>>Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Putting Bid Together Bid For TikTok

(New York, NY) -- Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is putting together a bid to buy TikTok. He told CNBC Thursday that he is building an investor group to acquire the popular video app from ByteDance. This comes after the House voted Wednesday to approve a bill that would force the China-based company to sell the app or have the app banned in the U.S. Mnuchin said he thinks the legislation should pass and that TikTok should be owned by a U.S. business. He added, "There's no way that the Chinese would ever let a U.S. company own something like this in China."

 

>>SEC Accuses Elon Musk Of "Distorting" Scope Of Investigation Into Twitter Purchase

(Washington, DC) -- Elon Musk is accused of distorting the scope of the SEC's investigation into his 2022 purchase of. Twitter. The Commission is attempting to get the X owner to sit for a deposition. The agency wrote in a new filing that Musk distorting the investigation is "his only hope for establishing that the SEC is not seeking relevant evidence." The agency sued Musk in October to get him to testify in its probe of the purchase of the social media platform.

 

>>Retail Spending Up In February Amid Rising Gas Prices

(Washington, DC) -- Spending at retailers is rebounding while gas prices are on the rise. Retail sales at stores in the U.S. went up point-six-percent in February from the previous month. That's up from January's over one-percent decline, according to the Commerce Department. But sales last month were up across most categories, mostly at home improvement stores where they jumped by over two-percent.

 

>>Consumer Demand For Electric Vehicles Not What Automotive Executives Expected

(New York, NY) -- Automakers are scaling back or delaying their electric vehicle plans as EV euphoria seems to be cooling. A return to a mixed offering of vehicles -gas-powered, hybrids and fully electric- are what major auto manufacturers like Ford, GM and Stellantis are all pivoting towards. While none of those automakers has officially announced changes to their long-term EV goals, there's been a notable shift in messaging. High interest rates, surging raw materials costs, and EVs becoming more expensive than gas-powered cars has slowed their adoption rate. According to Cox Automotive, the available inventory of EVs in the U.S. has ballooned to 136 days; compared to 78 days' for the overall industry.

 

>>Social Media Has Nearly Half Of All Young Adults Feeling Financially Inadequate

(New York, NY) -- "Money dysmorphia" is a new term used to describe the distorted view of one's finances, and apparently twenty-nine percent of Americans experience it. One-quarter of consumers feel less satisfied with the amount of money they have because of social media. According to Credit Karma, 'money dysmorphia' is even more prevalent among younger generations. Roughly 43-percent of Gen Z and 41-percent of millennials struggle with comparisons to others and feel behind financially. Experts say you can address it by spending less time on social media and remove any payment details stored online to help create "purchase hurdles" -which force you to think through buying decisions.

 

>>Former CEO Plank Is Coming Back To Under Armour

(Baltimore, MD) -- Kevin Plank who founded Under Armour is coming back to the head office. Plank started the Baltimore-based firm nearly three decades ago. He will take back on CEO responsibilities replacing current president and CEO Stephanie Linnartz. She has helmed the company for the past year. Linnartz is also leaving her seat on Under Armour's board. The company released no additional information as to why the changes are underway.