Stock Markets
US Supreme Court to hear challenge to Biden’s ‘ghost guns’ curbs
By Andrew Chung
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide the legality of a federal regulation aimed at reining in homemade “ghost guns” as President Joe Biden’s administration combats the increasing use of these largely untraceable weapons in crimes nationwide.
The justices took up the administration’s appeal of a lower court’s decision finding that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its authority in issuing the 2022 rule targeting parts and kits for ghost guns, which can be assembled at home in minutes.
The case will be heard during the Supreme Court’s next term, which begins in October.
The ATF rule targeted the rapid proliferation of privately made ghost guns bought online without federal requirements such as serial numbers or a background check for buyers – features that make them especially attractive to criminals and others barred from lawfully purchasing firearms, including minors.
The regulation expanded the definition of a firearm under a 1968 federal law called Gun Control Act to include parts and kits that may be readily turned into a gun. It required serial numbers and mandated that manufacturers and sellers be licensed. Sellers under the rule also must run background checks on purchasers prior to a sale.
Plaintiffs including the parts manufacturers, various gun owners and two gun rights groups – the Firearms Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation – sued to block the rule in federal court in Texas.
Brandon Combs, founder of the Firearms Policy Coalition, praised the court’s decision to hear the case, denouncing the ATF’s “unconstitutional and abusive” rule.
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Eric Tirschwell, executive director of the gun safety legal group Everytown Law, urged the justices to uphold the rule “confirming that ghost guns are to be treated like the deadly firearms they are. These weapons have exacerbated our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
HARD TO TRACE
According to the administration, police departments nationwide have confronted “an explosion of crimes involving ghost guns,” now recovering tens of thousands of the weapons every year.
Yet ghost guns are almost impossible to trace. The ATF successfully traced to unlicensed purchasers less than 1% of unserialized firearms recovered from crime scenes between 2016 and 2021, court papers showed.
The rule imposes on the sale of parts and kits the same conditions that already govern firearms manufacturers and dealers in millions of other transactions every year, according to the administration.
Even though the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November sided with the plaintiffs, it remains in effect due to actions taken by the Supreme Court.
The justices twice last year acted against orders issued by Fort Worth, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in favor of the plaintiffs. In August, they halted his ruling to block the regulation pending further litigation. In October, they set aside his injunction that would have let two manufacturers continue selling their ghost gun products.
O’Connor issued a 2023 ruling invalidating the rule, finding that the administration exceeded its authority under the Gun Control Act. The congressional definition of a firearm “does not cover weapon parts, or aggregations of weapon parts, regardless of whether the parts may be readily assembled into something that may fire a projectile,” the judge concluded.
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The 5th Circuit upheld O’Connor’s decision faulting the ATF, saying the agency impermissibly rewrote the firearms law while attempting to “take on the mantle of Congress to ‘do something’ with respect to gun control. But it is not the province of an executive agency to write laws for our nation.”
The plaintiffs have portrayed the policy as a threat to the long history of legal private gunsmithing in the United States. Unlike some other gun-related cases, this one goes not center on the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”
The United States, with the world’s highest gun ownership rate, remains a nation deeply divided over how to address firearms violence including frequent mass shootings.
In three major rulings since 2008, the Supreme Court has widened gun rights, including a 2022 decision that declared for the first time that the U.S. Constitution protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.
In another gun-related case, the court on Feb. 28 heard arguments over the legality of a federal ban on “bump stocks” – devices that enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns. A ruling in that case is expected by the end of June.
Investing.com– U.S. stocks were slightly lower on Thursday, though trading volumes were thin a day after the Christmas holiday.
At of 12:58 ET (17:58 GMT), the fell 0.10%, the was down 0.1%, while the declined 0.01% or 6 points.
Jobless claims in U.S. dip to one-month low
The weekly U.S. jobless claims data released before the market opened on Thursday and saw a one-month low dip.
The Labor Department reported a decrease of 1,000 in initial applications for state unemployment benefits, bringing the seasonally adjusted figure to 219,000 for the week that ended on December 21. This figure is lower than the 224,000 claims that economists had predicted for the same week.
Meanwhile, the number of individuals receiving benefits after their first week of aid, which serves as an indication of hiring, increased by 46,000. This brought the seasonally adjusted total to 1.910 million for the week that ended on December 14, the highest since November 2021. Economists had previously anticipated the number of these continued claims to be 1.880 million.
“We do not think that this week’s data will move the needle for any of them, but more prints in line with the tone of this week’s data may motivate the doves on the Committee to speak up,” Jefferies said in a recent note.
Tech stocks flat despite Apple upgrade
The major tech giants were mostly down after the markets opened, with Apple marginally higher despite an upgrade from tech-bull Wedbush.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) gained 0.2% affter Wedbush raised its price target on Apple to $325 from $300 banking on transformative AI-driven iPhone upgrade cycle poised to fuel growth into 2025.
“We believe Apple is heading into a multi-year AI driven iPhone upgrade cycle that is still being underestimated by the Street,” Wedbush said in a recent note.
Crypto-related stocks slip as bitcoin skids, but KULR Technology surges on BTC purchase
Crypto-related stocks including MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:), Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:), and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:) followed bitcoin lower as the most valuable cryptocurrency fell more than 2%.
KULR Technology jumped 30% after the space technology company bought about 217 bitcoin and detailed plans to allocate up to 90% of its excess cash to bitcoin.
XIAMEN, China – Lichen China Limited (NASDAQ:LICN), a company specializing in financial and taxation services, has announced a definitive agreement with several investors for a registered direct offering. The offering involves the sale of 20 million Class A ordinary shares, or pre-funded warrants as an alternative, at a price of $0.14 per share. This transaction is expected to yield approximately $2.8 million in gross proceeds for the company. The offering comes as the company maintains strong financial fundamentals, with InvestingPro data showing an impressive gross profit margin of 61% and a healthy current ratio of 17.55x.
The closing of the sale is anticipated on or about December 27, 2024, pending the fulfillment of customary conditions. Univest Securities, LLC is the sole placement agent for the offering, which is being conducted under an effective shelf registration statement previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and declared effective on March 1, 2024.
Investors can access the final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus, detailing the offering’s terms, on the SEC’s website once filed. The offering is only valid in jurisdictions where it is lawful, and the securities cannot be sold in any jurisdiction where such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be illegal prior to registration or qualification under the applicable securities laws.
Lichen China, with over 18 years of experience, has established a reputation for providing professional and high-quality financial and taxation solutions in China. The company also offers education support services and software and maintenance services under the “Lichen” brand. Despite the stock’s significant decline of 89% year-to-date, InvestingPro analysis indicates the company is currently undervalued, with robust revenue growth of 25% in the last twelve months. Get access to 16 additional ProTips and comprehensive financial analysis with an InvestingPro subscription.
The company’s press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. While Lichen China believes the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, they caution that actual results may differ materially. Trading at a P/E ratio of 6.4x and with a market capitalization of $8.17 million, investors are encouraged to review factors that may affect the company’s future results in its registration statement and other SEC filings.
This news article is based on a press release statement from Lichen China Limited.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.
Stock Markets
2024 Year-End NAIC Designations for STACR REMIC Trust, STACR Trust, and STACR Debt Notes
MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Freddie Mac (OTCQB: OTC:) today published on its website the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) 2024 filing year designations for certain STACR REMIC Trust, STACR Trust, and STACR Debt Notes (collectively, STACR Notes).
Overall, of the 209 reviewed STACR Notes, all have achieved NAIC 1 Designation including all A1, M1 and M2 Notes offered through 2024 STACR transactions. In addition, 10 of the 2024 NAIC 1 Designations are upgrades from their 2023 NAIC 2 Designations. The below table details the upgrades:
| CUSIP | Deal Name | 2023 Year-End NAIC Designation | 2023 Year-End NAIC Designation Modifier | 2024 Year-End NAIC Designation | 2024 Year-End NAIC Designation Modifier |
| 35564KB57 | STACR 2022-HQA2 M2B | 2 | B | 1 | E |
| 35564KB65 | STACR 2022-HQA2 M2 | 2 | A | 1 | D |
| 35564KE62 | STACR 2022-HQA3 M2B | 2 | C | 1 | F |
| 35564KE70 | STACR 2022-HQA3 M2 | 2 | B | 1 | E |
| 35564KP60 | STACR 2023-DNA1 M2B | 2 | C | 1 | E |
| 35564KP94 | STACR 2023-DNA1 M2 | 2 | A | 1 | E |
| 35564KT82 | STACR 2023-DNA2 M2B | 2 | C | 1 | E |
| 35564KU31 | STACR 2023-DNA2 M2 | 2 | A | 1 | E |
| 35564KY29 | STACR 2023-HQA1 M2B | 2 | B | 1 | E |
| 35564KY37 | STACR 2023-HQA1 M2 | 2 | A | 1 | E |
About Freddie Mac Single-Family Credit Risk Transfer
Freddie Mac’s Investment & Capital Markets Credit Risk Transfer (CRT) programs transfer credit risk away from U.S. taxpayers to global private capital via securities and (re)insurance policies, providing stability, liquidity and affordability to the U.S. housing market. The GSE Single-Family CRT market was founded when Freddie Mac issued the first STACR ® (Structured Agency Credit Risk) notes in July 2013. In November 2013, ACIS ® (Agency Credit Insurance Structure ®) was introduced. Today, the industry-leading and award-winning programs attract institutional investors and (re)insurance companies worldwide. For specific STACR and ACIS transaction data, visit Clarity Data Intelligence ®.
About Freddie Mac
Freddie Mac’s mission is to make home possible for families across the nation. We promote liquidity, stability, affordability and equity in the housing market throughout all economic cycles. Since 1970, we have helped tens of millions of families buy, rent or keep their home. Learn More: Website | Consumers | LinkedIn | Facebook| X | Instagram | YouTube
MEDIA CONTACT:
Fred Solomon
703-903-3861
Frederick_Solomon@FreddieMac.com
INVESTOR CONTACT:
Christian Valencia
571-382-4236
Source: Freddie Mac
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