Tag: Investments

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Details Consumer Protection Lawsuit Against BlackRock’s ESG Investing

Kaitlin Housler
TN AG Courtroom

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said his consumer protection lawsuit against BlackRock’s Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing will force the company to disclose if it is mixing ESG factors when making investment decisions instead of focusing on financial factors relative to the rate of return.

Skrmetti filed his lawsuit against BlackRock in December 2023, alleging that the hedge fund has misled consumers in Tennessee about the scale and impacts of its ESG initiatives for several years.

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Billionaire Investor Scott Bessent: Stock Market ‘Looking Forward’ to Trump Victory in 2024

Kaitlin Housler
Trump Stock Market

Scott Bessent, billionaire investor and founder of Key Square Capital Management Fund, joined Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss how the stock market’s rally coincides with former President Donald Trump being ahead in the 2024 presidential election polls.

In a letter to investors, which was recently leaked to Bloomberg, Bessent’s Key Square Capital Management Fund said it believes that equity markets are “in the midst of a ‘Trump Rally’ that will last as long as he remains ahead of Biden in the polls.”

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Electric and Hydrogen Vehicles May Share the Road Within Five Years After New Investments in Michigan

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Michigan’s race to increase the state’s number of Electric Vehicles and other non-gasoline fuel vehicles may have caught its second wind after a new company is seeking to invest in hydrogen storage systems. 

A subsidiary of French automotive supplier, Compagnie Plastic Omnium, is planning to invest up to $171 million at two sites in the state. 

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Biden Admin to Impose Harsher Restrictions on Chinese Semiconductor Industry

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The Biden administration is planning to ban investments in some Chinese companies that are involved in the technology sector through an executive order on Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. will restrict private-equity and venture capital firms from directly investing in some Chinese companies that operate in the semiconductor, quantum computing and artificial intelligence sectors, according to the WSJ. In October 2022, the Biden administration placed similar restrictions limiting Chinese access to American chip technology by blacklisting multiple Chinese semiconductor manufacturers from working with American companies.

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Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn Introduces Bill Aimed at Protecting Retirement Investments from Woke Politics

M.D. Kittle

Amid rising concerns about the liberal political agenda driving environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment decisions at the expense of retirement income, U.S. Representative Zach Nunn (R-IA-03) has introduced the “Protecting Retirees’ Savings Act.”

The bill, according to proponents, will help eliminate conflicts of interest for financial managers that cost investors by lowering investment returns.

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Flush with Cash, Big Oil Is Poised for a Huge Shopping Spree

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While U.S. oil and gas deals slowed considerably in the first quarter of 2023, industry players are poised to make significant investments in shale over the next year, according to Axios.

Oil and gas mergers and acquisitions fell to $14.8 billion in the first quarter, down 47% from the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a report from accounting firm KPMG. However, after a record-breaking year left companies flush with cash, producers will be incentivized to “secure inventory, create operational efficiencies and put their capital to work,” Mike Harling, energy sector lead partner at KPMG, told Axios.

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Arizona Legislature Threatens Legal Action Against NAAG Regarding Use of Funds

Neil Jones

Arizona State Legislators, House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) and Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) sent a letter to the National Association of Attorney Generals (NAAG) Wednesday, threatening legal action because of the association’s utilization of funding.

“It is time that Arizona’s laws and regulations start applying to NAAG and that this unaccountable slush fund activity stop now,” the legislators wrote in the joint letter. “At this point, litigation is reasonably likely between us. Consider this letter a litigation hold notice.”

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ElectraMeccanica Begins Electric Vehicle Production in New Mesa Manufacturing Facility Projected to Bring 500 Jobs

Neil Jones

Electric vehicle manufacturer ElectraMeccanica (EM) began production in its new Mesa facility Monday, which is projected to create 500 new jobs in the state and produce upwards of 20,000 cars every year.

“We are thrilled to bring production of our vehicles onshore and introduce an enhanced, U.S.-built 2023 model year SOLO EV to market,” said Susan Docherty, CEO of ElectraMeccanica. “It takes a village to do what we are doing. Bringing our manufacturing facility and vision for our company to life only works if there is a true partnership between local and state government leaders who are committed to economic development, along with solid business partners who share a vision to create products that consumers crave.”

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Huge Investment Firm Leaves Climate Alliance After Republican Officials Call for Government Inquiry

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The world’s second-largest asset manager Vanguard announced Wednesday that it was leaving the Net-Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM), a collective of financial institutions that support investments aimed at reducing global carbon emissions. Vanguard’s move came after several Republican attorneys general called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to prevent the company from purchasing publicly traded utilities due to the firm’s previous climate commitments.

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Congressman John Rose Reacts to House Hearing on the Collapse of FTX

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06), who serves on the House Financial Services Committee, applauded the committee’s decision to have a bipartisan hearing on FTX’s collapse.

“The overnight collapse of FTX will have a lasting impact on consumers and the digital asset industry as a whole,” Congressman Rose said in a statement. “The American people deserve answers, and bad actors must be held accountable to the laws and regulations meant to safeguard consumers. I appreciate Ranking Member McHenry and Chairwoman Waters for swiftly scheduling a hearing on this pressing matter, and I look forward to hearing Sam Bankman-Fried’s testimony soon.”

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Arizona AG Brnovich and 18 Other Attorneys General Investigate Large Banks’ Participation in UN’s Emissions Reduction Targets Program

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and 18 other attorneys general served six of the largest American banks this past week with civil investigative demands, similar to a subpoena. The demands ask for documents related to the banks’ involvement with the United Nations’ Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), which requires member banks to set emissions reduction targets in their lending and investment portfolios to reach net zero by 2050. 

“American banks should never put political agendas ahead of the secure retirement of their clients,” Brnovich said in a statement. “These financial institutions are entrusted with protecting a different type of green.”

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BlackRock Stock Downgraded over Investments in ESG

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The asset management company BlackRock, which has been widely criticized for promoting multiple far-left concepts in the world of business, has seen its stock downgraded due to ongoing backlash.

According to The Daily Wire, UBS analyst Brennan Hawken downgraded the company last week due to its support for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) policies. The target stock price was reduced from $700 to just $585, resulting in a one percent drop in BlackRock shares on Tuesday.

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Arizona Creates Task Force to Address Infrastructure, Utilize Federal Funding

Cooper Moran

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on Thursday launched a new task force to address the state’s infrastructure needs and appropriate federal funding administered to the state through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The legislation, which was approved on a bipartisan basis, will allocate $1.2 trillion to states to repair and upgrade critical infrastructure needs, like roads and bridges.

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Gov. Northam: Virginia Should Reach Universal Broadband by 2024

The Center Square
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam

Virginia is on pace to have universal broadband access throughout the commonwealth by 2024 following a record number of local and private sector applications to match state investments, Gov. Ralph Northam announced.

After the most recent application window closed, the state received 57 applications from 84 localities for about $943 million worth of state funding, which leverages about $1.15 billion worth of private and local matching funds. In total, this amounts to an investment larger than $2 billion, which the governor’s office estimates will connect more than 250,000 homes to broadband internet.

“Broadband is as critical today as electricity was in the last century,” Northam said in a statement. “Making sure more Virginians can get access to it has been a priority since I took office, and the pandemic pushed us all to move even faster. Virginia is now on track to achieve universal broadband by 2024, which means more connections, more investments, easier online learning, and expanded telehealth options, especially in rural Virginia.”

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Wall Street Firm Blackstone Invests $6 Billion in Single-Family Homes

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"For Rent" sign in window of building

Investment firm Blackstone Group acquired 17,000 single-family rental homes on Tuesday in a deal worth $6 billion.

Blackstone, an asset management firm that focuses on alternative investments, acquired Home Partners of America (HPA) along with its 17,000 home inventory, the firm announced in a statement Tuesday. Blackstone will continue HPA’s business model of offering its tenants rent-to-own lease agreements, which allow the tenant to purchase the rental property after a certain amount of time.

“The fundamental premise of the HPA platform is to provide residents with the opportunity to live in their chosen home with the option to purchase it,” Blackstone’s Real Estate Senior Managing Director Jacob Werner said in the statement. “We intend to build on that goal and expand access to homes across the U.S.”

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Trump Halts Federal Retirement Investments in Chinese Funds

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President Donald Trump will cut the federal government’s retirement fund investments in Chinese equities, according to a Monday letter obtained by Fox Business.

The White House does not want federal employee retirement funds to have money invested in Chinese equities, national Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and National Economic Council Chair Larry Kudlow said in a letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia Monday.

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