A new inspection rule for commercial trucks coming in from Mexico has become a new threat to the supply chain.
Catch up quick: Traffic along the Texas-Mexico border has stacked up after state troopers started to stop and inspect more inbound trucks last week per an order from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in the name of border security.
Crypto lending startup Celsius has announced major changes for U.S. customers. This comes amid scrutiny from at least three U.S. states concerned that its product might be an unregulated securities offering.
Why it matters: Celsius is a startup that allows consumers to deposit crypto and borrow crypto, as well. The interest rate for borrowers pays for the returns on deposits. It's been a great way for long-term holders to grow their holdings, but this opportunity to earn yield has Texas, New Jersey and Alabama giving it major side-eye.
Travelers shouldn’t expect any elbow room this summer — flight bookings are at record levels, Delta said Wednesday in its earnings report.
Why it matters: Americans are shrugging off the pandemic and gearing up for a summer travel bonanza, even as inflation pummels road warriors and flyers.
The country’s biggest bank is bracing for more uncertainty while hoping for the best.
Driving the news: JPMorgan Chase set aside $902 million in new money, called reserves, to cover losses from loans in case borrowers are unable to pay, the company reported today.
Why it matters: It's the bank’s first increase in reserves since the depths of the pandemic. And though the number represents a tiny fraction of the bank's total loan portfolio, the move reflects growing recession worries and the still uncertain fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg notes.
Flashback: A year ago, when the economy roared back to life, the bank released $5.2 billion in loan-loss reserves that it had set aside.
What they’re saying: When asked on this morning's earnings call if he thought the U.S. will see a recession this year based on everything he knows, CEO Jamie Dimon responded, “I don’t. But … I can’t forecast the future any more than anyone else.”
Dimon continued by saying he hopes the U.S. will find a “soft landing” and that the war in Ukraine is resolved.
“I just wouldn’t bet on all that.”
What to watch: Peer banks Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo are set to issue their earnings reports tomorrow.
Commercial truckers bringing in produce and other goods from Mexico are protesting a new rule by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requiring additional inspection, resulting in extremely long wait times and the shutdown of at least one border crossing.
The latest: Abbott announced Wednesday that he will end the mandate at the Laredo border crossing to Nuevo León after Nuevo León Gov. Samuel García agreed to bolster border security in Mexico. Other ports of entry must continue to adhere to the order, which the Texas Trucking Association slammed earlier in the day.
The CEOs of the four biggest U.S. beef producers — Cargill, Tyson, JBS and National Beef Packing — will testify before the House Agriculture Committee on rising meat price, Chair David Scott (D-Ga.) announced Wednesday.
Cryptocurrency changed the game for some investors. Now they can actively support portfolio companies on the blockhains where their projects run.
"It's just fun to work on something so different, where there's all these new levers," Shaun Maguire, of Sequoia, a venerable venture fund that dates back to 1972, tells Axios.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivered a stern message to China and other countries that might want to help Russia evade international sanctions Wednesday, in a speech that puts the Ukraine war at the center of global economic diplomacy.
Driving the news: With the world's financial diplomats set to descend on Washington in the coming days for the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, Yellen's speech lays down a gauntlet: The U.S.' central goal right now is maintaining global unity around financial punishment of Russia for its invasion.
Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, a state-owned utility, raised $6.1 billion in its local IPO, and then saw its shares rise by as much as 20% in aftermarket trading.
Why it matters: Dubai has long sought to be considered a major global bourse, or at least competitive with regional rivals in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, and this IPO could be the tipping point.
Venture capital firm Accomplice has quietly raised $405 million for what it says will be its "last fund, best fund."
Why it matters: VC shops sometimes ride off into the sunset, usually due to fundraising troubles or partnership acrimony. This, however, is the first time I can recall LPs being asked to commit to a final act.
Wall Street banks are supposed to be masters of the financial universe. But surging interest rates likely hurt several of their key businesses in recent months.
Driving the news: First-quarter earnings season gets underway this week, with JPMorgan Chase starting the festivities this morning. The recent trajectory of bank stock prices suggests investors aren't expecting good news as earnings results roll in over the next week.
As lockdowns eased in the second year of the pandemic, the number of people struck and killed by drivers rose in many states, according to a new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Driving the news: Pedestrian fatalities increased in all but 11 states during the first six months of 2021 compared with the same period of 2020, with 3,441 people killed while they walked near roadways.
Recession fears are denting consumer confidence, and could play a major role in the results of this year's midterm elections. But we're not in a recession, and economic downturns are notoriously difficult to forecast.
Why it matters: The U.S. is struggling with levels of inflation that haven't been seen for 40 years. For a public struggling with soaring prices, that can feel tantamount to a recession.
A prominent Russian opposition activist and Washington Post contributor who denounced the invasion of Ukraine was sentenced to 15 days in jail in Moscow Tuesday for "disobeying a police order," per NPR.
Why it matters: U.S. officials and the Washington Post are calling for the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was detained near his Moscow home on Monday — hours after CNN published an interview with the reportedly twice-poisoned Putin critic in which he called the Kremlin "a regime of murderers."
