The daily business briefing: October 11, 2023

1. Canadian union ends brief strike against GM

The Canadian trade union Unifor put its hours-long strike against General Motors "on hold" Tuesday after reaching a tentative agreement with the automaker. The strike was halted at three GM facilities while union members vote on the proposed deal, which affects 4,300 workers. Unifor President Lana Payne said the union called the strike because GM "stubbornly" refused to agree to terms similar to those accepted by Ford Motor Co., including pension improvements, retiree benefits and the status of temporary full-time employees. GM Canada President Marissa West said the agreement "recognizes the many contributions of our represented team members with significant increases in wages, benefits and job security." The Detroit News, CBC

2. Caroline Ellison testifies that Bankman-Fried ordered others to commit crimes

Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's hedge fund, testified at his fraud trial Tuesday that he directed her and others to take money from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, without their knowledge. Ellison said the hedge fund, Alameda Research, took $10 billion in FTX customer funds to finance its own investments and repay debts. Ellison, who once dated Bankman-Fried, said the hedge fund accessed the money through a $65 billion line of credit on the exchange, and from FTX customer deposits into an Alameda bank account at a time when FTX didn't have its own account. "He was the one who directed us to take customer money to repay our loans," Ellison said. She testifies again Wednesday. Reuters

3. Utah sues TikTok over alleged harm to children

Utah on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the popular video-sharing platform of harming the mental health of children and teens. State officials also said TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, deceived parents by saying the app is safe for young users. State Attorney General Sean Reyes said Tuesday that TikTok has also misled the public by downplaying the role of ByteDance, which he said "effectively controls" TikTok. The company said the lawsuit was misguided and it "has industry-leading safeguards for young people, including an automatic 60-minute time limit for users under 18 and parental controls for teen accounts." Axios

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

4. Stock futures edge up ahead of inflation data

U.S. stock futures edged higher early Wednesday ahead of wholesale inflation data. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were up 0.2% at 7 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures were up 0.3%. Stocks gained on Tuesday as Treasury yields retreated from recent highs, although investors showed caution due to concerns about an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to Bloomberg. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dropped 13 basis points to 4.65%. "If rates continue to move lower, I think that will be the primary driver of a reasonable rebound in the equity market," Lauren Goodwin, director of portfolio strategy at New York Life Investments, said on CNBC's "Closing Bell." CNBC, Bloomberg

5. Biden administration targets junk fees

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced a proposed rule that would bar companies from charging hidden or misleading junk fees often added to everything from airline tickets to utility bills. Under the rule, companies would have to disclose all fees upfront. "All too often, Americans are plagued with unexpected and unnecessary fees they can't escape," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. "By hiding the total price, these junk fees make it harder for consumers to shop for the best product or service and punish businesses who are honest upfront." President Biden is expected to tout the measures and announce $2 billion in savings and $140 million in consumer refunds from previous junk-fee crackdowns from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Washington Post, CNN