Biden to visit Michigan computer chip factory, push agenda
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s visit to a computer chip factory in Bay City, Michigan, continues his push for his economic agenda.The South Korean company, SK Siltron, is planning a $300 million expansion that could quadruple its production in the coming years.A White House official says the Democratic president’s remarks in Michigan on Tuesday will also emphasize falling gas prices and efforts to protect abortion access.Biden will appear with Gov.Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who just won reelection in a closely watched race.Whitmer’s victory over Republican 2020 election denier Tudor Dixon has burnished her standing within the Democratic Party.
Cyber Monday deals lure in consumers amid high inflation
NEW YORK (AP) — Days after flocking to stores on Black Friday, consumers are turning online for Cyber Monday to score more discounts on gifts and other items that have ballooned in price because of high inflation.Adobe Analytics, which tracks transactions for top online retailers, forecasts Cyber Monday will remain the year’s biggest online shopping day and rake in up to $11.6 billion in sales.Some analysts expect the amount of items consumers purchase could remain unchanged – or even fall – compared to prior years.
And profit margins are expected to be tight for retailers offering deeper discounts to attract budget-conscious consumers and clear out their bloated inventories.
2 Fed officials favor keeping key rate at peak through 2023
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Federal Reserve officials said they favor raising the Fed’s key rate to roughly 5% or more and keeping it at its peak through next year — longer than many on Wall Street have expected.John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that the central bank has “more work to do” to reduce inflation closer to its 2% target.And James Bullard, president of the St.Louis Fed, suggested that financial markets are underestimating the likelihood the Fed will have to be more aggressive in its fight against the worst inflation bout in four decades.
South Korea orders striking cement truckers back to work
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government has ordered some of the thousands of truck drivers who have been on strike to return to work, insisting that their nationwide walkout over freight fare issues is hurting an already weak economy.
Despite facing the threat of delicensing or even prison terms, the strike’s organizers say they will defy the order and accused President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative government of suppressing their labor rights and ignoring what they described as worsening work conditions and financial strain caused by rising fuel costs and interest rates.The order targets the drivers of cement trucks among a broader group of truckers participating in the walkout.
Irish watchdog fines Meta 265M euros in latest privacy case
LONDON (AP) — Irish regulators have slapped Facebook parent Meta with a 265 million euro fine in what is the company’s latest punishment for breaching strict European Union data privacy rules.
The Data Protection Commission said Meta Platforms infringed sections of the EU rules that cover technical and organizational measures aimed at protecting user data.
The watchdog opened an investigation last year into news reports that data on more 533 million users was found dumped online.Meta says the data had been “scraped” from Facebook using tools designed to help people find their friends through phone numbers using search and contact import features.The company said it had “cooperated fully” with the Irish watchdog.
Global shares mostly rise as markets eye China protests
TOKYO (AP) — Global shares are mostly higher as jitters over protests in China about its stringent anti-COVID policies fade.Hong Kong’s benchmark gained 5.2% and most other markets in Europe and Asia advanced.U.S.
futures edged higher.Oil prices rose more than $1 per barrel.China’s economy has been stifled by a “zero COVID” policy which includes lockdowns that have intermittently threatened the global supply chain.The Conference Board will release its consumer confidence index for November later Tuesday.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak at the Brookings Institution about the outlook for the U.S.
economy and the labor market on Wednesday.
Biden calls on Congress to head off potential rail strike
OMAHA, Neb.(AP) — President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to pass legislation to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks.Biden said Monday that a tentative agreement approved in September provided a pay raise for workers, protected their health care benefits and improved their leave policy.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers will take up legislation to impose those terms this week.If Congress acts, it will end the negotiations between four rail unions that rejected their deals and the railroads.Eight other rail unions have ratified their deals that include 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses.
BlockFi files for bankruptcy, latest crypto company to fail
Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, the latest casualty of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.New Jersey-based BlockFi had been struggling for much of this year, but was given a lifeline this summer in the form of an FTX line of credit.FTX’s own bankruptcy, however, all but sealed BlockFi’s financial fate.BlockFi suspended withdrawals after FTX’s failure, and it had hired bankruptcy specialists in recent days.BlockFi was one of several crypto currency lenders to pop up in recent years.
The company gave loans to customers using their crypto assets as collateral.
At Trump Org.fraud trial, defense rests and deflects blame
NEW YORK (AP) — The defense has rested at the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial after a contentious day in court, putting the case involving former President Donald Trump’s real estate empire on track for deliberations next week.Trump Organization lawyers contend that Manhattan prosecutors are seeking to punish the company for longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg’s scheme to avoid personal income taxes on company-paid perks, such as an apartment and luxury cars.The defense rested Monday and closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, with jurors expected to begin deliberating next Monday, Judge Juan Manuel Merchan said.Prosecutors said they might spent four or five hours summarizing the case for jurors.
Defense lawyers said they’ll likely need up to four hours.
Russian energy giant says no further gas cuts to Moldova
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Russian energy giant Gazprom announced Monday that it will not further reduce natural gas to Moldova as it had threatened to do after claiming that bills went unpaid and that flows crossing through Ukraine were not making it to Moldova.Gazprom tweeted Monday that Moldovagaz has “eliminated the violation of payment” for November supplies and that “funds for the gas deposited on the territory of Ukraine, intended for consumers in Moldova, have been received.” Last week, Moldova and Ukraine hit back at Gazprom’s claim that Russian gas moving through the last pipeline to Western Europe was being stored in Ukraine.They said all supplies Russia sends through the war-torn country get “fully transferred” to Moldova..