The U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO) on Monday announced a conditional commitment to lend up to $107 million to expand production capacity for a critical minerals plant in Louisiana.
Why it matters: The loan, if finalized, would mark the first in more than a decade from the office's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program.
It would also be ATVM's first loan to support a supply chain manufacturing project, the LPO said.
DiDi Global (NYSE: DIDI), the Chinese ride-hail giant, said that it plans to delist its shares in the U.S. before applying to list on an alternate exchange.
Why it matters: This has become one of the IPO market's most colossal busts, with more than $57 billion of market cap destroyed in just nine months. And it could have been avoided, had DiDi executives not miscalculated the resolve of Chinese regulators.
"It was a long time coming." That was the reaction of a former employee of Formation Group, the Silicon Valley venture firm that last week took the highly unusual step of putting its fund into bankruptcyprotection.
And the sentiment was hardly unique, based on conversations with multiple other sources.
Nine out of ten mortgages in America carry an interest rate of less than 5%, which is the official level at which most new 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are now being written.
Why it matters: Houses are affordable — if you already own one. According to Fannie Mae's most recent national housing survey, 92% of homeowners say that their current home is affordable. More impressively 91% of lower-income homeowners say the same thing, up from just 79% at the end of 2017.
Not to get all technical here, but doing your taxes is a headache. This year, more than half of tax filers turned to a professional for help, according to the latest IRS stats.
Why it matters: Even low-wage earners shell out for tax prep, cutting into the refund money they rely on to make ends meet, a new survey finds. Even more galling — most of these folks qualify for free filing services.
Corporate credit is defying the Fed's push for tighter money.
Driving the news: Recently, corporate bond yields have fallen relative to Treasuries, meaning businesses lending conditions are still highly stimulative. It is one of many signs that markets have not tightened nearly as much as might be expected, given the Fed's policy U-turn.
Rivian, the most promising automotive startup since Tesla, has exquisite timing: It's ramping up production of game-changing electric pickup trucks and delivery vans just as gas prices are soaring and people are looking for alternatives to fossil fuels.
Yes, but: Rivian's vehicles are also launching into the teeth of unprecedented, industrywide supply chain disruptions that could delay or derail the company's ambitious growth plans.
Inflation is pushing prices higher and higher, and some of those costs may never come back down to the levels Americans were accustomed to before the pandemic.
The big picture: The inflationary moment we're in right now won't last forever. But the good old days of cheap goods, and even cheaper services, may be long gone.
A massive container ship stuck in the Chesapeake Bay for five weeks was finally refloated around 7am on Sunday, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: The boat, ironically named Ever Forward, was the largest ship ever stuck in the Chesapeake.
Rising prices are hitting Americans where it hurts: the drive-thru.
Driving the news: Fast food menu prices are up 7.2% year-over-year, according to a report released this week by the National Restaurant Association. That's the biggest jump since 1981.
