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How a Trump Media deal with a crypto firm exposes potential conflicts of interest

How a Trump Media deal with a crypto firm exposes potential conflicts of interest

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By BRIAN SLODYSKO

WASHINGTON (AP) — Crypto.com was under siege.

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For more than a year, the firm had been investigated by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, part of an aggressive push to regulate the largely unregulated cryptocurrency industry. Financial regulators had told the company that enforcement action was likely.

Then Donald Trump won the 2024 election, and the company’s legal peril dissipated.

Crypto.com ramped up spending to a lobbyist close to Trump and donated $11 million to political committees tied to the Republican president, records show. Within months, the investigation was dropped. By August, Crypto.com announced it was plunging roughly $1 billion worth of assets into a venture with a new partner — Trump’s social media company. read more

Wall Street slips as oil prices keep dropping

Wall Street slips as oil prices keep dropping

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By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market drifted through a mixed day of trading Tuesday after reports on the economy did little to clear uncertainty about where interest rates may be heading.

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The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and remains a bit below its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 302 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.

Treasury yields eased in the bond market after one report said the U.S. unemployment rate was at its worst level since 2021, but employers also added more jobs last month than economists expected. A separate report, meanwhile, said an underlying measure of strength for revenue at U.S. retailers grew more in October than economists expected. read more

Retail sales unchanged in October hurt in part by a decline in auto sales

Retail sales unchanged in October hurt in part by a decline in auto sales

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By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Sales at U.S. retailers and restaurants were unchanged in October from September as consumers moderated their spending amid worries about higher prices and other economic uncertainties after splurging over the summer.

But a big factor dragging down the figure was a 1.6% drop in sales at motor vehicles and auto parts dealerships, hurt by the expiration of federal government subsidies that sliced demand for battery-powered electric cars. Excluding that category, retail sales rose 0.4%, the Commerce Department said Tuesday in a report delayed more than a month because of the 43-day government shutdown.

The overall flat spending in October was less than economists expected and followed a revised 0.1% increase in September, the agency said. Retail sales jumped 0.6% in July and August and 1% in June.

The federal government is gradually catching up on economic reports that were postponed by the shutdown.

“The retail sales report for October was a dud, but the underlying details offer more encouraging signals for (fourth quarter) consumer spending and an elevated starting point for the critical two-month stretch for holiday sales,” Tim Quinlan, an economist at Wells Fargo, wrote Tuesday. read more

The US gained 64,000 jobs in November but lost 105,000 in October; unemployment rate at 4.6%

The US gained 64,000 jobs in November but lost 105,000 in October; unemployment rate at 4.6%

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By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States gained a decent 64,000 jobs in November but lost 105,000 in October as federal workers departed after cutbacks by the Trump administration, the government said in delayed reports.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% last month, highest since 2021.

The November job gains were higher than the 40,000 economists had forecast. The October job losses were caused by a 162,000 drop in federal workers, many of whom resigned at the end of fiscal year 2025 on Sept. 30 under pressure from billionaire Elon Musk’s purge of U.S. government payrolls.

Labor Department revisions also knocked 33,000 jobs off August and September payrolls.

Hiring has clearly lost momentum, hobbled by uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the lingering effects of the high interest rates the Fed engineered in 2022 and 2023 to rein in an outburst of inflation. Since March, job creation has fallen to an average 35,000 a month, compared to 71,000 in the year ended in March. read more

Don’t settle for a subpar health savings account

Don’t settle for a subpar health savings account

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CHRISTINE BENZ of Morningstar

Paired with high-deductible healthcare plans, health savings accounts help ease healthcare costs. HSAs are a triple tax-advantaged vehicle in the tax code, allowing for pretax contributions, tax-free compounding, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. However, few owners fund their HSAs to the maximum, and even fewer invest their HSA dollars outside a savings account.

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Most consumers likely don’t fill their HSAs because they lack the financial means; critics note that the HDHP/HSA combination can be less beneficial for lower-income workers. But even wealthy consumers may decline to fully fund their HSAs. Many HSAs charge account-maintenance fees and extra costs for investing in long-term assets. read more