US considers Saudi crown prince immune from suit over slaying. Despite President Biden’s...
US considers Saudi crown prince immune from suit over slaying. Despite President Biden’s harsh rhetoric about the role of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Biden administration said in a legal document that his position as a nation’s leader shields him from a lawsuit brought by the journalist’s former fiancée. The State Department stressed that it was making a determination based on precedent that had nothing to do with the merits of the case itself. A judge must still rule on whether MBS has immunity.
Elizabeth Holmes gets 11 years for faking it but not making it
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 135 months (that’s 11.25 years)...
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 135 months (that’s 11.25 years) in prison yesterday for defrauding investors in what would have been the biggest tech scandal news of the week if FTX had never existed.
That’s less than the 15 years prosecutors sought, but a whole lot more than the 18 months of house arrest her lawyers advocated for. On the white-collar prison time scale ranging from Martha Stewart’s five months to Bernie Madoff’s 150 years, Holmes’s sentence for what the judge estimated to be $121 million worth of scamming is probably starting to make Sam Bankman-Fried a little nervous about that disappearing $32 billion.
Dow, S&P 500 end higher Friday, but stocks book weekly losses
The Dow and S&P 500 finished a choppy session higher Friday, but with the main U.S. equity indexes...
The Dow and S&P 500 finished a choppy session higher Friday, but with the main U.S. equity indexes still booking a weekly loss as doubts emerged about the staying power of a rally sparked by signs of easing U.S. inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.59% rose about 200 points, or 0.6%, ending near 33,747 Friday. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.48% closed up 0.5%, but failed to end above the 4,000 mark after trading above that level several times intraday in past sessions this week. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, 0.01% eked out a 0.01% gain Friday. Stocks wobbled earlier this week after St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said the central bank's rate could end up as high as 7%, up from the current 3.75% to 4% range. Higher rates make it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow. This tightening cycle differs from the recent past in that the central bank has been raising rates into what appears to be a slowing economy, with economists and investors seeing the risks of a recession increasing as the Fed tightens the screws of financing conditions. The Dow ended the week flat, while the S&P 500 posted a 0.7% weekly decline and the Nasdaq shed 1.6%, according to FactSet. Stocks have ended lower in two of the past three weeks.
Natural gas futures are trading lower, down 9 cents at $6.27...
Natural gas futures are trading lower, down 9 cents at $6.27 MMBtu at 10:07 AM ET, after finishing higher yesterday but remained on track for a weekly gain. The Kremlin said today that Russian President Putin discussed the idea of creating a Turkish gas hub with Turkish President Erdogan.
Average U.S. gas demand, including exports, is expected to jump from 122.3 bcfd this week to 125.9 bcfd next week.
The energy sector is off to a lower start, pressured...
The energy sector is off to a lower start, pressured by weakness in the underlying commodities and in the major equity indices. U.S. stock index futures rose after a selloff in the previous session driven by hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official that stoked fears of more aggressive rate interest hikes from the central bank.
WTI and Brent crude oil futures are down in early trading weighed down by concern about weakening demand in China and further interest rate rises by the U.S. Federal Reserve. China, which sources say is looking to slow crude imports from some exporters, has seen a rise in COVID-19 cases, while hopes for the moderation of aggressive U.S. rate hikes have been dented by remarks from some Fed officials this week. Recession concerns have dominated this week even with the European Union's ban on Russian crude looming on Dec. 5 and OPEC+ tightening supply. OPEC+, which began a new round of supply cuts in November, holds a policy meeting on Dec. 4.
