Conway Gittens brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Monday, May 1.
Related: Fed holds rates steady, hints rate cuts on hold until year-end
Full Video Transcript Below:
CONWAY GITTENS: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange — here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Stocks were mixed to close out today’s session. The Dow closed higher, the Nasdaq closed lower, and the S&P also closed lower. This comes as investors digest the latest Fed decision – the central bank held rates steady for the sixth straight month, saying that the U.S. hasn’t made enough progress on inflation.
But stocks did see a major pop after Fed Chair Jerome Powell ruled out an interest rate hike at its next meeting, easing investor fears of higher for longer interest rates.
In other news – A little more than a month after former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was handed down a heavy prison sentence, another former crypto giant is headed behind bars
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who goes by C.Z., was sentenced to four months in prison. The sentence stems from charges that his company practiced anti-money laundering activities, unlicensed money transmitting and sanctions violations.
In a letter to the judge, C.Z. said “Words cannot explain how deeply I regret my choices that result in me being before the court. Rest assured that it will never happen again.”
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Binance has also agreed to pay more than $4 billion in fines and penalties, and C.Z. himself has agreed to step down as CEO and will pay $200 million in fines.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was found to have enabled criminals to engage in child sex abuse, and the financing of narcotics and terrorist activities. The investigation also found that the company had no system in place for reporting possible money-laundering.
However, C.Z. got off easy compared to his one-time rival, Sam Bankman-Fried. In March, SBF was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his role in FTX’s fraud scheme. Before its collapse, FTX was the second-largest crypto exchange behind Binance.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing — from the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
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