The financial news that actually matters
Workers who land a signing bonus or win a contest prize often discover months later that the tax withheld at payout covered far less than what they actually owe. Federal law treats both categories as taxable income, and the flat 22 percent withholding rate that employers and sponsors commonly apply can leave recipients with a…
Federal prosecutors allege that three sales executives ran a nationwide operation that collected approximately $528 million from more than 4,000 investors between March 2019 and July 2022 by selling shares in private companies pitched as “pre-IPO” opportunities. The sales team told buyers there were no upfront fees and that the firm would profit only when…
Electronic Arts is cutting staff across multiple divisions while the company’s take-private deal with a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Silver Lake moves toward a close expected in the first quarter of EA’s fiscal 2027. The layoffs arrive at a sensitive moment: EA remains a public filer bound by merger covenants…
Electronic Arts shareholders voted to approve a take-private merger at a special meeting on Dec. 22, 2025, clearing the last major equity-approval hurdle before the company exits the Nasdaq. The deal, structured through entities called Oak-Eagle AcquireCo and Oak-Eagle MergerCo, is expected to close during the April through June 2026 window. Once finalized, EA will…
Alan Ritchey, Inc., a Dallas-based logistics and transportation company, plans to permanently close its Irving facility and eliminate 232 jobs in September, according to a state filing made public in June 2026. The company submitted a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) to the Texas Workforce Commission, as required by federal law when an employer…
Taxpayers who claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, a benefit designed for low- and moderate-income workers, face IRS audit scrutiny at rates roughly five times the average for all other filers. That disparity persists even as overall audit rates have fallen for years and even as federal policy has directed new enforcement resources toward taxpayers…
Papa John’s has shut down close to 50 company-owned restaurants spread across 17 states and eliminated roughly 7% of its corporate workforce, a pair of moves that signal deepening pressure on the pizza chain’s margins and operating structure. The closures target underperforming locations while leaving the broader franchise network intact, but the scale of the…
Homebuyers shopping for a fixed-rate loan in June 2026 face the same stubborn arithmetic they have dealt with for months. The average 30-year mortgage rate stands at 6.47 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, and the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold rates at its June 2026 meeting removed any near-term hope of…
U.S. retailers are projected to shut about 7,900 stores this year, a fresh warning sign for shopping streets and malls that still have not fully recovered from the pandemic shock. The figure comes from Coresight Research, which tracks national store counts and has become a reference point for chains, landlords, and investors. The closures threaten…
Tens of millions of Americans who paid penalties on late tax filings during the COVID-19 pandemic could be owed refunds from the IRS, following a federal court ruling that reinterprets how disaster-related deadline relief applies to coronavirus-era fines. The case, Kwong v. USA, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has forced the IRS…