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Stocks fall after Wednesday’s rally – 2 FTX execs plead guilty in plea deal while throwing founder Sam Bankman-Fried under the bus – Home sales slide for 10th consecutive month – New retirement legislation and how it impacts you
A year-end selloff returned to Wall Street on Thursday as stock futures fell following a 526-point rally by the Dow on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 surging by 1.49%, and the NASDAQ composite by 1.54 percent.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 226 points or 0.67%, while the S&P 500 slid by 0.82%, while Nasdaq-100 Index futures declined by 1.14%, CNBC reported.
As of 9:46 AM EST, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down -0.011 with a yield of 3.673%.
Oil prices moved higher for the 4th straight day. The benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up about 1.2% to top $79 per barrel amid wintry weather and expectations of higher demand, Yahoo Finance reported.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two former FTX executives on Wednesday – former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and former Chief Technology Officer of FTX Trading LTD Zixiao (Gary) Wang – with wire fraud, securities fraud, and commodities fraud, FOXBusiness reported.
Both secretly pleaded guilty to the charges, leading to speculation that they threw FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried under the bus.
“They are both cooperating with the Southern District of New York,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, referencing Ellison and Wang.
Ellison, 28, faces up to 110 years in prison after making a plea agreement deal which includes $250,000 bail, surrender of travel documents, and forfeiture of assets, Yahoo reported. Her recently unsealed plea agreement with the US attorney’s office shows that if she fully cooperates, she will pay restitution and won’t be further prosecuted criminally except for possible criminal tax violations.
Sam Bankman-Fried arrived by plane in New York from the Bahamas in handcuffs on Thursday to face fraud charges and may appear in court later in the morning, BBC reported.
US home sales tumbled 7.7% in November on a monthly basis, marking the 10th consecutive month of declines. Sales were down 35.4% year-over-year. The median home sales price rose by 3.5% compared to a year ago to a high of $370,700, CNBC reported.
New legislation working its way through Congress, that is part of a government spending bill, is aiming to improve retirement security for U.S. workers by including a provision to automatically enroll eligible employees into their company’s retirement plan, NBC reported. Retirement is part of legislation called the Secure Act 2.0, which would require companies to enroll workers in a 401(k)-retirement plan, deducting at least 3% – but no more than 10% – of an employee’s pretax earnings, which would be deposited into the 401(k) account.
Employees would have the choice to opt out of the program. Employers would also be allowed to factor in employees who make student loan payments when considering 401(k) contributions.
