By Natalie Mojica President Joe Biden signed an executive order on March 9 calling on the government to extensively examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies. A direct response from the administration to the crypto industry has been highly anticipated, especially given the growing regulatory concerns surrounding the crypto market. The order calls on federal agencies to [...]
By Natalie Mojica Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase announced On March 6 that it is focused on making sure its financial exchange complies with new rules following the invasion of Ukraine. Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, emphasized Coinbase is using “sophisticated blockchain analytics” to identify any accounts still active and linked to banned users. Coinbase found approximately 25,000 blocked [...]
By Natalie Mojica The Commerce Department reported that U.S. construction spending had increased 1.3% as construction outlays rose 0.8%, likely foreshadowing that expenditures by the construction industry will continue to rise higher than what economists predicted. Construction spending refers to monthly estimates of the total dollar value of construction done on new structures or improvements to existing facilities for private [...]
By Natalie Mojica On March 23, 2021, J.B. Pritzker, the Illinois Governor, signed a 36% interest rate cap into law that applies to most consumer loan products. Dr. Tom Miller, a professor of finance at Mississippi State University and Consumers Research fellow, and Justin Fisk, Research Director at the Online Lenders Alliance (OLA), led a [...]
By Natalie Mojica Thanks to increased prices, recent promotions, and inventory productivity, Macy's reported higher margins than last year's quarter sales. Overall sales at Macy's rose 28% to $8.67 billion in the fourth quarter, beating expectations. As a result, the company expects net sales between $24.46 billion and $24.7 billion this year, a 1% increase from 2021. [...]
By Natalie Mojica Trump's long-awaited social media platform, Truth Social, launched in the U.S. App Store on Feb. 21. As many as 150,000 users signed up, while others were placed on a waitlist as glitches and error messages prevented them from registering. Self-described as a "big tent" social media platform "that encourages an open, free, and honest [...]
By Natalie Mojica St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard called for the Federal Reserve to raise its short-term borrowing rate an entire percentage point by July during a talk at Columbia University on Feb. 15. Bullard cautioned that unless action is taken on interest rates, inflation could get worse. "We're at more risk now than we've [...]
By Natalie Mojica Retail sales rose by 3.8% in January, according to the Commerce Department. Spending at stores and online increased overall at the start of 2022, showing that U.S. consumers are more active as the Omicron variant wanes. Despite inflation, the economy saw increased jobs, wage gains, and profits at the start of 2022. "If you [...]
By Natalie Mojica On Feb.16th, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced their bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act. The bill is designed to mitigate the harmful content children are exposed to on the internet. The act would require online platforms like Facebook to refrain from promoting dangerous behavior. In addition, it gives parents of children under [...]
By Natalie Mojica On Feb. 13, the executive president of Levi’s brand at Levi Strauss & Co., Jennifer Sey, announced her resignation. Sey held multiple offices at Levi since the start of her career as assistant marketing manager in 1999. She went from marketing director to chief marketing officer and then global brand president in 2020. As [...]
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