All posts tagged: Breaking News: Markets

Reuters criticizes Trump’s ban of Associated Press reporters in Oval Office, Air Force One

Reuters criticizes Trump’s ban of Associated Press reporters in Oval Office, Air Force One

Published by Sam

Associated Press White House reporter Darlene Superville and AP photographer Ben Curtis are told by a U.S. President Donald Trump administration member that they have been denied from joining the White House press pool in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 15, 2025.  Kevin Lamarque | Reuters Reuters on Saturday objected to the restrictions placed on media outlets by the White House, after the Trump administration earlier this week barred the Associated Press from key spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One. “Reuters stands with the Associated Press and other media organizations in objecting to coverage restrictions imposed by the White House on the AP, because of the AP’s independent editorial decisions,” read a statement from the Reuters Press Team on X. “Reuters believes that journalists should be free to report the news reliably, independently, and without harassment or harm, wherever they are, including in the United States,” it continued. The comment comes after the White House’s decision earlier this week to ban all AP reporters from the Oval Office and Air …

Trump Media hires new auditor after accounting firm charged with fraud

Trump Media hires new auditor after accounting firm charged with fraud

Published by skeptic

Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images Trump Media hired a new auditor over the weekend, after its previous public accounting firm was accused Friday of perpetrating a massive fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Truth Social owner fired BF Borgers CPA after the SEC accused the firm of failing to perform actual audits of its clients, before signing off on more than 1,500 regulatory filings for public companies. Trump Media said it had engaged Semple, Marchal & Cooper LLP on Saturday to replace BF Borgers. As part of its settlement with the regulator, BF Borgers and its owner agreed to a permanent ban from auditing public companies. The ban required Trump Media and other public companies that had used BF Borgers to find new auditors. “The decision to change independent registered public accounting firms was made with the recommendation and approval of the Audit Committee of the Company,” Trump Media said Monday in an 8-K filing to announce its new auditor. Former President Donald Trump owns 65% of Trump Media’s stock, which …

Trump Media auditor charged by SEC with ‘massive fraud,’ permanently barred from public company audits

Trump Media auditor charged by SEC with ‘massive fraud,’ permanently barred from public company audits

Published by skeptic

Rafael Henrique | Lightrocket | Getty Images The auditing firm for Trump Media and the auditor’s owner were charged Friday with “massive fraud” by the Securities and Exchange Commission for work that affected more than 1,500 SEC filings, the federal regulator announced. The auditor, BF Borgers CPA and its owner Benjamin Borgers have agreed to be permanently suspended from practicing as accountants before the SEC, and also agreed to pay a combined $14 million in civil penalties, with admitting or denying the allegations, the SEC said. The agency, calling BF Borgers a “sham audit mill,” said the company and its owner engaged in “deliberate and systemic failures to comply with Public Company Accounting Oversight Board … standards in its audits and reviews incorporated in more than 1,500 SEC filings from January 2021 through June 2023,” according to a press release. The respondents also were charged with falsely telling clients that the auditor’s work would comply with PCAOB standards, fabricating audit documents to make it seem that the work did comply with those standards, and “falsely …

Trump Media IDs firms for House short selling probe

Trump Media IDs firms for House short selling probe

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Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images The CEO of Trump Media urged leading House committee chairmen to investigate eight financial firms over concerns of potentially illicit short selling of DJT, whose majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump. “I believe quick action is necessary to protect retail shareholders, identify wrongdoers, and determine whether any laws including [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] statutes and tax evasion laws have been violated,” wrote CEO Devin Nunes, who last week first asked top House Republicans to probe short selling of Trump Media stock. Nunes, in his letter dated Wednesday, wrote that the committees should seek documents and testimony from at least the eight firms that he named: Apex Clearing, Clear Street, Cobra Trading, Cowen and Company, Curvature Securities, StoneX Securities, TradePro, and Velocity Clearing. A spokesperson for Clear Street declined to comment on Nunes’ letter. CNBC has requested comment from the other companies named in the letter. Nunes’ new letter escalates his efforts to thwart short selling of the Truth Social app owner’s shares by encouraging shareholders …

‘Basel III’ bank rules could pose unexpected threat to Biden’s green energy plans

‘Basel III’ bank rules could pose unexpected threat to Biden’s green energy plans

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On a rooftop overlooking Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., Julian Torres stands next to row after row of solar panels his company, Scale Microgrids, helped install as part of a larger system of renewable energy that has saved the college about $1 million per year in utility costs. Torres, the company’s chief investment officer, is among many people and institutions worried that such projects will be nearly impossible in the coming years due to a planned change in banking regulations. The plan, part of an international agreement widely known as “Basel III endgame,” is meant to prevent a global financial crisis by increasing the amount of capital that banks must hold for certain investments to cushion them against potential losses. Torres said the proposed rule “potentially makes projects unfinanceable with the implied costs” and that he’s already heard from bankers who have said they won’t be able to continue funding renewable energy projects like the ones Scale Microgrids designed and installed at Gallaudet. Major banks, renewable energy companies, environmental groups and more …

DJT shares plummet more than 10% as hot streak for Trump Media stalls

DJT shares plummet more than 10% as hot streak for Trump Media stalls

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Former US president Donald Trump announced plans on October 20 to launch his own social networking platform called “TRUTH Social,” which is expected to begin its beta launch for “invited guests” next month. Chris Delmas | AFP | Getty Images Trump Media shares dropped sharply in morning trading Wednesday, shortly after rising above the $50 per share threshold for the first time in nearly a month. Trump Media, which trades under the DJT ticker, rose by more than 8% in early trading, before dropping by more than 10%. The share price stood at $45.59 at 10:26 a.m. ET, an 8.55% decline. The company, which owns the Truth Social app, has seen its share price increase by more than 50% in the past week. But the stock is still trading well below the more than $70 per share it opened at in its public trading debut on March 26. Trump Media in a regulatory disclosure Tuesday confirmed that former President Donald Trump received an extra 36 million shares of the company in a so-called earnout bonus. …

Trump receives 36 million more shares of Trump Media as bonus

Trump receives 36 million more shares of Trump Media as bonus

Published by skeptic

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives to Trump tower during the day of his trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in New York City, U.S. , April 19, 2024.  Eduardo Munoz | Reuters Former President Donald Trump received 36 million more shares of Trump Media Technology Group on Friday, according to a newly filed disclosure Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares were part of a contractual “earnout bonus” that Trump’s eponymous media company agreed to shortly before it went public in March. At Tuesday’s closing price of $49.93, Trump’s newly awarded shares were worth around $1.8 billion, although he is prohibited from selling them until a six-month lockup period expires. The additional shares bring Trump’s total in the newly public company to 114,750,000. At Tuesday’s closing price, their value on paper is over $5.7 billion. The windfall for Trump comes as Trump Media’s stock price has rocketed up 50% in the past seven days, after …

Trump Media shares rise again, jump 50% in the past week

Trump Media shares rise again, jump 50% in the past week

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Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images Trump Media shares climbed 7% Tuesday, continuing a rise that has seen the Truth Social owner surge about 50% in the past week. DJT was trading at roughly $50 a share, about 30% below its opening price of $70.90 in late March. The stock has had several volatile days in the past month, trading at a high of about $60 a share and a low of just over $20 per share. Trump Media’s rise has come without significant news about its finances improving. The company’s social media business had $58 million in losses last year and just $4.1 million in revenue. More news on Donald Trump The recent climb in the stock may be the result of steps the company has taken to target short sellers, according to Jay Ritter, a business professor at the University of Florida who is an expert on initial public offerings. “In the last week or so, the company has informed its shareholders how to make it difficult to loan their shares to short …

Trump Media shares soar more than 12% in afternoon trading

Trump Media shares soar more than 12% in afternoon trading

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Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images The share price of Trump Media soared by more than 12% in afternoon trading Monday, continuing a stunning rise that began in mid-April. The DJT ticker was up more than $5 per share just before 1 p.m. ET. Trump Media owns the Truth Social app frequently used by the company’s majority shareholder, former President Donald Trump, who is also the presumptive Republican presidential nominee this year. “TRUTH SOCIAL IS THE REAL VOICE OF AMERICA!!!” Trump wrote in a post on the site earlier Monday. The company began public trading on March 26 with a price of more than $70 per share. Over the next several weeks, share prices cratered, ending up with a low closing price of $22.80 on April 16. Stock Chart IconStock chart icon DJT share price Since then, Trump Media shares have more than doubled in price, adding billions of dollars to the company’s market capitalization, and to the ex-president’s stake. The gains have occurred without any significant news about the company’s bottom line improving. …

Trump Media shares plunge before former president’s stock bonus

Trump Media shares plunge before former president’s stock bonus

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Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images Trump Media shares fell 8% Tuesday as former President Donald Trump qualified for an expected earnout bonus. DJT closed at $32.57 per share, about 50% below its opening price last month of more than $70. Trump will receive an additional 36 million shares, worth about $1.15 billion, because the stock closed above a $17.50 minimum share price. The earnout was contingent on the stock reaching the benchmark for 20 trading days within a 30-trading-day period. Trump, the majority shareholder in DJT, already owns 78.75 million shares. The former president’s stake in the company will be worth about $3.7 billion with the earnout bonus. A spokesperson for Trump Media did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment about the earnout. The company also released a statement Tuesday highlighting steps shareholders could take to prevent the lending of their stock for short selling. On Friday, Trump Media warned the Nasdaq CEO of “potential market manipulation” of the company’s stock by “naked” short selling of shares. Don’t miss these exclusives from …