• President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order today targeting competition, including measures specifically focused on bank mergers by urging the Federal Reserve and the Department of Justice to revise merger guidelines and tighten scrutiny of deals, a source familiar with the matter said. The order will also ask the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to create a rule that gives customers full control of their data, allowing them to more easily switch banks, according to the source. (Reuters) 
• Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said in an interview that the Delta coronavirus variant is a threat to global recovery, noting low vaccination rates in some parts of the world. Daly, a voting member of the Fed’s monetary policy committee, said that the Fed would stick to its August 2020 framework, and while discussion around “tapering” is warranted, the central bank should “keep our eye on the long-term goals, which are full employment and price stability.” (Financial Times) 
• Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance, a state financial aid agency that services loans and grants for the U.S. Education Department, said it will not renew its contract to service federal loans as federal loan programs “have grown increasingly complex and challenging while the cost to service those programs increased dramatically,” a spokesperson said. PHEAA has faced criticism for its administration of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, under which borrowers can make 120 on-time monthly payments on their loans for 10 years and have the remaining balance canceled, with the CFPB accusing PHEAA in 2017 of miscounting qualified payments and not quickly correcting the error for borrowers. (The Washington Post) 
• Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Senate Banking Committee chair, said he doesn’t expect Fed Vice Chair Randal Quarles will be reappointed by Biden to oversee financial supervision when Quarles’ term ends in October. Brown, whose committee considers Fed nominations, said Quarles has “done the bidding of Wall Street far too many years.” (Bloomberg) 

Correction: Morning Consult Finance on Wednesday misstated Brian Brooks’ title; he is CEO of Binance.US, not Binance. He also said Binance.US could go public, not Binance. 

The Bond Market Is Telling Us to Worry About Growth, Not Inflation

The New York Times

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Dems wrestle over control of the infrastructure throttle

Burgess Everett and Sarah Ferris, Politico

Democrats are hurtling toward their most consequential stretch of legislating since the passage of Obamacare, with major decisions left unmade as they wrangle over the size and scope of President Joe Biden’s sweeping domestic agenda. July and August will render a decisive verdict on Democrats’ so-called “two-track” strategy of enacting Biden’s jobs and families plans via twin bills, one with GOP support focusing on physical infrastructure and the other on a partisan spending plan centered on fighting climate change, increasing child care and raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

‘Financially Hobbled for Life’: The Elite Master’s Degrees That Don’t Pay Off

Melissa Korn and Andrea Fuller, The Wall Street Journal

Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000. Yet two years after earning their master’s degrees, half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year.

Finance Ministers Meet in Venice to Finalize Global Tax Agreement

Alan Rappeport, The New York Times

The world’s top economic leaders are convening on Friday to hash out crucial details of what would be the largest overhaul of the international tax system in a century, kicking off a three-month race to finish a deal by the end of the year. Gathering in this ancient hub of international commerce, finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations are pressing ahead with plans to put an end to global tax havens and force multinational corporations to pay an appropriate share of tax wherever they operate. 

Job Openings Are at Record Highs. Why Aren’t Unemployed Americans Filling Them?

Jon Hilsenrath and Sarah Chaney Cambon, The Wall Street Journal

More than nine million Americans said in May that they wanted jobs and couldn’t find them. Companies said they had more than nine million jobs open that weren’t filled, a record high.

A Great Inflation Redux? Economists Point to Big Differences.

Jeanna Smialek and Ben Casselman, The New York Times

The last time big government spending, supply chain shocks and rising wages threatened to keep inflation meaningfully higher, President Biden’s top economic adviser was in diapers. Jump forward half a century, and some aspects of 2021 look a little bit like a do-over of the late 1960s and the 1970s, which many economists think laid the groundwork for the breakaway inflation that took hold and lasted into the 1980s.

In New Papers, Economists Argue Deficits Are Like Ponzi Schemes

Peter Coy, Bloomberg Businessweek

The current boom in deficit spending by governments around the world probably owes at least something to Olivier Blanchard, who in 2019 wrote, “Put bluntly, public debt may have no fiscal cost.” Blanchard, a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, argued that if the economy’s growth rate is durably higher than the government’s borrowing rate, a lump of debt becomes more affordable over time because interest payments shrink as a share of the economy.

U.S. banks to see big jump in 2Q profits before results return to normal

David Henry, Reuters

With feared pandemic loan losses failing to materialize, most big U.S. banks are expected to report a stunning rebound in quarterly profits next week even as trading income slumps and lending revenue stalls on low interest rates and weak demand. Among them, Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the country’s three largest banks, will more than double their second-quarter profits, according to analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

Wells Fargo tells customers it’s shuttering all personal lines of credit

Hugh Son, CNBC

Wells Fargo is ending a popular consumer lending product, angering some of its customers, CNBC has learned. The bank is shutting down all existing personal lines of credit in coming weeks and no longer offers the product, according to customer letters reviewed by CNBC.

Morgan Stanley Discloses Breach of Stock-Plan Customer Data

Jordan Robertson, Bloomberg

Morgan Stanley on Thursday disclosed that a data breach at one of its contractors led to the theft of personal information about some customers whose stock accounts had gone dormant. The bank said in a notice to affected clients that the cyber intrusion affected Guidehouse LLP, a consulting company that Morgan Stanley uses to find current addresses for clients of its stock-plan business whose accounts had been inactive for long periods of time and whose assets were at risk of being liquidated and turned over to the state.

Lutnick Says Burned-Out Bankers Should Choose Another Living

Steve Dickson, Bloomberg

unior bankers complaining about long hours and bosses’ stressful demands should rethink their career choice, said Cantor Fitzgerald LP Chief Executive Officer Howard Lutnick. “Young bankers who decide they’re working too hard — choose another living is my view,” Lutnick said Thursday in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

US regulator drops case against two former forex traders

Kate Beioley, Financial Times

Richard Usher and Rohan Ramchandani had been acquitted on a criminal charge of price-fixing in 2018.

Auditor Watchdog Is Overhauled After SEC Report Cites Years of Dysfunction

Jean Eaglesham and Dave Michaels, The Wall Street Journal

After a run of staff terminations and resignations, whistleblower complaints, a racial-discrimination claim and disputed allegations that then-Chairman William Duhnke tossed a soda can at another board member, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is back to square one.

Senators call on US securities regulator to investigate Didi IPO

Kiran Stacey and James Politi, Financial Times

Two members of powerful banking committee say SEC must examine whether company misled investors.

The Meme Stock Fantasy Is Becoming a Reality for GameStop and AMC

Spencer Jakab, The Wall Street Journal

f you really, truly believe in meme stocks, clap your hands. Two decades ago psychologist Frank Durgin coined the term “The Tinkerbell Effect” to describe things that can exist only because people think they do. 

U.S. Mortgage Rates Slide to Lowest Since February at 2.9%

Maria Heeter, Bloomberg

Mortgage rates in the U.S. dropped to the lowest in almost five months. The average for a 30-year loan was 2.9%, down from 2.98% last week and the lowest since Feb. 18, Freddie Mac said in a statement on Thursday.

Cryptocurrency Operator Circle to Go Public in $4.5 Billion SPAC Merger

Paul Vigna, The Wall Street Journal

Circle Internet Financial Inc., one of the biggest companies in the cryptocurrency sector, is merging with a special-purpose acquisition company to go public in a deal that values the company at $4.5 billion. On Thursday, Circle said it is merging with Concord Acquisition Corp. CND 6.67% , a SPAC sponsored by investment firm Atlas Merchant Capital that raised $276 million in its December initial public offering.

Binance Booms as Crypto Trading Unfolds Beyond Nations’ Reach

Tom Schoenberg et al., Bloomberg

It pays its people in a digital token of its own devising. It’s based wherever its founder happens to be. A growing list of countries want no part of it. And Binance Holdings Ltd. might just be the biggest, craziest thing in the big, crazy realm of cryptocurrencies. Welcome to the world of Changpeng Zhao, the elusive, flip-flop-wearing software developer everyone calls CZ — and the brains behind Binance. 

BofA Debuts Crypto Research Team in Latest Wall Street Push

Jennifer Surane, Bloomberg

Bank of America Corp. created a new team dedicated to researching cryptocurrencies, marking Wall Street’s latest push to capitalize on investors’ frenzy for digital assets. Alkesh Shah will lead the effort, which will also cover technologies tied to digital currencies, and report to Michael Maras, who leads fixed-income, currencies and commodities research globally, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. 

SoFi CEO says customers are warned on every crypto trade ‘you could lose all of your money’

Pia Singh, CNBC

Online finance company SoFi warns crypto customers before every purchase on its platform to be wary of volatile digital currencies, CEO Anthony Noto told CNBC on Thursday.  “We take a very structured and serious approach to consumer protection,” Noto said on Squawk Box. 

Tech Companies Can Make Predatory Payday Loans Obsolete. Here’s How

Jeanette Quick (head of compliance & public policy at Gusto.), Morning Consult

The pandemic has left many Americans in dire financial situations – the number of people in poverty has jumped a full percentage point since early 2020. Typically, this would be a boon for the payday loan industry, which benefits from economic desperation.