December 20, 2020 | Daily JAM, Mid Term |
On Sunday Congressional leaders reached agreement on a $900 billion coronavirus stimulus/relief. It is expected to be merged with a sweeping $1.4 trillion spending bill that includes 12 annual appropriation bills that would keep the government funded for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends on September 30, 2021 (and that began on October 1, 2020), creating a $2.3 trillion legislative monster that almost no one in Congress has read in its entirety.
December 18, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed down 0.35% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.415. The NASDAQ Composite was off 0.07% and the NASDAQ 100 slipped 0.11%. The small cap Russell 2000 dropped 0.41%. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) closed off 0.22%. Those aren’t bad results for the day–considering. Considering that Congress is watching the clock tick down to a government shutdown at midnight tonight without a stopgap or a complete spending bill for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2020. Considering that Congress has not been able to resolve the remaining disagreements and pass a new coronavirus stimulus/relief bill. Federal programs such as unemployment extensions, unemployment for gig workers and the self-employed, and a moratorium on evictions all expire on December 31.
December 17, 2020 | Daily JAM |
Only a few points of disagreement stand in the way of a new coronavirus stimulus/relief package. But those disagreements aren’t going down easily. It now looks like there’s almost no chance that Congress will vote on the bill before Friday. And that could mean that the government shutdown over the weekend if a senator objects to a temporary spending resolution while talks continue.
December 16, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
Knock me over with a feather. Leaders of both parties in Congress look to be near a deal on a $900 billion coronavirus stimulus/relief package with passage possible by the end of the week, the Washington Post is reporting this morning.
December 12, 2020 | Daily JAM |
Expect news from the Federal Reserve and from Congress on a government shutdown and a new coronavirus stimulus/relief bill. The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meets on Wednesday, December 16. The markets expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged, but there’s likely to be verbiage out of the central bank that will move markets, although perhaps just fractionally.
December 11, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
Today, Friday, December 11, Senate passed a one-week spending bill that will prevent a government shutdown. The bill had already passed the House of Representatives. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill. The legislation simply extend government spending at current levels for a week.
December 9, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
The government runs out of money–again–at midnight on December 11. The House of Representative plans to vote on Wednesday, today, on a continuing resolution that would extend spending for seven days at current levels. The Senate will take up that bill after the House vote. And assuming that no senator uses any of that chamber’s arcane rules to delay the vote, Congress will have averted a shutdown by the slimmest of margins
December 7, 2020 | Daily JAM, Short Term |
House majority leader Steny Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, confirmed in a tweet that the House will vote on a one-week spending extension Wednesday to avert a government shutdown on Saturday. “The House will vote on Wednesday on a one-week CR [continuing resolution] to keep government open while negotiations continue,” Hoyer wrote.
December 6, 2020 | Daily JAM, Short Term |
News this week from the Food & Drug Administration on a coronavirus vaccine–and maybe even the start of vaccinations–plus news on action on funding to keep the government open past Friday–plus news on a new coronavirus stimulus package–all this week
December 2, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
In a pair of late-night tweets yesterday, President Donald Trump threatened to veto the annual defense bill authorizing nearly $1 trillion in military spending unless Congress opens the door for Facebook, Twitter and other social-media sites to be held legally liable for the way they police their platforms. An actual veto–and maybe even the threat of a veto–of the defense authorization bill would scuttle all attempts to put together an actual spending authorization bill to fund the federal government after the current stop-gap measure expires on December 11.
December 1, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing, Short Term |
It may be just talk, but even talk is a step forward for the stalled plan for a new round of coronavirus stimulus and aid. One of the most positive signs is the Republicans in the Senate and House are talking to the White House this time. The window for any action is very narrow since Congress needs to pass something to continue funding the government by December 12 or risk another shutdown. All of the Cares Act provisions for extended unemployment or expanded unemployment as well as those for eviction protection expire at the end of December.
November 30, 2020 | Daily JAM, Short Term |
Will the jobs report on Friday, December 4, be worrying enough to blast Washington out of what increasing looks like another stalemate over funding the government and another coronavirus stimulus bill? Economists generally expect that the jobs report will show that the economy continues to slow under the impact of new economic restrictions intended to slow the rate of coronavirus infections. Right now Congress and the White House aren’t showing much sense of urgency over either the economic pain in the country, which will get significantly worse when just about all the earlier coronavirus stimulus programs expire on December 3, or on passing a bill to fund the federal government past the December 10 deadline.
