The $180 million conflict that kept Scaramucci out of the White House in January has only gotten shadier

Anthony Scaramucci is selling his fund of funds business to a Chinese conglomerate with ties to the government. The firm, the HNA Group, is facing an increasing number of questions at home and abroad, and the deal is subject to review by the US Treasury. The sale reportedly kept Scaramucci out of the White House in January because of the conflicts it raises.

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  Conflicting reports emerge over firing of White House press aide

  The Hill
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  New White House comm director is full of love

  CNN

Starbucks Has a Disturbing Problem: Even Its Cheerleaders Must Admit This Is a Major Issue

If you listen to Starbucks (SBUX) execs, then everything at the coffee giant is amazing.  Do some work in Microsoft (MSFT) Excel (as the analysts at Credit Suisse did below on Wednesday), and a glaring issue comes to light. That is, for all its digital leadership and ability to crank out new, more expensive drinks, Starbucks sales are on a long-term downtrend. Seeing as employee hourly wages and benefit costs are on the rise, as are costs to open new locations, a stubborn downtrend in sales is very unwelcome. It's especially unwelcome as most on Wall Street remain obsessed with Starbucks' growth prospects -- they could be in for some unfortunate surprises on the bottom line over the next year

Here’s what it looks like when the foreclosure ‘pig’ moves through the housing-crisis ‘python’

As the effects of the housing crisis further recede, markers of distress are declining, with one notable exception: Among the batches of severely delinquent mortgages bought by institutional investors, foreclosures are on the rise. The trend is a reminder of the reasons many community advocates resisted allowing institutional investors to buy delinquent mortgages in government auctions that began in 2010. Wall Street, those advocates said, shouldn’t be rewarded for its role in creating the housing crisis with the chance to buy for pennies on the dollar the very assets whose values it dented. The government auctions promised a risk-sharing solution that would benefit nearly everyone: Homeowners