Online home buying platform Opendoor Labs will pay $62 million to the FTC “to settle claims that it used misleading marketing practices to persuade people to sell their homes on the site.” According to the Commission, the...more
Another week, another Elon tantrum. This time, Mr. Musk and his legal team have dispatched a “crisp, six-paragraph letter” to Twitter, accusing it of “actively resisting and thwarting” Musk’s rights while “completing a $44...more
4.5 million Americans—a new record—voluntarily left their jobs in November, continuing a trend that marked much of 2021 thanks to “strong employer demand” that’s allowing some workers to “pursue better opportunities.” While...more
1/7/2022
/ AT&T ,
Bitcoin ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Economic Downturn ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
General Motors ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Retail Market ,
Telecommunications ,
Toyota ,
Verizon ,
Wells Fargo
We thought that more regulatory action was in the offing for Wells Fargo, and the OCC definitely delivered, hitting Wells on Thursday with an additional $250 million fine for “unsatisfactory remedial progress” in addressing...more
9/10/2021
/ Amazon ,
Biden Administration ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Fines ,
Ford Motor ,
OCC ,
OSHA ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Wells Fargo
Dispatch #1 from the Elizabeth Holmes Theranos criminal fraud trial, which opened yesterday with jury selection and saw the excusing of 9 of the initial batch of about 50 potential jurors for lack of vaccination...more
9/1/2021
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Jury Selection ,
OCC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Private Equity ,
Surface Transportation Board ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo
T-Mobile, the nation’s second-largest wireless carrier, has now confirmed that the cyberattack we reported earlier this week did indeed expose the personal information of some 48 million people—some of it including social...more
Your dispatch from Day 1 of the Tesla shareholder dispute over the company’s SolarCity purchase didn’t disappoint—at least as far as Elon was concerned—with the founder taking the stand, defending the acquisition, and taking...more
New jobless claims fell dramatically in new figures released on Thursday, as “the improving public health situation and the easing of pandemic-related restrictions allowed the labor market to continue its gradual return to...more
5/7/2021
/ CBS ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debit and Credit Card Transactions ,
Economic Impact Analysis ,
FCC ,
Fee Disclosure ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Internet Streaming ,
Merger Agreements ,
Net Neutrality ,
New York Times ,
Publishers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telehealth ,
Unemployment ,
Viacom ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wells Fargo
Intel has unveiled plans to spend $20 billion to build two new chip manufacturing factories near existing facilities in Arizona—a “surprise bet that could please government officials worried about component shortages and...more
3/24/2021
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Disney ,
Federal Reserve ,
Hartford Insurance Company ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intel ,
Internet Streaming ,
Janet Yellen ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
Maritime Transport ,
Microchip Technology ,
Mobile Apps ,
Movies ,
Robinhood Financial ,
Takeover Bids ,
Television Commercials ,
Wells Fargo
NY AG Letitia James is suing Amazon, accusing the online retail giant “of not doing enough to protect workers in the state from the coronavirus” and calling its response to the pandemic “deficient.” ...more
2/17/2021
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Big Tech ,
Bitcoin ,
Bonds ,
Business Interruption ,
Capital Markets ,
Citibank ,
CMBS ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disney ,
E-Commerce ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Newspapers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Severe Weather ,
USAA ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wire Fraud ,
Workplace Safety
As we thought, stocks rallied on Monday thanks to Moderna’s news of promising results for its Covid-19 vaccine, with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting new record highs....more
11/18/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Bank of America ,
Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dow Jones ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Policy ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Home Depot ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Moderna Inc. ,
News Corp ,
Putative Class Actions ,
S&P ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla ,
Vaccinations ,
Viacom ,
Wells Fargo
Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group has reached a deal worth some $11.6 billion to buy the U.S. operations of BBVA, a Spanish lender. The mash-up, “one of the biggest banking deals since the 2008 financial crisis,”...more
11/16/2020
/ Administrative Resignation ,
Asia Pacific ,
Bank of England ,
Barclays ,
Berkshire Hathaway ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cross-Selling ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection Authority ,
DoorDash ,
Event Tickets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Moderna Inc. ,
Operation Warp Speed ,
Personal Data ,
Pfizer ,
PNC ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Share Buybacks ,
Student Loans ,
UK ,
Vaccinations ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
No dispute about this—election day was good for Uber, Lyft, and other businesses in California dependent on the gig economy, thanks to passage of Prop. 22, the ballot measure that exempts such companies from “having to treat...more
11/12/2020
/ Alibaba ,
Ballot Measures ,
E-Commerce ,
Employee Definition ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Kodak ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Nasdaq ,
Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo
A mix of surging Covid cases, the renewed restrictions and shutdowns they’ve prompted, and the unlikelihood of more virus stimulus any time soon sent stocks sharply down to start the week, with the S&P 500 charting its...more
10/27/2020
/ AIG ,
Cloud Computing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gaming ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Libor ,
Life Insurance ,
Microchip Technology ,
Mobile Payments ,
Retailers ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Stock Prices ,
Valuation ,
Wells Fargo
Federal regulators—including the Federal Reserve and the OCC—have fined Citigroup $400 million over “longstanding” failures in the areas of risk management, data governance, and internal controls. In addition to the fine, the...more
10/8/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Airlines ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Big Tech ,
Bonds ,
Citigroup ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Management ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
FinTech ,
Information Governance ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internal Controls ,
Layoffs ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
OCC ,
Popular ,
Poultry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Recovery Plans ,
Relief Measures ,
Retail Market ,
Risk Management ,
Stock Prices ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo
JPMorgan is preparing to finalize a deal with federal prosecutors and regulators in which the bank would pay nearly $1 billion to “settle civil and criminal charges that its traders rigged futures and securities markets”...more
9/24/2020
/ App Store ,
Apple ,
Big Data ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EPIC ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Supply ,
Futures ,
Global Warming ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mars ,
Mobile Apps ,
Oracle ,
Race Discrimination ,
Race Relations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Spoofing ,
Spotify ,
Stock Prices ,
TikTok ,
Tinder ,
Trump Administration ,
Twitter ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wall Street ,
Wells Fargo
The SEC has served Wells notices to Under Armour, warnings that the company and its execs could “face civil-enforcement action related to the sportswear maker’s past accounting practices,” including “the company’s disclosures...more
7/28/2020
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Board of Governors ,
Dairy Farmers ,
Delta Airlines ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Google ,
Grocery Stores ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Office Space ,
Popular ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Relief Measures ,
Remote Working ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telecommunications ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wells Notice
Goldman Sachs has reached a deal for $3.9 billion with the Malaysian government to resolve allegations of wrongdoing related to the massive 1MDB scandal. Goldman was the “main banker for the Malaysian fund” and raised...more
7/27/2020
/ 1MDB ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corruption ,
E*Trade ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Malaysia ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Vaccinations ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
The latest quarterly reporting shows that America’s biggest banks—among them, JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo—are taking self-imposed hits now in anticipation of a “wave of loan losses” later. Those three are...more
7/16/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Boeing ,
Citigroup ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Data Sellers ,
Default ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Economic Downturn ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EU ,
Google ,
Independent Contractors ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Ireland ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Loans ,
Lyft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Popular ,
Retail Market ,
Tax Liability ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo ,
YouTube
The White House and the US airline industry have agreed in principle to a $25 billion bailout after weeks of “haggling” over the terms, including whether the Treasury Department was “effectively turning the grants into loans...more
4/16/2020
/ Bailout ,
Bank of America ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Earnings Reports ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Google ,
IMF ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Layoffs ,
Loans ,
NBC ,
Online Advertisements ,
Recessions ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Revenues ,
Theranos ,
Tourism ,
Wells Fargo
Anticipated House passage later today of the $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill helped swing markets back to a bull run (though let’s keep that bubbly corked, shall we?). The news was enough for Wall Street to shrug off a...more
3/27/2020
/ CBS ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
G20 ,
Global Economy ,
Recessions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Prices ,
TARP ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Viacom ,
Wells Fargo
As Americans [way-too] slowly come to the realization that COVID-19 is a very real and very present threat, the business world is changing around them at a staggering pace. Stocks nosedived again on Monday, with the three...more
3/17/2020
/ Abuse of Power ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Airlines ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Aviation Industry ,
Business Interruption ,
Capital Markets ,
CEOs ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Distance Learning ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Aid ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
France ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
IRS ,
Lockheed Martin ,
Net Operating Losses ,
OCC ,
PG&E ,
Public Health ,
Recessions ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Stock Prices ,
Tax Code ,
Tax Deductions ,
Telecommuting ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo’s latest CEO, Charles Scharf—the bank’s third chief in the past four years—faced a hostile but less pitchfork-and-torch wielding House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, distancing himself from his...more
3/11/2020
/ Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Bank of England ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
China ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Economic Downturn ,
Energy Drinks ,
Equipment Failure ,
FEMA ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Internet Streaming ,
Patent Infringement ,
PepsiCo ,
PG&E ,
Popular ,
Property Damage ,
Public Health ,
S&P ,
Startups ,
Stock Markets ,
Stock Prices ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wildfires
Monday on Wall Street was the equivalent of a well-forecast storm that still managed to blow meteorologists’ minds. The deadly combination of diving oil prices and yet more COVID-19 worries spelled disaster for U.S. markets,...more
3/10/2020
/ Activist Investors ,
Bank Accounts ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Board of Directors ,
China ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corruption ,
Cross-Selling ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Dow Jones ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fifth Third Mortgage Company ,
Financial Markets ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Investment ,
Oil Prices ,
OPEC ,
Public Health ,
Relief Measures ,
Resignation ,
Russia ,
S&P ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Short-Term Loans ,
Stock Prices ,
Twitter ,
Wells Fargo
HP has officially rejected Xerox’s enhanced takeover bid, again calling the offer “too low” and decrying its “disproportionate[] benefit” for Xerox shareholders....more
3/5/2020
/ CBS ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disgorgement ,
DoorDash ,
Employee Definition ,
European Central Bank ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
France ,
Gig Economy ,
Hewlett-Packard ,
Housing Market ,
Huawei ,
Infrastructure ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Oil Prices ,
On-Demand Services ,
OPEC ,
Oral Argument ,
Popular ,
Publishers ,
Racketeering ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rental Property ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Takeover Bids ,
Telecommunications ,
Uber ,
Viacom ,
Wall Street ,
Wells Fargo ,
Xerox