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Does crime pay?
Wall Street Crime and Punishment is a weekly series by Benzinga s Phil Hall chronicling the bankers, brokers and financial ne’er-do-wells whose ambition and greed takes them in the wrong direction.
During the early 1960s, Americans were captivated by a larger-than-life Texan who fleeced the federal government and the banking industry while boasting of connections in the highest levels of Washington D.C. and leaving a pile of bodies in the wake of his chicanery.
Indeed, had Billie Sol Estes never lived, it would have been impossible for any creative writer to invent him he was a gregarious nightmare of financial legerdemain and emotional complexities, wrapped with a rich Lone Star State twang.
Soaring prices push US households to the edge
Surging prices for necessities like used cars, phones, and housing have caused the biggest jump in “core” consumer prices in nearly four decades, according to new figures released Wednesday by the US Department of Labor (DOL).
Rising prices for food, heating oil, gas, and other necessities are eating into workers’ incomes both in the United States and internationally.
In this April 29, 2020 file photo, a worker restocks chicken in the meat product section at a grocery store in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Workers are finding it increasingly impossible to make ends meet, even if they are employed full-time. The minimum wage in the United States remains at $7.25 per hour, and US President Joe Biden has reneged on his campaign promise to raise it.
The U.S. old-crop corn supplies dip, soybean supplies left unchanged, creating mixed market reaction. As a result, the CME Group’s farm markets changed little from how they were trading before the release of the report. At the close, the July corn futures finished 7½¢ lower at $7.14¼. New-crop September futures closed 13¼¢ lower at $6.21½. December corn futures closed 18¾¢ lower at $5.93. July soybean futures closed 27¾¢ higher at $16.42½. August soybean futures settled 19¢ higher at $15.72½. New-crop November soybean futures ended 12¾¢ higher at $14.43¼. July wheat futures closed 12¢ lower at $7.29¾. July soymeal futures closed $1.80 per short ton higher at $448.80. July soy oil futures ended 1.60¢ higher at 66.40¢ per pound.
Fertilizer Company EarthRenew Finalizes Purchase Of Competitor, Signs Deal To Power Cryptocurrency Miner
EarthRenew (OTCQB:VVIVF), a Calgary-headquartered producer and distributor of organic fertilizers made from heat-treated livestock waste, is pursuing a business expansion of a rival company and has gained a new revenue stream by offering electricity to a cryptocurrency mining company.
What Happened: EarthRenew said Wednesday it has finalized a CA$9-million ($7.4 million) acquisition of Replenish Nutrients, a competitor based in Okotoks, Alberta. The transaction will be payable as CA$1.41 million in cash and 21.2 million common shares of at a price of CA$0.248 per share, based on the closing price of the EarthRenew shares on May 3 less a 20% discount.