ExclusiveBUSINESSES STOCKING UP DUE TO POSSIBLE TARIFF HIKE

Welcome back. It's that time of the day for Business Matters with Don Ma. Don, good to see you. How's it going? I'm doing well. Good to see you guys, of course. So my first story actually involves fraud. So what's going on here is apparently 18 years in prison for a massive fraud case. That's the sentence handed down to former billionaire investor Bill Hwang. This is over the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, which cost Wall Street banks more than $10 billion. A jury convicted Hwang this summer on 10 criminal charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and market manipulation. Prosecutors wanted a 21-year prison sentence. Hwang had asked for no prison time and asked to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction. And Delta Airlines CEO says the incoming Trump administration will be a, quote, breath of fresh air. Ed Bastian has described some consumer protection rules under President Biden as regulatory overreach. Consumer advocates have expressed concern that the Trump administration could roll back a rule that requires automatic refunds after canceled flights and full ticket prices to be advertised up front. Ford is cutting 4,000 jobs in Europe by the end of 2027. The carmaker said it's because of the economy, increased competition, and weak EV sales. Inflation-weary consumers have held back on spending, and Germany has dropped government purchase incentives for EVs. Carmakers are also facing increased competition from Chinese-made EVs. Data showing Ford sales fell 15% in the first nine months of the year compared to the year before. A majority of the jobs will be cut in Germany, a chunk in Britain, and some in other EU countries. In a statement, Ford said the global auto industry is in a period of disruption. Stocking up ahead of President-like Donald Trump's second term. During his campaign, Trump promised to impose tariffs of 60% on all Chinese goods. As a result, some American businesses are stockpiling imported goods. Some economists think a surge in exports from China last month could be front-loading due to uncertainty over election results. Companies are also trying to decide whether they will be able to raise prices or if they can find alternatives to Chinese manufacturers. A supply chain expert predicts China will continue dominating manufacturing but has seen companies beefing up sourcing from other countries like Vietnam, for example, India, and Cambodia. Former cryptocurrency executive Gary Wang will not face any prison time. Wang unwittingly wrote the computer code that helped FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried steal about $8 billion from customers from the now-bankrupt exchange. Wang pleaded guilty to four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy. Last year, he testified in the trial that led to Bankman-Fried's conviction. Bitcoin rose to a record high yesterday after the Financial Times reported that Donald Trump's social media company was in talks to buy cryptocurrency trading firm Bakkt. The news comes as the industry hopes for a crypto-friendly environment during the president-elect's second term. Bitcoin has more than doubled this year. The world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency reached a record $94,000 yesterday. Crypto has soared since the November 5 presidential election. Traders are betting that Trump will preside over a less restrictive regulatory regime for the industry. Trump Media and Technology Group operates Truth Social, while Bakkt is supported by New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange. Entertainment giant Comcast will spin off many of its cable television networks into a separate publicly-traded company. This is while people increasingly swap out their cable TV subscriptions for streaming platforms. The USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, Syfy, The Golf Channel, Fandango, and Rotten Tomatoes will all become part of the new company. The NBC Broadcast Network, NBC News, NBC Sports, Peacock, and Bravo will all remain under Comcast. Mark Lazarus, current chairman of NBC Universal Media Group, will serve as the new entity's CEO. The spin-off is targeted for completion in about a year. Today is a key date for social security recipients. If you don't already have an online social security account, it's important to create one now or else miss out on an important feature. Here's the story. November 20th is the deadline to create a new social security account without missing out on the latest online COLA notice. The cost of living adjustment, or COLA, is 2.5% for 2025. Payments will increase by 2.5% or by an average of $50 per month. This impacts 72.5 million Americans who receive social security benefits and or supplemental security income payments. Specific personal information will be on the brand new online COLA notice. The notice is now on one page, uses simpler language, and provides exact dates and dollar amounts of your benefit, including any deductions. The Social Security Administration says the new design makes it easier to find what you need. To get the notice, recipients must create their personal My Social Security account by November 20th. Those who created an account over three years ago need to create a new account because the administration moved to a new system. Go to ssa.gov and select sign in in the top right corner. If you don't currently have a login.gov or id.me account, you'll need to sign in with your legacy My Social Security account information by clicking here. The administration says the new system is more secure and easier to use. It will still send out COLA notices by physical mail, but it's recommended to get them online to receive them earlier. It means you can learn the specifics of your situation earlier, which helps with budgeting. Meanwhile, a new government report shows problems with how student loans are supervised and tracked. The report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found some loan servicers automatically took money from borrowers' bank accounts. That's even though some students did not sign up for autopay. The bureau found autopay mistakes accounted for most of the errors, but investigators also found loan servicers charged students multiple times in a month for their loans or put the wrong amount of money owed. The agency said it also heard from some borrowers that it took months or even years to receive a refund related to autopay errors. And Apple is expected to ask a federal judge to dismiss a Justice Department case accusing the company of unlawfully dominating the smartphone market. Prosecutors say the company limits interoperability between the iPhone and third party apps and devices. They argue that that blocks users in and reduces competition. Apple says its limitations on developers' access to the technology are reasonable. The company argues that forcing it to share technology with competitors would chill innovation. Antitrust cases against big tech firms are a growing trend. In August, Alphabet's Google was found to have an illegal monopoly over online searches. Meta Platforms is currently facing trial over claims that it stifled competition by acquiring rival startups. Amazon is fighting a case over its policies toward sellers and suppliers. And Alex Jones is trying to stop satire news outlet The Onion from buying InfoWars. He's suing a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee and families of some Sandy Hook victims. The offer comes after the parent company of InfoWars was auctioned off last week. Jones calls The Onion's bid non-compliant and alleges collusion. He owes nearly $1.5 billion to Sandy Hook victims' families. A lawsuit has been settled between tech companies and the U.S. government. Allegedly, the tech companies created a situation that eliminated competitive bids and overcharged the U.S. military. NTD's Sean Marshall has more details. Two tech companies, Dell and Ironbow, have agreed to pay the U.S. government $2 million each to settle a lawsuit. The Department of Justice announced the settlement on Tuesday. Allegedly, the businesses fraudulently inflated the price of computers and other hardware sold to the U.S. Army. The lawsuit said both Ironbow and Dell competed for contracts to sell basic hardware to the Army between 2020 and 2024, while Ironbow also distributed Dell products. At the same time, Dell gave Ironbow discounts on Dell products to sell to the U.S. Army while simultaneously offering the government higher prices than it offered to Ironbow. The arrangement artificially increased the price of goods sold to the military while simultaneously providing the illusion of competition. Dell agreed to pay the U.S. government $2.3 million, while Ironbow agreed to pay just over $2 million. In separate settlement documents, Dell denied the allegations made in the lawsuit, while Ironbow said the settlement was reached to avoid the delay, uncertainty, and inconvenience, and expense of protracted litigation. Neither of the company agreements included an admission to liability. The executive of a different technology company, Brent Lillard, filed a lawsuit in North Alabama District Court against Dell and Ironbow in 2020 under a whistleblower provision in the False Claims Act. It allows private citizens to sue on behalf of the government if they believe there has been a fraudulent application for government funds. Under the law, Lillard will receive $345,000 of the $2.3 million owed by Dell. Sean Marshall, NTD News. Volkswagen workers offered to back $1.6 billion in cost cuts if automaker rules out closing plants in Germany. Employees also warned the German car manufacturer would face a historic battle if it pressed ahead. The proposal comes a day ahead of a third round of talks over pay cuts and factory shutdowns. Europe's biggest automaker and other German industrial giants are reeling from high costs and Chinese competition. Poor management decisions, weak demand, and Germany's bureaucracy have all been blamed for problems in Volkswagen's domestic market. A union proposal includes foregoing bonuses for 2025 and 2026, among other savings. Strikes at Volkswagen's German factories are possible starting December 1st. The FDA says inspectors found health violations at a Tom's of Maine facility this year. It says they include bacteria in water used for toothpaste and bacterial growth in a separate toothpaste. Tom's of Maine makes personal care products, such as toothpaste and deodorant. The FDA says the inspection also revealed a black mold-like substance near manufacturing equipment. That's according to a warning letter from the agency. Tom's of Maine says it's working with the FDA to address the issues. And next we have weight loss drug coverage. Growing. A survey has revealed more companies are covering weight loss drugs. This year, it was about 44% of U.S. employers with 500 or more employees. For much larger companies with more than 20,000 employees, that number was 64%. The coverage includes medication from Wegovy, Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly's ZepBound. Obesity drugs have driven costs up for employers. Uber launched XXL rides with extra trunk space today, betting on increased demand from Thanksgiving travelers. The new service comes as the ride hailing company seeks to overcome a slowdown in its app-based business. Uber's XXL service is catered toward airport travel and is available in more than 60 airports globally. Those include 40 in the United States and Canada. News reservation features also allow users to input their flight details to receive a recommended time to leave for the airport. Uber also tracks flights to notify customers in case of a delay and the option to adjust their drop-off accordingly. AAA expects Americans to set a new record for Thanksgiving travel. Nearly 80 million are projected to hit the road, catch flights, and take cruises. Canned over a croquette. A second Spanish court has sided with a worker who was fired over scarfing down the deep-fried roll. The worker was fired in July last year for eating the snack, which was said to be thrown away after the store closed. The company's policy bans workers from eating any products in the store without paying for them first, but the court found that it was common practice to snack on ready-to-eat food that was going to be trashed. The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight was a knockout win for Netflix. According to the platform, the main event attracted more than 108 million live viewers from around the world and has set a record for the most-streamed sporting event in history. The fight topped the English TV list and came in as the most-watched title of the week. The fight was number one in 78 countries and the top 10 for all 91 countries tracked. An Italian village is offering homes to Americans for just $1. The village of Olale on the island of Sardinia has been trying to persuade outsiders to move there after decades of depopulation has launched a website aimed at Americans upset over the result of the presidential election. While anyone can apply, U.S. citizens will be favored over other potential applicants. The village is offering three tiers of accommodation, three temporary homes to digital nomads, one-euro homes in need of renovations, and ready-to-occupy homes for about $105,000. The village's mayor has set up a team to help guide interested buyers through the purchasing process. All right, on to markets. The tech-heavy NASDAQ closed lower today. Here's to be taking a break from the prior session's rally as investors worried about the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine tensions. The Dow and S&P 500 ticked up late in the session. The Dow closed higher and S&P 500 was about unchanged. Stocks fell after reports said Ukraine fired long-range British storm shuttle missiles into Russian territory. All eyes remain on NVIDIA, which has nearly tripled in this year. However, given the lofty earnings expectations, the company could struggle to impress investors. That's all I have in today's Business Matters. Back to you, guys. You're right. The fight itself was kind of lackluster. I know with the Olympics, it forced me to get a new app and stream something that I wasn't planning to. And then you start to find other content. So maybe it's a good strategy, maybe a loss leader. You throw a Big Ten event, and then you see how many of those subscribers stick with you over the next few months. But something I didn't mention just now, it had a lot of buffering issues, though. So viewing the fight wasn't as smooth as possible for some people, but a lot of people still tuned in. Sounds interesting, for sure. Well, we'll see you back here tomorrow, Don. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Don. Thank you.