FTX new management team finds lost money, UK economy’s future looks grim, Tesla EV safety problem

Summary:

• FTX cash has now been traced to a total of $1.24 billion by their new management team.
• Tesla announced it’s recalling 321,000 vehicles due to a safety problem.
• It’s predicted that the UK's economy will have the worst performance in the G20.

Bankruptcy attorneys are working hard to stabilize FTX

The bankrupt crypto conglomerate's (FTX) cash has now been traced to a total of $1.24 billion by FTX's new management team, who are working to identify the company's assets in time for a US court hearing later on Tuesday. In court documents, Edgar Mosley, an executive at the advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal, claimed that teams searching for the assets of the troubled crypto group had discovered "substantially higher cash balances” than were previously believed. After determining the amounts held in 144 of the 216 bank accounts it had linked to FTX and more than 100 affiliated companies, the company estimated in filings on Saturday that it had $564mn in bank balances.

The revised cash data highlight the scope of the ongoing efforts by bankruptcy attorneys to stabilize FTX's financial situation. Sam Bankman-Fried's prior administration was criticized by the organization's new chief executive, veteran insolvency specialist John Ray III, for a "total lack of reliable financial information." The updated cash totals now include accounts belonging to Bankman-Fried's trading company Alameda Research worth around $400 million that weren't counted in the earlier total.

In the face of cyberattacks, bankruptcy attorneys have also been fighting to protect FTX's stockpile of digital tokens.

FTX management tracks down $1.24bn in cash holdings https://t.co/Dyl3HKpIuJ

— Financial Times (@FT) November 22, 2022

The future of the UK economy looks dim

The OECD said on Tuesday that countries must continue to make battling inflation their main priority. It predicted that the UK's economy will have the worst performance in the G20, aside from Russia, during the next two years. According to the OECD's most recent economic projections, UK GDP will decrease by 0.4% in 2023 and only increase by 0.2% in 2024.

The Paris-based group criticized the UK government's promise to keep average household energy costs at £2,500 until April, claiming that this untargeted support would "increase pressures on already high inflation in the short term," leading to higher interest rates and debt service costs.

The largest oil shock since the 1970s, meanwhile, had the global economy "reeling." According to the OECD's most recent predictions, growth in nearly every major economy is expected to be less in 2019 than it was in June as stubbornly high inflation reduced people's purchasing power.

While the picture for the UK was startlingly dire, the OECD predicted growth of just 0.5% in the US and the euro area, with Germany also going into recession, and 2.2% global growth in the more resilient developing countries.

The group also cautioned that the present energy crisis was "here to stay" and that Europe will be at even greater risk of experiencing gas shortages that might send the continent into a recession next winter.

Breaking news: The UK’s economy is set to be the worst performer in the G20 bar Russia over the next two years, according to the OECD https://t.co/BiGs0rHChn pic.twitter.com/cohlrKKJPt

— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) November 22, 2022

Tesla’s tail light headaches

Tesla (TSLA) is experiencing additional difficulties as the carmaker announced it is recalling 321,000 vehicles due to a safety problem. The car manufacturer said in a filing over the weekend that some Tesla Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs had a problem that caused the tail lamps to "intermittently glow," which in some cases resulted in poor visibility on the road. According to Tesla, the problem did not affect the brake lights.

Tesla learned about the problem from owners of vehicles in non-U.S. regions, and after looking into it, decided to conduct a voluntary recall to correct the tail light issue. An over-the-air software update will be used to carry out the recall. The filing this weekend follows the recall of about 30K Model X SUVs in the US on last Friday due to a problem with the front passenger air bag, which will also be fixed with an OTA software update.

Tesla recalls 321K cars for tail light issue; 19th recall this year for automaker https://t.co/Nn5I5LVyou by @Pras_S $TSLA

— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) November 21, 2022

Sources: finance.yahoo.com, ft.com, twitter.com