February 16, 2021

Day: February 16, 2021

How the GameStop frenzy sabotaged a bid to ‘democratize’ finance

2 months ago

“Fintech is basically if Wall Street and Silicon Valley had a kid,” said Jeff Hauser, director of the Revolving Door Project, a progressive advocacy group. “Over time if they get too strong in these unregulated areas, they will take advantage of people with less access to lawyers and less understanding of the fine print.”

Those suspicions about fintech will be on full display this week when the House Financial Services Committee, led by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), summons Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev, other executives and hedge fund managers linked to the brokerage for a potentially explosive hearing. Among the witnesses

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Americans May Get Their Money in March

2 months ago

How’s that for good news?

Millions of Americans have been hurting financially since the coronavirus pandemic took hold almost a year ago. Unemployment has been rampant, and in the absence of adequate childcare, many parents have been forced to cut their hours or drop out of the labor force altogether, thereby resulting in income loss.

President Joe Biden, however, is intent on providing near-term aid to the public. He’s proposed a $1.9 trillion relief package that includes extended and boosted unemployment benefits as well as an additional $1,400 stimulus payment. And now, it seems as though that payment may hit

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Everything about Trump’s impeachment trial is personal

2 months ago

These House managers were lawyers and witnesses and victims simultaneously. And as they spoke to the American public, they emphasized their multiple roles as victims and witnesses, while noting that some of the very people sitting in the Senate chamber are accomplices, too.

Last year, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), then the Senate majority leader, reprimanded Democrats who wouldn’t sit patiently while Trump slowly cycled through the stages of election grief until he eventually arrived at acceptance — even though the president was giving every indication that he planned on setting down roots somewhere between anger and denial. Now McConnell has

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Ocala/Marion County local business news for Feb. 15, 2021

2 months ago

This is the Star-Banner’s weekly listing of local business news. Send items to [email protected] and write “business briefs” in the message line.

• Big Daddy Guns will hold a grand opening for its Ocala store, in the Carus Plaza shopping center at 3558 SW College Road, Suite 400, at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 20. The store sells guns, gear, ammo and accessories.

• A Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa is opening this month at 3980 SW 26th Court, Unit 103, Ocala. This will be the national company’s second biggest Florida store and is expected to provide 20-25 new jobs.

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Embracing Finnish roots, Duluth business builds rare ice sauna

2 months ago

DULUTH – It was 8 degrees below zero and the windchill was even colder, but Brittney Merlot wore a tank top inside the igloo-like structure next to Lake Superior.

“It’s almost magical,” Merlot said, as billowing steam collided with a wall of ice. The thermometer on the wall read 80 degrees.

A small business in Duluth built a rare ice sauna in early February next to its traditional wood-fired Finnish sauna in Canal Park. It was one of many ideas Justin Juntunen, founder of Cedar & Stone Nordic Sauna, lists when describing his dream to turn Duluth into “the sauna

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New enrollment window opens for health insurance shoppers

2 months ago

Health insurance shoppers stuck in a bad plan or unable to find coverage have a new option for help.

A sign-up window opened Monday for government insurance markets and runs through May 15 in most states. It’s available for people who don’t have coverage through work, and it is expected to make finding a plan less of a hassle for those who lost a job.

THE DETAILS

President Joe Biden last month ordered government health insurance markets that ended their annual enrollment periods in December to reopen. The Affordable Care Act created state-based insurance markets for people to buy individual

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