Month: August 2022

• JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon spoke to wealthy clients on a call Tuesday, Yahoo Finance reported.

• The call touched on various topics, including climate change and the odds of a recession.

• He said US natural gas production does not conflict with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said this week that US natural gas production does not conflict with long-term emission reduction targets, Yahoo Finance first reported.

“We should focus on climate. The problem with that is because of high oil and gas prices, the world is turning back on their coal plants. It is dirtier,” Dimon said on a client call Tuesday, per the Saturday report.

“Why can’t we get it through our thick

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Equifax following a report that millions of credit scores were affected by a technical glitch in the credit bureau’s reporting system.

The suit, filed in US District Court in North Georgia by the Florida-based law firm Morgan and Morgan, seeks a trial by jury for damages suffered by anyone whose score changed from at least March 6 to April 6, the period when the glitch is believed to have occurred.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that, as Equifax was transitioning to a new technology system, it was unintentionally provided inaccurate credit scores on millions of US consumers seeking various types of credit. In a statement on its websiteEquifax acknowledged that as many as 300,000 people experienced a score shift of 25 points or more, enough to swing a borrower’s credit rating from good to fair, or fair to poor.

The lead

The White House is defending the Inflation Reduction Act against a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that suggests the legislation will not significantly lower inflation in the coming years.

“Could you address the new CBO analysis about the Inflation Reduction Act that says it would have almost no impact or negligible impact on inflation in 2022 and 2023,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked during a Friday briefing.

Jean-Pierre responded, “You know, leading economists have said that this Inflation Reduction Act that’s been analyzed by them, that’s been looked at by these economists, will indeed reduce inflation.”

Jean-Pierre was then asked if her answer means she is “dismissing” the CBO report and whether it is fair to call the legislation the “Inflation Reduction Act” when the CBO is saying inflation will not be meaningfully reduced.

SOARING INFLATION

New York
CNN Business
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Amazon

(AMZN) has agreed to buy iRobot, the maker of the popular Roomba vacuum, in an all-cash deal valued at about $1.7 billion, including debt, the two companies announced Friday.

The deal, which is pending approval from shareholders and regulators, has the potential to expand Amazon’s robotics lineup and deepen its presence in consumers’ homes. Last year, Amazon introduced a home robot called Astro. The $999 20-pound dog-like robot zooms from room to room, capturing live video and learning your habits.

“Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive,” said Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices. “I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.”

After launching the first Roomba in 2002, iRobot went on to develop multiple generations

The newest health care and climate spending bill from Democrats includes an $80 billion boost to the Internal Revenue Service that is intended to help the agency crack down on wealthy tax cheats. However, Republican critics say that a bigger IRS could ultimately hurt lower-income Americans.

Providing the IRS with an influx of funding has been a top priority for President Biden. It has emerged as one of the most prominent financiers of the Inflation Reduction Act that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., unveiled last week.

The Democrats projected that enhancing IRS funding could add an extra $124 billion in federal revenue over the next decade by hiring more tax enforcers who can limit tax evasion by rich individuals and corporations. Roughly $1 trillion

US job growth unexpectedly accelerated in July, defying fears of a slowdown in hiring even as the labor market confronts the twin threats of scorching-hot inflation and rising interest rates.

Employers added 528,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday, blowing past the 250,000 jobs forecast by Refinitiv economists. The unemployment rate, henceforth, edged down to 3.5%, the lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than two years ago.

The US has now replaced all over the jobs that were lost during the pandemic.

Job gains were broad-based in July, with leisure and hospitality leading the way in hiring, adding 96,000 new workers. That was followed by professional businesses services (89,000), health care (70,000) and government (57,000). Construction contributed 32,000 new jobs