated to the graveyard shift from his current morning slot before deciding to quit. CNN

“You may have seen some reports about me and this show. And after giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing an alternative time slot CNN offered me, I have decided to move on,” Acosta said at the end of his 10 a.m. program.

Acosta, who is of Cuban descent, said the highlight of his career was traveling with then-President Barack Obama to his ancestral homeland to interview Raul Castro in 2016.

“As a son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson. It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant,” Acosta said in an apparent veiled reference aimed at Trump. 

Acosta will be replaced in the mornings by “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown” as part of a reshuffle of the ratings-challenged lineup by CNN boss Mark Thompson.

Thompson had reportedly offered Acosta a less-prominent midnight-to-2 a.m. slot — and the opportunity to anchor the show from the West Coast.

CNN thanked Acosta for his 18 years of service.

“Jim has had a long, distinguished nearly 20-year career at CNN, with a track record of standing up to authority, for the First Amendment and for our journalistic freedoms,” the company said in a statement.

“We want to thank him for the dedication and commitment he’s brought to his reporting and wish him the very best in the future.”

The post Jim Acosta reveals his next move after dramatic CNN exit — and it’s not on TV appeared first on Our Story Insight.