Financial Mindset

The lost art of proofreading could see a missing “s” disrupt the federal government’s controversial effort to reduce reporting requirements for public companies. In May, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a new rule that would let publicly listed companies report their financial results twice a year instead of every quarter, as is currently required. The agency asked the public to weigh in and send its feedback to rule-comment@sec.gov . But the comment inbox that the SEC lists on its own instructions page —and has printed in almost every rule proposal it has issued since at least 2019—is rule-comments@sec.gov. With an “s.” The comment (or…comments) period on the semiannual reporting rule closed on July 6, but the email address confusion cropped up on Monday in a letter to the commission from nonprofit investor advocate Better Markets. The letter, addressed to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, said the posted emai...

A U.S.-Russian space crew arrived Tuesday at the  International Space Station  after launching from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Russian crewmates Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off as scheduled at 7:47 p.m. (10:47 a.m. EDT, 1447 GMT) aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 for an eight-month stint on the orbiting outpost. Their spacecraft docked smoothly at the station in automatic mode about three hours after the launch. NASA Administrator  Jared Isaacman  attended the launch, the first visit to Baikonur by a NASA chief in eight years that highlighted the ongoing cooperation in orbit between Moscow and Washington, despite tensions over Russia’s military action in  Ukraine. Before the launch, Isaacman met with the head of Russia’s state corporation Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov. Speaking during Monday’s meeting with the crew, Isaacman thanked Roscosmos for its efforts to prepare for the mission,...

Data center projects continue to generate controversy around the country. In part, that’s because a variety of different groups have competing interests – some in favor of them, some opposed and others with no direct view on data centers themselves, but with concerns that relate to aspects of data center operations and effects. As a scholar of environmental justice and urban land use , I’ve seen these various conflicting forces at work in Michigan. More than 30 large and small data center projects have been proposed in the state in the past two years alone, including one by the university where I work. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, center, has been criticized for participating in this photo op at the construction site for a new data center in her state. Related Digital via Planet Detroit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is enthusiastic about bringing technology companies to the state, even posing with tech company CEOs in photo ops at the sites of proposed data centers. But n...

The absence of two key Senate Republicans has complicated the Trump administration’s ambitions to pass budget appropriations and increase defense spending, particularly as the war in Iran escalates and key midterm elections approach. On Sunday, Sen. Mitch McConnell broke his weeks-long silence about his health, announcing he was hospitalized after a fall and was also treated for pneumonia. McConnell, who has not said when he will return to the Senate floor, is the chair of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, which drafts legislation for Pentagon funding. His announcement followed the unexpected death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, who served as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the chair of the Budget Committee, after an aorta rupture. To be sure, Graham’s sister Darline Graham Nordone will take the place of her brother in the Senate on Wednesday and serve the rest of his term , eliminating some uncertainty around the impact of his absence. ...

Sen.  Lindsey Graham , one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress who traveled the globe to advocate for a  more aggressive U.S. foreign policy , has died after a “brief and sudden illness.” He was 71. His office’s statement posted on social media early Sunday said his family “appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.” It did not provide any additional details about the circumstances surrounding the Saturday night death of the prominent South Carolina Republican, a former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for three decades. Hours later, another statement from Graham’s office said the Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia’s preliminary findings are the senator died of aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. That is an aorta rupture stemming from hardening of Graham’s arteries. Trump, who talked to Graham frequently, said he was “like a...

The US Justice Department launched a grand jury investigation into allegations that the head of the United Auto Workers pressured another high-ranking union official to secure benefits for his fiancée and her sister, according to internal communications within the labor organization. A federal grand jury has subpoenaed the union’s court-appointed monitor as it probes the claims against President Shawn Fain, according to emails seen by Bloomberg News . The messages were sent to Fain, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer and members of the law firm representing the union. Fain called the allegations “false” in a statement to Bloomberg and accused Boyer, whose complaints to the monitor drew early scrutiny to union leadership, of trying to influence the upcoming UAW election. Boyer didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment about Fain’s accusations against him. Steven Fagell, an attorney with Covington & Burling, which represents the union, said in an email that the UAW broa...

President  Donald Trump  is suggesting he has left standing orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran “  at levels they’ve never seen before  ” if Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him. But the U.S. government has no way to create an automatic, preauthorized “dead man’s switch” that would prompt immediate retaliation. Instead, if Trump were killed, the transfer of power to his successor is governed by the  25th Amendment  and the  Presidential Succession Act of 1947 . Vice President  JD Vance  instantaneously would become commander in chief and have authority for any retaliation. Under such a scenario, Vance could do exactly what Trump called for, though there also is a chance he could decide not to follow his predecessor’s orders — or offer a direct response in a different way. “The U.S. has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch,’” said G...