All stories, page 13
Business news written here, in plain English, for people who run something. Every story is ours.
Tuesday, October 6
CPAs lose clients money by missing company buyouts
Business clients often sign a buyout letter before telling their accountant. Buyers then hire expensive diligence firms to reconstruct company numbers you already know. A single weak earnings adjustment can cost your client nearly $1 million in value.
Citi adds JAL mileage transfers with 30 percent bonus through October 24
Citi points now transfer to Japan Airlines at a one to one ratio. You get 1,300 miles for every 1,000 transferred if you act by October 24 at 11:59pm Eastern time. American Express and Chase points do not transfer to JAL.
Target enters the holiday season after net sales jumped 5.3% to $26,500,000,000
Net sales grew to $26,500,000,000 in the second quarter of 2026. Chief Executive Officer Michael Fiddelke took over in February and cut prices to attract shoppers.
Wednesday, September 23
The billion-dollar margin call nobody made
More than a billion dollars of borrowed crypto positions were closed out by exchanges buying, not by anyone choosing to trade.
The fee that eats the balance by the deadline
BitMEX stopped trading on 23 September. CoinEx, which closes 22 December, will charge five percent a month on tether left behind.
Approved, listed and cheapest is not the same as wanted
Monday's inflows into Dogecoin funds were bigger than the entire fund Bitwise is closing, which earned about $2,454 a year in fees.
America's bitcoin funds bought 25 days of new bitcoin in one session
Nearly a billion dollars went into American bitcoin funds on Monday, and the year is still $450 million in the red.
A bank is now squaring up with Mastercard in its own digital dollar
SoFi is moving a card program of more than $25 billion a year onto a token it issues itself. The faster money only lands if you bank there.
The Fed raised what banks pay to borrow in a hurry
A loan at the discount window now costs 4.00 percent, ten basis points more than a bank earns leaving the cash at the Fed.
Two mortgage forecasters, $177 billion apart on 2027
The Mortgage Bankers Association and Fannie Mae both cut their lending forecasts, four days apart, and they disagree about 2027.
Insurance is the fastest-rising building cost of the last five years
Fastest over five years at 99.9% on the city's own cost index, second behind fuel in the latest year. The 0% rent order starts 1 October.
Comments close 23 November. The new rules bind 39 days later
Notice 2026-55 asks what the Opportunity Zone rules should say, and the answers are due 39 days before the rewritten regime starts.
Tuesday, September 22
The mortgage number moved, and the credit line moved faster
The Fed moved a quarter point, prime moved the next morning, and daily lender quotes were already above 7% before either.
Prime moved to 7% and variable loans repriced without a signature
Prime went to 7.00% on 17 September. Business lines of credit reset on their own, and the loan ceiling moved with them.
Commercial insurance prices flattened, just not for small accounts
Prices rose 0.5% last quarter. Small-business renewals still came back higher. Both numbers are correct.
Chase caps the three-point ad rate on its business Sapphire card
From 15 November 2026 the three-point rate on ad spend stops at $1 million a year. Most cardholders will never reach it.
Customs has not returned $44 billion of the tariff money
Customs says the last stage of its refund system opens 6 October. Another $1.3 billion is sitting still for want of bank details.
The phone bill line that showed up in the inflation number
Wireless service posted its biggest one-month rise on record in August 2026, and economists traced it to carrier plan changes.
A fuel tank strap puts 223,472 F-150s back in the shop
The trucks were built between January 2023 and August 2026, the fix is free, and owner letters are set to finish mailing 28 September.
Ohio's top court takes a data-center measure off the ballot
A citizen zoning measure is off Wilmington's ballot, while a federal notice ruling keeps the $4 billion campus's site plan frozen.
A $3.26 billion power line and the rule that spread the cost
Albany certified a 90-mile line from Long Island to Westchester. The cost is split statewide by power used, not by who benefits.
August feedlot placements hit a record low, and 2027 pays for it
Feedlots took in 1.617 million head, the lowest August since the series began in 1996. The cost is forecast to land in 2027.
