To no one’s surprise, the Fed officially bumped interest rates up another quarter point and cited improved economic strength as the basis for forecasting a “steeper path of hikes in 2019 and 2020” – Bloomberg and NYTimes and WSJ and Marketplace
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally issued a statement yesterday addressing the unauthorized data use scandal involving Cambridge Analytica that’s cost his company share price almost 10% since the story broke – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
Few were satisfied – Bloomberg
Soooo . . . perhaps not the best time for an update on the status of Zucktown? – NYTimes
UBS will pay $230 million to resolve NY AG allegations that the bank “peddled toxic residential mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting investors in the run-up to the financial crisis of 2008” – Law360 and Reuters
As if understanding cryptocurrencies as a concept isn’t tough enough, let’s consider what taxing them might entail, shall we? – NYTimes
Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday, US Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer didn’t exactly go out of his way to tamp down concerns about a coming trade war between the US and China, noting in his formal written remarks that the WTO has “proven wholly inadequate to deal with China’s version of a state-dominated economy that rejects market principles” – WSJ
Credit Suisse is looking to make some bank-friendly law, asking New York’s high court this week to dismiss an $11 billion suit by AG Eric Schneiderman by interpreting the state’s powerful Martin Act to have a three-year statute of limitations – Law360
A few items of 21st-century insurance to note on a Thursday morning, including the race for driverless car coverage [WSJ] and the quest for millennial-friendly NY-focused renters insurance – WSJ
House lawmakers—apparently unconcerned about their Senate colleagues’ advice—are pushing proposals that would change the Volcker Rule by giving the Fed sole responsibility for enforcing Dodd-Frank’s ban on proprietary trading, a change that critics argue could make it “easier to weaken restraints on excessive risk-taking” – Bloomberg
The Journal’s keeping an eye on a recent trend of bets against ETFs that raise the question of whether the funds have sufficient liquidity to weather a storm of redemptions if a bear market took hold – WSJ
Count me among the many Neighbors anxiously awaiting this summer release – Focus Features
