BUSINESS NEWS MARCH 29TH, 2016
MARKETS TURN POSITIVE & REACH 2016 HIGH AFTER YELLEN DELIVERS
The S&P 500 closed at its highest in 2016 on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen called for caution on raising interest rates - music to Wall Street's ears.In her first comments since the Fed held steady on rates earlier this month, Yellen said global risks remained, including uncertainty over China and low oil prices.That was enough to reverse an earlier dip in stocks and leave the S&P 500 0.88 percent higher, its biggest one-day gain in 12 sessions.After its worst January since 2009, the S&P 500 has fully recovered and is now up 0.55 percent for 2016, although investors remain concerned about a slow global economy, a strong dollar, volatile oil prices and lackluster top-line growth at U.S. companies.
SUNEDISON FACES 'SUBSTANTIAL RISK' OF BANKRUPTCY
U.S. solar energy company SunEdison Inc , whose aggressive acquisition strategy has saddled it with almost $12 billion of debt, is at "substantial risk" of bankruptcy, one of its two publicly listed units warned on Tuesday.A bankruptcy would rank among the largest involving a non-financial company in the past 10 years, according to bankruptcydata.com. SunEdison declined to comment. SunEdison's shares - already reeling from a Wall Street Journal report on Monday that the company was being investigated for overstating its cash position - fell as much as 60 percent to a record low of 50 cents.
WELLS FARGO SETTLES PRIVACY ALLEGATIONS FOR $8.5 MILLION
A Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) unit will pay $8.5 million to California and five of the state's counties to settle charges that it violated customers' privacy by recording their calls without first notifying them, state prosecutors said on Tuesday.Wells Fargo Bank broke California's privacy laws, which require disclosure at the start of a phone call, state Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a statement about her office's civil case against the company.The bank neither admitted nor denied liability, she said.
HIGHER TAXES IN WHITE HOUSE BUDGET-2017 WOULD CUT DEFICITS
U.S. President Barack Obama's fiscal 2017 budget would produce $6.9 trillion in deficits over the next decade if enacted, about $2.4 trillion less than under current tax and spending laws, congressional forecasters said on Tuesday.The Congressional Budget Office said in a new analysis, however, that its 10-year deficit estimate is $776 billion higher than the administration's own forecast. This is largely the result of lower revenues resulting from the CBO's projections for slower economic growth, lower wage and salary growth, and lower revenue gains associated with Obama's tax proposals.