Author: Press Room

Last month’s bank failures, combined with a healthy yield advantage over bank deposit accounts, has prompted a “super surge” of assets into money market mutual funds, according to research firm Crane Data.  Money market funds, which invest in very short-term, high-quality debt, in March enjoyed their third-best month of inflows ever, according to Crane, as investors spooked by the banking turmoil poured about $345 billion into these funds. While the 25 largest U.S. commercial banks saw deposits climb $18 billion in March, smaller banks’ deposits dropped $212 billion, according to Federal Reserve data.  The 100 largest taxable money funds tracked…

With the clock ticking to remedy Social Security’s financial ills, many experts are pushing Congress to take urgent action, yet there’s little agreement on which medicine might work best.  The points of contention were on display this week at a panel discussion focused on Social Security’s future. Competing proposals involve raising taxes, adjusting benefits, or both to ensure the program is sustainable.  “We’ve wasted a lot of time thus far in solving this problem, and it’s unfortunate that many still do not advocate actual proposals that can pass,” Mark Warshawsky, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said during…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A sign outside the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase & Co in New York, September 19, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Segar By Mehnaz Yasmin and Niket Nishant (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:) on Friday reported a surge in deposits in the first quarter, as the sudden collapse of two U.S. regional banks in March drove customers to move their money to bigger lenders. The largest U.S. lender gained $50 billion in deposits at the end of March, its first-quarter earnings report showed. That compares to Citigroup Inc (NYSE:), where deposits were largely flat, and a decline…

By Filipp Lebedev and Gleb Stolyarov (Reuters) -A Chinese company bought at least $7.4 million worth of alloy ingots from a plant in a Russian-annexed region of Ukraine that is subject to Western sanctions, according to Russian customs data reviewed by Reuters. China has not imposed any restrictions on trade with Russia, but the United States has threatened to blacklist companies round the world for violating its sanctions and warned Beijing against supplying Moscow with goods banned by U.S. export rules. The customs information, drawn from one commercial trade data provider and cross-checked with two others, show some of the…

By Leika Kihara WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s central bank governor on Friday took a swipe at efforts by Western economies to trade more with allies and rely less on the world’s largest goods-exporting country, saying such “friend-shoring” attempts could prevent global supply chain tension from easing. Reducing their deep dependence on supply chains with China at their center has become a top priority among Western economies as Beijing’s threats to Taiwan heighten geopolitical risks in Asia. The trade disruptions of the pandemic years have also added urgency to the desire to limit their dependence on China. “The global economy is…

The stock market faced several tests last week and passed on all accounts but that did not seem likely on Wednesday as the key averages had a roller coaster ride. The S&P 500 in initial reaction to the better-than-expected CPI report rallied to 4135 but then dropped to 4095 before lunch. The ensuing rally took the S&P back above 4125 before the market reversed on the FOMC minutes as it dropped back below 4090. The weak close allowed for further selling on Thursday but that was not the case as once again the Wednesday afternoon decline was followed by Thursday…

Every now and again, a case comes across your desk that makes you say, “Whoa.” Alon Farhy v. Commissioner is just such a case. The U.S. Tax Court gave Farhy a win, ruling that the IRS could not collect from him in this instance—the IRS had no statutory authority to assess penalties under section 6038. Facts For the tax years 2003 through 2010, Alon Farhy owned 100% of Katumba Capital, Inc., a foreign corporation incorporated in Belize. For the tax years 2005 through 2010, Farhy was the the 100% owner of Morningstar Ventures, Inc., another foreign corporation incorporated in Belize.…

The president of the European Central Bank said Sunday that with rising political pressure on countries to choose between the U.S. and China, the result of such a thing would lead to less economic growth across the world and should be avoided by “all means.” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” where she was asked about the increasing pressure on to side economically with either the U.S. or China, and whether the U.S. is losing its global influence.”There is clearly a competition between these large economies,” Lagarde said, referring to the two nations. Lagarde,…

Fox News apologized to the Delaware judge presiding over the Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit for failing to properly define Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s formal role at the network, according to a letter filed with the court.”We understand the Court’s concerns, apologize, and are committed to clear and full communication with the Court moving forward,” Fox attorney Blake Rohrbacher wrote in the letter Friday.Dominion Voting Systems brought its defamation lawsuit against Fox and its TV networks, Fox News and Fox Business, in March 2021, arguing its hosts pushed false claims that Dominion’s voting machines were rigged in the 2020 presidential election that…

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reported on financial disclosure forms that his family has earned thousands of dollars in rental income from a Nebraska real estate firm that has been shuttered since 2006, according to a report by the Washington Post Sunday.Thomas has reported income from a firm called Ginger, Ltd., Partnership over the last two decades, but in 2006 it was shut down and replaced by a new firm, the report said. The new firm, Ginger Holdings, LLC, is similarly named, but there is no mention of it in Thomas’ records.In recent years, Thomas reportedly continued to disclose between…