The Federal Reserve made good on Wednesday of months of rate-hike foreshadowing, announcing a half-percentage-point increase in interest rates and detailing a plan to shrink the central bank’s “massive bond holdings.” In comments after the FOMC broke, Fed Chair Powell signaled that hikes of equivalent amounts are “on the table” at future Fed meetings but threw cold water on “more aggressive rate increases” – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and Marketplace
Though we’ll see how things shake out on Wall Street today, the initial market reaction was very positive, with stocks jumping after the Fed’s announcement—likely due to relief that the central bank was aggressively committed to fighting inflation while doing so at a pace that didn’t startle anyone - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
Intuit will pay back users some $141 million under the terms of an agreement with NY AG Letitia James (on behalf of AGs from all 50 states and D.C.) to resolve allegations that the company’s TurboTax software resulted in hidden fees for four million Americans “who were unfairly charged for tax services that were falsely advertised as free” - NYTimes
NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange has agreed to acquire mortgage-data firm Black Knight as part of a “cash-and-stock deal valued at $13.1 billion.” If regulators approve, the deal is expected to close early next year, and marks the latest push by ICE into the “growing digitization of the mortgage market” - WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360
Starbucks and third-time-around CEO Howard Schultz announced this week that the coffee giant is “raising pay and expanding training at corporate-owned locations in the United States” . . . except for recently unionized stores and “stores that may be in the process of unionizing, such as those where workers have filed a petition for a union election.” In response, the union representing newly unionized Sbux workers “has accused of coercing employees who were voting in a union election by suggesting it would withhold new benefits if they unionized” - NYTimes
Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, has reached a deal with France to establish its European hub in Paris after “France’s financial markets regulator formally granted Binance the right to offer and market its services to local customers.” The announcement “is an answer to pressure from regulators in several countries to formalize its status” - WSJ
Carl Icahn: activist investor and plant-based protein advocate? Yes, that’s the state of affairs in 2022, in which Icahn is using his stake in McDonald’s to push for changes in the fast-food company’s “dependence on meat products”—particularly those sourced from suppliers using “inhumane” practices - Bloomberg
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is levying a $10 million fine against Bank of America “as part of a settlement resolving agency allegations that the bank unlawfully processed thousands of out-of-state garnishment notices against customer accounts.” As part of the agreement, Bana will refund upwards of $600k of garnishment fees to impacted customers – Law360 and NYTimes
In what’s becoming a daily affair, Elon Musk’s musings about Twitter’s future includes the possibility that the network could “charge certain users fees in the future,” with target potentially including commercial or government users - NYTimes and Mashable
Speaking of Elon, social-media start-ups aren’t exactly treating him or other Big Tech founders with any particular reverence. To the contrary, the name of the game for upstarts these days is differentiating themselves from the behemoths (and their revenue models) - WSJ
Happy belated Star Wars Day, to all in the galaxy celebrating - Disney and LateNight
Stay safe,
MDR
The Robins Kaplan Financial Daily Dose features top stories and latest news headlines in financial markets, banking, securities and technology topics.
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