US economy enters technical recession after growth tumbles 0.9% in the second quarter

The US economy shrank in the spring for the second consecutive quarter, meeting the criteria for a so-called technical recession, as raging inflation and higher interest rates forced consumers and businesses to pull back on spending.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, shrank by 0.9% on an annualized basis in the three-month period from April through June, the Commerce Department said in its first reading of the data on Thursday. Refinitiv economists expected the report to show the economy had expanded by 0.5%.

Economic output already fell over the first three months of the year, with GDP tumbling 1.6%, the worst performance since the spring of 2020, when the economy was still deep in the

Read more →

Bill Barr subpoenaed by voting tech company Smartmatic in company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News

Specifically, the subpoena from Smartmatic seeks by September 16 any communication Barr had with Fox News employees about the 2020 election, Trump campaign, or Smartmatic after January 1, 2020.

The subpoena also requires Barr to produce similar communication he may have had with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, whom own the channel’s parent company, and Rudy Giuliani, who previously represented former President Donald Trump. Giuliani is a co-defender in the same lawsuit.

And finally, the subpoena demands any documents or communication Barr provided to the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Representatives for Smartmatic did not respond to requests for comments about the subpoena on Friday. Barr declined to comment to CNN.

But the information from Barr, who publicly contradicted Trump’s claims of voter fraud, could further help Smartmatic prove in court that Fox News knew it was broadcasting false information about the company, but continued
Read more →

Biden says US not in a recession despite two consecutive quarters of shrinking economy

President Biden said the United States “is not in a recession,” despite Thursday’s GDP report, saying it is “no surprise that the economy is slowing down” amid inflation.

The US economy shrank in the spring for the second consecutive quarter, meeting the criteria for a recession as record-high inflation and higher interest rates forced consumers and businesses to pull back on spending.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, shrank by 0.9% on an annualized basis in the three-month period from April through June, the Commerce Department said in its first reading of the data on Thursday. Refinitiv economists expected the report to show the economy had expanded by 0.5%.

US ECONOMY ENTERS TECHNICAL RECESSION AFTER GROWTH TUMBLES 0.9% IN THE SECOND QUARTER

“Coming off

Read more →

Alex Jones’ company files for bankruptcy amid Texas trial to award damages to Sandy Hook families

Jones’ decision to seek bankruptcy protection for his company, Free Speech Systems, which operates the right-wing conspiratorial outlet Infowars, also comes after he was found legally responsible in a separate defamation case in Connecticut.

In that Connecticut case, a different group of families similarly sued Jones over false claims he made about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.

Three smaller companies tied to Jones declared bankruptcy earlier this year, briefly pausing the cases in both Texas and Connecticut. But the families suing Jones dropped the three smaller companies from their lawsuits so that the cases could move forward against Jones and Free Speech Systems. Shortly after, the three companies exited bankruptcy protection.

In a bizarre legal twist, Jones also filed a complaint Thursday against his own company in Connecticut, a move that could further delay proceedings in the Connecticut trial.

The attorney representing Jones in the Texas defamation case, Federico Andino

Read more →

AT&T shares fall after results show later payments, higher spending

A man walks with an umbrella outside of AT&T corporate headquarters on March 13, 2020 in Dallas, Texas.

Ronald Martinez | Getty Images

AT&T shares fell Thursday after the company said its cash flow was hurt by customers’ later phone payments and company spending on building 5G infrastructure.

AT&T said customers have been paying their bills about two days later than they did the same time last year. That alone affected about $1 billion in quarterly cash flow, the company said.

“There’s clearly some dynamics in the economy. We have customers that are stretching out their payments a little bit,” AT&T CEO John Stankey told CNBC. “We expect that they’re going to continue to pay their bills, but they’re taking longer to do it. That’s not atypical in an economic cycle.”

Given its costs, including investments in subscriber growth, AT&T lowered its full-year free cash flow guidance from the $16

Read more →