Archive

August 29, 2025

Browsing
In Stocks

Indian refiners boost US crude purchases as Russian oil pressure rises

3 Mins Read

India’s refiners are turning to US crude imports at a faster pace as geopolitical pressure intensifies over their reliance on Russian oil.

The shift comes after a recent drop in US crude prices, making the grade more attractive compared to Middle East benchmarks.

At the same time, Washington has renewed its warnings against New Delhi’s energy ties with Moscow, further pushing the country’s refiners to diversify their sourcing strategies.

US crude discounts drive buying activity

This week, major Indian refiners including Reliance Industries Ltd., Indian Oil Corp., and Bharat Petroleum Corp. bought larger volumes of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude than usual, according to trading sources.

The purchases were motivated by weaker pricing of WTI relative to Middle Eastern oil grades, which made imports from the US a more cost-effective option.

Traders noted that the current discounts are offering refiners an opportunity to balance procurement costs while maintaining supply security. The companies involved did not provide direct comment on the transactions.

Washington’s pressure over Russian imports

The move comes against the backdrop of mounting pressure from Washington. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro recently renewed calls for India to halt Russian oil imports, accusing New Delhi of indirectly funding Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine.

His comments followed the Trump administration’s decision to double tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, a policy shift that has further strained trade ties between the two countries.

The US has been using both diplomatic and trade measures to encourage India to scale back purchases of Russian crude, highlighting the geopolitical dimension of its energy strategy.

New Delhi’s stance on oil trade

India has consistently defended its right to secure affordable energy, emphasising that Russian oil has been a critical factor in keeping fuel prices stable domestically.

While purchases of Russian barrels have eased under US pressure, India has not stopped them entirely, insisting that Washington’s measures are “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”

At the same time, refiners’ increased intake of US crude shows that procurement patterns are shifting, particularly when pricing advantages make alternatives commercially viable.

This reflects India’s balancing act between maintaining energy security and managing diplomatic frictions with global powers.

Refiners adapt procurement strategies

For Indian refiners, the change is not only about geopolitics but also about economics. The fall in WTI prices relative to Middle Eastern benchmarks has allowed them to secure supplies at more favourable terms.

This flexibility enables India’s processors to adjust sourcing depending on both global price movements and diplomatic constraints.

The current purchases highlight the increasing importance of US crude in India’s import mix, a development shaped by both international market conditions and political considerations.

The trend could continue as long as price gaps remain wide and Washington keeps up its scrutiny of Russian oil flows into Asia.

The post Indian refiners boost US crude purchases as Russian oil pressure rises appeared first on Invezz

Keep Reading
In Business

Trump accused Fed Governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud. That can be hard to prove, experts say

4 Mins Read

The Trump administration’s latest allegations of mortgage fraud have raised questions about a long-standing housing issue known as owner-occupancy mortgage fraud. But that type of fraud can be difficult to prove, experts say.

President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Monday night that he was removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. He cited allegations made by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that Cook committed mortgage fraud by claiming homes in two different states as her primary residence at the same time.

Cook’s attorney on Tuesday said Cook will file a lawsuit to challenge her removal.

“President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook,” the lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement.

The Department of Justice has also recently targeted Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James with similar mortgage fraud allegations.

Here are the key things to know about owner-occupancy mortgage fraud, according to experts.

The main reason a borrower could be motivated to claim a primary residence on a mortgage application is to get a lower interest rate for that home.

Typically, mortgages for a primary residence have lower interest rates and homeowner’s insurance costs, said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of mortgage website HSH.

Mortgage interest rates are generally 0.5% to 1% higher for investment properties than for primary homes, according to Bankrate. Homeowners also typically pay about 25% more for insurance as a landlord compared with a standard homeowners policy, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Owner-occupied means “you’re going to live there the majority of the time,” Gumbinger said. But there are limited exceptions, including for military service, parents providing housing for a disabled adult child or children providing housing for parents, according to Fannie Mae.

If a homeowner changes primary residences, they need to inform their mortgage lender that the original property is no longer owner-occupied, Gumbinger said.

There are also federal and state tax benefits for primary residences, according to Albert Campo, a certified public accountant and president of Campo Financial Group in Manalapan, New Jersey.

For example, when an owner sells a home and makes a profit, they can take a capital gains exemption worth up to $250,000 for single filers or $500,000 for married couples filing jointly, as long as they meet certain IRS rules, including owner occupancy for two of the past five years.

For tax purposes, a homeowner can have only one primary residence at a time.

When a taxpayer owns more than one home, proving which one is the primary residence is “always based on facts and circumstances,” Campo said. For example, a primary residence is typically where an owner spends most of their time, votes, files their tax returns and receives mail, he said.

A 2023 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that more than 22,000 “fraudulent borrowers” misrepresented their owner-occupancy status, out of 584,499 loans originated from 2005 to 2017. The data was based on a subsample from more than 15 million loans originated during this period.

Typically, the fraudulent borrowers took out larger loans and had higher mortgage default rates, the authors found.

However, this type of fraud may be “difficult to detect until long after the mortgage has been originated,” the authors wrote.

“There is a difference between the court of law and the court of public opinion,” Jonathan Kanter, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis and a former assistant attorney general, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” last week when asked about Cook. “In the court of law, this is small ball and very difficult to prove.”

“You’d have to establish not only that she filled out the form incorrectly, but she had the specific intent to deceive, to defraud banks, as opposed to just making a mistake,” he said.

During fiscal year 2024, 38 mortgage fraud offenders were sentenced in the federal system, according to the United States Sentencing Commission’s interactive data analyzer. That number is up slightly from 34 offenders in 2023, but down from 426 offenders in 2015, the earliest date in that tool’s dataset. The U.S. Sentencing Commission data does not break out the types of mortgage fraud.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Keep Reading
In Politics

CDC official includes ‘pregnant people’ terminology and pronouns in resignation letter

2 Mins Read

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who posted his resignation letter on social media used the term ‘pregnant people’ and capped off his missive by including ‘he/his/him’ pronouns after his name.

‘I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business,’ Dr. Demetre Daskalakis wrote in the lengthy post on X.

Daskalakis accused President Donald Trump’s administration of attempting ‘to erase transgender populations.’

‘For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision,’ he wrote.

The inclusion of pronouns and the term ‘pregnant people’ caught people’s attention.

‘This resignation is a huge win for the Trump administration and the American people. We don’t need anyone who can’t understand basic biology working at the CDC,’ noted Jeremy Redfern, communications director for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.

Karol Markowicz tweeted, ‘No one who uses ‘pregnant people’ should work at the CDC. This isn’t hard.’ 

Responding to Markowicz’s post, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote, ‘Example of how ‘trusting the science’ really means following the political science and perpetuating the prevailing narrative…’ He added, ‘Embracing evidence-based medicine should be the bare minimum for working at the CDC…’

Daskalakis suggested that the Department of Health and Human Services is on a ‘dangerous’ path.

‘I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health,’ he wrote.

‘I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States,’ Daskalakis concluded at the end of his message.

Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for comment on Thursday.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Keep Reading