By CHARLOTTE KRAMON, ALEX VEIGA and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press
In a rare bipartisan effort for a deeply divided Congress, the Senate has passed a broad bill to make U.S. housing more accessible and affordable. The bill passed on Thursday would reduce regulations, regulate corporate investors and expand how housing dollars can be used to build affordable homes and rentals. It now heads back to the House, which passed a separate version earlier this year. It is unclear whether President Donald Trump would sign it after declaring last weekend that he won't sign any new measures unless Congress passes legislation that would require voters to show proof of citizenship.
Worries about the war with Iran sent oil prices back to $100 per barrel and stocks sinking worldwide. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% Thursday and returned to big swings following a couple days of relative calm. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.6%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.8%. The center of action was again the oil market, where the price of a barrel of Brent crude got as high as $101.59. Treasury yields climbed in the bond market on worries about higher inflation and fewer cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
A Silicon Valley judge is questioning potential jurors to hear allegations that Elon Musk cheated Tesla investors by claiming in a 2018 tweet that he had lined up financing to take the electric automaker private. The tweets fueled a rally in Tesla's stock price that abruptly ended a week later after it became apparent that Musk did not have the funding for a buyout after all. Investors then sued him. They said Tesla shares would not have swung so widely in value if he had not dangled the prospect of buying the company for $420 per share.
Elon Musk is defending his massive cost-cutting at Twitter as necessary for the social media platform to survive next year, in part due to debt payments tied to his $44 billion takeover of the company. Musk described Twitter as like a plane that is headed towards the ground at high speed with the engines on fire and the controls don't work. He was speaking to a late-night audience on a Twitter Spaces call Tuesday. That's after Elon Musk said earlier on Tuesday that he plans on remaining as Twitter's CEO until he can find someone willing to replace him in the job.
