6 Most Important Things in Business Today

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Mar 13, 3:33PM EDT · Published Jul 3, 5:03AM EDT

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The probes into Facebook Inc.’s (NASDAQ: FB) distribution of its data have grown. According to The Wall Street Journal:

The federal investigation into how Facebook Inc. has handled information about its users is getting bigger.

The social-media giant has received questions from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Vacancies at malls have risen sharply. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Malls are the emptiest they’ve been since 2012, when the U.S. economy was still struggling to recover from the last recession.

The vacancy rate reached 8.6% in the second quarter, up from 8.4% in the first quarter, as more consumers shifted their shopping online, according to data from real-estate research firm Reis Inc. The highest postrecession vacancy was in the third quarter of 2011, when it hit 9.4%, Reis said.

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The head of Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) engineering operation has left. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Tesla Inc.’s engineering chief won’t return from his leave of absence, a person familiar with the situation said, as the auto maker heads into a pivotal period to prove it can sustain production of the Model 3 sedan.

Doug Field, who had been senior vice president of engineering, stepped away from his work overseeing product development at the Silicon Valley auto maker in early May. At the time, a Tesla spokesman said, “Doug is just taking some time off to recharge and spend time with his family. He has not left Tesla.”

An investigation into Glencore has battered its stock. According to Bloomberg:

Glencore Plc tumbled the most in two years as its African troubles escalated dramatically after U.S. authorities demanded documents relating to possible corruption and money laundering.

The world’s biggest commodity trader said Tuesday that it’s been subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice to produce documents with respect to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and United States money laundering statutes. The documents relate to the company’s business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela from 2007 to the present. The shares plunged as much as 11 percent.

China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL) wants into the U.S. telecom market. The Trump administration says no. According to CNBC:

The U.S. government moved on Monday to block China Mobile from offering services to the U.S. telecommunications market, recommending its application be rejected because the government-owned firm posed national security risks.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should deny China Mobile’s 2011 application to offer telecommunication services between the United States and other countries, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said in a statement posted on its website.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) will extend the hours of Prime Day. According to CNNMoney:

Amazon is expanding its savings event for Prime members to 36 hours, six hours longer than last year.

It will start on July 16 at 3 p.m. ET. Amazon is promising more than a million deals around the world.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.