The financial news that actually matters
Ramil Ventura Palafox, the CEO of Praetorian Group International, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after draining $62.692 million from investors through a bitcoin Ponzi scheme that promised daily returns of 0.5% to 3%. The scheme operated from December 2019 to October 2021, pulling in more than 90,000 investors worldwide by combining crypto…
Cisco Systems is cutting 471 jobs across California, with separations effective in July, as the networking giant redirects spending toward artificial intelligence, silicon design, optics, and security. The layoffs, announced in May 2026, land amid a broader pattern of major tech firms invoking AI priorities when disclosing workforce reductions. For the workers losing their positions…
Investors pulled more money from U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds last month than in any prior month since the products began trading, marking a sharp reversal for a category that had attracted steady inflows through most of its first year. The record withdrawals arrived as bitcoin’s price swung violently, raising questions about whether the exits…
Roughly 37 percent of American adults cannot cover a $400 emergency expense using only cash or its equivalent, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest household survey. That financial fragility is colliding with new federal rules that make it easier than ever for workers to pull money from retirement accounts before age 59 and a half,…
Roughly 70 million Americans who depend on Social Security retirement benefits now face a shorter countdown to potential payment cuts. The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund can pay scheduled benefits in full only through 2032, according to the 2026 OASDI Trustees Report released this summer. That date is one year earlier than the 2033…
Workers saving for retirement through a 401(k) plan can set aside $1,000 more per year starting in 2026, after the IRS raised the elective deferral limit to $24,500, up from $23,500 in 2025. For savers age 50 and older, the catch-up contribution allowance rises to $8,000, bringing their combined ceiling to $32,500. The increases, announced…
The S&P 500 gained 653.86 points, or 9.6%, during the first half of 2026, closing out its strongest opening six months since 2021. That broad rally, however, masked a sharp late-June selloff in semiconductor stocks that rattled growth-heavy portfolios and raised questions about whether the index’s gains are built on increasingly narrow foundations. First-half gains…
Federal prosecutors in Chicago have charged Paaris Kopsaftis with running a Ponzi scheme through his Illinois-based firm Blackwater Assets, Inc., allegedly swindling clients out of their money over a roughly five-year stretch. The indictment accuses Kopsaftis of collecting investor funds under the pretense they would be invested for clients’ benefit, then diverting portions to cover…
Nearly half a million patients tied to Catholic Health had their personal information exposed after an unauthorized party accessed data held by Serviceaide, Inc., a California-based IT-services company. The breach, reported on May 9, 2025, affected 483,126 individuals and was classified as an unauthorized access or disclosure incident. Serviceaide is listed as a business associate,…
Vladimir Artamonov, a Harvard Business School graduate, faces federal charges of securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, and wire fraud for allegedly running a scheme that raised more than $4 million from his own classmates and fellow alumni between September 2021 and February 2024. Prosecutors say he pitched a strategy called Project Information Arbitrage, claiming he…