Bill Pulte Accused Fed Governor Lisa Cook of Fraud. His Relatives Filed Housing Claims Similar to Hers

Political

Central Bank

Summary:

Cook has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. “How Governor Cook described her properties,” her attorney wrote in a statement on Thursday, is “not fraud.”

Close relatives of the federal official who has accused a Federal Reserve governor of improperly claiming primary residence on two properties have declared the same status on two homes in two different states, public records show.

Mark and Julie Pulte, the father and stepmother of Bill Pulte, President Donald Trump’s appointee as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, since 2020 have claimed so-called “homestead exemptions” for residences in wealthy neighborhoods in both Michigan and Florida, according to the records. The exemption is meant to give a discount to homeowners on taxes for properties they use as their primary residence.

Local tax officials in both states told Reuters that claiming more than one home as a primary residence isn’t generally allowed in their jurisdictions and could be punishable by fines or back taxes. After Reuters contacted tax officials in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, to inquire about the dual claims, Darrin Kraatz, director of assessing, on Thursday said the township “as of today” would revoke the exemption on the Pultes’ residence there.

According to public real estate records, and a resident at the Michigan house on Thursday evening, the home was rented out by the Pultes this year, a move that also violates rules for the exemption. “Revised tax bills will be issued to the Pultes, including all applicable penalty and interest,” Kraatz said by email. He didn’t respond to a follow-up question about the value of any payment now due and Reuters couldn’t determine a precise figure for previous tax payments they have made.

Officials in Florida, citing the claim for exemption in that state as older, said any conflict with the second exemption would need to be addressed in Michigan.

Reuters was unable to reach Mark or Julie Pulte for comment. Representatives at Mark Pulte’s business and a Pulte family foundation didn’t respond to phone calls or emails seeking comment for this story.

Officials at the FHFA, the federal agency led by Bill Pulte, didn’t respond to a request for comment. The news agency was unable to reach him otherwise.

The claim of more than one property as a primary residence has been the basis for Bill Pulte’s accusations against Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor Trump fired as a result and who has since filed suit against the president to fight the dismissal. Pulte referred the matter to the attorney general, prompting a probe of Cook by the Justice Department.

In addition to that formal action against Cook, Pulte in recent days has made multiple public statements against her, accusing her of defrauding mortgage lenders and the public. “Financial fraud is a big deal,” Pulte wrote last weekend on X, the social media site, to his three million followers. “Don’t do it!”

He also criticized Cook after learning she rented out one of the homes that she had declared as a primary residence. “Lisa Cook’s declared ‘PRIMARY RESIDENCE’ is being RENTED out to tenants,” he wrote in another X post.

Cook has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. “How Governor Cook described her properties,” her attorney wrote in a statement on Thursday, is “not fraud.”

In the garage of the Michigan house, on a quiet cul-de-sac with wood-shingled homes and manicured yards, a man told Reuters that he lives at the property as a tenant and doesn’t know the name of the homeowner. He declined to be identified by name or say through whom or how long he has been renting the property.

“THEY GOT LUCKY”

The Pulte family, which rose to prominence with a housing empire started in Michigan by Mark Pulte’s father, is active in conservative circles. Both Mark and his wife, electoral records show, have made multiple campaign contributions to Republican candidates and causes.

In addition to founding his own housing company in Florida, where he has specialized in building luxury properties, Mark Pulte is a senior official at a Pulte family foundation. His high-profile real estate activities have included the 2021 sale of a property for $122.7 million, a record for Palm Beach at the time. Years earlier, the property had been among Trump’s Florida holdings.

In his comments to Senate officials for his confirmation as director of the federal housing agency, Bill Pulte thanked his father and stepmother for their support. He said he grew up visiting construction sites of homes built by his father and grandfather. In past public statements he has said that Mark helped finance Pulte Capital Partners, the Florida-based private equity firm Bill founded.

The homestead exemptions claimed by Mark and Julie Pulte, eight tax and real estate experts told Reuters, would typically be permissible only in a rare exception that can be made for a couple in which spouses are conducting entirely independent lives – living separately at the two addresses, separating their finances and filing their taxes individually. Reuters couldn’t determine whether the Pultes qualified for such an exemption or had used such grounds to justify their homestead claims.

“It’s not something that either state generally lets you get away with,” said Lisa Bender, a longtime real estate agent in both Michigan and Florida. Bender said she personally knows the ins-and-outs of the homestead exemptions because she also owns properties in both states. “I wish I could claim both,” she said. “Somehow they got lucky.”

No mortgage records exist for the Michigan and Florida properties, which suggests the Pultes likely paid for the homes in cash, real estate experts said. By paying lower taxes on both homes, they added, the couple is contributing less than they otherwise would to public coffers, including funding for area schools.

On properties like those owned by the Pultes, the exemptions can add up to thousands of dollars in savings each year. On the Florida home, in Boca Raton, the exemption saved the Pultes an estimated $158,000 in taxes for 2025, according to officials with the tax assessor’s office in Palm Beach County, the property tax jurisdiction. The county granted an additional exemption on the property because the house – a waterfront home with marble floors, in-ground pool, and a boat dock – surpasses a certain value threshold, the records indicate.

The Pultes bought the Boca Raton house in 2016 for $4.25 million and later transferred the title to a legal entity in which they are both listed as beneficiaries, the records show. Mark Pulte filed the exemption request.

On the Michigan property, listed as a four-bedroom home with sauna and purchased for nearly $1 million in 2020, both spouses are named on a trust that owns the house. Julie Pulte claimed the exemption there.

When contacted by Reuters about the dual exemptions, Nery Mejia, an exemptions manager for the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, said the office would look into it. In a follow-up by email, she said the paperwork in Florida is valid and predates the Michigan claim. “Based on this,” she wrote, “the matter should be handled by Michigan.”

It isn’t clear how much the Pultes may have saved each year because of the Michigan claim, but on Friday property records already indicated the exemption there is now zero.

Source: Reuters

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Political

Stocks

US President Donald Trump threatened a probe that could prompt fresh tariffs in response to the European Union fining Alphabet Inc.’s Google over findings the company abused its dominance by giving its own ad exchanges a competitive advantage.

The president made his warning in a social media post Friday after the EU announced it was fining Google almost €3 billion ($3.5 billion) and ordering the search giant to stop favoring its own advertising technology services.

“This is on top of the many other Fines and Taxes that have been issued against Google and other American Tech Companies, in particular,” Trump said. “Very unfair, and the American Taxpayer will not stand for it! As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand.”

Trump has previously used so-called 301 probes to target imports from Brazil over its prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro. He’s long criticized Europe for its fines against US technology firms, and earlier this month warned he would impose “substantial” tariffs on countries that imposed digital taxes, rules, or regulations that hit American companies.

The European Commission said Friday that Google had exploited its advantage over rivals and that it must bring the practices to an end.

“When markets fail, public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power,” EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement. “True freedom means a level playing field, where everyone competes on equal terms and citizens have a genuine right to choose.”

The company immediately vowed to appeal. Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice president for regulatory affairs at Google, said the move “imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money.”

The fine, which totaled €2.95 billion, ranks among Brussels’ toughest sanctions and is the second highest by the EU against Google for alleged abuses of dominance. It follows a €4.125 billion Android penalty and a €2.42 billion fine for crushing shopping search rivals. A €1.49 billion AdSense levy was annulled last year. The decisions push Google’s EU liabilities to just shy of €10 billion — far outpacing fines against Apple, Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Trump Threatens Trade Actions After EU Fines Google Over Ad Tech_1

Trump Threatens Trade Actions After EU Fines Google Over Ad Tech_1

The Mountain View, California-based company is No. 1 in the $757.5 billion global digital ad market, according to 2025 estimates by research firm EMarketer. In total, worldwide, Google is expected to pull in $205.04 billion in digital ad revenue in 2025. Most of that, $171.72 billion, comes from Google’s global search advertising business. The remaining $33.33 billion is from display ads. Google runs an ad-buying service for marketers and an ad-selling one for publishers, as well as a trading exchange where both sides complete transactions in lightning-fast auctions.

Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the European Publishers Council, which brought the complaint to the European Commission said “a fine will not fix Europe’s broken adtech market.”

“Without strong and decisive enforcement, Google will simply write this off as a cost of business while consolidating its dominance in the AI era,” she said. “Europe risks undermining its own rules and weakening the news media and publishing sector.”

The EU punishment comes at a tense moment for EU–US trade relations, with Trump repeatedly deriding the bloc’s efforts to rein in Silicon Valley giants. Although Google faces antitrust scrutiny worldwide, it won some relief this week when a US judge ruled that its search business would not need to be broken up to address the harms alleged by the Department of Justice.

Google’s adtech operations, however, also remain under threat in the US. The DOJ is expected to file proposed remedies later on Friday in another case, ahead of a Sept. 22 hearing on those proposals. Previously, the department had floated forcing Google to divest its Ad Manager platform to tackle the alleged anticompetitive risks.

The EU’s Ribera pointed to the potential for a US ruling that would force Google to break up its ad tech platform.

“At this stage, it appears that the only way for Google to end its conflict of interest effectively is with a structural remedy, such as selling some part of its Adtech business,” she said in her statement.

The EU warned Google in 2023 that it had abused its dominance in advertising technology to harm online publishers. At the time, the Brussels-based commission said Google had favored its own ad exchange program over its rivals and bolstered the company’s central role in the ad tech supply chain.

Ribera’s predecessor Margrethe Vestager said then that only a “mandatory divestment” of part of its business would solve the issues. The Dane had spent a decade in Brussels, where she hit Google with fines of more than €8 billion across three different cases, although one penalty was annulled and another cut by EU judges.

Source: Bloomberg

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Manuel

Cryptocurrency

Political

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold a joint roundtable on Sept. 29 to advance regulatory coordination in the digital asset sector.

In a Sept. 5 joint statement, the agencies said fragmented oversight in the past had discouraged innovation and driven some crypto activity overseas. They stressed that harmonization is no longer optional, noting that a failure to coordinate has created uncertainty that hinders economic activity even when products are legally permissible.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline Pham emphasized that harmonization can lower barriers, improve efficiency, and reaffirm US leadership in financial markets.

According to the financial regulatory chiefs: “By working in lockstep, our two agencies can harness our nation’s unique regulatory structure into a source of strength for market participants, investors and all Americans.”

The event follows the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets recommendations, which urged regulators to create a fit-for-purpose framework that supports innovation while protecting investors.

Key priorities

The Sept. 29 roundtable will examine measures to align US markets with the global, always-on economy.

Among the priorities under consideration is the expansion of trading hours across select asset classes. The financial regulators said markets such as foreign exchange, gold, and crypto already operate continuously, and extending trading windows could improve liquidity while maintaining investor protections.

The agencies also plan to review frameworks for prediction markets and perpetual contracts. By clarifying rules for event-based contracts and onshoring compliant perpetual swaps, they aim to channel more trading activity back to US platforms.

Another proposal centers on portfolio margining. A coordinated framework could allow firms to recognize offsetting positions across asset classes and reduce capital inefficiencies.

The SEC and CFTC stressed that harmonized margin requirements would make net exposures easier for market participants while preserving risk safeguards.

The agencies further intend to explore exemptions that provide safe harbors for decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. These exemptions would create structured environments for peer-to-peer trading of spot, leveraged, or margined products without undermining investor protection standards.

Source: Cryptoslate

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Manuel

Economic

Central Bank

U.S. job growth weakened sharply in August and the unemployment rate increased to nearly a four-year high of 4.3%, confirming that labor market conditions were softening and sealing the case for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this month.

The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday also showed the economy lost jobs in June for the first time in four and a half years, fanning fears of economic stagnation. Job growth has slowed since April, with economists blaming President Donald Trump's policies, mainly tariffs on imports, an immigration crackdown and mass firings of public workers.

"The economy is skating as close to the edge of recession as you can get," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS. "Companies are clearly hunkering down and refusing to hire and the blame can be traced back to Washington's economic agenda. The only medicine to help is a rate cut from the Fed."

Nonfarm payrolls increased by only 22,000 jobs last month after rising by an upwardly revised 79,000 in July, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls would rise by 75,000 jobs after a previously reported gain of 73,000 in July.

Revisions to the establishment survey data also showed payrolls declined by 13,000 jobs in June, the first drop since December 2020, rather than rising by 14,000, as had been reported last month. US Unemployment Rate Near 4-Year High as Labor Market Hits Stall Speed_1

US Unemployment Rate Near 4-Year High as Labor Market Hits Stall Speed_1

Those revisions confirmed the weak trend flagged by massive downgrades to the May and June payrolls counts in the July report that led Trump to fire the BLS' commissioner, Erika McEntarfer. The president accused her, without evidence, of manipulating the employment data.

Economists attributed the revisions to the "birth-and-death" model, a method the BLS uses to try to estimate how many jobs were gained or lost because of companies opening or closing in a given month.

While Trump on Friday did not directly comment on the employment report, he reiterated his longstanding grievance with Fed Chair Jerome Powell over high borrowing costs.

"Jerome 'Too Late' Powell should have lowered rates long ago. As usual, he's 'Too Late!'" Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform.

E.J. Antoni, Trump's choice to head the BLS, has penned opinion pieces critical of the agency and even suggested suspending the monthly employment report. Antoni is viewed as unqualified by economists across the political spectrum.

Trump´s import duties have boosted the nation's average tariff rate to the highest level since 1934 and stoked fears of higher inflation, prompting the U.S. central bank to pause its interest rate cuts.

Just as some of the uncertainty over trade policy was starting to lift with most tariffs now in place, a U.S. appeals court ruled last Friday that many of the duties were illegal, keeping businesses in a state of flux.

WEAK BIAS IN AUGUST

August's payrolls could be revised higher as the initial job count has tended to exhibit a weak bias because of a seasonal quirk. Nonetheless, employment growth has softened considerably, averaging 29,000 jobs per month in the last three months, compared to 82,000 during the same period in 2024.

Slow job growth is likely to be reinforced when the BLS on Tuesday publishes its preliminary revision estimate to the level of employment for the 12 months through March.

Based on the currently available Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data, economists estimate the level of employment could be revised down by as much as 800,000. The QCEW data is derived from reports by employers to the state unemployment insurance programs.

The bulk of the jobs added in August were in healthcare, with payrolls in the sector rising by 31,000. But even this labor market pillar is showing strain, as the increase was below the average monthly gain of 42,000 over the last 12 months.

Employment in the social assistance industry rose by 16,000 positions. Government data this week showed healthcare and social assistance job openings posting large back-to-back declines in July.

Federal government payrolls dropped by 15,000 and employment in that area is now down 97,000 since January, amid deep spending cuts by the White House. A sharp decrease is expected in October after employees collecting severance pay fall off payrolls in September.

Manufacturing shed jobs for the fourth straight month, underscoring the impact of tariffs.

There were also job losses in a number of other sectors, including wholesale trade, information, financial activities, construction, and professional and business services. US Unemployment Rate Near 4-Year High as Labor Market Hits Stall Speed_2

US Unemployment Rate Near 4-Year High as Labor Market Hits Stall Speed_2

Wages, however, remain the labor market's bright spot and could help sustain the economic expansion for now. Average hourly earnings increased 0.3%, matching the gain in July. In the 12 months through August, wages advanced 3.7% after rising 3.9% in the comparable period in July. But a drop in hours worked raised concerns about economic growth prospects.

"Today's news probably raises more questions about the growth outlook than about the Fed outlook," said Michael Feroli, chief economist at J.P. Morgan. "With the August data in hand, private hours worked look to be contracting at about a 0.5% annual rate this quarter. At this point, we are inclined to take a little more signal from the labor data and remain cautious about growth prospects next quarter."

Financial markets expect the Fed will deliver a quarter-percentage-point rate cut at its September 16-17 policy meeting, with two more such moves at its remaining two meetings in 2025. The central bank has kept its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range since December.

Stocks on Wall Street were trading lower. The dollar declined against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury yields fell.

The unemployment rate edged up from 4.2% in July to the highest level since October 2021. The household survey from which the jobless rate is derived showed 436,000 people entered the labor force, but employment only increased by 288,000.

Economists were skeptical of the labor force increase. The Trump administration has terminated temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. More people experienced long bouts of unemployment in August.

The average duration of joblessness jumped to 24.5 weeks, the longest since April 2022, from 24.1 in July. There were more people who have permanently lost their jobs.

"The labor market has hit stall speed," said Nicole Cervi, an economist at Wells Fargo.

Source: Reuters

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Manuel

Central Bank

Economic

After a surprisingly weak U.S. payrolls report that underscored that the economy is slowing, investors see the need for accelerated monetary easing, including an increased chance of a jumbo interest rate cut this month.

Heading into Friday's employment report, investors were already widely projecting the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark interest rate by a standard quarter-point at its September 16-17 meeting, in what would be its first reduction in nine months. Fed Chair Jerome Powell had set the stage for such a cut in remarks last month that pointed to risks in the labor market.

But after data showed U.S. jobs grew by a paltry 22,000 in August, well below estimates, market pricing began making room for the possibility of a heftier half-percentage-point reduction, while more easing is now expected through 2025 overall.

"This is two disappointing jobs reports in a row and certainly makes the case for a weakening economy," said Jack Ablin, founding partner and chief investment officer at Cresset Capital. "If you combine that with Chairman Powell's bias toward full employment rather than price stability, it does suggest that the Fed could go more than originally planned."

The prospect of lower interest rates has been a support for stocks in recent weeks but equities wavered after Friday's report. Stock futures jumped initially after the data, before reversing course. The benchmark S&P 500 was last down 0.5%.

"If investors are focused on Fed policy cuts, then that could be supportive of the stock market," said Jim Baird, chief investment officer with Plante Moran Financial Advisors.

"If investors are instead looking at it as a precursor to further slippage in labor conditions and job losses and perhaps an economy that softens up further from here, that's not good news for stocks."

Investors piled in to U.S. Treasuries, sending both short and long-term yields lower. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell as low as 4.06%, its lowest in about five months. Meanwhile, in foreign exchange markets, the prospect of accelerated rate cuts sank the dollar index to a near six-week low.

"We find G10 FX is trading with front-end nominal yields. That's why the dollar dropped after weaker-than-expected payrolls," said Benjamin Ford, researcher at macro research and strategy firm Macro Hive.

Fed fund futures as of Friday afternoon were baking in a 10% chance of a 50 basis-point reduction later this month, with the 90% balance of probability on a 25 bp cut, according to LSEG data.

When the Fed started its cutting cycle in September 2024, the central bank began with a half-percentage-point reduction, noted Blair Shwedo, head of investment grade sales and trading at US Bank.

"So I would imagine the market is looking back at that and realizing the Fed is not scared to start out with a more aggressive 50 bp cut," Shwedo said.

Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial, said a 50 basis-point move "would add a tailwind to the (stock) market."

"It would definitely be a boost for the megacap growth stocks, and a green light for investors to take on more risk," Malek said.

A 50 basis-point cut could lead to the "capitulation" of short bets for the front-end part of the Treasury curve, which may exacerbate volatility in the bond market, said Slawomir Soroczynski, head of fixed income at Crown Agents Investment Management.

The prospect of more aggressive easing could also further raise fears about inflation. Current inflation rates are still above the Fed's 2% target and Powell and other Fed officials have been wary that President Donald Trump's tariffs could lead to higher prices.

"Powell’s concern is there’s still tariff uncertainty, and he knows that from an inflation standpoint the increase in risk sentiment will certainly spur asset price inflation," said George Cipolloni, portfolio manager at Penn Mutual Asset Management. "Now will it spur consumer price inflation? That's the tug of war."

Not everyone was convinced a hefty cut was coming after the jobs data. August is a "noisy month" with figures that tend to get revised higher, said Phil Blancato, chief executive officer of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management.

And more data will come ahead of the Fed meeting, in particular next Thursday's August Consumer Price Index report that offers another read on inflation trends.

"Inflation is still a major concern and is not being tamed by the slower economic growth," said Melissa Brown, managing director of investment decision research at Simcorp.

Source: Reuters

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Kevin Du

Economic

Gold's powerful rally took on fresh legs on Friday, with prices just cents away from $3,600 per ounce, as weak U.S. jobs data further raised expectations for bullion-supportive Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Spot gold was up 1.5% at $3,596.01 per ounce, as of 1636 GMT, having hit a record $3,599.89 earlier. The metal is now on track for its strongest weekly gain in nearly four months. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 1.3% to $3,651.90.

Bullion has surged 37% so far this year after a 27% gain in 2024 - driven by U.S. dollar weakness, central bank buying, a softening monetary policy backdrop and wider geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

Spot gold and US dollar

Data showed U.S. job growth weakened sharply in August while the unemployment rate increased to 4.3%, confirming that labour market conditions were softening. Traders are now betting an 86% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut and a 14% chance of a 50 basis-point cut in September.

"Gold makes new highs; bulls are looking at the clearly weakening trend of employment translating into multiple rate cuts," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader.

"The outlook is undoubtedly bullish for gold as labour concerns override inflation for the short, probably medium term. However, I think we are still too far away from 4,000 unless there is a massive dislocation," Wong added.

Analysts have also flagged the independence of the Fed as a key factor in shaping gold's trajectory - an issue thrust into the spotlight after U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook and put repeated pressure on the central bank to slash rates.

Bullion, which does not pay interest, tends to shine when rates are low and uncertainty is high, making it a go-to asset for investors seeking safety.

China and India are top gold consumers. Physical demand for gold in these hubs dropped this week due to record high prices.

August gold in reserves data from China's central bank, due on Sunday, will not catch the September record highs, but may still provide more clarity on how demand from central banks was being affected by high bullion prices.

Among other metals, spot silver rose 0.9% to $41.02 per ounce and was heading for its third consecutive weekly gain.

Platinum gained 0.6% to $1,379.45 and palladium fell 1.8% at $1,106.86.

Source: Reuters

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Economic

Commodity

Most crop prices gained Friday, with corn rising to the highest level since July amid robust export demand for the yellow grain.

Exporters sold 1.8 million tons of corn last week, more than analysts expected on average, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Corn futures rose as much as 1.2%, extending a rally from an almost one-year low in mid-August.

Prices were being supported by expectations that the record corn yield forecast by the USDA in August might be lowered in the agency’s monthly WASDE report, out next week. Advisory service StoneX on Thursday trimmed its estimate for US corn yields, but hiked output.

“Oversold technical indicators are providing some support, but more and more is coming from lower-than-expected corn yields to start the US harvest,” Consus Ag Consulting analyst Karl Setzer said in a note. “While trade wants to see the official updated yield from the USDA in next Friday’s WASDE report, the more reports they hear of lower yields the less willing they are to extend market pressure.”