Biden forgives student loans for 150,000 borrowers, bringing total to 5 million

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden said on Monday his administration would cancel student loans for more than 150,000 borrowers, targeting those who attended schools that defrauded students, those with permanent disabilities and public service workers. Biden said the total number of Americans who have had their student debt canceled by his administration was now over 5 million. The 150,000 borrowers for whom student loan relief was approved included almost 85,000 borrowers who … Read more…

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Nvidia’s biggest customers delaying orders of latest AI racks, The Information reports

(Reuters) -Nvidia’s top customers are delaying orders of the AI chip leader’s latest ‘Blackwell’ racks due to overheating issues, the Information reported on Monday. The Santa Clara, California-based company’s shares fell more than 4% in early trading. The U.S. government also said earlier in the day it would further restrict AI chip and technology exports, potentially hurting Nvidia’s sales. The first shipments of racks with Blackwell chips have been overheating and exhibiting glitches in the … Read more…

US State Department approves military helicopter sale to Zambia for $100 million

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department approved a foreign military sale to Zambia of military helicopters and related logistics support for an estimated cost of $100 million, the Pentagon said in a statement on Monday. The principal contractor will be Bell Textron, located in Fort Worth, Texas, according to the Pentagon. “The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Republic of Zambia of Bell 412 Enhanced Performance … Read more…

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EU considers expanding probe into Musk’s X, Bloomberg News says

(Reuters) – The European Union is considering expanding its investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media network X breached its content moderation rulebook, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing the bloc’s tech policy chief. The EU started investigating X, formerly Twitter, in late 2023 over suspected breaches of obligations, partly relating to posts following Hamas’ attacks on Israel, its first probe under the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA. “We are currently assessing if the … Read more…

Liquidnet pays $5 million fine to settle US SEC charges over controls, confidentiality

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Liquidnet agreed to pay a $5 million civil fine to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the broker-dealer lacked necessary controls regarding market access, and failed to protect confidential subscriber trading information. The SEC said on Friday that Liquidnet violated a rule governing alternative trading systems operators by setting inappropriate credit thresholds for customers, including by having a default of $1 billion. Without admitting wrongdoing, Liquidnet also agreed to … Read more…

US consumer inflation expectations soar in January on tariff fears

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumers expect inflation to increase over the next 12 months and beyond, likely reflecting concerns that broad tariffs on imports pledged by President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration could raise prices for households. The University of Michigan’s survey showed consumers’ one-year inflation expectations jumped to 3.3% in January, the highest level since May, from 2.8% in December. That raised the 12-month inflation expectations above the 2.3%-3.0% range seen in the two years … Read more…

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Meta to end diversity programs ahead of Trump inauguration

By Katie Paul (Reuters) – Meta Platforms is ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, including those for hiring, training and picking suppliers, it said in a memo to employees posted on an internal company forum on Friday. The move comes in the run-up to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, as the company attempts to mend relations with the leader who has criticized its political content policies and threatened its CEO with imprisonment. “The … Read more…

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Trump’s Tariff Talk Teases – by Justin Vaughn

(Justin Vaughn, Editor, Options Trading Report) Friday’s market perked up, maybe Santa stuck around? After five days of roller-coaster indexes, the market came alive, with all three indexes on an upward track. The S&P 500 had the best day in nearly a month, up 1.8%. The lethargic Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 340 points, up 0.8%. The tech-loaded Nasdaq Composite was up 1.8% as the shortened week closed on a positive note. Stockholders, analysts, economists … Read more…

Musk acknowledges $2 trillion spending cut goal a long shot

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Elon Musk, who U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to oversee a government cost-cutting effort, acknowledged that his declared goal of cutting $2 trillion in spending from the $6.8 trillion federal budget would be a long shot. “I think if we try for 2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting 1,” Musk, the world’s richest person, said in a discussion on Wednesday with Mark Penn, a political strategist and former … Read more…

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Kroger to pay $110 million to resolve Kentucky lawsuit over opioid epidemic

By Nate Raymond (Reuters) -Kroger has agreed to pay $110 million to resolve a lawsuit by the state of Kentucky alleging the supermarket chain’s pharmacies helped fuel a deadly opioid epidemic by flooding its communities with hundreds of millions of doses of addictive painkillers. The settlement was announced on Thursday by Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, whose state had opted to not participate in a broader $1.4-billion deal Kroger finalized last year that resolved similar … Read more…

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