Bloomberg President Joe Biden’s hopes for a political reset have been overwhelmed by an unrelenting series of economic setbacks, adding to the challenges Democrats face as they court exhausted voters ahead of the crucial midterm election in November. US gasoline prices are at historic highs. Inflation in April exceeded consensus forecasts. Technology stocks have plummeted, taking retirement accounts with them. ...

  Bloomberg Just a few years after banks helped create a gargantuan market for blank check companies, they’re pulling away from the deals, afraid of the risks. Goldman Sachs Group Inc is ending its involvement with most of the special purpose acquisition companies it took public and pausing new US SPAC issuance, Bloomberg reported. Bank of America Corp (BofA) scaled back ...

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG’s board has held early stage talks on potentially replacing Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein after a string of scandals and misfires, people with knowledge of the matter said. A change at the top of the bank could come as early as this year. While the board continues to publicly voice support for Gottstein, some ...

  Bloomberg A regional central bank is clamping down on Bitcoin transactions after the Central African Republic adopted the cryptocurrency as legal tender without consulting its monetary authority. The Bank of Central African States, which already doesn’t recognize cryptocurrencies, is now preventing all lenders from partnering with payment platforms that transact in digital currencies or from recognising them as an ...

  Bloomberg Mexico’s central bank is ready to tighten monetary policy at a faster pace if needed, according to Governor Victoria Rodriguez Ceja. The bank increased key rate by half a percentage point for the fourth consecutive meeting and said it was willing to take more “forceful measures” to tame prices. The decision wasn’t unanimous, with one board member voting ...

  Bloomberg State Bank of India (SBI), the nation’s largest lender, posted fourth-quarter profit that missed analyst estimate as bad loan provisions rise and income from businesses other than lending dropped. Net income stood at 91.1 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in the three months to March, the highest ever quarterly profit, compared with 64.5 billion rupees a year earlier. That ...

  Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp.’s first-half profit topped analyst estimates as costs continued to decline, offsetting ongoing competition in mortgages and business lending. The stock opened higher. Cash profit at Australia’s third-largest lender falls to A$3.1 billion in the six months to March 31, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a statement. That beat the A$2.9 ...

Bloomberg Elon Musk sowed new chaos into the market over his takeover bid for Twitter Inc, first claiming his offer was “temporarily on hold” and then maintaining he is “still committed” to the deal, sending the social media giant into a tailspin. The billionaire initially sent an early tweet saying the $44 billion deal is pending until he receives more ...

  Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos accused President Joe Biden of “misdirection” on Twitter in response to the US leader’s tweet saying inflation could be tamed by making wealthy corporations “pay their fair share.” The exchange began with Biden’s tweet: “You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share.” Amazon, which paid ...

  Bloomberg Ford Motor sold more shares of Rivian Automotive Inc, offloading more than $400 million worth of stock in the electric car maker since the end of a lockup this week. The US automotive giant sold 7 million shares of Rivian stock at $26.88 each on Friday, according to a filing, cutting its stake in the company to nearly ...