Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Averett files lawsuit alleging ex-CFO, firm ‘drained’ school’s endowment fund

Danville private university has filed a federal alleging its former chief finance officer worked with an investment firm to conceal illicit draws from its that were used to cover budget deficits.

In a complaint filed March 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Averett states that Donald Aungst, who was hired by the university in 2020, colluded with Arizona-based Global Strategic Investment Solutions () to “surreptitiously” drain close to $20 million from the university’s endowment.

Requesting a jury trial, Averett is asking for the defendants to pay compensatory and punitive damages but does not name a specific amount.

GSIS vehemently denies the allegations.

“Averett University repeatedly accessed its own endowment fund to meet payroll, invest in technology, pay down debt and cover other operational expenses due to liquidity challenges at the university,” the company said in a statement. “It is truly unfortunate that Averett — through this spurious federal lawsuit — is now seeking to scapegoat our firm … for the decisions, actions and inactions of its own officers and directors during this unfortunate period.”

A spokesperson for Averett declined to comment Thursday. Aungst did not respond to attempts to reach him via social media. According to his LinkedIn page, Aungst is retired and based in Florida.

In addition to Aungst and GSIS, the defendants in the case are GSIS co-founders Curt Thompson and Don Callaghan, and employees Nick Botticelli, Matt Underwood and Dan Chesin. According to the firm’s website, Botticelli is chief investment strategist, Underwood is director of research and portfolio management, and Chesin is director of operations.

The lawsuit alleges that between December 2022 and April 2024, Averett’s endowment value fell by 75%. In April 2024, the net balance of liquid assets in the endowment was about $1.9 million with another $2.3 million in illiquid assets. In July 2024, the school revealed publicly that it was responding to a temporary funding shortage due to mismanagement of the school’s finances, instituting salary reductions for top leaders and furlough days for staffers.

The cost cutting has been extensive, however, with the university going on to cut positions and eliminating several majors. In March, the school listed its equestrian center for sale for $1.6 million.

On Jan. 3, Minnesota-based U.S. Bank Trust issued a notice that Averett is in default on more than $14.57 million in bonds issued in 2017 because its debt service coverage rating was too low, and it had not provided proof of insurance policies. The notice, which Cardinal News first reported, noted the university was not behind on bond payments.

According to the lawsuit, Aungst provided confidential information to GSIS to help it win a contract to serve as Averett’s outsourced chief investment officer and co-fiduciary, starting in January 2021.

From April 2022 through April 2024, GSIS and Aungst “surreptitiously drained Averett’s endowment,” the complaint alleges. “In effect GSIS helped Aungst dig a financial hole that will take years for Averett to overcome.”

During this period, the firm and Aungst recommended that the university open a margin loan account, but GSIS mischaracterized the loan as a “line of credit,” without advising the Averett board that a margin loan is not appropriate for a nonprofit university, according to the lawsuit. The university’s then-president, Tiffany Franks, signed an application for the loan in April 2022.

Between April and December 2023, GSIS personnel “presented misleading reports to give the board false confidence that the endowment remained largely intact,”  the complaint states, and the firm “repeatedly misrepresented” the state of its endowment, which was declining after selling off endowment funds and making withdrawals.

In its statement, GSIS objects to the idea that Averett leaders were misled.

“It is important to note that the claims brought against GSIS in this new federal court action have nothing to do with GSIS’s provision of advisory services for the university’s endowment fund investment assets, but rather because our firm adhered to written distribution instructions from the university’s own officials,” he said. 

The lawsuit does not explain how Averett leaders learned of the endowment’s depletion, but it notes that Franks confronted Aungst about the university’s financial situation on March 29, 2024, after which he immediately resigned.

The 38-page lawsuit alleges multiple counts, including breach of fiduciary duty and professional negligence. Franks retired in January after serving as Averett’s president for nearly 17 years, and in December, Averett named David Joyce its 15th president. Donald Merricks, a retired bank president, former state delegate and two-time alumnus, is Averett’s interim CFO, and Susan Nelson is its new director of finance.

Founded in 1859, Averett has more than 1,300 students.

Another U-Turn: Trump reverses tariffs that caused market meltdown, but companies remain bewildered

WASHINGTON (AP) — delivered another jarring reversal in American policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he’d imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his with . The moves triggered a powerful rally on but left businesses, investors and America’s trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.

The U-turn came after the sweeping global Trump announced last week set off a four-day rout in global financial markets, paralyzed businesses and raised fears the U.S. and world economies would tumble into recession.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to characterize the sudden change in policy as part of a grand negotiating strategy. But to those outside the Trump administration, it looked like a cave-in to market pressure and to growing fears that the president’s impetuous use of import taxes — tariffs — would cause massive collateral economic damage.

“Other countries will welcome the 90-day stay of execution — if it lasts — but the whiplash from constant zig-zags creates more of the uncertainty that businesses and governments hate,” said Daniel Russel, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “The Administration’s blunt-force tactics have rattled allies, who see the sudden reversal as damage control following the market meltdown, rather than a pivot to respectful, balanced negotiations.”

Trump’s turnaround Wednesday capped a wild week in U.S. trade policy. On Wednesday April 2 — which Trump labeled “Liberation Day” — the president announced plans to impose tariffs on almost every country on earth, upending the world trading system. The first of his new tariffs — a 10% “baseline” tax on imports from most countries — went into effect Saturday.

At midnight Wednesday, he upped the ante by slapping what he called “reciprocal” taxes on countries he accused of unfair trading practices and adding to U.S. trade deficits. Those are the tariffs he suspended for 90 days, saying the pause would give countries time to negotiate with him and his trade team.

There was one exception to the reprieve: He raised the tariff on Chinese imports to a staggering 125%, punishing Beijing for announcing retaliatory tariffs on the United States. That number was adjusted even higher on Thursday — to 145% — after the White House accounted for Trump’s previous 20% fentanyl tariffs. Meanwhile, the 10% baseline tariffs on most countries – a substantial act of protectionism in their own right – remain in place.

Companies cut back, delay plans

Trump’s ever-changing trade war tactics — which include earlier levies on cars, steel and aluminum, and Mexico and Canada — have already done damage, forcing dazed companies to delay or cancel plans as they tried to figure out what Trump was doing and how they should respond.

Some companies temporarily laid off workers after Trump’s widespread tariffs were announced, while there were signs that many firms held off on hiring amid the widespread uncertainty the tariffs created.

Carmaker Stellantis temporarily cut 900 jobs at factories in Michigan and Indiana after production was halted at two plants in Canada and Mexico in the wake of Trump’s 25% duties on imported cars.

And Cleveland-Cliffs laid off 1,200 workers at a factory in Michigan and an iron ore mine in Minnesota in response to a drop in demand from auto companies. Cleveland-Cliffs said it would resume production at the two facilities once auto production returned to the U.S.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March 18-19 meeting, released Wednesday, showed that many of its policymakers said that their business contacts “reported pausing hiring decisions because of elevated policy uncertainty.”

And Delta Air Lines said earlier Wednesday that demand for domestic leisure trips and corporate travel has stalled because of the uncertainty around global trade. In a conference call with investors, the company said it was cutting capacity. It also declined to provide a full-year financial forecast.

“Right now, it’s hard to know how this is going to play out, given that this is somewhat self-imposed,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said. “I’m hopeful that sanity will prevail and we’ll move through this period of time on the global trade front relatively quickly.”

Desperately seeking clarity on Trump’s tariffs

Businesses have sought greater clarity around Trump’s ultimate tariff policies for weeks. It’s not clear that the 90-day pause has reduced their uncertainty.

Jeff Jaisli, CEO of the New Jersey-based importer/exporter Jagro, said Trump’s Truth Social post on Wednesday had made things “even worse” and more confusing. He was trying to figure out which tariffs applied to which countries.

“We’re scrambling to find correct information and procedures for entries we’re processing NOW in real time,” he said by email. He could find no guidance on the websites of the White House or the Customs and Border Protection agency, which collects tariffs. Earlier, Jaisli called Trump’s tariffs “a grenade that was thrown into the room that’s going to cause chaos.”

Trump’s trade war with China escalates

Trump’s tariffs have set off a tit-for-tat trade war with China, the world’s second-biggest economy. Even before Trump upped his taxes on China to 145%, the Chinese had set their own tariffs on the United States at 84%.

The World Trade Organization’s director-general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, warned that the rising tension could reduce U.S.-China merchandise trade by 80% and “severely damage the global economic outlook.”

“Of particular concern is the potential fragmentation of global trade along geopolitical lines,” she wrote in a statement late Wednesday. “A division of the global economy into two blocs could lead to a long-term reduction in global real GDP by nearly 7%.”

Citing WTO projections, she warned the negative effects could ripple through to other economies, especially developing ones. She urged countries to ensure an open global trading system and resolve differences through cooperation.

Meanwhile, U.S. companies struggled to figure out how to respond to huge levies on Chinese products they’d come to rely on.

Jessica Bettencourt is CEO of Klem’s, a third-generation store in Spencer, Massachusetts that sells everything from lawn and garden items to workwear and gifts. She said that the escalation of tariffs from China have made her stop ordering any new fourth-quarter product that is holiday, gifts or toys. She is also reconsidering any fall apparel and footwear orders that aren’t already placed.

“The worst thing is uncertainty and we have massive uncertainty,” said Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Groupe, a global marketing and communications company. “No one can make any moves. Everybody is trying to save as much cash and defer any unnecessary expense. People are getting laid off. Orders are getting cancelled. Expansion plans are being put on hold.”

CarMax leaves Martin Agency, transfers ad account to L.A. firm

Fortune 500 used car , headquartered in County, has chosen a new creative agency of record, leaving -based marketing and ad firm The , which held the account since 2019.

The nation’s largest used car retailer announced Wednesday it has appointed 72andSunny’s Los Angeles office as its creative AOR “following a competitive pitch process.” CarMax started a U.S. media and creative agency review in December 2024.

Sarah Lane, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for CarMax, said in a statement: “We are proud of the incredible work produced in partnership with over the last six years and cherish the wonderful relationships we’ve built with their team. We remain among their biggest fans and will be cheering on their continued success.”

Before naming Martin Agency its creative AOR in 2019, CarMax worked with North Carolina-based firm McKinney, which won the account in 2014.

Martin oversaw CarMax’s “Call Your Shot” campaign, a series of ads highlighting women’s sports and produced in partnership with the NBA and WNBA. An ad featuring then-WNBA player Sue Bird and NBA player Steph Curry went viral in April 2021.

Martin’s more recent work for CarMax includes the “BeetleMax: The Way Car Buying Shouldn’t Be” campaign, launched in August 2024 to coincide with the release of the “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” movie from Warner Bros.

“We’re truly thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with our partners at CarMax over the past six years,” Martin CEO Danny Robinson said in a statement. “It’s been a meaningful journey — one that’s helped shape the brand’s identity and explore new, culturally relevant spaces together.

“From memorable moments in sports and entertainment to thoughtful ways of joining the cultural conversation,” Robinson continued, “this partnership has been both collaborative and creatively rewarding. We’re grateful for this chapter and will continue cheering CarMax on from Richmond.”

Industry publication Adweek named Martin its Agency of the Year in 2020 and 2021, and Ad Age named it agency of the year in 2023. The firm counts Geico, UPS and Fortune 1000 food delivery platform DoorDash among its clients. Martin has been Geico’s creative lead for 31 years, although Geico launched a review in January to expand its creative agency roster, according to Ad Age.

72andSunny’s debut work for CarMax will be released this summer, according to a news release.

“We were impressed and inspired by 72andSunny’s fresh ideas, collaborative spirit and strategic vision to showcase CarMax as the most customer-centric car-buying and selling experience in the industry,” Lane said in a statement. “We believe this partnership will bring fresh energy and creativity to our brand, and I can’t wait to see what we will accomplish together.”

72andSunny Managing Director Emily Connelly will lead the account, and Executive Creative Director Lauren Smith will lead the creative work. Smith has driven the agency’s work for recognizable brands including Adobe, Barbie, United Airlines and Venmo, according to a news release.

“CarMax has built a legacy of innovation, redefining how people buy and sell cars with a relentless focus on the customer,” Connelly said in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with a brand that’s not just leading the category but continually pushing it forward.”

In addition to its Los Angeles location, 72andSunny has offices in Amsterdam, New York and Sydney. The firm has previously been named ad agency of the year by Adweek and Ad Age.

Fortune 200 company CarMax has more than 30,000 employees and reported $26.53 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue.

In September 2024, the company announced that it would be naming sponsor for the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ new ballpark, set to open in spring 2026. Dubbed CarMax Park, the baseball stadium is expected to cost about $110 million, and CarMax’s contribution was not disclosed.

Boar’s Head agrees to $3.1M settlement tied to recalled meat products

Boar’s Head Provisions’ recall of 7 million pounds of deli meat due to a deadly outbreak last year, which put 60 people in the hospital and killed 10 others, has resulted in a and a proposed $3.1 million . The July 2024 outbreak originated at meat production facility in , which has closed.

In July 2024, the deli meat company voluntarily recalled 7 million pounds of 71 ready-to-eat products after testing confirmed listeria contamination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that as of November 2024, 61 cases tied to the listeria outbreak were reported in 19 states, with 60 hospitalizations and 10 deaths. Deaths were reported in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico and South Carolina.

The class action lawsuit against Boar’s Head was filed in U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, accusing the company of “deceptive and misleading business practices” regarding the , marketing and sale of Boar’s Head brand products. It accused the company of improperly, deceptively and misleadingly labeling and marketed its products by omitting and not disclosing to consumers on its packaging that the products are contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, which could lead to serious and life-threatening adverse health consequences.

The lawsuit said the recall was insufficient, and that to be eligible for a refund, the consumer needed to have retained the products.

A court-authorized notice says that Boar’s Head and the plaintiffs had reached a proposed settlement of $3.1 million, which would be paid to plaintiffs and eligible class members. The settlement still needs to be approved by the court.

To be eligible, you must have purchased any of the covered products, in the United States, between May 10, 2024, and August 12, 2024, for personal, family or household use and not for resale. The deadline to submit a claim is May 16.

The settlement allows for class members who provide a proof of purchase of the covered products to be refunded the full purchase price for each unit listed on the proof of purchase, inclusive of all taxes. Those who don’t have a proof of purchase will receive the average retail price for up to two covered products claimed per household.

Claims can be submitted at: www.coldcutrecallsettlement.com/submit-claim

Despite agreeing to the settlement, Boar’s Head has denied any wrongdoing.

In the past year leading up to the outbreak, government inspectors logged 69 instances of “noncompliance” with federal rules at the deli meat plant, according to documents obtained through Associated Press public information requests. The reported instances included mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings, and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment.

On July 31, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service notified Boar’s Head it was withholding its federal marks of inspection and suspending operations of ready-to-eat products at its meat production facility in Jarratt until Boar’s Head provided adequate written corrective and preventive measures to assure FSIS that it demonstrated a program that meets the regulatory requirements.

But in September 2024, Boar’s Head announced that it was indefinitely shutting down the Jarratt facility, although it had not been operating since late July, after the CDC opened an investigation. About 500 union workers were employed at the plant.

U.Va. hires AstraZeneca exec to lead Manning biotech institute

Mark T. Esser, vice president for vaccines and immune therapies at pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, will be the inaugural chief scientific officer and leader of the Paul and Diane at the , U.Va. announced Thursday.

Esser, who will join U.Va. May 1, earned a Ph.D. in microbiology in 1998 from U.Va.’s medical school, and has worked in translational medicine at AstraZeneca, MedImmune (which was acquired by AstraZeneca) and Merck. He was involved with development of Evusheld, a medicine that helped prevent and treat COVID-19; infection and cancer vaccine programs; human papillomavirus vaccines; and a monoclonal antibody that helps prevent RSV in infants.

The $350 million Manning Institute, launched in 2023 with a $100 million donation from Albemarle County investors Paul and Diane Manning, is a hub for biotech research, development and at U.Va., which is building a 350,000-square-foot structure in Fontaine Research Park in that’s expected to open by late 2026 or early 2027, according to Paul Manning. A member of the university’s board of visitors, Manning founded PBM Products, an infant formula and baby food business, which he sold to Perrigo for an estimated $808 million in 2010. He then started PBM Capital, a private equity firm that invests in pharmaceutical and life sciences startups.

The focus of the institute is research like cellular therapy, gene therapy, nanotechnology and drug delivery, as well as expanding U.Va.’s clinical trial offerings. According to Thursday’s announcement, Esser will be tasked with fostering an “ecosystem of innovation” to attract biotech and pharmaceutical companies and jobs to Central Virginia. U.Va. is also developing a statewide clinical trials network to expand availability of new treatments while they’re being tested.

“Job one is going to be to meet and get to know all the world-class scientists and physicians at Virginia. And then job two is going to be really crafting out the shared vision for what this institute can accomplish, and getting the best and the brightest not only at the university, but around the country and around the world, to join the institute to transform cutting-edge science into future medicines,” Esser said in an interview with Virginia Business on Thursday.

He noted that developing cancer immunotherapies would “play to the University of Virginia’s strengths,” as well as allergy and autoimmunity treatments. Developing gene therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s is also a high priority, Esser added.

“We are fortunate to have found an ideal candidate in Dr. to lead the Manning Institute,” U.Va. President James E. Ryan said in a statement. “He brings both great scientific expertise and decades of experience in developing new treatments and medical breakthroughs. He is a bridge-builder who knows how to work collaboratively, how to work efficiently and how to get things done. He will be the lynchpin in realizing the potential of the Manning Institute to shape the future of medicine.”

Esser was previously a senior research fellow and senior research immunologist at Merck Research Laboratories, and after receiving his doctorate, he did his postdoctoral fellowship with the National Institutes of Health’s AIDS vaccine program.

Paul Manning. Photo courtesy the University of Virginia
Paul Manning. Photo courtesy the University of Virginia

Paul Manning, speaking with Virginia Business on Thursday, said that Esser’s commercial and academic background were important reasons for his hiring. “It’s our goal to get medicine into patients,” Manning said. “That’s the goal, to work with the researchers and work with the regulatory agencies in order to move products through the continuum from basic research through clinical development and into the patients. Part of that continuum is understanding where the biotech companies and Big Pharma [are] in order to find a home for these medications.”

Asked about the Trump administration’s proposed 15% cap on National Institutes for Health funding for overhead expenses, which is causing widespread concern at research universities nationwide, Manning said that “the University of Virginia will be able to figure this out, and we will keep an eye on what Washington’s doing. Right now, it’s steady as it goes.” Last week, a federal judge permanently barred the administration from limiting funding from the NIH that supports university and medical center research, but the White House is likely to appeal the ruling.

Esser said that with the possibility of NIH cuts, the Manning Institute and other research institutions are looking to private industry for funding, including biotech and pharmaceutical companies, venture capital investors and nongovernmental organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Even in a big pharmaceutical company, there’s never enough money,” he said. “There’s always more things to do than dollars to do that. … I think if we come up with good ideas, I’m 100% confident we’ll find people to fund them.”

Manning added that funding for the institute’s new building and hiring more researchers is safe, as $150 million in state funding has already been approved by Virginia legislators, and U.Va. is adding $100 million to the $350 million project.

“You’ll see great progress over the next six, eight months,” Manning said, especially with Esser on board.

US stocks dive as euphoria on Wall Street reverts to fear about US-China trade war

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks dove Thursday and surrendered a chunk of their historic gains from the day before as ‘s  continues to threaten the economy.

The S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%, slicing into Wednesday’s surge of 9.5% following Trump’s decision to pause many of his . The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014 points, or 2.5%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.3%.

“Trump blinks,” UBS strategist Bhanu Baweja wrote in a report about the president’s decision on tariffs, “but the damage isn’t all undone.”

Trump has focused more on , raising tariffs on its products to well above 100%. Even if that were to get negotiated down to something like 50%, and even if only 10% tariffs remained on other countries, Baweja said the hit to the U.S. economy could still be large enough to hurt expected growth for upcoming U.S. corporate profits.

The losses for U.S. stocks accelerated Thursday after the White House clarified that the United States will tax Chinese imports at 145%, not the 125% rate that Trump had written about in his posting on Truth Social Wednesday, once other previously announced tariffs were included. The drop for the S&P 500 exceeded 6% at one point.

“Everything is still very volatile, because with Donald Trump, you don’t know what to expect,” said Francis Lun, chief executive of Geo Securities. “This is really big uncertainty in the market. The threat of recession has not faded.”

China, meanwhile, has reached out to other countries around the world in apparent hopes of forming a united front against Trump. The world’s second-largest economy is also ramping up its own countermeasures to Trump’s tariffs.

The price of Warner Bros. Discovery, the company behind “A Minecraft Movie,” dropped 12.5% for one of ‘s sharpest losses after China said Thursday it will “appropriately reduce the number of imported U.S. films.” The Walt Disney Co.’s stock sank 6.8%

A spokesperson for the China Film Administration said it is “inevitable” that Chinese audiences would find American films less palatable given the “wrong move by the U.S. to wantonly implement tariffs on China.”

That was after Trump and his Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, sent a clear message to other countries Wednesday after announcing their pause on tariffs for most countries: “Do not retaliate, and you will be rewarded.”

The European Union said Thursday it will put its  retaliation measures on hold for 90 days and leave room for a negotiated solution.

Thursday’s swings also hit the bond market, which had been showing encouraging signals earlier in the day that stress may be easing.

The bond market has historically played the role of enforcer against politicians and economic policies it deemed imprudent. It helped topple the United Kingdom’s Liz Truss in 2022, for example, whose 49 days made her Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister. James Carville, adviser to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, also famously said he’d like to be reincarnated as the bond market because of how much power it wields.

Earlier this week, big jumps for U.S. Treasury yields had rattled the market, so much that Trump said Wednesday he had been watching how investors were “getting a little queasy.”

Several reasons could have been behind the sharp, sudden rise in yields. Hedge funds may have sold Treasurys in order to raise cash, and investors outside the United States may be dumping their U.S. government bonds because of the trade war. Regardless of the reasons behind it, higher Treasury yields crank up pressure on the and push rates higher for mortgages and other loans for U.S. households and businesses.

The 10-year Treasury yield had calmed following Trump’s U-turn on tariffs, dropping all the way back to 4.30% shortly after the release of a better-than-expected report on inflation Thursday morning. That’s after it had shot up to nearly 4.50% Wednesday morning from just 4.01% at the end of last week.

As Thursday progressed, though, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed once again and reached 4.40%.

It all demonstrates why many on Wall Street are preparing for more swings in markets, after the S&P 500 at one point nearly dropped into a “” by almost closing 20% below its record.

Often, the market’s whipsaw moves have come not just day to day but also hour to hour. The S&P 500 still remains below where it was when Trump announced his sweeping set of tariffs last week on “Liberation Day.”

All told, the S&P 500 fell 188.85 points Thursday to 5,268.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014.79 to 39,593.66, and the Nasdaq composite sank 737.66 to 16,387.31.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rallied across Europe and Asia in their first chances to trade following Trump’s pause on many of his tariffs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 9.1%, South Korea’s Kospi leaped 6.6% and Germany’s DAX returned 4.5%.

___

AP writers Yuri Kageyama, Matt Ott and Huizhong Wu contributed.

Notes: Eds: UPDATES: with close of US trading.

The Latest: S&P 500 falls 2% at the open despite Trump’s tariff pause

U.S. stocks are giving back some of their historic gains from the day before as weighs a global that has cooled in temperature but is still threatening the economy.

The S&P 500 was down 2.3% early Thursday, a day after surging 9.5% following  ‘s decision to pause many of his worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 685 points, and the Nasdaq composite was down 2.9%.

Here’s the latest:

Deputy ATF chief is forced out, AP source says

The second highest-ranking official at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been pushed out by the Trump administration, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Marvin Richardson, who has served since 2019 as deputy director of the agency responsible for enforcing U.S. gun laws, has decided to retire after being told Wednesday evening to either leave or be fired, the person said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.

Richardson didn’t immediately respond to an email on Thursday. A Justice Department official declined to comment.

It comes amid intense upheaval at the agency that’s long been a target of conservatives.

On Wednesday, ATF senior leaders were informed that Kash Patel, the FBI director who also had been serving as acting ATF chief, had been replaced by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.

Johnson meeting with GOP holdouts before key vote to get to Trump priorities

Speaker Mike Johnson is meeting with holdouts before a key vote that’s necessary for Republicans to extend tax cuts and boost border security spending later this year without any help from Democrats.

The holdouts are seeking greater assurances that Republicans will deliver significant spending cuts to go along with extending the individual and estate tax cuts that expire at the end of this year.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said the only commitments so far are verbal. “I’d like to see something in writing,” Burchett said.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said he’s still uncommitted going into the meeting, and was looking for “a little bit more solid assurance” on spending cuts.

Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, struck an optimistic tone going into the meeting. “I think there is progress being made,” Harris said.

Man accused of trying to assassinate Trump on golf course to be charged

Ryan Routh will be charged with first-degree murder and terrorism, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said on Thursday.

Prosecutors say Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course last September. Routh allegedly aimed his rifle at a Secret Service agent, who opened and prompted him to drop his weapon and flee without firing.

The Secret Service had spotted Routh before Trump came into view at the golf course.

“Attempting to take the life of a former president and a leading presidential candidate isn’t just an attack on one man — this was a political attack against our Republican form of government and our shared American values,” Uthmeier said.

Democrats seek ethics investigation into possible insider trading by Trump associates

Senate Democrats are asking for the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to look into whether anyone benefited financially from advanced knowledge of Trump’s decision to back down on tariffs to most countries on Wednesday.

The Republican president said on social media on Wednesday morning that it was a “great time to buy,” then announced less than four hours later that nearly all tariffs would be paused for 90 days. It caused the to soar.

Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff of California and Ruben Gallego of Arizona released a letter this morning to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Jamieson Greer, the acting director of the ethics office, asking for “an urgent inquiry into whether President Trump, his family, or other members of the administration engaged in insider trading or other illegal financial transactions.”

While Democrats don’t have power to force the investigation, they are hoping the demands direct scrutiny at the issue.

to distribute fewer American movies

China on Thursday said it will “appropriately reduce the number of imported U.S. films,” as the tariff war has escalated between the world’s two largest economies.

A spokesperson for the China Film Administration said it is “inevitable” that Chinese audiences would find American films less palatable given the “wrong move by the U.S. to wantonly implement tariffs on China.”

The spokesperson said China would follow market rules and respect the preferences of China’s moviegoers to reduce the import of American films. Chinese authorities have long controlled the distribution of foreign films, limiting them to a set quota each year.

China and the U.S. are the world’s two largest film markets by box office revenue.

Official White House Christmas ornament honors 150 years of culinary diplomacy

Unveiled Thursday by the White House Historical Association, the ornament features the red china plate of former President Ronald Reagan’s administration on one side and the gold-rimmed china plate of former President Bill Clinton’s on the other.

First issued in 1981, the ornament usually honors presidents in their order of service; last year’s was a tribute to former President Jimmy Carter.

But Stewart McLaurin, the association’s president, says it sometimes is used to highlight important White House anniversaries or occasions.

President Ulysses Grant held the first state dinner in December 1874 for King David Kalakaua, one of the last monarchs of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to travel to Argentina

Bessent will travel to Buenos Aires on Monday to meet with President Javier Milei and Minister of Economy Luis Caputo to show support for Argentina’s “bold economic reforms,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

Trump’s recent sweeping tariff package included 10% on Argentina, though on Wednesday he announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs for most countries except China — whose tariffs he raised to 125%.

A Treasury news release states that during his meetings in Argentina, Bessent will “reiterate the United States’ firm backing for the continued implementation of President Milei’s robust economic agenda and encourage the international community to fully support President Milei’s economic reform efforts.”

“I look forward to our positive discussions about Argentina’s economy, and to exploring the ways our nations can further deepen our vital economic relationship,” Bessent said.

S&P 500 opens 2.3% lower despite encouraging inflation update

U.S. stocks are giving back some of their historic gains from the day before as Wall Street weighs a global war that has cooled in temperature but is still threatening the economy.

The S&P 500 was down 2.3% early Thursday, a day after surging 9.5% following Trump’s decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 685 points, and the Nasdaq composite was down 2.9%.

Even a better-than-expected report on inflation wasn’t enough to get stocks to add to their gains from the day before, including the S&P 500’s third-best since 1940.

Top US envoy to WTO defends Trump’s tariff policies

David Bisbee, the interim head of the U.S. mission to the World Trade Organization, insisted the United States was “taking action it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests” — a move he said was allowed under the trade body’s rules.

Bisbee on Thursday told a WTO gathering that Trump had taken steps to address an “emergency” caused by persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits, which the envoy said topped $1 trillion each of the past two years.

The U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva provided The Associated Press with a copy of Bisbee’s comments during a closed-door WTO session.

On Wednesday — before Trump announced a suspension of nearly all of the tariffs against trading partners, except for China — a Chinese government representative accused the United States of setting the global trading system “ablaze” with the tariffs.

Countries in so

uthern Africa relieved by tariff pause, but still fearful

“This will give us the opportunity to negotiate the reduction of tariffs so that the playing field is leveled,” said Lesotho Minister of Trade and Industry Mokhethi Shelile.

Lesotho, which relies on making and exporting clothes to the U.S. for brands like Levi’s, had feared almost half its clothing sector could be put out of business.

In Madagascar, which provides 80% of the world’s vanilla, exporters said there was now more time for government and industry officials to meet and plot a way forward.

And South Africa Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau said on Radio 702 that while his country received confirmation that proposed export tariffs by the U.S. were paused, the 10% baseline tariff meant “it is not completely off.”

South Africa is one of more than 30 countries eligible for tariff-free access to the American market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act agreement that has been in place for 25 years. Many of them fear that Trump’s tariff tactics will mean the agreement will not be renewed.

White House aides to strategize on way forward for Trump tariffs

Trump’s top economic advisers will gather a day after the president announced he was suspending for 90 days import taxes on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China to discuss the president’s options moving forward.

“The chief of staff’s office has called all the principals who have, you know, skin in the game and discuss their views about how this should go,” Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters on Thursday.

Hassett added that 15 countries have already presented offers to the administration aimed at getting Trump to drop his reciprocal tariffs. He did not detail which countries have presented offers.

Trump’s Thursday schedule

This morning, at 10 a.m. ET, Trump will receive his intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.

At 11 a.m., he will participate in a cabinet meeting.

At 12:30 p.m., he will attend the swearing-in ceremony for the solicitor general.

Later, at 4 p.m., he will participate in a bill signing in the Oval Office, according to the White House.

Global shares jump following historic gains on Wall St. after Trump paused most of his tariffs

soared on Thursday, with Japan’s benchmark jumping more than 9% as investors welcomed Trump’s decision to put his latest tariff hikes on hold for 90 days.

In early trading, Germany’s DAX initially gained more than 8%. By midmorning, they were up 5.3% at 20,720.86, while France’s CAC 40 in Paris gained 5% to 7,204.23. Britain’s FTSE 100 surged 4.0% to 7,983.37.

Chinese shares saw more moderate gains, given yet another jump in the tariffs each side is imposing on each other’s exports.

The future for the S&P 500 was down 2.1%, while the contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.6%.

Analysts had expected the global comeback, given that U.S. stocks had one of their best days in history on Wednesday as investors registered their relief over Trump’s decision.

China reaches out to others as Trump layers on tariffs

China is reaching out to other nations as the U.S. layers on more tariffs in what appears to be an attempt to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat. Days into the effort, it’s meeting only partial success with many countries unwilling to ally with the main target of .

China has thus far focused on Europe, with a phone call between Premier Li Qiang and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “sending a positive message to the outside world.”

That was followed by a video conference between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Šefčović on Tuesday to discuss the U.S. “reciprocal tariffs.”

Wang has also spoken with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, while Li, the premier, has met with business leaders. China has “already made a full evaluation and is prepared to deal with all kinds of uncertainties, and will introduce incremental policies according to the needs of the situation,” Xinhua News Agency quoted Li as saying.

Trump reverses tariffs that caused market meltdown, but companies remain bewildered

Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he’d imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China. The moves triggered a powerful stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors and America’s trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.

The U-turn came after the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced last week set off a four-day rout in global financial markets, paralyzed businesses and raised fears the U.S. and world economies would tumble into recession.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to characterize the sudden change in policy as part of a grand negotiating strategy. But to those outside the Trump administration, it looked like a cave-in to market pressure and to growing fears that the president’s impetuous use of import taxes — tariffs — would cause massive collateral economic damage.

The EU will put tariff retaliation on hold for 90 days to match Trump’s pause

The European Union’s executive commission said Thursday it will put its retaliatory measures against new U.S. tariffs on hold for 90 days to match President Donald Trump’s pause on his sweeping new tariffs and leave room for a negotiated solution.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the commission, which handles trade for the 27 member countries, “took note of the announcement by President Trump.”

New tariffs on 20.9 billion euros ($23 billion) of US goods will be put on hold for 90 days because “we want to give negotiations a chance,” she said in a statement.

But she warned: “If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.”

Trump imposed a 20% levy on goods from the EU as part of his onslaught of tariffs against global trading partners but has said he will pause them for 90 days to give countries a chance to negotiate solutions to U.S. trade concerns.

Notes: Eds: UPDATES:  With new items.

Fire causes $4.25M in damages to custom van biz

A three-alarm at ‘s campus on Saturday started accidentally from an electrical cause, Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback said Wednesday.

Damages from the fire that reduced , a custom camper van business, to rubble are estimated at $4.25 million.

“Once you have a structural collapse and a roof collapse, sometimes we can’t get to the fire that’s underneath all that debris,” Hoback said. “That’s why we brought in an excavator to come in and move that debris so that we could put the fire out.”

Justin vanBlaricom, the company’s co-founder and CEO, checked his security camera after getting a call from a friend who’d heard there was a fire in Southeast Roanoke. It was his building.

“By the time I got there, the fire department was already there, and it was fully engulfed, and there was nothing that could be saved,” he said.

The building was one of several structures located at the former campus of American Viscose, a rayon plant that closed in the 1950s. A $50 million-plus effort, spearheaded by developer Ed Walker, to redevelop the 126-acre property into a community filled with apartments, shops, eateries and businesses has been in the works since 2023.

Walker called the fire “a setback” and said it was “deeply heartbreaking” for Noke Van to go through this and to lose one of the campus’s great buildings. He does not expect it to lead to cost overruns or to delay any projects at Riverdale.

“We’re just turning all of our energy toward supporting Noke Vans,” he said.

Chris’s Custard and Coffee Shop,  an eatery near the campus that’s also connected to a workforce training program for individuals with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities, lost a food truck in the fire. Johnson Orthodontics made a matching gift of up to $20,000 to buy a new truck, according to a Monday Facebook post.

On Wednesday afternoon, Noke Van Co. announced plans to relocate to 1009 Riverdale Ave. on the Riverdale campus.

“It’s a great flexible space, and we are grateful to work together with Riverdale, our customers and our partners to build something beautiful out of the ashes,” Josh Yerton, the company’s chief design officer and product engineer, wrote in a text.

The Noke Van Co. lost 22 vehicles along with specialty equipment and tools in the fire, according to Yerton.

“There’s nothing left,” vanBlaricom said. “It’s just bricks.”

Of the company’s 20 employees, about half are fulltime. A GoFundMe campaign had raised $33,267 by Wednesday afternoon. The entirety of that money will go to covering employee paychecks, according to vanBlaricom.

“We want to take care of our employees above anything else,” he said.

The owners of Noke Van Co. aren’t calling it a day on the business either, vanBlaricom and Yerton stressed. “My 12-year-old, when he found out this whole thing had happened, he said, ‘Well, Dad, now you can do it again because you’ve already done it once,’” Yerton said.

Founded in 2022, Noke Van Co., moved to the Riverdale property about a year and a half ago.

Since purchasing the Riverdale campus, workers have carted away at least 4 million pounds of debris, including multiple abandoned vehicles that were left behind by numerous tenants who inhabited the complex in the decades after the plant closed, according to Walker.

“If this had happened two years ago, the fire trucks couldn’t have gotten to the fire,” Walker said.

Developers will break ground on a 267-unit apartment building on the Riverdale campus in the fall. That project is led by Walker and developers Joe Thompson and Tommy Spellman.

SAIC appoints new CHRO

Reston-based Science Applications International Corp. announced Wednesday that it has appointed Kathleen McCarthy as its new and , effective May 12.

She will report directly to CEO Toni Townes-Whitley and will spearhead all human resources initiatives, employee engagement strategies and talent acquisition operations at .

“Kathleen brings a great depth of experience in cultivating and inspiring exceptional talent which is pivotal in driving both substantial business value and innovation,” Townes-Whitley said in a statement. “Her proven track record of leadership and strategic foresight position her well to further enhance our employee engagement initiatives and lead our efforts in upskilling and developing critical skills within our workforce.”

McCarthy is joining SAIC from GE Aerospace, where was chief human resources officer for the & Systems business. Before that, she was chief human resources officer for GE Aviation and chief human resources officer of GE Digital. She has also had executive roles at American Express as senior vice president and chief talent officer, where she led global workforce strategy, and at Thomson Reuters, where she led talent management and acquisition.

She is a member of World 50, G100 and The Learning Forum’s Executive Council Network and is a frequent speaker on talent development and HR best practices.

Headquartered in , SAIC has about 24,000 employees and reported annual revenues of $7.48 billion for fiscal 2025.

Intelligent Waves pays $1.95M to settle False Claims Act allegations

Reston-based Intelligent Waves agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle allegations involving two U.S. Air Force contracts. And in a separate case, -based government contractor General Dynamics Mission Systems agreed to pay $600,000 to settle allegations that a company that it acquired made false statements in federal government contract proposals.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced Intelligent Waves’ last week. The settlement stems from a filed in December 2022 by two former employees, Nora Taylor and Marthe Lattinville-Pace of Fredericksburg, under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. In their suit, they claimed Intelligent Waves tried to defraud the U.S. government. Taylor was vice president of contracting and compliance at the contractor, while Lattinville-Pace was senior vice president of human resources.

Federal prosecutors said Intelligent Waves entered into a contract with the Air Force in September 2019 where the company provided crowd-sourced flight data collection support and data analytics to the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base.

However, the federal government alleged that Intelligent Waves knowingly sold equipment to the Air Force that was not authorized under the contract and submitted invoices to the Air Force that wrongly characterized the equipment as authorized. Intelligent Waves was also accused of billing the Air Force products and labor that it did not deliver in the specific quantities stated in its invoices and that the company didn’t provide a credit to the Air Force for undelivered products and services.

The lawsuit also alleges that Intelligent Waves made false statements in order to win a contract to build special access program facilities at Edwards Air Force Base.

In a news release from Intelligence Waves, the contractor said it “acted lawfully, transparently, and in good faith” throughout the inquiry and that the company’s decision to settle “does not reflect any admission of wrongdoing but rather a practical and strategic business determination made to avoid the time, expense and disruption of protracted litigation.”

“We take immense pride in our longstanding commitment to integrity, accountability, and client service, especially in support of our nation’s most vital missions,” Intelligent Waves CEO Tony Crescenzo said in a statement. “While we believe our actions were always responsible and aligned with applicable guidance, we opted to resolve this civil matter to move forward without the uncertainty and distraction of extended proceedings.”

Whistleblower suits brought through the False Claims Act are initiated by individuals filing a complaint under seal in the U.S. District Court and providing a copy of the complaint and evidence to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The federal government then has an opportunity to investigate the claims.

A judge ordered a redacted complaint against Intelligent Waves to be unsealed on April 2. The lawsuit says Taylor and Lattinville-Pace were terminated after raising concerns about the contracts. Both Taylor and Lattinville-Pace will receive a share of the government’s recovery in the lawsuit as part of the False Claims Act.

On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced in a separate case that General Dynamics Mission Systems agreed to pay $600,000 to settle allegations that a company that it acquired made false statements in federal government contract proposals.

In July 2022, General Dynamics Mission Systems acquired Manassas-based defense contractor Progeny Systems. Before the acquisition, Progeny entered into teaming agreements with Quality Support and Minimum Entropy to help with drafting and submitting proposals for Small Business Innovation Research contracts, which are awarded to small businesses to develop and commercialize new technology. The U.S. attorney’s office said the contracts are reserved for businesses that have fewer than 500 employees, including employees of any affiliated companies.

Federal government said that Progeny provided Quality Support with personnel and that a Progeny employee formed, owned and operated Minimum Entropy. In return, the office said both companies selected Progeny as their sole subcontractor on all of their SBIR proposals, including six SBIR contracts from four federal agencies.

The U.S. attorney’s office noted that the civil claims settled by the False Claims Act agreement for both the Intelligent Waves case and General Dynamics case are allegations and that there has been no determination of civil liability in either situation.