Trump says everyday Americans deserve a chance to buy higher-risk ‘alternative’ investments. Critics say this could lead to big losses for small investors

Excellent, eye-opening investigative reporting from @susanantilla.bsky.social on the proliferation of scams and lack of accountability for financial services firms and advisers preying on small investors and retirees www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

‘I feel like I’m in a financial prison’: Trump Wall Street plan puts ‘mom and pop’ investors at risk, advocates say. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

‘I feel like I’m in a financial prison’: Trump Wall Street plan puts ‘mom and pop’ investors at risk, advocates say #Trump

"I feel like I'm in a financial prison." Trump pushes "alts" that send some investors to food banks, National Debt Relief. My latest: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Americans of modest means were among panic-sellers who bailed and lost $ on news of Trump’s tariff hikes. Now, @SecScottBessent says Trump planned “all along” to reverse course and pause most of those hikes. Chaotic moves w/ no regard for little guy. www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/0...

How pervasive is gender inequality? On Wall Street, it even shows itself when women break the rules and wind up punished more severely than men. A story from my archives, posted for @WomensHistoryMonth theintercept.com/2019/07/01/w...

A service provided by a (well-managed) nonprofit govt unit costs X. Same service from a (well-managed) for-profit outfit costs X+Profit. Explain to me how taxpayers benefit from that. DOGE wants businesses to run government services ‘as much as possible’ www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

11 years ago, female VPs at Goldman Sachs earned 21% less than their male counterparts. Lawsuits and #DEI sought to close gaps like this, but new anti-DEI policies will open those gaps again. From my archives, during @WomensHistoryMonth: www.thestreet.com/opinion/gold...

Read these stories of brutal treatment of women in finance and then remind me of why we need to disable #DEI programs. Another offering from my archives during #WomensHistoryMonth theintercept.com/2019/10/07/m...

During Women's History Month, a reminder to the anti-DEI crowd that the people who are unfairly shut out of jobs are not the White men who today are working so hard to erase women's accomplishments. From my archives: capitalandmain.com/despite-hist...

Folks always ask me how they can make a difference. Find an elderly person who isn’t tech savvy. Help them confirm their Social Security information online. Starting March 31, phone verification will no longer be allowed for Social Security benefits, and in person will be slower as offices close.

Convicted felon Jordan Belfort, who did 22 months in prison in the mid-2000s for ruthlessly fleecing investors, weighs in with Fox News on Trump and the stock market. This is the best source they could find? www.foxbusiness.com/media/jordan...

"Court orders have paused, and at times reversed, the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the consumer watchdog agency." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/b...

30 years ago, I wrote this story for @NYTimes about outrageous gender discrimination at a brokerage firm. During #WomensHistoryMonth, I’ll be sharing other stories I’ve written about harassment and gender discrimination -- problems that persist in the workplace. www.nytimes.com/1995/04/26/b...

"The risk of data leaking into the wrong hands is significant."

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/u...

The CFPB is still working hard -- on behalf of business. Here's the latest move by the Corporate Financial Protection Bureau to protect American companies and turn their back on consumers: www.cnbc.com/2025/03/04/c...

Trump's CFPB just dropped its lawsuits against: -Capital One, for cheating depositors out of $2B+ in interest -Rocket Homes, for providing kickbacks to agents and brokers -Vanderbilt Mortgage, for trapping customers in risky loans  It's open season for corporate crooks.

The attacks on DEI are a pretext for a much more radical agenda of reversing the gains of the civil rights movement, an objective the Trump administration is pursuing with zeal. A Great Resegregation. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

"History has shown repeatedly that restricting a free press is a precursor to very bad things." Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/o...

On the left: President Trump: "I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk ... will lead the Department of Government Efficiency ('DOGE")" On the right: Government declaration (by Joshua Fisher) submitted to Judge Chutkan stating Elon Musk is not the leader of DOGE

“Elon Musk is not the leader of DOGE — the mysterious Trump administration operation overseeing an effort to break and remake the federal bureaucracy. In fact, he’s not even technically part of it at all, the White House said in court papers Monday night.”

Wall St banks, eager to please the new admin, are backing off on DEI. But let's get real. Banks weren't doing minorities any favors even when they were touting their diversity efforts. Consider this story I wrote for @thenation a few yrs back. #BlackHistoryMonth www.thenation.com/article/soci...

I mean, sure. I totally trust that a 25-year-old Musk worker will keep Americans' tax info confidential. What could possibly go wrong? fortune.com/2025/02/17/e...

The Washpost, which is bleeding millions of dollars and shrinking its staff, accepted -- and then rejected -- a $115,000 ad that criticized Elon Musk. Anyway, here's the ad that the Post's business side didn't want its readers to see ⤵️ thehill.com/media/514849...

WAPO really isn’t any better. “Refashioned Board.” COME ON Y’ALL. He literally fired anyone that wasn’t going to vote for him. Call it out. Every single time.

How about “Trump fires existing Kennedy Center Board; selects new Board that elects him Chair.” This isn’t hard.

Every single article about Trump being “elected” Chair of the Kennedy Center must mention in the headline that Trump *fired all the Board members that wouldn’t vote for him.* “Made Chair” is such weak, passive language that fails to call out what’s really going on. Our media must do better.

A reminder, during Black History Month, of what people of color face in the workplace. "I had to deal with N-word jokes on a regular basis." My story from 5/24 $GL Globe Life. www.businessinsider.com/racism-alleg...

This is the most important story in the United States right now. www.wired.com/story/treasu...

In case you wondered what depths our democracy has sunk to

Goldman Sachs, Jan 21: "Despite Trump’s comments that the 25% tariff will be implemented in 10 days, we continue to believe the odds of a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico are low (20%)." Why have analysts been caught so flat-footed by Trump doing *exactly what he said he would*?

It's stunning how much energy employers put into silencing their critics. via @robaeprice.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/defend-trade...

For all of his dystopian rhetoric, by many traditional metrics, the America that Trump will inherit from Biden is actually in better shape than that bequeathed to any newly elected president since Bush came into office in 2001. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/05/u...

I wrote about Gannett’s plan to kill off one of the last pieces of American legacy media to resist financialization: The Associated Press. mattdpearce.substack.com/p/wall-stree...

JOURNALISM 101 RULE: If someone says it’s raining, and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out of the fucking window and find out which is true. — Now more than ever.

Speechless A federal judge has been found culpable of misconduct. The offense? Questioning the ethics of a Supreme Court Justice. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

If you or a loved one have a mental illness, you already know how impossible insurance companies can make it for you to get care. These stories by @propublica.org expose the ways insurers neglect patients. www.propublica.org/series/ameri...

Since B-sky is all about norms, might I suggest one? If you write a “breaking news” post about legal news you wouldn’t know about but for the work of a journalist, you should credit that person, who actually bothered to (1) check the docket, (2) pay for the doc, (3) upload it, and (4) report on it.

The idea that government can be run like a business is an anti-democratic con job. Government is not a business. It cannot refuse to serve people or exit unprofitable markets. It needs to govern for all, not the few. CEOs are only accountable to their boards, while politicians answer to voters.

I don’t shock easily. This is shocking. Superb reporting by @davidmcswane.bsky.social

It would be incredibly important for Senate Democrats to confirm Lina Khan for another term. I've been working on consumer protection for more than 30 years, and she is the single most effective and remarkable public servant we have ever had doing this kind of work. She should be returned

Considering the upcoming gutting of regulatory agencies, maybe hire 2 or 3 people for the job?