Elon Musk's ongoing feud with the Securities and Exchange Commission escalated Thursday when he publicly challenged the agency, claiming it gave him 48 hours to pay a penalty or face charges related to his Twitter acquisition.
The big picture: Musk's brawl with the regulator — a six-year on-again-off-again battle involving numerous unrelated issues — has reached an inflection point.
The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission on Thursday charged Cantor Fitzgeraldwith lying to SPAC investors, and said that the Wall Street firm had agreed to pay a $6.75 million civil penalty.
Why it matters: Cantor Fitzgerald is led by Howard Lutnick, who was recently nominated by President-elect Trump to lead the U.S. Commerce Department. It's unclear if Trump was aware of the SEC investigation.
Financial markets and Fed watchers view an interest rate cut next week as a near certainty. There are some reasons to think the cut might be a mistake.
Why it matters: The case for pausing interest rate cuts is that the inflation outlook has grown murkier, while growth has remained robust in the last couple of months. Risk management concerns, in this argument, tilt toward patience.
Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) want more information on private equity ownership of methadone clinics, and how those investments may impact both clinical decisions and lobbying efforts to restrict broader methadone distribution.
Why it matters: Private equity could have an opioids problem, after years of gobbling up abuse treatment facilities.
President-elect Trump appeared to indicate his support for the dockworkers union in its contract dispute with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) that led to a major strike at East Coast and Gulf ports earlier this year.
Why it matters: Though port workers are back on the docks after a three-day work stoppage in October, they haven't yet finalized a new contract with the shipping companies — the prospect of an economy-crushing strike still looms. The deadline is just five days before Trump's inauguration.
