Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social
JoeD@Inquirer.com
I write about money and people
mostly for the Philadelphia Inquirer
https://www.inquirer.com/author/distefano_joseph_n/
+OFS
I write about money and people
mostly for the Philadelphia Inquirer
https://www.inquirer.com/author/distefano_joseph_n/
+OFS
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
Deliveries of Chinese EVs to Mexico skyrocketed over 2,000% in November.
Chinese EV Exports Are Soaring, With Big Gains In Mexico And Europe
Deliveries to Mexico skyrocketed over 2,000% in November after BYD's aggressive push into the country.
insideevs.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Deliveries of Chinese EVs to Mexico skyrocketed over 2,000% in November.
You know what’s next adventure.com/isle-of-man-...
December 30, 2025 at 10:42 PM
You know what’s next adventure.com/isle-of-man-...
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
Catholic Charities serves about 300,000 people annually, providing care for older Philadelphians, supporting at-risk youth, helping with food and shelter, and assisting those with developmental disabilities.
December 30, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Catholic Charities serves about 300,000 people annually, providing care for older Philadelphians, supporting at-risk youth, helping with food and shelter, and assisting those with developmental disabilities.
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
Elected officials, religious leaders, and community activists gathered Tuesday in City Hall to condemn recent “aggressive” and “appalling” ICE activity in the resort town.
Atlantic City officials, community leaders condemn ‘aggressive’ and ‘appalling’ ICE activity in the area
A community activist urged businesses to support their immigrant labor: "Please be there for them after they’ve given you hours of labor, years of blood, sweat and tears to your business.”
www.inquirer.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Elected officials, religious leaders, and community activists gathered Tuesday in City Hall to condemn recent “aggressive” and “appalling” ICE activity in the resort town.
A vote to stay local: In a rare refusal, Philly area credit union members reject leaders' plan to merge with a national operator. It's not even close. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/cre...
Bucks County credit union members vote down a proposed merger
Credit Union 1 of suburban Chicago, with $2 billion in assets, wanted to merge with Spirit Financial Credit Union in Levittown.
www.inquirer.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:40 PM
A vote to stay local: In a rare refusal, Philly area credit union members reject leaders' plan to merge with a national operator. It's not even close. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/cre...
Delaware Supreme Court has effectively reversed the Chancery Court ruling against Elon Musk's record Tesla pay packaging. SCoD says that would leave Musk with no pay, which wouldn't be fair. Record plaintiff lawyer payout also sliced. Read the decision at courts.delaware.gov/Opinions/Dow...
courts.delaware.gov
December 19, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Delaware Supreme Court has effectively reversed the Chancery Court ruling against Elon Musk's record Tesla pay packaging. SCoD says that would leave Musk with no pay, which wouldn't be fair. Record plaintiff lawyer payout also sliced. Read the decision at courts.delaware.gov/Opinions/Dow...
Maryland's slow fix on the Key Bridge has driven European shippers away, to the growing Port of Philadelphia, which has passed Baltimore as a container port, and is adding space under @HoltLogistics. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/car...
European cargo ships are rerouting to Philadelphia as Baltimore struggles to replace Key Bridge
Key Bridge repairs blocking Baltimore docks helped persuade European shipping companies to use Philadelphia's growing container ports instead.
www.inquirer.com
December 18, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Maryland's slow fix on the Key Bridge has driven European shippers away, to the growing Port of Philadelphia, which has passed Baltimore as a container port, and is adding space under @HoltLogistics. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/car...
Fishtown Analytics was gonna build a Philly HQ. Silicon Valley didn't get the name, so they went to dbt Analytics. Bad Septa service helped convince its founders to work remote. Now joined with CA-based Fivetran. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/dbt...
December 18, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Fishtown Analytics was gonna build a Philly HQ. Silicon Valley didn't get the name, so they went to dbt Analytics. Bad Septa service helped convince its founders to work remote. Now joined with CA-based Fivetran. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/dbt...
Dean Vagnozzi sues U.S. for killing his business amid Par Funding investigation. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/dea...
Par Funding salesman Dean Vagnozzi sues, accusing feds of ruining his business
Did SEC agents go too far in shutting down a King of Prussia firm "duped" into bad investments?
www.inquirer.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Dean Vagnozzi sues U.S. for killing his business amid Par Funding investigation. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/dea...
Philly was once a top banking, investment, high-finance center. Under new owner KKR, the last of the old names, Janney Montgomery Scott, is getting out of investment banking, to be just a big RIA. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/jan...
Janney Montgomery Scott sheds investment bank under owner KKR and focuses on brokers
Philly's largest investment bank will shift its focus to wealth management.
www.inquirer.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Philly was once a top banking, investment, high-finance center. Under new owner KKR, the last of the old names, Janney Montgomery Scott, is getting out of investment banking, to be just a big RIA. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/jan...
'Not an investment genius': Philly private equity and real estate $20 billion fundraiser Ira Lubert on money-making casinos, money-losing data centers, state pensions and the funds he leaves behind. My short interview: www.inquirer.com/business/ira...
Data centers to casinos, retired investor Ira Lubert says he’ll give until he’s dead — and after
One of Philly's most successful investors, Ira Lubert says he relied on smarter partners.
www.inquirer.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:01 PM
'Not an investment genius': Philly private equity and real estate $20 billion fundraiser Ira Lubert on money-making casinos, money-losing data centers, state pensions and the funds he leaves behind. My short interview: www.inquirer.com/business/ira...
Telling the truth, a crime in China: Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai convicted in show trial
BREAKING: Hong Kong ex-media mogul Jimmy Lai is found guilty of endangering national security, a verdict that could fuel tensions between China and the US
Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai Found Guilty in Landmark Security Case
Hong Kong former media mogul Jimmy Lai was found guilty of endangering national security in a landmark trial, a verdict that could fuel tensions between China and the US.
bloom.bg
December 15, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Telling the truth, a crime in China: Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai convicted in show trial
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
Atlantic City, a place of historic mayoral misdeeds, multi-millionaire overreach and chronic unwanted attention, has managed a new plot twist.
Atlantic City is ending the year in crisis. Its mayor is on trial, New York casinos are coming, Peanut World caught fire. There are more worries.
Atlantic City, a place of historic mayoral misdeeds, multi-millionaire overreach and chronic unwanted attention, has managed a new plot twist.
www.inquirer.com
December 14, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Atlantic City, a place of historic mayoral misdeeds, multi-millionaire overreach and chronic unwanted attention, has managed a new plot twist.
Trump’s Commerce Secretary learning on the job
December 11, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Trump’s Commerce Secretary learning on the job
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
ICYMI: Pennsylvania Medicaid recipients will no longer have access to Ozempic and other similar drugs for weight loss after a quiet move by the Shapiro administration to save the state money amid growing budget woes.
New: Pennsylvania's Medicaid program quietly axed coverage of GLP-1s for weight loss, reversing an expensive two year old coverage expansion as state policymakers increasingly grapple with the commonwealth's shaky long term financial picture.
www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/12...
www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/12...
Pennsylvania restricts Medicaid coverage for GLP‑1 drugs
Starting Jan. 1, 2026, Pennsylvania will limit GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs under Medicaid — threatening access for thousands of low‑income patients.
www.spotlightpa.org
December 11, 2025 at 5:21 PM
ICYMI: Pennsylvania Medicaid recipients will no longer have access to Ozempic and other similar drugs for weight loss after a quiet move by the Shapiro administration to save the state money amid growing budget woes.
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos sought Donald Trump's blessing for the Warner Bros. takeover in a November meeting.
Netflix’s Sarandos Wooed Trump Personally Ahead of Warner Bid
Netflix Inc. co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos ventured to the White House in mid-November for a meeting with President Donald Trump. Over more than an hour, the two discussed a range of topics, including the auction of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to people familiar with the interaction.
bloom.bg
December 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos sought Donald Trump's blessing for the Warner Bros. takeover in a November meeting.
'Our immigrants are very brave': With a new, bank-backed branch in Philadelphia, Finanta credit union plans growth across Pennsylvania. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/fin...
A bilingual credit union is opening in Philly, seeking ‘unbanked’ customers to buy homes, build family businesses
Finanta Credit Union, backed by banks and taxpayers, plans new offices in several Pennsylvania cities.
www.inquirer.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
'Our immigrants are very brave': With a new, bank-backed branch in Philadelphia, Finanta credit union plans growth across Pennsylvania. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/fin...
Uri Monson, PA budget czar + Gov Shapiro confidant, is new chief at $80 billion PSERS school pension. The pair fired Wall Street managers at much smaller Montgomery County PA fund in 2013. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/pse...
Pennsylvania’s $80 billion school pension fund gets a new director
One of Gov. Shapiro's closest aides, Uri Monson, will run teachers retirement plan.
www.inquirer.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Uri Monson, PA budget czar + Gov Shapiro confidant, is new chief at $80 billion PSERS school pension. The pair fired Wall Street managers at much smaller Montgomery County PA fund in 2013. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/pse...
FOR SALE: PA's ailing, second-largest mall after King of Prussia is on the block. Warehouses, apartments, or what? Jake Blumgart who broke the story in the Inquirer, weighs redevelopment options: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
Northeast Philly’s Franklin Mills mall is for sale
The sale comes amid a wave of mall redevelopment in the region, with demolition and residential construction a common fate for struggling shopping centers.
www.inquirer.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:32 PM
FOR SALE: PA's ailing, second-largest mall after King of Prussia is on the block. Warehouses, apartments, or what? Jake Blumgart who broke the story in the Inquirer, weighs redevelopment options: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
So this Philly guy, laid off by DHL, started Express Drains as plumbers' go-to unclogger, and it took off; then he needed 'simple' software to track 30 trucks + 100 calls/day, so those two Philly guys started Shwego to build the app: that's taking off, too. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/shw...
Shwego helps home service companies get plumbers and painters to you faster
The local start-up tracks trucks and tradespeople, including plumbers, painters, electricians, and HVAC repair.
www.inquirer.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:46 PM
So this Philly guy, laid off by DHL, started Express Drains as plumbers' go-to unclogger, and it took off; then he needed 'simple' software to track 30 trucks + 100 calls/day, so those two Philly guys started Shwego to build the app: that's taking off, too. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/shw...
After 5+ years, 1,600 investors in Philly-based Ponzi scheme Par Funding get all/most of their $220 million in principal back, despite SEC warning it wouldn't happen. But was receivership the best way to go? 8 pleaded guilty, headed to prison. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/par...
Latest Par Funding plan will give scammed investors nearly all their money back
More than 1,600 people were victims of the high-interest loan scheme that diverted over $200 million to Par insiders.
www.inquirer.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:49 PM
After 5+ years, 1,600 investors in Philly-based Ponzi scheme Par Funding get all/most of their $220 million in principal back, despite SEC warning it wouldn't happen. But was receivership the best way to go? 8 pleaded guilty, headed to prison. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/par...
DHS fails
The DHS blamed immigrants for a number of problems known to be caused by outside economic factors.
Department Of Homeland Security Blames Immigrants For Grocery Prices And Healthcare Costs
The DHS blamed immigrants for a number of problems known to be caused by outside economic factors.
www.forbes.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:14 PM
DHS fails
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
Mayor Parker successfully lobbied Harrisburg to allow the city to create a 20 year tax abatement for the conversion, and demolition, of underutilized buildings to residential uses. She says an affordability component will be part of her bill next year: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
20-year tax abatement to help turn schools into homes may soon be legal in Philly
Buried in the state budget is a provision allowing for the new abatement. It is now up to City Council and Mayor Parker to craft city legislation to support it.
www.inquirer.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Mayor Parker successfully lobbied Harrisburg to allow the city to create a 20 year tax abatement for the conversion, and demolition, of underutilized buildings to residential uses. She says an affordability component will be part of her bill next year: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
In an executive order, Trump exempted dozens of Brazilian food products, including coffee and beef, from the 40% increased tariffs he imposed in an ill-fated attempt to help former President Jair Bolsonaro dodge a coup attempt trial
Lula Stares Down Trump and Scores Tariff Victory for Brazil
From the minute Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva bet the US leader was going all-in on a weak hand. The wager paid off Thursday, when Trump limped away from the battle.
bloom.bg
November 21, 2025 at 9:00 PM
In an executive order, Trump exempted dozens of Brazilian food products, including coffee and beef, from the 40% increased tariffs he imposed in an ill-fated attempt to help former President Jair Bolsonaro dodge a coup attempt trial
Reposted by Joseph N DiStefano
NEW: A proposed regulation would have denied disability benefits to at least 830,000 older blue-collar workers.
But after reporting from ProPublica and others, the Trump administration has killed the plan.
But after reporting from ProPublica and others, the Trump administration has killed the plan.
How the Trump Administration Abandoned Plans for a Major Cut in Disability Benefits for Older Workers
After meeting with advocates, the Trump administration confirmed it has scrapped a controversial regulation that would have cut disability benefits for older workers.
www.propublica.org
November 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
NEW: A proposed regulation would have denied disability benefits to at least 830,000 older blue-collar workers.
But after reporting from ProPublica and others, the Trump administration has killed the plan.
But after reporting from ProPublica and others, the Trump administration has killed the plan.