The Recap: JPMorgan Chase takes a record $13 billion hit After months of tense negotiations, the Justice Department finalized a record $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase to resolve allegations that the bank knowingly sold faulty mortgage securities that contributed to the financial crisis. ¶ This marks the largest penalty ever levied against a single company and represents a colossal win for the government after years of public criticism over its struggle to hold Wall Street accountable for crisis-era sins. It is also a tremendous black eye for a bank once lauded as the nation's strongest financial institution to emerge from the crisis. ¶ The agreement puts to rest multiple state and federal probes into the JPMorgan's sale of mortgage securities to investors. But it leaves the bank and its executives at risk of criminal prosecution for fraud. General Motors is poised to shake off a half-decade of U.S. government oversight next month, underscoring the comeback of a once-moribund industry and gaining leeway over a $26.8 billion cash pile. The Treasury plans to sell its last 31.1 million GM common shares by year's end, depending on market conditions. Ally Financial repaid the Treasury $5.9 billion in its latest installment as it moves to get out from government ownership. Investor Bill Ackman said he will take his Herbalife bet "to the end of the earth," even if it means losing as much as $500 million on the investment. Herbalife is taking too long to produce reaudits of its books, Ackman said, maintaining his allegation that Herbalife operates an illegal pyramid scheme. Herbalife has denied Ackman's claims. Cash America, a major payday lender, reached a $19 million settlement with the government over claims of robo-signing. MF Global must pay back $1.21 billion to ensure customers recover the losses sustained when the brokerage firm imploded in 2011. The restitution follows a complaint filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleging that the firm unlawfully used customer funds for its needs. With $41 billion in assets, MF Global was the eighth-largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. The National Labor Relations Board said it authorized legal action against Wal-Mart Stores for allegedly retaliating against workers who participated in strikes against the company over low pay. At a Wal-Mart store in Ohio, needy employees received Thanksgiving food donations from fellow workers. Tribune Co. is cutting about 700 jobs as part of a restructuring of its newspaper business. In addition to the Chicago Tribune, the company owns the Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times and other daily newspapers. Shareholders of AT&T and Verizon are seeking more details related to the telecom giants" sharing of customer information with governments, showing that investors are starting to push back over the role of communications companies in spying operations. Activists include Trillium Asset Management of Boston and the $161 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund. North American and European retailers said that they agreed on fire and safety inspection standards for up to 2,000 factories in Bangladesh that supply such retailers as Gap, Wal-Mart and H&M. A Johnson & Johnson unit has agreed to pay an estimated $2.5 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits from individuals allegedly injured by the company's artificial hip implants. Yahoo boosted its stock-buyback plan by $5 billion, returning more cash to shareholders as chief executive Marissa Mayer seeks to revive growth at the largest U.S. Internet portal. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said encrypting Internet traffic may prevent governments from censoring their populations" communications within a decade. He described the coming of a "network age" in which Internet users communicate and organize socially through private channels shielded by encryption, which scrambles data with a mathematical formula that can be decoded only with a special digital key.