Seeking Alpha’s roundup of statements, announcements, and remarks that could impact markets, sectors, or individual stocks.
- The Government Accountability Office, which provides auditing and investigative services for Congress, is investigating Federal Housing Finance Authority Director Bill Pulte at the request of Senate Democrats.
“I can confirm that GAO has accepted this request following our standard process,” a GAO spokesperson told CNBC.
“The first thing GAO does as any work begins is to determine the full scope of what we will cover and the methodology to be used,” the spokesperson said. “This can take a few months, and until that is done, we cannot provide any estimates on a completion date.”
Pulte has been vocal in calling for the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute several government officials for alleged mortgage fraud, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, and U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, CNBC noted.
- Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has reportedly sent a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) CEO David Zaslav questioning the fairness of WBD’s sales process for the company.
“It has become increasingly clear, through media reporting and otherwise, that WBD appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders, and embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder,” the letter stated, according to CNBC. “We specifically request and expect this letter will be shared and discussed with the full board of directors of WBD.”
CNBC added that Paramount’s letter cited reports that WBD appeared to be favoring a bid by Netflix (NFLX). Paramount, Comcast (CMCSA), and Netflix have all made bids for either some or all of WBD. A second round of bids was submitted earlier this week.
- Ford (F) CEO Jim Farley said the Trump administration’s move to roll back fuel efficiency standards on new cars will help make them more affordable for Americans.
“What you should know is that this is a victory for affordability and common sense. As the president said, we will be able to offer more affordability on our popular models, and we’ll be able to launch new vehicles built in America that are more affordable because of this rule change,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told Fox News on Thursday.
Farley added that the standards had been “totally out of touch with the market reality. We were forced to sell EVs and other vehicles. We’re not going back to gas-guzzlers.”
“We have a lot of EVs and a lot of hybrids at Ford, but now customers get a chance to choose what they want, not by what we force on them,” Farley added.