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Tag: Government policy

  • NAACP and other civil-rights groups issue Florida travel advisories

    NAACP and other civil-rights groups issue Florida travel advisories

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    Ron DeSantis signs the Parental Rights in Education bill, known as the “Don’t say gay” bill, in March at Classical Preparatory School in Shady Hills, Fla.


    Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/AP/file

    ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”

    Don’t miss: Disney scraps plans on roughly $1 billion investment at new corporate campus in Florida 

    The NAACP, long an advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil-rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay-rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state’s largest job sectors.

    The warning approved Saturday by the NAACP’s board of directors tells tourists that, before traveling to Florida, they should understand the state of Florida “devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”

    An email was sent Sunday morning to DeSantis’s office seeking comment. DeSantis is expected to announce a run for the GOP presidential nomination this week.

    See: Busy, and bellicose, legislative session winds down in Florida. Now it’s decision time for DeSantis.

    Florida is one of the most popular states in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. More than 137.5 million tourists visited Florida last year, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotion agency. Tourism supports 1.6 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $98.8 billion in Florida in 2019, the last year figures are available.

    The NAACP’s decision comes after the DeSantis’s administration in January rejected the College Board’s Advanced Placement African American Studies course. DeSantis and Republican lawmakers also have pressed forward with measures that ban state colleges from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory, and also passed the Stop WOKE Act that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses.

    In its warning for Hispanic travelers considering a visit to Florida, LULAC cited a new law that prohibits local governments from providing money to organizations that issue identification cards to people illegally in the country and invalidates out-of-state driver’s licenses held by undocumented immigrants, among other things.

    See: DeSantis criticizes Trump for implying Florida abortion ban is ‘too harsh’

    Also: Writers group PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House sue over book ban in Florida

    The law also requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a citizenship question on intake forms, which critics have said is intended to dissuade immigrants living in the U.S. illegally from seeking medical care.

    “The actions taken by Gov. DeSantis have created a shadow of fear within communities across the state,” said Lydia Medrano, a LULAC vice president for the Southeast region.

    Recent efforts to limit discussion on LGBTQ topics in schools, the removal of books with gay characters from school libraries, a recent ban on gender-affirming care for minors, new restrictions on abortion access and a law allowing Floridians to carry concealed guns without a permit contributed to Equality Florida’s warning.

    “Taken in their totality, Florida’s slate of laws and policies targeting basic freedoms and rights pose a serious risk to the health and safety of those traveling to the state,” Equality Florida’s advisory said.

    Read on:

    U.S. Border Patrol says illegal crossings are down dramatically since lifting of Title 42 asylum restrictions

    2024 Republican hopefuls rush to defend Marine who put New York subway rider in fatal chokehold

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  • Biden, McCarthy to meet in person Monday after ‘productive’ debt-ceiling talk

    Biden, McCarthy to meet in person Monday after ‘productive’ debt-ceiling talk

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    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will meet in person Monday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about averting an economy-wrecking federal default, and the Republican leader expressed cautious optimism about a possible debt ceiling compromise as Washington races to raise America’s borrowing limit before the funds could be depleted early next month.

    The leaders spoke by phone Sunday while the president was returning home on Air Force One after the Group of Seven summit in Japan. McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters at the Capitol that the call was “productive” and that the on-again, off-again negotiations between his staff and White House representatives would resume in the evening.

    Both sides have said progress was being made but that they remain far apart, and talks had lapsed for part of the weekend. Biden’s Treasury Department has said it could run out of cash as soon as June 1, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday, “I think that that’s a hard deadline.”

    Read on: Biden says in Hiroshima press conference that Republicans must ‘move from their extreme positions’ on debt limit

    McCarthy said after his call with Biden that “I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what we’re looking at.” The speaker added, “But I’ve been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year.”

    McCarthy emerged from that conversation sounding upbeat and was careful not to criticize Biden’s trip, as he had before, suggesting the president had used his time overseas to insist on Democratic positions that made compromise harder. He did caution, “There’s no agreement on anything.”

    The speaker also gently praised the White House’s negotiating team, saying the sides may have “philosophical” disagreements, but could reach “common ground.”

    “We’re looking at how do we have a victory for this country. How do we solve problems,” McCarthy said. He said he did not think the final legislation would remake the federal budget and the country’s debt, but at least “put us on a path to change the behavior of this runaway spending.”

    The White House confirmed the Monday meeting and late Sunday talks but did not elaborate on the leaders’ call.

    Earlier, Biden used his concluding news conference in Hiroshima, Japan to warn House Republicans that they must move off their “extreme positions” over raising the debt limit and that there would be no agreement to avoid a catastrophic default only on their terms.

    Biden made clear that “it’s time for Republicans to accept that there is no deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms.” He said he had done his part in attempting to raise the borrowing limit so the government can keep paying its bills, by agreeing to significant cuts in spending. “Now it’s time for the other side to move from their extreme position.”

    Biden had been scheduled to travel from Hiroshima to Papua New Guinea and Australia, but cut short his trip in light of the strained negotiations with Capitol Hill.

    Even with a new wave of tax revenue expected soon, perhaps giving both sides more time to negotiate, Yellen said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “the odds of reaching June 15, while being able to pay all of our bills, is quite low.”

    GOP lawmakers are holding tight to demands for sharp spending cuts, rejecting the alternatives proposed by the White House for reducing deficits.

    Republicans want work requirements on the Medicaid health care program, though the Biden administration has countered that millions of people could lose coverage. The GOP additionally introduced new cuts to food aid by restricting states’ ability to waive work requirements in places with high joblessness. That idea, when floated under President Donald Trump, was estimated to cause 700,000 people to lose their food benefits.

    GOP lawmakers are also seeking cuts in IRS money and asking the White House to accept parts of their proposed immigration overhaul.

    The White House has countered by keeping defense and nondefense spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in the 2024 budget year and $1 trillion over 10 years.

    “I think that we can reach an agreement,” Biden said, though he added this about Republicans: “I can’t guarantee that they wouldn’t force a default by doing something outrageous.”

    Republicans had also rejected White House proposals to raise revenues in order to further lower deficits. Among the proposals the GOP objects to are policies that would enable Medicare to pay less for prescription drugs and the closing of a dozen tax loopholes. Republicans have refused to roll back the Trump-era tax breaks on corporations and wealthy households as Biden’s own budget has proposed.

    Biden, nonetheless, insisted that “revenue is not off the table.”

    For months, Biden had refused to engage in talks over the debt limit, contending that Republicans in Congress were trying to use the borrowing limit vote as leverage to extract administration concessions on other policy priorities.

    But with the June 1 potential deadline looming and Republicans putting their own legislation on the table, the White House launched talks on a budget deal that could accompany an increase in the debt limit.

    Biden’s decision to set up a call with McCarthy came after another start-stop day with no outward signs of progress. Food was brought to the negotiating room at the Capitol on Saturday morning, only to be carted away hours later. Talks, though, could resume later Sunday after the Biden-McCarthy conversation.

    The president tried to assure leaders attending the meeting of the world’s most powerful democracies that the United States would not default. U.S. officials said leaders were concerned, but largely confident that Biden and American lawmakers would resolve the crisis.

    The president, though, said he was ruling out the possibility of taking action on his own to avoid a default. Any such steps, including suggestions to invoke the 14th Amendment as a solution, would become tied up in the courts.

    “That’s a question that I think is unresolved,” Biden said, adding he hopes to try to get the judiciary to weigh in on the notion for the future.

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  • Biden says in Hiroshima press conference that Republicans must ‘move from their extreme positions’ on debt limit

    Biden says in Hiroshima press conference that Republicans must ‘move from their extreme positions’ on debt limit

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    President Joe Biden on Sunday called for Republicans to agree to compromises in debt-ceiling negotiations, as he wrapped up a visit to Japan for a G-7 summit and prepared to fly back to Washington, D.C.

    “Now it’s time for the other side to move from their extreme positions, because much of what they’ve already proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable,” Biden said during a news conference in Japan.

    “It’s time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely — solely — on their partisan terms. They have to move, as well,” he said.

    Biden’s comments on movement were similar to what House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said two days ago. The House Republican from south-central California told reporters on Friday that there needs to be “movement by the White House, and we don’t have any movement yet, so, yeah, we’ve got to pause.”

    Rep. Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican deputized by McCarthy to lead the talks, had earlier Friday characterized Republicans as pressing a pause button after prior reports that a deal framework was coming into view, 

    The president’s remarks in Hiroshima came as investors are watching for fresh signs of a bipartisan deal that would lift the federal government’s borrowing limit and prevent a market-shaking default.

    Biden accused some Republicans of risking the economic damage of a default because of the 2024 White House race.

    “I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy, and because I am president and presidents are responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame, and that’s the one way to make sure Biden is not re-elected,” he said.

    During Sunday’s news conference, Biden, who cut short his trip because of the looming debt-ceiling crisis (leading to the cancellation of a Quad summit in Australia), said he and McCarthy will be talking later Sunday while he is flying back to the U.S.

    “My guess is he’s going to want to deal directly with me,” the president said, adding that it had to do with “making sure we’re on the same page.”

    “Our teams are going to continue working,” Biden also said.

    When asked about McCarthy’s call for government spending to be less next year than this year, Biden said his side is “willing to cut spending, as well as raise revenue,” referring to tax increases. He also said his team is waiting for a GOP response to the White House’s latest counterproposal.

    Graves, the Louisiana Republican, had, with his Friday-morning characterization of debt-ceiling negotiations as at a “pause,” suggested the Biden White House’s representatives were being “unreasonable.” Talks resumed Friday evening, but negotiators quickly called it quits for the night, and there was little progress reported Saturday, with McCarthy telling reporters that he didn’t think there would be an ability to “move forward until the president can get back.”

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on May 1 and again last week that a U.S. default could happen as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling. The Bipartisan Policy Center and Congressional Budget Office have each offered similar projections.

    Biden had for months called for a so-called clean increase of the $31.4 trillion cap on federal debt issuance, arguing that the time to address the levels of future government spending is instead during the annual budget-writing process.

    In August 2011, lawmakers approved an increase to the debt limit just hours before a potential government default. Within days, the U.S. lost its triple-A credit rating from S&P for the first time in history, with the ratings agency saying the American political system had become less stable. U.S. stocks 
    SPX,
    -0.14%

    DJIA,
    -0.33%
    plunged in August 2011 following that debt downgrade by S&P.

    Now read:

    Debt-ceiling standoff: Here’s what could go into a bipartisan deal

    Biden expresses confidence on achieving debt-ceiling deal: ‘America will not default’

    ‘Doomsday machine’: Here’s what could happen if the debt ceiling is breached

    Ukraine’s Zelensky takes part in G-7 summit n Hiroshima as world leaders sanction Russia

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  • Biden says in Hiroshima press conference that Republicans must ‘move from their extreme positions’ on debt limit

    Biden says in Hiroshima press conference that Republicans must ‘move from their extreme positions’ on debt limit

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    President Joe Biden on Sunday called for Republicans to agree to compromises in debt-ceiling negotiations, as he wrapped up a visit to Japan for a G-7 summit and prepared to fly back to Washington, D.C.

    “Now it’s time for the other side to move from their extreme positions, because much of what they’ve already proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable,” Biden said during a news conference in Japan.

    “It’s time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely — solely — on their partisan terms. They have to move, as well,” he said.

    Biden’s comments on movement were similar to what House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said two days ago. The House Republican from south-central California told reporters on Friday that there needs to be “movement by the White House, and we don’t have any movement yet, so, yeah, we’ve got to pause.”

    Rep. Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican deputized by McCarthy to lead the talks, had earlier Friday characterized Republicans as pressing a pause button after prior reports that a deal framework was coming into view, 

    The president’s remarks in Hiroshima came as investors are watching for fresh signs of a bipartisan deal that would lift the federal government’s borrowing limit and prevent a market-shaking default.

    Biden accused some Republicans of risking the economic damage of a default because of the 2024 White House race.

    “I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy, and because I am president and presidents are responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame, and that’s the one way to make sure Biden is not re-elected,” he said.

    During Sunday’s news conference, Biden, who cut short his trip because of the looming debt-ceiling crisis (leading to the cancellation of a Quad summit in Australia), said he and McCarthy will be talking later Sunday while he is flying back to the U.S.

    “My guess is he’s going to want to deal directly with me,” the president said, adding that it had to do with “making sure we’re on the same page.”

    “Our teams are going to continue working,” Biden also said.

    When asked about McCarthy’s call for government spending to be less next year than this year, Biden said his side is “willing to cut spending, as well as raise revenue,” referring to tax increases. He also said his team is waiting for a GOP response to the White House’s latest counterproposal.

    Graves, the Louisiana Republican, had, with his Friday-morning characterization of debt-ceiling negotiations as at a “pause,” suggested the Biden White House’s representatives were being “unreasonable.” Talks resumed Friday evening, but negotiators quickly called it quits for the night, and there was little progress reported Saturday, with McCarthy telling reporters that he didn’t think there would be an ability to “move forward until the president can get back.”

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on May 1 and again last week that a U.S. default could happen as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling. The Bipartisan Policy Center and Congressional Budget Office have each offered similar projections.

    Biden had for months called for a so-called clean increase of the $31.4 trillion cap on federal debt issuance, arguing that the time to address the levels of future government spending is instead during the annual budget-writing process.

    In August 2011, lawmakers approved an increase to the debt limit just hours before a potential government default. Within days, the U.S. lost its triple-A credit rating from S&P for the first time in history, with the ratings agency saying the American political system had become less stable. U.S. stocks 
    SPX,
    -0.14%

    DJIA,
    -0.33%
    plunged in August 2011 following that debt downgrade by S&P.

    Now read:

    Debt-ceiling standoff: Here’s what could go into a bipartisan deal

    Biden expresses confidence on achieving debt-ceiling deal: ‘America will not default’

    ‘Doomsday machine’: Here’s what could happen if the debt ceiling is breached

    Ukraine’s Zelensky takes part in G-7 summit n Hiroshima as world leaders sanction Russia

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  • Most Americans aren’t happy with how much income tax they paid this year

    Most Americans aren’t happy with how much income tax they paid this year

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    Americans’ discontent with the size of their federal income-tax bill is at a two-decade high, according to a new poll — even though Congress hasn’t passed any direct income-tax increases in recent years.

    One month after the 2023 tax season’s conclusion, 51% of respondents in a newly released Gallup poll said their income taxes were not fair. That’s up from 44% last year and marks a record high since 1997, when Gallup’s pollsters started asking how people felt about their income-tax bills.

    Meanwhile, 46% of people said they were paying a fair amount of income tax. That basically matched the dim mood over two decades ago, in in 1999, when 45% said that they were paying a fair amount.

    Six in 10 poll participants said their federal income taxes were “too high,” pollsters said. 2001 was the last time that share of people felt the same way, Gallup said.

    Feeling the squeeze: Grocery prices are rising more slowly, but food insecurity is surging among low-income Americans

    Gallup pollsters spoke with more than 1,000 people, doing their field work through most of April.

    The poll comes during a fierce debate about whether the wealthiest taxpayers, as well as corporations, are paying enough in taxes. The Biden administration has been pressing for higher tax rates on high earners. A Democratic-controlled Congress last year passed a law with an $80 billion funding infusion for the IRS over a 10-year span in part to launch more audits of rich individuals and corporations.

    Many Americans walked away from tax season with income-tax refunds that were smaller than a year ago. That’s due, at least in part, to the end of pandemic-era boosts to certain credits, tax experts have previously told MarketWatch.

    Both backdrops might be at play in the public mood on taxes, observers noted, and political affiliation could have something to do with these changes, Gallup said. Only one-third of Republicans said their income taxes this year were fair, for example — that’s down from 63% in 2020, the last full year of the Trump administration.

    The change in Republican sentiment could be why there was a heavy swing since 2020, when 59% said their taxes represented a fair number. In 2020, 56% of political independents said their taxes were fair, and that percentage fell to 45% a few years later. Among Democrats, meanwhile, the 63% saying their taxes were fair was virtually unchanged over that span.

    Republicans “are certainly more frustrated now with Biden in office,” said Jeff Jones, senior editor of the Gallup poll. “But they are even more frustrated than they were when Obama was in office.”

    Democrat Joe Biden campaigned in 2020 on pledges to raise taxes on corporations and households earning over $400,000 a year and not on those making less than that. So far, the president has not been able to turn proposals like a billionaire’s minimum tax or a higher top tax rate into law.

    The real tax-policy fight brewing in the background is the 2025 expiration of Trump-era tax cuts, experts have said.

    In the sweeping 2017 tax-code overhaul, Congress reduced five of seven income-tax brackets and boosted commonly used features of the tax code, including payouts for the child tax credit and the standard deduction. But some of those tax cuts were scheduled to sunset, while others were permanent.

    Another potential shaping the mood on taxes is the broader economy and recent tax season, Jones said. One possibility, he noted, is that some people are getting pushed to higher tax brackets with pay raises meant to keep up with inflation. (Tax brackets are adjusted annually to account for inflation.)

    While inflation is still pinching wallets, tax refunds are lower than they were a year ago.

    Refunds averaged just over $2,800, and that’s down more than 7% from a year earlier, according to IRS data through May 12.

    So you know: What happens if you can’t pay your taxes? IRS has a payment plan — but read this before you sign up.

    For his part, Lawrence Zelenak, who teaches tax law at Duke University, thinks the current darkening public mood “is largely a response to the disappearance of all the temporary pandemic-related tax relief,” he said.

    In 2020 an estimated 60% of households ended up with no federal income-tax liability because they were making less and bringing in more through direct cash assistance from the federal government, according to Tax Policy Center estimates.

    By 2022, an estimated 40% of households wouldn’t face any federal income tax, according to the nonpartisan think tank — which is more in line with levels seen before the pandemic.

    Keep in mind: IRS will launch free tax-filing pilot in 2024. TurboTax, H&R Block and Republicans are opposed.

    Refunds during 2022 got a kick from extragenerous payouts including the child tax credit, the child- and dependent-care credit and the earned-income tax credit.

    Most taxpayers also got a chance to shave their tax bill with a temporary change that let them take the standard deduction and also write off a portion of their charitable donations. But the credits reverted to their prepandemic size, and the deduction on cash donations subsequently went away.

    “With the end of the pandemic tax relief, many people have seen their income-tax liabilities go up, and it’s not surprising they see that as unfair,” Zelenak said. “So it may be the change more than the absolute level of tax.”

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  • 3 changes to Social Security benefits we could see in the future

    3 changes to Social Security benefits we could see in the future

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    Social Security has been a vital safety net for retirees, disabled individuals, and surviving family members for decades. However, the program is facing financial challenges that may necessitate changes in the coming years. Let’s explore three potential ways Social Security benefits could change in the future.

    Adjustments to the full retirement age

    One possible change could involve adjusting the full retirement age (FRA), which is the age at which individuals can receive full Social Security benefits. Currently set at 67 for those born in 1960 or later, some experts argue that increasing the full retirement age could help address the program’s funding shortfall. However, this change could mean longer working lives for future retirees and careful consideration of how it impacts individuals with physically demanding jobs or limited job opportunities later in life.

    Read: Does it matter if Social Security checks are delayed?

    This change would also result in a smaller benefit for the earliest filers at age 62, since the reductions are based on the amount of time between your filing age and the Full Retirement Age. If the FRA is increased to 68, for example, filing at age 62 would result in a benefit that is only 65% of your Full Retirement Age benefit amount.

    In addition, unless the maximum filing age is adjusted, Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) would also be limited under such a scenario. Currently when your FRA is 67 you have the opportunity to increase your benefit by 24% (8% per year for DRCs), but if the FRA is 68, the increase would only be 16% at maximum.

    Means-testing benefits

    Another potential change is means-testing Social Security benefits. Means-testing would involve adjusting benefit amounts based on an individual’s income or assets. Supporters argue that this would ensure benefits are targeted to those who need them most, potentially reducing the strain on the program’s finances. However, critics express concerns about the potential impact on middle-income earners who have paid into the system throughout their working lives and rely on Social Security as a significant part of their retirement income.

    Read: What happens to Social Security payments if no debt-ceiling deal is reached?

    An interesting concept I’ve recently seen bandied about involves a trade-off between Social Security benefits and Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from retirement plans. Essentially an individual could forgo Social Security benefits (at least partially if not fully) in exchange for looser restrictions on RMDs – allowing for further deferral of taxation on retirement accounts.

    Benefit reductions

    In order to sustain the Social Security program, benefit reductions might be considered. This could involve various approaches such as adjusting the formula used to calculate benefits or implementing a scaling factor to reduce benefit amounts. While benefit reductions would aim to preserve the long-term viability of Social Security, they could pose challenges for retirees who rely heavily on those benefits to cover essential living expenses.

    Also see: This is what’s most likely to knock your retirement off course

    Most benefit reduction proposals in the pipeline are in concert with expanding the tax base, while at the same time limiting benefits to the upper echelons of earnings levels. In these cases the taxable wage base is either expanded or removed altogether, and the amounts above the current wage base are credited for benefits at a minuscule rate.

    It’s important to note that any changes to Social Security benefits would likely be accompanied by broader discussions and careful consideration from policy makers. The goal would be to strike a balance between ensuring the program’s financial stability and protecting the well-being of current and future retirees.

    As an individual planning for retirement, it’s crucial to stay informed about potential changes to Social Security benefits. Keeping track of legislative proposals and staying engaged in the conversation can help you adapt your retirement plans accordingly. Consider consulting with a financial adviser who specializes in retirement planning to assess the potential impact on your retirement income and explore other strategies to supplement your savings.

    Read: This lawmaker’s ‘big idea’ could fix most—but not all—of the Social Security crisis

    Social Security benefits may undergo changes in the future as policy makers grapple with the program’s financial challenges. Adjustments to the full retirement age, means-testing benefits, and benefit reductions are among the potential changes that could be considered. By staying informed and seeking professional guidance, you can navigate these potential changes and make informed decisions to secure your financial well-being during retirement.

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  • Brokerage firm lured politically right-leaning seniors into gold-coin scam, says U.S. regulator

    Brokerage firm lured politically right-leaning seniors into gold-coin scam, says U.S. regulator

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    A finance company boasting hundreds of apparently glowing online “customer reviews” and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau was this week civilly charged with cheating over 700 investors — many of them senior citizens — out of more than $30 million over 5 years.

    El Segundo, Calif.–based Red Rock Secured and its controlling chief executive, Sean Kelly, were accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of playing on the retirement and tax fears of older investors to sell them gold and silver coins at vastly inflated prices to hold in self-directed IRAs.

    The markup on the coins “was almost always above 100 percent, and typically 120 percent or more,” the SEC said in its complaint.

    Between 2017 and last year, Red Rock pocketed more than $30 million of the $50 million investors paid for the coins, said the SEC, which also sued two former Red Rock executives. 

    Attorney Michael Schafler of the Los Angeles law firm Cohen Williams, representing both Red Rock and its CEO, said the company had “nothing to hide” and has been “completely cooperative” with the SEC investigation.

    “Red Rock has demonstrated that it is focused on compliance and providing clients with information necessary to make reasoned and informed decisions about purchasing precious metals,” he added. “Red Rock stands by that. It looks forward to the opportunity to defend itself against the government’s allegations in Court.”

    According to the SEC, Red Rock used an aggressive marketing campaign to target investors, especially those who were “conservative” or “right wing” politically and “over 59½ [years old].” 

    Sales personnel played on customers’ fears about government policy, inflation, the stock market and retirement to persuade investors to move IRA funds to Red Rock and invest in gold and silver bullion, according to the SEC. But then, using what the commission calls a “bait and switch,” they persuaded investors instead to buy niche “premium” gold coins with huge, but hidden, markups, which included an 8% sales commission.

    These so-called premium coins included an obscure silver Canadian coin for which Red Rock Secured controlled the entire market, allowing it to claim falsely that the “market value” of the coin was more than twice the value of its silver content, the SEC said.

    Red Rock Secured salespeople were told to pitch the idea of a “worry-free retirement” to potential clients, while warning them that in the stock market “you could wake up and half your retirement could be gone,” the SEC said.

    “The defendants used fear and lies to defraud investors out of millions of dollars from their hard-earned retirement savings,” said Antonia Apps, director of the SEC’s New York office.

    There was no hint of any of this in the company’s glowing online “customer reviews.” At Google, Red Rock had an average rating of 4.8 stars out of 5 from 136 self-described customers. At Trustpilot, it got an average rating of 4.8 stars out of 5 from 167 alleged customers. Trustpilot said the rating was “excellent.” At the Better Business Bureau, Red Rock got an average rating of 4.75 stars out of 5 across 96 reviews. At Consumer Affairs it got an average rating of 4.9 stars out of 5.

    The Better Business Bureau, contacted by MarketWatch, said it had added an alert to its site about the SEC probe into Red Rock. But, it added, “BBB ratings are not a guarantee of a business’s reliability or performance. BBB recommends that consumers consider a business’s BBB rating in addition to all other available information about the business.”

    The organization, which provides information about businesses through a rating system and handles consumer complaints, said its standard policy is to check that all reviews are from legitimate customers by contacting the company being reviewed. The BBB does not possess legal or policing powers. 

    Business-review platform Trustpilot also told MarketWatch it had added an alert to the Red Rock Secured review page.

    “Trustpilot is an open, independent review platform, meaning anyone who has had an experience with a business can leave a review — whether positive or negative — on the business’s Trustpilot profile page,” the company said in a statement “We are currently investigating Red Rock Secured to ensure that they are using our platform in line with our business guidelines, and should we find any evidence they are not, we will take the necessary steps to prevent it.”

    Alphabet unit
    GOOG,
    +1.28%

    GOOGL,
    +1.27%
    Google and Consumer Affairs could not be reached for comment.

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  • Biden expresses confidence on achieving debt-ceiling deal: ‘America will not default’

    Biden expresses confidence on achieving debt-ceiling deal: ‘America will not default’

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    President Joe Biden sounded upbeat Wednesday as a divided Washington continued to work on achieving a bipartisan deal that raises the ceiling for federal borrowing and avoids a market-shaking default.

    “I’m confident that we’ll get the agreement on the budget, and America will not default,” Biden said during a brief speech at the White House.

    “We’re going to continue these discussions with congressional leaders in the coming days until we reach an agreement, and I’ll have more to say about that on Sunday,” the president also said, adding that he planned to hold a news conference on Sunday.

    Biden’s remarks came shortly before his departure for a Group of Seven summit in Japan, and after both the president and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sounded positive about their second debt-limit meeting, which took place Tuesday.

    Biden said on Wednesday that is cutting his Asia trip short to be there for final negotiations and to be able to sign a deal. He promised to be “in constant contact” with his staff while he’s at the G-7 summit and “in close touch” with McCarthy and the other top U.S. lawmakers.

    In addition, the president said he didn’t think the curtailing of the upcoming trip was a win for China.

    “We’re still meeting. We still have four good allies,” he told reporters, referring to his plans to talk to members of the Quad — meaning the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. — during the G-7 summit.

    Biden said he plans to speak or meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at some point, saying that will happen “whether it’s soon or not.”

    Earlier Wednesday, McCarthy told CNBC, “I think at the end of the day we do not have a debt default.”

    On Tuesday, the California Republican said the “structure of how we negotiate has improved,” because the president has appointed White House staff to talk with the speaker’s team, rather than involving all four top U.S. lawmakers.

    Biden remarked on that development Wednesday.

    “We narrowed the group to meet and hammer out our differences,” he said. “In fact, they met last night. They’re going to be meeting again today.”

    U.S. stocks
    SPX,
    +1.08%

    DJIA,
    +1.15%
    traded higher Wednesday, as investors remained focused on the debt-ceiling talks.

    MarketWatch’s Robert Schroeder contributed to this report.

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  • Harry and Meghan involved in long-running New York car chase called nearly catastrophic

    Harry and Meghan involved in long-running New York car chase called nearly catastrophic

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were involved in a car chase while being followed by photographers following a charity event in New York, the couple’s office said Wednesday.

    The pair, together with Meghan’s mother, were followed for more than two hours by a half-dozen vehicles with blacked out windows after leaving the event.

    Their office said in a statement that the chase “resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.” It called the incident “near catastrophic.”

    “While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the statement from the couple said.

    Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris

    From the archives (August 2017): Why all those Princess Diana conspiracy theories live on

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  • Biden to cut short upcoming trip due to debt-ceiling standoff: report

    Biden to cut short upcoming trip due to debt-ceiling standoff: report

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    President Joe Biden plans to return to the U.S. on Sunday, cutting short his upcoming Asia trip, NBC News reported on Tuesday, citing an anonymous source. Earlier Tuesday, White House spokesman John Kirby said Biden might not make planned stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea that were expected to happen in conjunction with his trip to Japan for a G-7 summit. “We’re re-evaluating,” Kirby told reporters. “There’s not been a cancellation, as yet, but that could happen.” The developments are coming as Biden and the four top U.S. lawmakers are meeting Tuesday afternoon on raising the ceiling for federal borrowing and avoiding a market-shaking default.

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  • IRS commissioner admits Black taxpayers appear to be audited at outsized rates

    IRS commissioner admits Black taxpayers appear to be audited at outsized rates

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    The head of the Internal Revenue Service acknowledged Monday that Black taxpayers appear to be audited at outsized rates, months after a study pointed at disparities and the prospect that audit-selection algorithms could be at fault.

    “While there is a need for further research, our initial findings support the conclusion that Black taxpayers may be audited at higher rates than would be expected given their share of the population,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a letter.

    As an IRS review continues, Werfel said he’s “laser-focused” on making changes before the start of the 2024 tax-filing season.

    Black taxpayers were audited at roughly three to five times the rate of other taxpayers, according to a January study from researchers at Stanford University and economists at the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Analysis.

    The IRS doesn’t collect information about race on tax forms — and it doesn’t consider race as a factor on which cases it picks for audits, Werfel emphasized Monday.

    But researchers turned their focus on the algorithms helping the IRS pick cases for review when tax returns claim the Earned Income Tax Credit. The credit is a long-standing provision aimed at low- and moderate-income working households.

    The IRS has come into $80 billion in funding over a decade due to the Inflation Reduction Act, and more than half the money is dedicated to more tax enforcement for rich taxpayers and corporations. Audits for households making under $400,000 will increase compared to recent levels, Werfel and other Biden administration officials have said.

    “The ongoing evaluation of our EITC audit selection algorithms is the topmost priority” in a review to spot uneven treatment in how the IRS administers the tax code, Werfel said in his letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who chairs the Senate Finance Committee.

    Werfel said he’s “committed to transparency” as the research continues.

    Certain conclusions were already clear for Wyden.

    “The racial discrimination that has plagued American society for centuries routinely shows up in algorithms that governments and private organizations put in place, even when those algorithms are intended to be race-neutral,” he said in a statement.

    Wyden said he’ll be re-introducing legislation that would require reviews of private-sector algorithms to spot racial bias. “And I’m interested in requiring similar protections against bias in government systems,” he added.

    Werfel’s letter was “an important step,” according to a statement from Chye-Ching Huang, executive director of New York University Law School’s Tax Law Center. But there are other questions that still have to be answered, she said.

    “The IRS should shed more light on these issues in future updates, and Congress should continue pressing it to do so,” Huang said.

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  • U.S. stocks sputter as investors watch debt-ceiling talks and economic data

    U.S. stocks sputter as investors watch debt-ceiling talks and economic data

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    U.S. stocks struggled for direction Monday as investors monitored efforts to resolve a U.S. debt-ceiling standoff ahead of a potential default, and weighed economic data that showed a sharp fall in New York state factory activity.

    How stocks are trading

    • The Dow Jones Industrial Average
      DJIA,
      -0.04%
      was marginally lower by 4 points at 33,297, after briefly turning higher.

    • The S&P 500
      SPX,
      +0.09%
      edged up 4 points, or 0.1%, at 4,128.

    • The Nasdaq Composite
      COMP,
      +0.41%
      rose 50 points, or 0.4%, to 12,335.

    The S&P 500 fell 0.3% last week, while the Dow dropped 1.1%. The S&P 500’s decline was cushioned by megacap tech-related stocks, which also helped lift the Nasdaq Composite out of a bear market. The Nasdaq gained 0.4% last week.

    In One Chart: The S&P 500 is top-heavy with tech. Here’s what that says about future stock-market returns.

    What’s driving markets

    Despite a generally well-received earnings season and signs that easing inflation may allow the Federal Reserve to halt its monetary-tightening cycle, stocks have been unable to break out of their recent range, as first banking-sector anxiety and lately worries about a technical government-debt default have restrained bulls.

    “Over the short-term, the stock market is stuck until we reach a debt-ceiling resolution and until we see more clarity from the regional banking sector, which are the two factors weighing on stocks right now,” said Brad Bernstein, managing director at UBS Wealth Management in Philadelphia, in a note. “Markets are anxious for a debt-ceiling solution and the markets are also hoping that the Fed pauses its rate hikes at the June meeting.”

    See: Why the stock market will struggle to rally until debt ceiling, bank woes are in rearview mirror

    A second round of debt-ceiling talks between the White House and congressional leaders appears set for Tuesday, according to President Joe Biden.

    “I remain optimistic because I’m a congenital optimist,” Biden told reporters Sunday in Rehoboth Beach, Del. “But I really think there’s a desire on their part as well as ours to reach an agreement. I think we’ll be able to do it.”

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Monday, however, said the White House and congressional Republicans remained far apart.

    Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, warned against complacency, noting that previous debt-ceiling deadlines have required significant market volatility to encourage politicians to reach agreement.

    “[W]e’ve continued to remind investors that since 2011, getting Congress to strike a deal has seemed to occur only after the stock market has thrown a temper tantrum,” said Calvasina in a note to clients.

    “In years where the drama in equity markets has otherwise been modest, the hits generally end up in the 5-6% area. In years in which debt ceiling drama has occurred in the context of other major problems in the market (i.e., 2011, 2015-2016, 2018), the hits have ranged from 10% to 19%,” she added.

    Read: Here’s where investors may turn to ‘hide’ as U.S. debt-ceiling deadline looms based on 2011 market reaction

    The New York Fed’s Empire State business-conditions index, a gauge of manufacturing activity in the state, plunged 42.6 points in May to negative 31.8, the regional Fed bank said Monday. Economists had expected a reading of negative 5, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal. Any reading below zero indicates deteriorating conditions.

    The data underlined stagflation worries, said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.

    “It seems that after every economic reading, Wall Street has more reminders on how hard it will probably be to get inflation anywhere close to the Fed’s target. A recession seems like the only way pricing pressures will get closer to 3%,” Moya said.

    Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic on Monday said that he would like to see the central bank pause its cycle of rate hikes to gauge the health of the economy.

    “I think the appropriate policy is really to just wait and see how much the economy slows from the policy actions that we’ve done,” Bostic said in an interview on CNBC.

    Check out: Paul Tudor Jones says stocks likely to finish 2023 higher because Fed is done hiking rates

    Companies in focus

    Earnings Watch: Executives are less worried about inflation. Walmart and Target earnings could disagree

    — Jamie Chisholm contributed to this article.

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  • Federal Reserve – MarketWatch

    Federal Reserve – MarketWatch

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    Fed has ‘more to do’ to get inflation under control: Barkin

    The Federal Reserve has more work to do to bring inflation under control, said Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin on Wednesday. Barkin said the March consumer price data was “pretty much as expected.” He said he puts more e…

    Apr. 12, 2023 at 11:11 a.m. ET

    by Greg Robb

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  • $14 Billion Deal to Create Mega-Pipeline Company

    $14 Billion Deal to Create Mega-Pipeline Company

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    $14 Billion Deal to Create Mega-Pipeline Company

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  • Cease-fire between Israel and militants in Gaza appears to hold after days of fighting

    Cease-fire between Israel and militants in Gaza appears to hold after days of fighting

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    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A fragile cease-fire between Israeli forces and militants in the Gaza Strip appeared to be holding on Sunday, after a five-day clash that killed 33 Palestinians and two people in Israel.

    The latest round of Gaza fighting was sparked Tuesday when Israeli jets killed three top commanders from the Islamic Jihad militant group in response to earlier rocket launches from Gaza. Those killings set off a barrage of militant fire and the conflagration threatened to drag the region into another all-out war until an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire took hold late Saturday.

    While the calm appeared to bring a sense of relief to Gaza’s 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been largely confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fueled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip over the years.

    In Gaza, residents surveyed the latest damage caused to their surroundings, with gaping holes left in the apartments serving as what Israel said were hideouts for the six senior Islamic Jihad members killed during this round. Gaza’s main cargo crossing with Israel was set to reopen Sunday after warnings that keeping it closed would force Gaza’s sole power plant to shut down, deepening a power crisis.

    Israel lifted most restrictions on residents in southern Israel, which had borne the brunt of the rocket fire.

    Israeli officials have expressed satisfaction with the latest battle, having eliminated many of Islamic Jihad’s top brass in what it says were pinpointed strikes based on solid intelligence. But at least 13 of those killed in Gaza were civilians, among them children as young as 4 years old, as well as women.

    Israel has faced criticism in the past from rights groups over the civilian casualties in its bombardments in Gaza. Israel says it does its utmost to avoid harming civilians in its strikes and says militants operate from within the territory’s densely populated areas to fire rockets indiscriminately at Israeli communities.

    Throughout the fighting, Israel’s repeated airstrikes targeting Islamic Jihad and its command centers and rocket-launching sites showed no signs of stopping the rocket fire, prompting Islamic Jihad to declare victory and sending cheering Palestinians out into the streets late Saturday.

    Israel reported over 1,200 launches throughout the fighting, with some rockets reaching as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas. Israel said about a quarter of the rockets were misfired and landed in Gaza, while most of the rest were either intercepted or landed in open areas. But an 80-year-old woman and a Palestinian laborer who was working inside Israel were killed by rocket fire. A Palestinian human rights group said three people, including two children, were killed in Gaza by errant rockets.

    It was the latest in a long series of battles between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the seaside territory in 2007. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars, and there have been numerous smaller flareups as well.

    The more powerful Hamas has praised Islamic Jihad’s strikes but remained on the sidelines during the latest round of fighting, limiting the scope of the conflict. As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel. Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, a more ideological and unruly militant group wedded to violence, has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with Israel.

    Saturday’s deal did not address many of the causes of the repeated fighting, including Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza, the large arsenals of weapons possessed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

    Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim all three areas for a future state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but Hamas subsequently overran the territory and expelled forces loyal to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

    Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade over Gaza in what Israel says is a policy aimed at preventing Hamas from arming. The Palestinians and international rights groups say the policy, which restricts the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, amounts to collective punishment.

    ___

    Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

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  • Chaos on Mexico border averted, for now, as US turns page in migration rules

    Chaos on Mexico border averted, for now, as US turns page in migration rules

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    EL PASO, Texas — The U.S. turned the page on pandemic-era immigration restrictions with relative calm at its border with Mexico as migrants adapted to strict new rules aimed at discouraging illegal crossings and awaited the promise of new legal pathways for entering the country.

    A full day after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials on Friday were still assessing the effects of a switch to new regulations adopted by President Joe Biden’s administration in hope of stabilizing the Southwest border region and undercutting smugglers who charge migrants to get there.

    Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring. And for those expelled from the U.S., they can now be barred from entering the country for five years and face possible criminal prosecution.

    Across the river from El Paso, Texas, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, many migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. The official app to register to enter the U.S. underwent changes this week, as it offers appointments for migrants to enter through land crossings.

    Many migrants in northern Mexico resigned themselves to waiting for an appointment rather than approaching the border without authorization.

    “I hope it’s a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more,” said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven cousins who has been waiting in Ciudad Juárez for a month. Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. “We have to do it the legal way.”

    The U.S. Homeland Security Department said it has not witnessed any substantial increase in immigration.

    But in southern Mexico, migrants including children still flocked to railways at Huehuetoca on Friday, desperate to clamor aboard freight trains heading north toward the U.S.

    The legal pathways touted by the Biden administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

    About 100 processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

    If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Biden, who is running for reelection, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say he’s abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he’s soft on border security. Two legal challenges already loom over the new asylum restrictions.

    Title 42 was initiated in March 2020 and allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. But with the national emergency officially over, the restrictions have ended.

    While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences for expulsion like those under the new rules.

    In El Paso on Friday, a few dozen migrants lingered outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church and shelter, on streets where nearly 2,000 migrants were camped as recently as Tuesday.

    The Rev. Daniel Mora said most of the migrants took heed of flyers distributed by U.S. immigration authorities offering a “last chance” to submit to processing and left. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said that 1,800 migrants turned themselves over to Customs and Border Protection on Thursday.

    Melissa López, executive director for Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services at El Paso, said many migrants have been willing to follow the legal pathway created by the federal government, but there is also fear about deportation and possible criminal penalties for people who cross the border illegally.

    Border holding facilities in the U.S. were already far beyond capacity in the run-up to Title 42’s expiration.

    In Florida, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump has temporarily halted the administration’s plans to release people into the U.S.

    Customs and Border Protection said it would comply, but called it a “harmful ruling that will result in unsafe overcrowding” at migrant processing and detention facilities.

    A court date has been scheduled on whether to extend the ruling.

    Migrant-rights groups also sued the Biden administration on allegations that its new policy is no different than one adopted by Trump — and rejected by the same court.

    The Biden administration says its policy is different, arguing that it’s not an outright ban but imposes a higher burden of proof to get asylum and that it pairs restrictions with other newly opened legal pathways.

    At the Chaparral port of entry in Tijuana on Friday, a few migrants approached U.S. authorities after not being able to access the appointment app. One of them, a Salvadoran man named Jairo, said he was fleeing death threats back home.

    “We are truly afraid,” said Jairo who was traveling with his partner and their 3-year-old son and declined to share his last name. “We can’t remain any longer in Mexico and we can’t go back to Guatemala or El Salvador. If the U.S. can’t take us, we hope they can direct us to another country that can.”

    ___

    Gonzalez reported from Brownsville, Texas; Spagat reported from Tijuana, Mexico. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Rebecca Santana in Washington; Gisela Salomon in Miami; Christopher Sherman in Mexico City; Gerardo Carrillo in Matamoros, Mexico; Maria Verza in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Julie Watson in Tijuana; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Suman Naishadham in Tijuana, Mexico contributed to this report.

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  • Eli Lilly nears J&J market cap

    Eli Lilly nears J&J market cap

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    Eli Lilly & Co.’s market cap neared Johnson & Johnson’s market cap on Friday, as the stock has benefited from a slew of positive data in trials for key treatments.

    Earlier Friday, Lilly stock
    LLY,
    +0.00%
    was on track to close with a greater market capitalization than J&J
    JNJ,
    -0.13%    ,
    which would have marked the first time since 1997. Lilly stock ended flat, however, for the session at $434.43.

    The stock has been steadily rising since the release of positive data from a trial of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease in early May, showing significant slowing of cognitive and function decline in patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease.

    Nearly half, or 7% of participants, had no clinical progression at one year, compared to 29% on placebo. The drug, called donanemab slowed clinical decline by 35% compared to a placebo and resulted in 40% less decline in the ability to perform activities of daily living, including managing finances, driving, engaging in hobbies and conversing about current events, the company said.

    The company is planning to proceed with global regulatory submissions as quickly as possible and expects to make a submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this quarter.

    For more, see: Eli Lilly stock jumps 5% after Alzheimer’s treatment slows disease progression in major trial

    That’s not all. In April, Eli Lilly released data on its new obesity drug tirzepatide that showed patients in a trial losing up to 15.7% of their body weight, or about 34.4 pounds.

    More than 80% of people taking tirzepatide lost at least 5% of their body weight, the company said, compared with about 30% of those taking a placebo. 

    The degree of average weight reduction seen in the trial “has not been previously achieved” in similar Phase 3 trials, Dr. Jeff Emmick, senior vice president for product development at Lilly, said in a statement. 


    Source: FactSet, Dow Jones Market Data

    The company is planning regulatory submissions for that drug later this year. Tirzepatide was approved by the FDA last year as Mounjaro, a treatment for Type 2 diabetes.  

    Lilly has several other pipeline prospects, including lebrikizumab, a treatment for atopic dermatitis; mirikizumab for ulcerative colitis; empagliflozin, a treatment for chronic kidney disease; and pirtobrutinib for relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma.

    Lilly’s stock is up about 20% in the year to date and up 50% in the past 12 months.

    Johnson & Johnson’s stock, meanwhile, has fallen 9% in the year to date and is down roughly the same over the past 12 months.

    The company swung to a first-quarter loss as it booked a multibillion-dollar charge to settle lawsuits stemming from its talc-containing powders.

    J&J booked a $6.9 billion one-time litigation charge relating to lawsuits filed by people alleging the company’s talc-containing powders caused cancers, asbestos poisoning and other illnesses. The company has offered to pay at least $8.9 billion to settle the suits, and remove an overhang on the stock.

    Read more: J&J’s proposal to settle talc lawsuits for $8.9 billion sends stock up the most in more than a year

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  • U.S. could run out of cash ‘at some point in the first two weeks of June,’ CBO says

    U.S. could run out of cash ‘at some point in the first two weeks of June,’ CBO says

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    The U.S. government faces a significant risk that it will no longer be able to pay all of its obligations “at some point in the first two weeks of June” if Congress doesn’t raise the federal borrowing limit, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.

    The nonpartisan agency’s projection falls in line with a forecast that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made on May 1, as she said her department’s best estimate is that it could become unable to continue to satisfy all obligations “by early June, and potentially as early as June 1.”

    It also fits with an estimate released on Tuesday by a think tank, the Bipartisan Policy Center, which said the government is likely to have insufficient cash to meet all of its financial obligations as soon as early June.

    “The extent to which the Treasury will be able to fund the government’s ongoing operations will remain uncertain throughout May, even if the Treasury ultimately runs out of funds in early June,” the CBO said. “That uncertainty exists because the timing and amount of revenue collections and outlays over the intervening weeks could differ from CBO’s projections.”

    While a breakthrough hasn’t happened yet in Washington’s debt-ceiling standoff, there is increasing chatter about what could go into a bipartisan deal that ends the stalemate and avoids a market-shaking default.

    See: Debt-ceiling standoff: Here’s what could go into a bipartisan deal

    President Joe Biden and the four top U.S. lawmakers had planned to hold another meeting Friday on the debt limit after a parley on Tuesday, but it was postponed. A source familiar with the meetings called the delay a “positive” development, as staff work is continuing and Friday wasn’t yet the right time to re-convene Biden and the congressional leaders.

    The CBO also said Friday that the government could end up staying solvent through the end of July without a debt-limit hike.

    “If the Treasury’s cash and extraordinary measures are sufficient to finance the government until June 15, expected quarterly tax receipts and additional extraordinary measures will probably allow the government to continue financing operations through at least the end of July,” the agency said.

    But it warned that if the debt limit is not raised or suspended “before the Treasury’s cash and extraordinary measures are exhausted, the government will have to delay making payments for some activities, default on its debt obligations, or both.”

    “Those actions could result in distress in credit markets, disruptions in economic activity, and rapid increases in borrowing rates for the Treasury,” the agency said.

    U.S. stocks
    SPX,
    -0.16%

    DJIA,
    -0.03%
    were trading lower Friday.

    In addition, the CBO updated a budget forecast on Friday, saying its “current projections show a federal budget deficit of $1.5 trillion for 2023 — which is $0.1 trillion more than the agency estimated in February.”

    “The project cumulative deficit over the 2024–2033 period — $20.2 trillion — is about the same as the shortfall CBO projected in February,” the agency said.

    “Measured in relation to the size of the economy, deficits grow from 6.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) next year to 6.9 percent in 2033 — well above their 50-year average of 3.6 percent of GDP.”

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  • Australian trade minister visits China as part of joint efforts to repair ties

    Australian trade minister visits China as part of joint efforts to repair ties

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    Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell is visiting China as part of a joint effort to repair ties scarred by political rifts over the past decade

    BEIJING — Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell visited China on Thursday as part of a joint effort to repair ties scarred by political rifts over the past decade.

    In a statement issued by his office, Farrell said he would be “advocating strongly for the full resumption of unimpeded Australian exports to China.”

    China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, with two-way exchanges totaling $287 billion in 2022. China recently resumed imports of coal, cotton and copper from Australia after a lengthy unannounced trade embargo.

    Farrell said he would push for a review of tariffs on Australian barley and represent “the interests of Australian exporters and producers.”

    China blocked such exports in retaliation for government actions targeting Beijing’s alleged interference in Australian elections, civic life and the large Australian-Chinese community.

    Despite improvements in economic relations, ties between the two remain tense.

    In April, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said bilateral relations were unlikely to return to the level of the early 2000s, when trade was separated from political and strategic priorities.

    Since then, Australia has expanded security cooperation with the United States, China’s main rival for influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Beijing has strongly criticized Australia’s participation in the so-called AUKUS partnership, linking it with the United States and Britain to create an Australian fleet of eight submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology, largely in response to China’s growing military assertiveness in the South China Sea, the South Pacific and the East China Sea.

    Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will host U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of India and Japan — countries with which China maintains active border disputes — for a May 24 summit of leaders of the so-called Quad nations.

    Australia has also blocked the sale of assets, including critical infrastructure, to Chinese companies on national security grounds in recent years.

    Farrell said he would meet with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao following a commitment in February to improve dialogue “at all levels as a pathway towards the full resumption of trade.”

    “Since then, the Australian Government is pleased there have been several positive trade developments,” his office quoted him as saying.

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  • Biden describes debt-ceiling meeting as ‘productive,’ but McCarthy says he ‘didn’t see any new movement’

    Biden describes debt-ceiling meeting as ‘productive,’ but McCarthy says he ‘didn’t see any new movement’

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    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday said he “didn’t see any new movement” toward ending Washington’s standoff over the debt ceiling, as he assessed how a much-anticipated meeting on the issue went.

    President Joe Biden hosted the meeting at the White House with the country’s four top lawmakers, and beforehand analysts had predicted it would not result in a deal.

    McCarthy…

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