IRS permits more Americans to tap retirement accounts without penalty

Quadruple Witching Hits Stock Market, Sparking Bursts of Trading

(Bloomberg) -- Traders struggling to keep up with gyrations in U.S. stocks just got jolted by a surge of trading volume and wild price swings.Transactions in stocks spiked amid a quarterly event known as quadruple witching, when options and futures on indexes and equities expire. More than 16 billion shares changed hands, 30% above the average in the past three months, while the S&P 500 reversed earlier gains to close the session lower amid renewed concern over coronavirus reinfections.Quadruple witching usually coincides with a rebalancing of major indexes such as the S&P 500 and can spark some of the busiest trading days of the year. While the global market turmoil in March prompted S&P Dow Jones Indices to postpone the last rebalancing, the quadruple witching alone was enough to trigger a volume surge.This time, the need to adjust stock positions appeared to be higher than usual. About $1.8 trillion of S&P...

Wirecard Creditors Seek More Clarity Amid Talks Over Debt

(Bloomberg) -- Wirecard’s lenders are demanding more clarity from the company in return for the extension of almost $2 billion in financing after it breached terms on the loan, people familiar with the matter said.At least 15 commercial lenders, including Commerzbank AG and ABN Amro, are in hectic negotiations about the steps to take after the German payments company said on Thursday it’s unable to release its annual report because it can’t locate 1.9 billion euros in cash ($2.1 billion), the people said.Concerns over the missing money prompted a collapse in Wirecard AG shares and the departure of CEO Markus Braun, who was replaced on an interim basis by James Freis. In an indication of the company’s worsening outlook, Moody’s Investors Service said on Friday it cut Wirecard’s credit ratings six levels, putting it one step from the lowest tier of junk. With Wirecard potentially facing a default on its debt...