The U.S. banking industry won a key victory in its effort to block the implementation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would’ve drastically limited the fees that credit card companies can charge for late payment. A federal court on late Friday approved the industry’s last-minute legal effort to pause the implementation of a regulation that was announced in March and set to go into effect on Tuesday. In his order, Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas sided with plaintiffs including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in their suit against the CFPB. Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2022. Ting Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The U.S. banking industry won a key victory in its effort to block the implementation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would’ve drastically limited the fees that credit card companies can charge for late payment.

A federal court on late Friday approved the industry’s last-minute legal effort to pause the implementation of a regulation that was announced in March and set to go into effect on Tuesday.

In his order, Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas sided with plaintiffs including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in their suit against the CFPB, saying they cleared hurdles in arguing for a preliminary injunction to freeze the rule.

The outcome preserves, at least for now, a key revenue stream for the U.S. card industry. The CFPB estimates that the rule would’ve saved American families $10 billion a year in fees paid by those who fall behind on their bills. It would’ve capped late fees that are typically $32 per incident to $8 each and limited the industry’s ability to hike the fees.

It is now unclear when, or if, the new regulation will go into effect.

“Consumers will shoulder $800 million in late fees every month that the rule is delayed — money that pads the profit margins of the largest credit card issuers,” a CFPB spokesman told CNBC on Friday.

The industry’s lawsuit is an effort to block a regulation “in order to continue making tens of billions of dollars in profits by charging borrowers late fees that far exceed their actual costs,” the spokesman said.

The CFPB

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Businesses have rushed to tap lenders in the $10tn US corporate bond market this week, taking advantage of feverish investor demand and low borrowing premiums to issue swaths of new debt.

High-yield or junk-rated companies have issued over $14bn worth of dollar-denominated bonds this week across more than 20 deals, according to data from LSEG and FT calculations, the highest totals since late 2021.

Investment-grade borrowers, which typically have much more consistent access to capital markets because of their stronger credit quality, have sold $56.7bn of new bonds across 45 issuances — the largest weekly dollar amount raised since late February and the greatest deal count in two-and-a-half years.

Bankers and investors highlighted a growing conviction in markets that US interest rates are unlikely to fall steeply this year, prompting companies to meet their funding needs now rather than risking higher borrowing costs while waiting for another opportunity. November’s US election also threatens to unsettle markets late in the year.

They also pointed to pricing becoming more attractive since Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell indicated last week that the next move in rates was unlikely to be higher. Weaker-than-expected recent jobs market data also helped to fuel predictions of one or two quarter-point rate cuts by the end of this year.

The latest spate of borrowing in investment-grade and high-yield comes as credit spreads, or the premiums that corporate borrowers pay to issue debt over US Treasury bonds, have approached their lowest levels in almost two decades this week. Spreads have been squeezed as big investors stampede into the market to lock in attractive yields.

“It’s clearly been an exceptionally busy week in the investment grade bond market, particularly the first three trading sessions of this week,” said Dan Mead, head of the investment-grade syndicate at BofA Securities. “I think what we have seen is perhaps a bit of capitulation from issuers that rates are going to stay higher for longer and less of an expectation that we’re likely to see a material move lower in rates anytime soon.”

“Last week set us up for a pretty decent reception here,” said Laleh Bashirrad, managing director of BNP Paribas’ leveraged syndicate desk. “I think investor optimism has transitioned to more of a ‘hey, it’s higher and manageable’ [point of view].”

Some of the high-yield borrowers to come to market this

A customer walks by a Pride Month merchandise display at a Target store on May 31, 2023 in San Francisco, California.  Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Target will limit which stores sell LGBTQ-themed products following last year’s firestorm over its decision to sell products designed for transgender people.

The retailer said Thursday that it would be selling its Pride merchandise in a select number of its nearly 2,000 stores and on its website this year, citing “historical sales performance.” It added that in addition to selling LGBTQ-themed home and food and beverage items, apparel from its Pride collection this year will be tailored to adults. No Pride apparel for children will be sold.

The latest decision, first reported by Bloomberg News, represents a change from offering the products in all Target stores, as the company has done in previous years.

“Target is committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round,” a spokesperson for the company said in an email on Friday. “Most importantly, we want to create a welcoming and supportive environment for our LGBTQIA+ team members, which reflects our culture of care for the over 400,000 people who work at Target.”

“We have long offered benefits and resources for the community, and we will have internal programs to celebrate Pride 2024,” the spokesperson added.

Last year, Target was the focus of a social media-fueled boycott by some shoppers who disagreed with the retailer’s decision to sell swimsuits for trans people, with many individuals falsely accusing the retailer of selling them to children. The retailer’s Pride-themed clothing for children included apparel with supportive slogans such as “Just be you” and “Trans people will always exist!”

Target has spent the better part of a decade publicly supporting the LGBTQ movement following a controversy involving its CEO’s donation in 2010 to a group that supported a gubernatorial candidate who opposed gay marriage.

But last year’s backlash resulted in the company pulling trans-oriented products from its shelves amid scenes of store employees being harassed by customers.

Target was also falsely accused of selling “satanic” children’s clothes, further alienating some conservative shoppers.

Some conservatives celebrated the company’s announcement to dial back this year’s collection.

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Jim Simons attends IAS Einstein Gala honoring Jim Simons at Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers in New York City.  Sylvain Gaboury | Patrick Mcmullan | Getty Images

Jim Simons, a mathematician who founded the most successful quantitative hedge fund of all time, passed away on Friday in New York City, his foundation announced on its website.

Pioneering mathematical models and algorithms to make investment decisions, Simons left behind an otherworldly track record at Renaissance Technologies, that bested legends such as Warren Buffett and George Soros. Its flagship Medallion Fund enjoyed annual returns of 66% during a period starting in 2018, according to Gregory Zuckerman’s book “The Man Who Solved the Market.”

During the Vietnam War, he worked as codebreaker for a U.S. Intelligence origination that fought the Soviet Union and successfully cracked the Russian code.

Simons received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from MIT in 1958, and he earned his PhD in mathematics from University of California, Berkeley at the age of only 23. The quant guru founded what became Renaissance in 1978 at the age of 40 after he quit academia and decided to give a shot at trading.

Unlike most investors who studied fundamentals to evaluate a company’s worth, Simons relied completely on an automated trading system to take advantage of market inefficiencies and trading patterns.

His Medallion Fund earned more than $100 billion in trading profits between 1988 and 2018, with an annualized return of 39% after fees. The fund was closed to new money in 1993 and Simons only allowed his employees to invest in it starting 2005.

Quantitative strategies that depend on trend-following models have gained popularity on Wall Street since Simons revolutionized trading. Quant funds now account for more than 20% of all equity assets, according to an estimate from J.P. Morgan.

Simons’ net worth was estimated to be $31.4 billion when he died, according to Forbes.

The quant guru previously chaired the math department at Stony Brook University in New York and his mathematical breakthroughs are instrumental to fields such as string theory, topology and condensed matter physics, his foundation said.

Simons and his wife established the Simons Foundation in 1994 and have given away billions of dollars to philanthropic causes, including those supporting math and science research.

He was active in the work of the foundation until the end of his life. Simons is survived by his wife, three children, five

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Sweetgreen shares jumped by 35% on Friday as the company reported better-than-expected revenue results for the first quarter. The salad chain also raised its revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for fiscal year 2024. The company announced earlier this week that it’s adding steak to its menu, expanding its protein offerings. People dine outside a Sweetgreen in Manhattan. Jeenah Moon | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Sweetgreen shares surged 35% on Friday after the company topped Wall Street’s revenue expectations for the first quarter.

The salad chain reported $158 million in revenue, beating the LSEG consensus estimate of $152 million. It is an increase of 26% from the prior-year period when it reported revenue of $125.1 million.

Sweetgreen also raised revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for the full year. Shares of the company are up 189% so far in 2024.

Jonathan Neman, Sweetgreen CEO and co-founder, said on an earnings call with analysts that the company opened six new restaurants in the first quarter. Neman highlighted the success of the South Lake Union location in Seattle, which “had one of the strongest opening weeks in the company’s recent history.”

“Openings like these demonstrate that our brand has significantly greater reach than our current physical footprint and that there is massive white space for our category-defining concept,” he said.

Neman added that the company remains “on track” to open about seven new automated Infinite Kitchen restaurants this year and plans to establish more next year. Analysts were “impressed” by the early results from the Infinite Kitchen locations, according to StreetAccount.

The company announced Tuesday it’s adding steak to its menu, expanding its protein offerings with a caramelized garlic steak protein plate, a steakhouse chopped warm bowl, and a kale Caesar steak salad.

“During our testing phase in Boston, we saw Caramelized Garlic Steak quickly become a dinnertime favorite, with steak making up nearly 1 in 5 dinner orders,” said Nicolas Jammet, Sweetgreen’s chief concept officer and co-founder, in a press release. “We’re thrilled to bring customers more of what they are craving at every part of the day.”

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