Newspaper Page Text
WASHINGTON/POLITICS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, December 27, 2018 5A
US stocks rebound as traders return from holiday
RICHARD DREW I Associated Press
Trader Michael Milano works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange,
Wednesday, Dec. 26.
BY ALEX VEIGA
Associated Press
U.S. stocks surged Wednesday,
recovering all their losses from a
Christmas Eve plunge and placing
the market on track for its best
day in nine months.
Gains in technology companies,
retailers, health care and inter
net stocks drove the broad rally,
which gave the benchmark S&P
500 index some breathing room
after it slid Monday to just shy of
what Wall Street calls a bear mar
ket — a 20 percent fall from an
index’s peak.
Energy stocks also rebounded
as the price of U.S. crude oil
notched its biggest one-day gain in
more than two years.
Trading volume was lighter
than usual following the Christ
mas holiday. Markets in Europe,
Hong Kong and Australia were
closed.
“Today simply can only be
really chalked up to a reflex rally
after having been oversold,” said
Sam Stovall, chief investment
strategist for CFRA. “The real
question is do we have follow-
through for the rest of this week.”
The S&P 500 index rose 80
points, or 3.4 percent, to 2,431
of 3:24 p.m. Eastern Time. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
climbed 731 points, or 3.4 percent,
to 22,524. The tech-heavy Nasdaq
gained 265 points, or 4.3 percent,
to 6,458. The Russell 2000 index
of smaller-company stocks picked
up 45 points, or 3.6 percent, 1,312.
Wednesday’s gains pulled the
S&P 500 back somewhat from the
brink of a bear market, where it
finished after a shortened trading
session Monday. That would mark
the end to the longest bull market
for stocks in modern history after
nearly 10 years.
Stocks fell sharply Monday
after President Donald Trump
lashed out at the central bank.
Administration officials had spent
the weekend trying to assure
financial markets that Fed chair
man Jerome Powell’s job was safe.
On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his
view that the Federal Reserve is
raising interest rates too fast, but
called the independent agency’s
rate hikes a “form of safety” for
an economy doing well.
On Wednesday, Kevin Hassett,
chairman of the White House
Council of Economic Advisers,
weighed in, saying Powell is in no
danger of being fired, The Wall
Street Journal reported.
“The market is trying to find
an equilibrium between earnings,
revenue growth and the economy,
but when you have an onslaught
of headlines that just manifest
uncertainty from Washington, it
just feeds negative sentiment,”
said Quincy Krosby, chief market
strategist at Prudential Financial.
The market’s sharp downturn
since October intensified this
month, erasing all of its 2018 gains
and nudging the S&P 500 closer to
its worst year since 2008. Despite
Wednesday’s rally, stocks are on
track for their worst December
since 1931, during the depths of
the Great Depression.
“This is a market that’s heavily
oversold, and typically you expect
a strong bounce following that,”
Krosby said. “Oil prices have just
moved quite markedly. And retail
is having a very strong holiday
season.”
The lackluster finish to 2018
comes as most economists expect
growth to slow in 2019, though
not by enough to slide into a full
blown recession. Many economic
barometers still look encouraging.
Unemployment is at 3.7 percent,
the lowest since 1969. Inflation is
tame. Pay growth has picked up.
Consumers boosted their spending
this holiday season.
Even so, traders have been jit
tery this autumn over signs that
the global economy is slowing,
the escalating U.S. trade dispute
with China and another interest
rate increase by the Fed. Many
investors are growing worried that
corporate profits -- which drive
stock market gains -- are poised to
weaken.
Some of what Wall Street sees
coming out of the White House has
added to the market’s uncertainty,
specifically the president’s attacks
on the Fed and remarks about the
ongoing trade conflict with China.
The president could help restore
some stability to the market if he
“gives his thumbs a vacation,”
Stovall said.
“Tweet things that are more
constructive in terms of working
out an agreement with Democrats
and with China. And then just
remain silent as it relates to the
Fed,” Stovall said.
FBI concerned by money mules and fraud schemes
BY ERIC TUCKER AND
MICHAEL BALSAMO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The email
caught the executive at a small
company by surprise one morn
ing in 2016. The company’s owner,
or so he thought, was requesting a
money transfer to pay for supplies
from a new vendor.
It wasn’t until that night when
the executive, hours after the
money had been transferred and
still puzzled by the out-of-the-
blue demand, texted the owner to
make sure he’d heard the request
correctly.
The befuddled reply was dis
heartening: “I just saw your mes
sage about a wire transfer today.
What is that about?”
It was all part of a fraud scam
that targeted companies, schools
and nonprofits in Connecticut and
elsewhere in the United States
and that resulted this month in a
45-month prison sentence for one
of the culprits. The case is part of a
seemingly endless cycle of money
laundering schemes that law
enforcement officials say they’re
scrambling to slow through a com
bination of prosecution and public
awareness.
Beyond the run-of-the-mill plots,
officials say, is a particularly con
cerning trend involving “money
mules” — people who, unwittingly
or not, use their own bank accounts
to move money for criminals for
purposes they think are legitimate
or even noble.
The “mule” concept has
attracted renewed attention with
this month’s release of Clint East
wood’s “The Mule,” a real-life tale
of an elderly horticulturist who
smuggled cocaine for a Mexican
cartel. But the modern-day mules
of most concern to the FBI are
people who get themselves entan
gled in complicated, international
money laundering schemes that
cause huge economic losses and
show no signs of stopping.
“They trial and error this stuff
and they see what works and they
see what doesn’t,” FBI supervi
sory special agent James Abbott
said in an interview. “It’s a much
higher success rate when you have
a lot of money using somebody
else’s account going through there
instead of trying to cross the bor
der with a physical transportation
of cash.”
The FBI and international
law enforcement agencies have
stepped up efforts against the
fraud and say they’re building
bigger cases than before. Europol
said this month it had identified
1,504 money mules, arresting 168,
in a continent-wide bust. The FBI
in June announced the arrests of
74 people, including 29 in Nigeria,
for schemes targeting businesses
and the elderly, and has launched
a publicity campaign called “Don’t
Be a Mule.”
JOSE LUIS MAGANA I Associated Press
The FBI seal is seen before a news
conference at FBI headquarters in
Washington.
The money mule cases are an
offshoot of more generic frauds
encountered by the FBI, includ
ing schemes that dupe people into
thinking they’ve won the lottery
and can claim their prizes by wir
ing an advance payment, or that
trick the unsuspecting into believ
ing a relative has been arrested
and needs urgent bail money or
that a supposed paramour they’ve
met online requires cash. In cases
like the Connecticut one, fraud
sters assume identities of execu
tives and scam employees into
wiring cash.
That’s what happened in 2016 at
Beacon Systems, a Texas company
where a new employee received
emails from someone she thought
was the chief executive officer
instructing her to transfer nearly
$100,000 for a vendor-related
payment.
Several weeks later, Kerry Wil
liams, the CEO whose identity was
impersonated, was on her way
to the airport when the FBI con
tacted her and explained how the
company had been victimized as
part of a much broader swindle.
A dual Nigerian-U.S. citizen was
ultimately sentenced to four years
in prison in connection with the
scheme.
“It makes you kind of paranoid,”
Williams said, describing how the
experience also made the SAP con
sulting firm more vigilant. “Even
to this day, we’re overly cautious
about everything. I think you kind
of go to that extreme. ”
As for money mules, they’re
persuaded, sometimes with the
incentive of keeping a cut of the
funds, into allowing money trans
fers into their own bank accounts
at the direction of a fraudster they
may mistake for an online friend
or romantic partner, a military
officer overseas or an employer.
They’re then instructed to trans
fer those funds elsewhere, into
accounts controlled by criminals.
In one example, the FBI says, a
fraudster posing as an Army cap
tain stationed overseas recruited
a man he met online to be a
money mule, saying he was mak
ing arrangements to travel home
and needed the man’s help receiv
ing and sending some funds. The
FBI says $10,000 was wired into
the man’s account. He was then
instructed to withdraw it in small
increments and send it to a woman
in Texas.
The mules are sometimes wit
ting conspirators. Other times,
they’re elderly, lonely or just con
fused. The ones the FBI concludes
are merely unwitting are given
stern warnings but generally avoid
prosecution.
“When we approach them and
talk to them and explain to them
what they’ve been doing, a lot of
times, the horror is there, said
Steven D’Antuono, an FBI sec
tion chief specializing in financial
crimes. “It’s all walks of life, all
educational levels. Anyone can fall
victim to this.”
In the Connecticut case, the
executive recounted those horrors
in a letter to the judge before the
sentencing of one of the defen
dants earlier this year.
The executive, whose name
and company are redacted in the
letter, described feeling initially
apprehensive about the money
transfer instructions and advising
the company owner that it was a
“lot of money for supplies.”
That night, he described the
interactions to his wife, who asked
if he was really certain the emails
were legitimate. He suddenly
wasn’t so sure, realizing for the
first time he may have been duped.
“Because of crimes like these,”
he wrote, “our society is losing
much of the trust and openness
that we once experienced.”
Girl believes in Santa, despite Trump’s ‘marginal’ comment
JACQUELYN MARTIN I Associated Press
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump each speak on the phone sharing
updates to track Santa’s movements from the North American Aerospace Defense Command
(NORAD) Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve, Monday, Dec. 24.
BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A
7-year-old girl who talked to
President Donald Trump on
Christmas Eve still left out
milk and cookies for Santa
despite the president telling
her it was “marginal” for a
child of her age to still believe.
Then again, Collman Lloyd
of Lexington, South Carolina,
says she had never heard the
word “marginal” before.
Collman had called the
NORAD Tracks Santa pro
gram Monday night to check
on Santa’s journey delivering
toys. In an interview with the
Post and Courier of Charles
ton, she said the scientist who
answered the NORAD phone
asked her if she would like to
speak to the president.
Six minutes later, Trump
was on the line. “Are you still
a believer in Santa?” Trump
asked. When she responded,
“Yes, sir,” the president
added, “Because at 7, that’s
marginal, right?”
Collman didn’t know what
“marginal” meant and simply
answered, “Yes, sir.” Trump
closed by saying, “Well, you
just enjoy yourself.”
Trump’s chat with Coll
man was initially reported as
being with a boy named Cole
man. Only Trump’s end of the
conversation could be heard
by reporters, but Collman’s
family later posted video of
the call on YouTube.
Collman told the Post and
Courier that she and her
10-year-old sister and 5-year-
old brother left iced sugar
cookies and chocolate milk
for Santa. She reported that
Christmas morning, the food
was gone and presents were
under the tree.
In addition to the NORAD
Tracks Santa program and
church services Christmas
Eve, Trump participated in
another holiday tradition,
wishing U.S. troops stationed
around the country and the
globe a merry Christmas. He
spoke Tuesday by video con
ference to members of all five
branches of the U.S. military.
“I know it’s a great sacri
fice for you to be away from
your families, but I want you
to know that every American
family is eternally grateful to
you, and we’re holding you
close in our hearts, thoughts
and prayers,” Trump said.
“We love what you do and
love your work. Amazing
people.”
The president spent a rare
Christmas in Washington
because of a stalemate with
Congress over government
funding that left several
departments and agencies
shuttered since the week
end, affecting the livelihoods
of some 800,000 federal
employees.
Trump usually celebrates
Christmas at his Florida
estate. He scrapped plans to
travel to Palm Beach because
of the shutdown.
“I thought it would be
wrong for me to be with my
family,” he told reporters in
the Oval Office after the give
and take with members of
the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marines and Coast Guard
from their stations in Guam,
Bahrain, Qatar and Alaska.
“My family is in Florida,
Palm Beach, and I just didn’t
want to go down and be there
when other people are hurt
ing,” Trump said. He didn’t
say which family members
were at the Mar-a-Lago
estate.
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CITY OF OAKWOOD, GEORGIA
Report on Projects Funded Through Special Purpose Option Sales Tax
For die Year Ended December 31, 2018
SPLOST VI
Infrastructure Protect
Year
Approved
Estimated
Completion
Date
Estimated Cost
Total Collections
Total
Expenditures
Total
Total Funds
Remaining
Original
Budget
Current
Budget
Prior Years
Current Year
Prior Years
Current Year
uaKwooa uowntown/'i own
Center -Phase I
completed)
2009
2015
$ 1,500,000
$ 1,316,143
$ 1,316,143
$
$ 1,316,143
$
Signaiization - McEver
Road @ HF Reed
(completed)
2009
2009
$ 200,000
$ 200,000
$ 200,000
$
$ 200,000
$
Local Road Resurfacing
(completed)
2009
2015
$ 1,200,000
$ 892,498
$ 724,705
$ 167,793
$ 892,498
$
Downtown Sewer Phase I
2009
2015
$ 800,000
$ 45,226
$ 45,226
$
$ 45,226
$
Total SPLOST VI
$ 3,700,000
$ 2,453,867
$ 2,453,867 | $ - | $ 2,453,867
$ 2,286,074
$ 167,793
$ 2,453,867
$
SPLOST VII
Infrastructure Proiect
Year
Approved
Estimated
Completion
Date
Estimated Cost
Total Collections
Total
Expenditures
Total
Total Funds
Remaining
Original
Budget
Current
Budget
Prior Years
Current Year
Prior Years
Current Year
Roads, Streets, Bridges &
Trails
2015
2020
$ 1,684,678
$ 1,684,678
$ 635,868
$ 118,078
$ 753,946
$
3ewer Infrastructure
2015
2020
$ 1,000,000
$ 1,000,000
$ 496,986
$ 230,714
$ 727,700
$
Public Safety Equipment
2015
2020
$ 300,000
$ 300,000
$ 127,795
$ 104,980
$ 232,775
$
Total SPLOST VII
$ 2,984,678
$ 2,984,678
$ 1,343,092 | $ 648,235 | $ 1,991,327
$ 1,260,649
$ 453,772
$ 1,714,421
$ 276,906
k All projects are expected to be completed at or below the estimated cost. All projects remain on schedule for completion.
k Estimated cost represents the portion of these projects to be financed through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.
k Remaining funds represent amounts collected that have not been spent on projects. This amount is held for future project expenditures.
[f you have questions concerning this report, please contact Stan Brown, City Manager at 770-534-2365.
