A cryptocurrency developer who was handed two subpoenas as he walked inside a hotel last month won't comply with the demands-and is instead suing the federal regulator that issued them.
Do Kwon, a South Korean citizen and resident, says the move by the Securities and Exchange Commission violated the agency's rules and was designed either to embarrass him or to stir up media interest in its crackdown on the cryptocurrency market.
Democrats Negotiate Tax, Healthcare Provisions as Biden Seeks Deal This Week
WASHINGTON-Democrats are sprinting to wrap up negotiations over their social-spending and climate bill, hoping by this weekend to resolve disagreements on issues including tax policy and healthcare.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Monday there were three to four open issues. Lawmakers and aides said major policy areas, including the tax increases to pay for the package, Medicare and Medicaid provisions and a paid leave program, remain unresolved. The bill, initially drafted at $3.5 trillion, is now expected to cost between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion.
Inflation Pinches Restaurants, but Customers Seem Willing to Split the Check
Inflation is making casual-dining shareholders sick to their stomachs. Relief is likely on the way.
Brinker International, owner of Chili's, said last Tuesday that it earned 34 cents a share on an adjusted basis in its fiscal first quarter, which ended in September-far below Wall Street analysts' estimate of 68 cents a share.
Fed Prepares to Taper Stimulus Amid More Doubts on Inflation
Federal Reserve officials are set to wind down their $120 billion-a-month bond-purchase program in November, but questions over how soon inflation pressures will fade are creating more uneasiness inside the central bank.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and senior officials have played down worries this year that a surge in prices during the uneven pandemic recovery would lead to permanently higher inflation. The most notable price increases have been tied to items most affected by the shutdown and reopening of the economy, but there are signs that inflation is coming from a broader set of products and services.
Buyout Firms Set Record for Loading Companies With Debt to Pay Themselves
Private-equity firms are taking advantage of a frothy credit market to pay themselves record sums with borrowed money, a controversial practice that critics say benefits buyout-firm executives but can harm portfolio companies.
Companies backed by U.S. private-equity firms have taken on $58.5 billion in dividend-recapitalization debt this year through Oct. 20, S&P Global Market Intelligence's LCD unit said in response to a Wall Street Journal data request. That is more than levels of such debt for 2019 and 2020 combined. The previous full-year record of $51.1 billion was set in 2013.
Energy-Stock Surge Leaves Climate-Focused Investors Behind
A surge in energy stocks is challenging climate-conscious money managers who beat the market for years when the sector struggled but are now missing out on Wall Street's hottest trade.
The S&P 500 energy sector has rebounded 54% this year, outpacing the broad index's 21% climb and leading the second-best performing group by about 16 percentage points. That would mark the third-largest such gap between the top two sectors since 2000, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen Calls for New Tech Laws in Europe
LONDON-Facebook Inc. whistleblower Frances Haugen encouraged U.K. lawmakers to pass legislation to rein in social-media platforms, saying that Facebook has trouble curbing misinformation and hate speech in many languages and dialects, including British English.
Ms. Haugen's comments to a U.K. parliamentary committee Monday give new impetus to the biggest potential expansion in global tech regulation in years, with Britain currently considering legislation to curb harmful online content. The former Facebook employee presented her conclusions from a set of internal Facebook documents-first disclosed in The Wall Street Journal-that she says illustrate the social-media company's struggles to balance the safety of its users with its own profit motive.
Afghan Refugees Can Be Sponsored by Private Citizens Under New Program
WASHINGTON-Private citizens will be allowed to sponsor Afghan families under a new program launched Monday by the Biden administration, as overwhelmed agencies have left thousands stuck on military bases in harsh conditions waiting to be resettled.
The Sponsor Circle Program will be run along with a nonprofit that was set up last month to help refugees settle in the U.S., filling the role of traditional resettlement agencies. The program will allow private citizens to group together to sponsor families and help them access housing and other necessities like food, clothing and education.
Russian Military Drills Near Afghan Border Deliver Warning to Extremists
HARB-MAIDON RANGE, Tajikistan-Russia held a series of joint military exercises with its Central Asian neighbors near the border with Afghanistan last week, a reflection of the concern in Moscow that ethnic tension or terrorism could spill over from the country as extremists such as Islamic State challenge the Taliban's rule there.
The Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, which also includes Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, conducted a weeklong series of exercises that ended Saturday on the Harb-Maidon training range, less than 20 miles north of Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan.
Analysis: U.K.'s Gilt Supply Set to Fall as Government Reins in Borrowing
U.K. public borrowing is set to continue to fall in the fiscal year 2021/22 amid expectations that Treasury chief Rishi Sunak will set out a tighter fiscal policy when he presents the latest Budget statement to parliament on Wednesday.
Mr. Sunak is expected to scale back the emergency stimulus due to the Covid-19 pandemic in an attempt to bring the public finances to a more sustainable path.
Facebook Posts Slower Sales Growth With Apple Privacy Policy
Facebook Inc. blamed Apple Inc.'s privacy rules for posting slower sales growth and warned of further uncertainty for the social-media giant's crucial advertising business.
Facebook's ad sales, its primary revenue source, saw slower growth in the first full quarter since Apple in April started requiring apps to ask users whether they want to be tracked. That change has made it harder for advertisers to target their ads at audiences and get information regarding how well their ads performed.
Bankruptcy Judge Declines to Pause Talc Litigation Against Johnson & Johnson
A bankruptcy judge refused an initial bid to pause talc litigation against Johnson & Johnson, setting the stage for a November hearing that will likely scrutinize the corporate maneuvering the company undertook to try to settle thousands of personal-injury lawsuits through a subsidiary's chapter 11.
Judge J. Craig Whitley of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday refused to extend to J&J a temporary restraining order that would have halted lawsuits against the consumer-goods giant during the two-week period before next month's hearing.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Pursues Private Space Station
Jeff Bezos' space company said it would help to build a new space station, part of a growing bet by entrepreneurs and companies that many future orbital facilities will be privately owned and operated.
Blue Origin LLC said Monday it is working with a unit of Sierra Nevada Corp., Boeing Co. and others to create a station that is meant to become operational in its initial form in the latter half of this decade. The planned facility, called Orbital Reef, will aim to generate revenue from government agencies and private-sector customers including entertainment companies and manufacturers, executives said during a briefing.
Write to sarka.halas@wsj.com
Expected Major Events for Tuesday
05:00/FIN: Sep Labour force survey, incl unemployment
07:00/SPN: Sep PPI
07:30/SWE: Sep PPI
09:00/LUX: Aug Trade
10:00/UK: Oct CBI Distributive Trades Survey
23:01/UK: Oct REC JobsOutlook survey
23:01/UK: Oct Shop Price Index
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-26-21 0019ET
