NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government charged Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with a host of financial crimes on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors allege he intentionally deceived customers and investors to enrich himself and others, while playing a central role in FTX’s multibillion-dollar collapse. The indictment says that beginning in 2019 Bankman-Fried devised “a scheme and artifice to defraud” FTX’s customers and investors, diverting their money to pay expenses and debts at his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research, and to make lavish real estate purchases and large political donations. Separately, the SEC filed civil charges against Bankman-Fried, alleging he defrauded investors and used proceeds to buy real estate for himself and his family.
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New FTX CEO says lax oversight, bad decisions caused failure
WASHINGTON (AP) — The new CEO of FTX says the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange helped 1,500 Bahamian investors remove $100 million from their accounts while other customers around the world were locked out of the exchange. John Ray III called FTX’s collapse one of the worst business failures he has seen — even worse than Enron, which he helped restructure two decades ago. Notably absent from the hearing before the House Financial Services Committee was FTX’s founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas just hours before he was scheduled to testify and now faces criminal and civil charges in the U.S.
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A slowdown in US inflation eases some pressure on households
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation in the United States slowed again last month in the latest sign that price increases are cooling despite the pressures they continue to inflict on American households. Consumer prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago, the government said Tuesday. That was down sharply from 7.7% in October and a recent peak of 9.1% in June. It was the fifth straight slowdown. Measured from month to month, which gives a more up-to-minute snapshot, the consumer price index inched up just 0.1%. All told, the latest figures provided the strongest evidence to date that inflation in the United States is steadily slowing from the price acceleration that first struck about 18 months ago.
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Wall Street closes higher after inflation cooled in November
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed higher on Wall Street after the government reported that inflation cooled more than expected last month, cementing expectations that the Federal Reserve is about to dial down the size of its interest rate hikes. The Fed is widely expected to raise its benchmark rate a half-point Wednesday, smaller than the past four mega-increases of three-quarters of a point. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Tuesday, the Nasdaq rose 1% and the Dow rose 0.3%. Treasury yields fell sharply. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tends to track expectations for what the Fed will do, dropped to 4.22% from 4.39%.
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Musk’s Twitter disbands its Trust and Safety advisory group
Elon Musk’s Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council. That’s the advisory group of nearly 100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations that the company formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform. The council had been scheduled to meet with Twitter representatives on Monday night. But Twitter informed the group via email that it was disbanding it shortly before the meeting was to take place. That’s according to multiple council members who provided images of the email to The Associated Press. They spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fears of retaliation.
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US study: Over half of car crash victims had drugs in system
DETROIT (AP) — A large U.S. government study has found that more than half the people injured or killed in traffic crashes had one or more drugs, or alcohol, in their bloodstreams. The study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also found that just over 54% of injured drivers had drugs or alcohol in their systems. An ingredient of cannabis was the most prevalent, followed by alcohol. The study’s authors say the results can’t be used to gauge drug use on the roads nationwide, but they say the high number of drivers, passengers and other road users with drugs in their systems is concerning.
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Most small SUVs flunk updated insurance industry crash tests
DETROIT (AP) — Most small SUVs flunked the latest frontal crash tests done by the insurance industry, but oddly enough, they’re just as safe as they were before. That’s because the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety updated the test so it places more emphasis on keeping back-seat passengers safe. Only the Ford Escape and Volvo XC40 got the top “good” rating in this year’s testing released Tuesday. The Toyota RAV4 was rated “acceptable,” while Audi’s Q3, the Nissan Rogue and the Subaru Forester were “marginal.” The Buick Encore, Chevrolet Equinox, Honda CR-V and HR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Compass and Renegade, Mazda CX-5 and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross got the bottom rating of “poor.”
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United places huge order with Boeing to replace aging planes
CHICAGO (AP) — United Airlines is making waves with a huge order for new planes. United said Tuesday that it will buy 100 new Boeing 787s and also add some orders for the Boeing Max. The 787 is a large, twin-aisle jetliner that flies international routes, and United will use it to replace some aging Boeing 767 and 777 jets. United and Boeing did not disclose financial terms of the sale. The Boeing 787 lists at between $248 million and $338 million per plane, but airlines routinely negotiate deep discounts on aircraft orders.
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The S&P 500 rose 29.09 points, or 0.7%, to 4,019.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 103.60 points, or 0.3%, to 34,108.64. The Nasdaq gained 113.08 points, or 1%, to 11,256.81. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies ended up 13.75 points, or 0.8%, to 1,832.36.