Free Republic

Brief represents the first time the Trump administration has weighed in on green investing issues.. The Federal Trade Commission is throwing its weight behind a high-profile federal lawsuit led by 12 Republican-led states accusing three of the world's largest asset managers—BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard—of artificially constricting the coal market in violation of U.S. antitrust laws, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. The filing in the case is a remarkable move that represents the first time the Trump administration has waded directly into an issue or case related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies. Led by powerful asset managers...

ExxonMobil's gay problem The world's largest oil company is under fire for refusing to specifically prohibit discrimination against gays in its employment policy. NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Does ExxonMobil have a problem with gay people? While much of corporate America has embraced gay rights - by promising not to discriminate against gay workers and offering domestic partner benefits - the world's largest oil company has steadfastly resisted pressures to become more gay-friendly. ExxonMobil has been boycotted by gay rights groups, peppered with angry phone calls, criticized in gay-oriented consumer guides and pressured by shareholder resolutions - all to no avail....

The Big Three used the power they derive from investing other people’s money to force compliance with a radical political goal. A recent House Judiciary Committee report details how America’s largest financial institutions, colluding with climate activists, imposed radical environmental policies on the American economy, subverting both our self-government and free markets. It focuses on the successful effort to insert climate activist directors on the board of energy giant ExxonMobil. According to the report, there is “substantial evidence of a ‘climate cartel’ of financial institutions” including the “Big Three” asset managers (BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard), several massive state pension...

‘A lot of companies got way out over their skis on this, but the law hasn’t changed,’ Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said.. After years of applying the progressive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ideological framework to their corporations, executives appear to now be realizing that these programs could be driving their companies into a legal and financial wall. The past year has seen a growing list of Fortune 500 companies announcing that they are dropping race- and gender-based programs for their employees and pulling out of global net zero climate clubs. Companies that have announced they are canceling or...

Retail giant swats back at a conservative activist group ... In a steady parade of companies retreating from their diversity efforts, Costco Wholesale is standing out by holding fast. Ahead of its annual meeting next week, the warehouse retailer has urged its shareholders to reject a proposal .... Major companies from McDonald’s to Meta Platforms have faced pressure to reconsider diversity, equity and inclusion policies. That pressure has been amplified by anti-DEI boycott threats and ... In Costco’s case, a conservative activist group is pushing the company to compile a report on the risks posed by its initiatives. “It’s clear...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation gave a fresh deadline of Feb. 10 to BlackRock to resolve an issue regarding oversight into the asset manager’s investments in FDIC-regulated banking organizations, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. The FDIC may open an investigation into BlackRock and demand more information from the company if it fails to make sufficient progress toward resolving the issues, the report said. The move by the FDIC follows a Jan. 10 deadline that BlackRock failed to meet, according to the report. snip BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street now collectively control some...

According to the lawsuit, the three asset managers acquired substantial stockholdings in coal companies, and then used their influence to pressure the companies to adopt ESG goals and reduce output. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with 10 other state attorney generals, have filed a lawsuit against BlackRock, State Street Corporation, and Vanguard Group, three of the largest institutional investors in the world. The lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges the firms conspired to artificially constrict the market for coal through anti-trade practices. “Texas will not tolerate the illegal weaponization of the financial industry in service of a destructive, politicized ‘environmental’ agenda....

Attorney General Ken Paxton sued BlackRock, State Street Corporation, and Vanguard Group, three of the largest institutional investors in the world, for conspiring to artificially constrict the market for coal through anticompetitive trade practices. Over several years, the three asset managers acquired substantial stockholdings in every significant publicly held coal producer in the United States, thereby gaining the power to control the policies of the coal companies. Using their combined influence over the coal market, the investment cartel collectively announced in 2021 their commitment to weaponize their shares to pressure the coal companies to accommodate “green energy” goals. To achieve...

A groundbreaking lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas accuses financial giants BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street of colluding to manipulate the U.S. coal market. The case, spearheaded by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and supported by 10 other state attorneys general, alleges that these firms have used their substantial ownership stakes in major coal producers to suppress competition and artificially raise energy prices. The states listed as plaintiffs are” Texas Alabama Arkansas Indiana Iowa Kansas Missouri Montana Nebraska West Virginia Wyoming According to the 108-page complaint, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street collectively...

The Companies doing the North Carolina Hurricane Helene victim’s home inspections listed on the FEMA website are owned by Vanguard & BlackRock So the same company that owns majority of the lithium mine in the area will be inspecting the victim’s properties they want.. what are the odds! “They want to you don't want to pay attention to this one so who is going to inspect the homes that are damaged or gone in North Carolina well recently brought to me by the American thinker and my brother Mike you sent me the story If you go to the FEMA...

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order revoking former President Trump’s ban on Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat. The Verge reports that President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that revokes former President Trump’s ban on the Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat. Biden will instead be instructing the commerce secretary to investigate apps with ties to foreign adversaries that may pose a risk to American data privacy or national security.

An FBI investigation is underway after Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's email was hacked into by Chinese cyberspies. U.S. officials say that Raimondo is the only Cabinet-level official whose account was compromised in the attack, according to The Washington Post – but a congressional staffer, human rights advocate and think tank were also targeted. The State Department discovered a vulnerability in Microsoft's cloud last month. The only two executive branch agencies known to have emails breached are the Commerce and State Departments. The targeted cyber espionage campaign has been mitigated. But not before the hackers had access to the email accounts...

A prominent surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a disturbing rhetoric against former President Donald Trump just two weeks after the second assassination attempt against him. Biden-Harris administration’s commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, appeared on MSNBC to denounce “another lie” she claimed Trump has told about her boss. “Like, how did we get here?” she said. “Let’s extinguish him for good. We have an answer, we have a remarkably talented candidate” in Harris. Watch VIDEOS AT LINK................ However, Raimondo’s choice of words didn’t go down well with critics, who called her remarks the latest example of violent repudiation. “This is...

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and her husband own a financial stake in WeChat parent company Tencent Holdings, even as the Commerce Department reviews a ban of the Chinese tech giant. Raimondo and her husband Andrew Moffit own a stake worth between $21,500 and $44,500 in Tencent Holdings, according to a financial disclosure filed Jan. 19 with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). The recently-confirmed commerce secretary promised to divest from other financial positions, citing potential conflicts of interest, but did not mention divesting from her stake in Tencent Holdings. President Joe Biden’s administration is conducting a broad review of...

Mexico finalized plans to take control of a port and quarry owned by Vulcan Materials Co. on its Caribbean coast, deepening tensions days before the nation’s president leaves office. Mexico finalized plans to take control of a port and quarry owned by Vulcan Materials Co. on its Caribbean coast, deepening tensions days before the nation’s president leaves office. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration declared the land south of the resort cities of Cancun and Playa del Carmen a natural protected area, according to a filing in the federal gazette published hours after US lawmakers sought to dissuade such a...

The leftist extremism of ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC (and its cable affiliate MSNBC) is well-documented. However, what rarely gets mentioned is that the woke reporting emanating from these networks aligns with that of the leftist ESG asset manager giants that own the biggest portion of their stock.

Multiple brokerages, including Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, UPS, CenturyLink, and Interactive Brokers, are currently down and reporting errors amid market crashes.

After an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, which sent shockwaves through the U.S. political landscape, Trump Media (NASDAQ: DJT) shares surged more than 60% in the early trading hour on Monday before retracing by 20% to the valuation of $36.89 at the latest close on July 16. However, a fact bound to raise a few questions is that short positions against Truth Social stock doubled between July 1 and July 12, going from 7 to 15 million shares, in what was a record of shares shorted for DJT stock since its trading debut. This surge indicates that individuals...

A hub for rocketry research and development in its early days, the Cape served as a test center not just for spaceflight and research but also for the US missile development programs...and along the eastern coastline, the iconic “missile row” of Atlas and Titan launch complexes dominated the skyline. Many of the Cape’s launch facilities have long since fallen silent, but with newcomers Firefly and Relativity preparing for their first launches from Cape Canaveral, the sight of rockets lifting off along the “row” is about to return. The eight launch pads that made up the core of what is unofficially...

The House Judiciary Committee is probing whether the firms' environmental, social, and governance standards violated anti-trust laws.. he House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors in its investigation into whether their adoption of environmental, social and governance standards violated U.S. anti-trust laws. The committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), is probing whether the two investment managers entered into collusive agreements to decarbonize their assets under management and reach net zero emissions by 2050 in ways that could violate anti-competitive laws. The committee issued the subpoena on Friday, claiming that the documents handed over by both firms...