It’s only January and we might already have the scam story of the year: JPMorgan is ...
It’s only January and we might already have the scam story of the year: JPMorgan is suing Frank CEO Charlie Javice and another exec at the fintech company, which it had bought, accusing them of essentially making up a client roster.
What happened: In 2021, JPMorgan paid $175 million to acquire Frank, a student financial-aid planning platform that boasted 4.25 million users. JPMorgan didn’t appear to be very interested in the platform’s services, but it did want to build a pipeline to send Frank’s young customers directly into the Jamie Dimon banking universe.
There was just one problem: Less than 10% of Frank’s user base was real, JPMorgan claims. For example, the bank said it sent a marketing email to 400,000 customers and roughly 70% of the emails bounced back. After conducting internal investigations, JPMorgan said it discovered that Javice (a Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree, btw) had hired a college professor to create a bunch of fake user data to pad Frank’s numbers for the merger, and then just bought one really big email list.
What’s next? A lengthy legal battle, probably. Javice, who was fired in November, is also suing JPMorgan for millions of dollars to recoup expenses she took on during the aforementioned investigations, and the $28 million she says she’s still owed from the merger.
Study says Exxon knew “precisely” about global warming. Exxon’s internal climate...
Study says Exxon knew “precisely” about global warming. Exxon’s internal climate research, which began as early as the 1970s, accurately predicted both the speed and gravity of global warming, according to a new study that analyzed dozens of research papers produced by the company’s in-house scientists. Between 63% and 83% of Exxon-backed research accurately predicted ensuing climate events and global warming, matching and occasionally even surpassing the accuracy of academic and government projections. Although Exxon dismissed the study’s findings, lead author Geoffrey Supran summarized them as “airtight” and “unimpeachable” in an email to Axios.
U.S. import-price index rises for first time in six months
The numbers: The cost of U.S. imported goods rose 0.4% in December to mark the first...
The numbers: The cost of U.S. imported goods rose 0.4% in December to mark the first increase in six months, but there was little sign of intensifying inflationary pressures. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.8% decline.
Higher natural gas prices offset the lower cost of oil and helped account for the surprise increase.
But the cost of most other imports such as autos, consumer goods, food and industrial supplies also advanced. Import prices minus fuel rose 0.4% last month.
Dow ends more than 200 points higher as inflation cools in line with forecasts
Stocks ended a choppy session with gains Thursday, finding support...
Stocks ended a choppy session with gains Thursday, finding support after the December consumer-price index showed inflation continued to slow, in line with forecasts, last month.The data appeared to reinforce market expectations the Federal Reserve will move slower to raise rates in 2023 after last year's aggressive tightening. Skeptics contend bulls are underestimating the Fed's resolve to hike the fed-funds rate, now at 4.25% to 4.5%, and above 5% and keep it there. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.64% ended around 217 points higher, up 0.6%, near 34,190, according to preliminary figures. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.34% finished with a gain of 0.3%, near 3,983, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.64% advanced 0.6% to close near 11,001.
Q4 of 2022 rig additions driven by public shale drillers
An analysis by JPMorgan Chase reveals that public shale...
An analysis by JPMorgan Chase reveals that public shale producers deployed 18 rigs in the final quarter of 2022, setting themselves apart from their privately held peers, which idled 11 rigs during the same period. This discrepancy illustrates the uneven impact of cost inflation, supply chain bottlenecks and labor shortages on public and private players.
