All posts tagged: iShares Russell 2000 ETF

Trump was big on tech stocks in early 2026, filings show

Trump was big on tech stocks in early 2026, filings show

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump speaks during a law enforcement leaders dinner celebrating the start of National Police Week in the Rose Garden at The White House in Washington, May 11, 2026. Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images President Donald Trump reported thousands of financial transactions totaling hundreds of millions of dollars — including large purchases and sales of tech giants Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta — in the first three months of 2026, new disclosure forms reveal. Trump’s filings with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics show more than 3,700 transactions, with the total amount for each listed as a range rather than an exact figure. The transactions, which became public on Thursday, are valued at between $220 million and $750 million cumulatively, according to Reuters. Trump’s biggest purchases and sales skewed toward the tech sector, the filings showed. Among three dozen transactions valued between $1 million and $5 million in the first quarter of 2026, Trump bought securities of ServiceNow, Nvidia, Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Motorola, Amazon, Texas Instruments and Dell, the filings show. …

Warner, Schiff probe potential insider trading in government

Warner, Schiff probe potential insider trading in government

Published by Sam Flores

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc | Getty Images Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., demanded answers on potential insider trading in government in a letter sent Thursday to the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Defense inspector general. The senators cited public reporting of “large positions in equities and equity-linked derivatives” being built up before major policy announcements, such as decisions related to the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s tariffs agenda. And they suggested those instances indicate “federal officials are disclosing material nonpublic information for financial gain.” “Recent reports of equity trading that occurred shortly before significant government policy announcements suggest that federal officials are disclosing material nonpublic information for financial gain,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Pentagon IG Platte Moring. “These actions undermine public interest and market integrity, and demand oversight by each of your respective authorities, as well as by Congress.” The letter …

Trump signals DOJ should pursue Powell probe, complicating Warsh Fed nomination

Trump signals DOJ should pursue Powell probe, complicating Warsh Fed nomination

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump on Thursday signaled his continued support for a Department of Justice investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — a stance that could further delay the confirmation of Powell’s would-be successor, Kevin Warsh. “He’s under investigation because he’s building a building for hundreds of billions of dollars more than it’s supposed to cost,” Trump said of Powell in the Oval Office. He was referring to the ongoing renovation of the Fed’s headquarters and another building in Washington, the purported focus of the federal criminal probe of the central bank chairman led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Trump repeatedly claimed that the construction projects cost up to $4 billion, though the actual total is roughly $2.5 billion. Powell has accused the government of launching the investigation in retaliation for his refusal to lower interest rates as much or as quickly as Trump has demanded. Powell “should be lowering rates immediately,” Trump said unprompted in his Oval Office remarks, “but he won’t do that because he’s a stubborn, incompetent person, and that’s a bad …

Fed Chair Powell complicating Warsh’s plans for swift rate cuts

Fed Chair Powell complicating Warsh’s plans for swift rate cuts

Published by Sam Flores

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, March 18, 2026. Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh wants to lower interest rates. Fed officials signaled Wednesday that it may be even harder than expected for him to make that happen, should he be confirmed into that job any time soon. Fed officials raised their predictions for the path of inflation and interest rates in data the central bank released Wednesday. That was largely expected given the spike in oil prices due to the Iran war. But Chair Jerome Powell said oil wasn’t the only factor his colleagues were considering. Higher forecasts for inflation are also “a reflection of the slow progress we’ve seen on tariffs,” Powell said. The Fed publishes a survey of its top officials’ expectations for interest rates and the economy in a document known as the Summary of Economic Projections. The SEP released Wednesday showed the median official’s …

Fed subpoenas blocked by judge; DOJ to appeal

Fed subpoenas blocked by judge; DOJ to appeal

Published by Sam Flores

A federal judge in a scathing ruling blocked subpoenas issued by a grand jury to the Federal Reserve as part of a criminal investigation of Chair Jerome Powell. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro immediately said that the Department of Justice would appeal what she called the “outrageous” ruling, after it was unsealed Friday. Friday’s action will likely keep Powell in the chairman’s seat longer because Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has vowed to block Kevin Warsh’s confirmation to succeed Powell until the federal investigation ends. That may mean interest rates remain higher than President Donald Trump wants for longer because Powell has refused to bend to the president’s demands to lower them further. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, in his ruling, said evidence showed Pirro was motivated to investigate Powell because of a desire to get the Fed chief to bow to Trump and cut interest rates quickly and broadly. Pirro’s investigation purportedly is focused on the Fed’s multibillion-dollar renovation of its headquarters in Washington and on Powell’s testimony to the Senate …