• Square Inc. has agreed to acquire Afterpay Ltd., a “buy now, pay later” firm, in a $29 billion all-stock deal. Square said that the trend of younger customers increasingly shunning traditional credit cards was a central part of its interest in making the deal for Afterpay. (The Wall Street Journal) 
• The China Securities Regulatory Commission is asking for talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission after the U.S. agency said it would require Chinese companies looking to list in U.S. stock exchanges to include additional risk disclosures. Earlier, China proposed a rule requiring most companies that want to list in a foreign country to do a cybersecurity review, which would tighten Beijing’s grip on private enterprise. (Bloomberg) 
• Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top House Democrats asked President Joe Biden to renew the eviction moratorium and extend it to Oct. 18 after Congress wasn’t able to get enough votes to keep the program from expiring over the weekend. Although the White House said it’s unable to extend the eviction ban, the Democratic lawmakers wrote that movement on the issue “must come from the administration.” (Politico) 
• A bipartisan group of senators yesterday released the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure proposal after weeks of back-and-forth negotiations, largely over measures on how to pay for the legislation. Senators will aim to finish votes on the bill by the end of this week, then start working on the Democrats’ roughly $3.5 trillion economic package pursued via reconciliation. (The Washington Post) 

The Pandemic Has Forced People to Rethink What They Want From a Job, but Pay, Benefits Still Top the List

Morning Consult

View Full Calendar

Wall Street Emerges as GOP’s Villain Amid House Price Pinch

Mark Niquette, Bloomberg

Conservatives looking for a fresh populist message to carry into 2022 are taking on Wall Street firms for buying up single family homes as rentals, attacking the growing practice as hurting the middle class. Blackstone Group Inc., KKR & Co. and other private-equity firms are increasingly making new investments in single-family homes to rent out, betting that the hot housing market will generate solid returns as the U.S. emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

Justice Department Advises Treasury to Release Trump Tax Returns

Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman, The Wall Street Journal

The Justice Department advised the Treasury Department to turn over former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to the House panel that has sought them since 2019, according to a memo released Friday, saying the panel had invoked sufficient reasons for the request. With the memo by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, the Biden administration is weighing in on a political question that has dogged the former president since he first ran for office: Whether the public had the right to know what he paid in U.S. taxes in his years as a businessman.

Infrastructure Deal Puts Cryptocurrencies in Washington’s Cross Hairs

Alan Rappeport, The New York Times

In a hunt for funds to help pay for the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure package, lawmakers have turned to the cryptocurrency industry as a potential source of tax revenue and are proposing tougher scrutiny of digital transactions. A provision of the package would require cryptocurrency brokers and investors to provide more disclosure about their transactions to the Internal Revenue Service.

Crypto Investors Get Ready for More Taxes — but Clearer Rules

Ben Steverman et al., Bloomberg

Sure, you might have to actually pay U.S. taxes on those crypto trades. But at least it will be easier to figure out how much you owe.

Tide of U.S. Debt Set to Recede, Countering Effect of Fed Taper

Liz McCormick, Bloomberg

For the first time in more than five years, the U.S. Treasury in coming months will be scaling back its mammoth quarterly sales of notes and bonds, Wall Street dealers say — in a shift so large it’s likely to more than counter the Federal Reserve’s looming reduction in purchases. The Treasury Department on Wednesday will announce its so-called quarterly refunding of longer-term securities, when it typically lays out any coming changes to debt-issuance strategy.

​​Missed debt ceiling deadline kicks off high-stakes fight

Sylvan Lane, The Hill

The legal limit on how much debt the U.S. government can owe was reimposed Sunday, kicking off a high-stakes battle over federal spending with dire implications for global financial markets. A two-year deal to suspend the debt ceiling lapsed at midnight following inaction from Congress and President Biden to give the U.S. more borrowing authority. 

The IRS erroneously rejected child tax credit payments for some families with an immigrant spouse

Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post

Samantha Alonso-Campos is still waiting for the $1,100 a month the IRS told her she should expect for her four children as an advance child tax credit payment. Lara Garcia didn’t get the $850 she was promised for her three children.

​​Brainard Differs With Powell Ahead of Biden Fed Chair Choice

Rich Miller, Bloomberg

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard staked out some different ground from Chair Jerome Powell as the policy makers await a presidential decision on who should lead the central bank in the coming four years. Brainard, considered a leading candidate to take over as Fed chief in February if Powell doesn’t get a second term, said she’s much more inclined to use regulatory tools to head off financial excesses like asset bubbles than the Powell-led central bank has been.

Amid focus on infrastructure, White House economic team wrenched back to coronavirus

Jeff Stein, The Washington Post

After weeks of tense negotiations with Congress on infrastructure, the White House economic team was wrenched back to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic this week, issuing a number of abrupt policy changes to combat the delta variant. As the vaccination campaign progressed and the economy rebounded, President Biden and senior administration officials had pivoted to advancing trillions of dollars in spending through infrastructure and other domestic programs as part of his broader agenda.

Delta variant and high prices cannot keep the US consumer down

James Politi et al., Financial Times

The recovery has proven resilient due to the willingness of Americans to spend.

Heavyweight Companies Enjoy Outsize Rewards as Economy Rebounds

Tom Fairless, The Wall Street Journal

Big companies raced ahead during the Covid-19 pandemic, leveraging the changes driven by the deepest business disruption in decades to grab a larger slice of the economic pie. Now, as the rich world bounces back from the shock, the heavyweights are extending that lead, spending more on investments and acquisitions, snapping up talent, employing big data and leveraging new technologies.

Welfare rolls decline during the pandemic despite economic upheaval

Amy Goldstein, The Washington Post

The number of Americans receiving financial help through the nation’s welfare system ebbed last year, even as economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic gripped the nation. As the pandemic destroyed jobs and health officials urged people to stay home to avoid exposure to the virus, 13 states left in place rules requiring residents to work or look for a job to qualify for monthly checks from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the main public program of cash assistance for the very poor.

Reduction in Fed’s Asset Purchases Might Not Spark ‘Taper Tantrum’

Paul Kiernan, The Wall Street Journal

Investors barely reacted last week when Federal Reserve officials signaled they could announce plans to start reducing their bond buying later this year. That was a relief for policy makers eager to avoid a repeat of the market turmoil that erupted in 2013 when the Fed made a similar announcement.

Fed Chairman Powell’s Approach to Regulation Has Drawn Criticism From Some Democrats

Andrew Ackerman, The Wall Street Journal

President Biden’s looming decision about who should be the next Federal Reserve chairman is prompting reviews of the current chief’s record on bank regulation and how strict the postcrisis rulebook should be for Wall Street. During Chairman Jerome Powell’s nearly four years as head of the Fed, the central bank has revamped big-bank stress tests, tailored its rules for U.S. lenders based on their size and simplified key postcrisis regulations such as the Volcker rule prohibition on proprietary trading.

A Wall Street Dressing Down: Always. Be. Casual.

Lananh Nguyen and Melodie Jeng, The New York Times

The suits are returning to the office. In chinos. 

Fired Executive Says Deutsche Bank’s DWS Overstated Sustainable-Investing Efforts

Patricia Kowsmann and Ken Brown, The Wall Street Journal

Deutsche Bank AG’s asset management arm, DWS Group, tells investors that environmental, social and governance concerns are at the heart of everything it does and that its ESG standards are above the industry average. But behind closed doors, it has struggled to define and implement an ESG strategy, at times painting a rosier-than-reality picture to investors, according to its former sustainability chief and internal emails and presentations seen by The Wall Street Journal.

Citigroup CFO Sees No Impact From China’s Regulatory Crackdown

Jennifer Surane, Bloomberg

Citigroup Inc.’s chief financial officer said China’s recent moves to crack down on companies isn’t likely to harm the bank’s business across the Asia-Pacific region. While Citigroup has decided to exit retail banking operations in some Asian markets, it will continue to offer services to large corporations in the region through its institutional-clients group, Mark Mason said on a conference call Friday for fixed-income investors. 

Goldman Sachs Bumps Junior Banker Pay, Aligning With Rivals

Mary Biekert, Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised pay for its junior investment bankers, among the last of the big Wall Street banks to do so following a presentation by the lender’s own analysts revealing their crushing workloads. First-year analysts at Goldman Sachs will now earn at least $110,000, according to people familiar with the matter.

U.S. House advances bills to address Archegos, GameStop turmoil

Pete Schroeder and Svea Herbst-bayliss, Reuters

Wealthy families that set up investment funds known as “family offices” to manage their personal wealth would face stricter oversight from U.S. regulators under a bill advanced by a U.S. congressional panel late on Thursday. The bill was among 11 that lawmakers hope will address failings highlighted by March’s meltdown of family office Archegos Capital which led to billions of dollars in losses for some banks and January’s GameStop saga. 

Inflation Is Hot Now, but Investors Are Betting That Won’t Last

Akane Otani and Sam Goldfarb, The Wall Street Journal

Investors are betting the inflationary streak that has sent prices of everything from used cars to lumber soaring will fade in the coming years, a reassuring sign for markets struggling to find direction. Few issues have vexed money managers more this year than inflation. As the global economy has regained its footing, prices for goods and services have risen—in many cases far faster than economists had anticipated. 

Visa Is Weighing Vaccine Mandate Ahead of Staff Returning

Jennifer Surane, Bloomberg

Visa Inc. is considering requiring employees to get Covid-19 vaccines ahead of asking them to return to offices in the fall. The firm has reopened most of its offices around the world, but the vast majority of staff have continued to work from home, Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly said. 

Hedge funds enter private equity turf with deals for unlisted companies

Laurence Fletcher, Financial Times

Buying into private companies seen as way to bypass overcrowded IPOs.

A tsunami of deferred debt is about to hit homeowners no longer protected by a foreclosure moratorium

Julia Ingram, The Washington Post

Only one week after New Orleans enacted a citywide stay-at-home order in March 2020, Laura Landry was hospitalized with covid-19, putting her out of work. Before she could recover, she was furloughed from her jobs as a nail technician and hotel employee.

Eviction Ban’s Expiration Leaves Renters in South Appearing Most Vulnerable

Will Parker, The Wall Street Journal

A national ban on most residential evictions expired after Saturday, setting the stage for a potentially widespread displacement of low-income renters that looks poised to hit Southern states particularly hard. Meanwhile, only about $3 billion out of $46.6 billion in federal rental assistance meant to prevent tenant evictions and help struggling landlords had reached landlords and tenants by the end of June, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, which noted that the pace at which local programs were disbursing the funds has been increasing.

Real Estate Is Booming in Bozeman, Mont.—or Shall We Say, Boz Angeles

Katherine Clarke, The Wall Street Journal

When Dana and Erin Mahoney relocated from Los Angeles to Bozeman, Mont., some 15 years ago, the city, nestled in the Rocky Mountains, didn’t even have a Starbucks. With three daughters under 6 at the time, Ms. Mahoney left her career in corporate real estate—and the long commute that went with it—in search of what she called a more wholesome environment, where the couple’s children could grow up skiing and shoveling snow.

Pandemic fuels broadest global house price boom in two decades

Valentina Romei and Chris Giles, Financial Times

FT Series: Low interest rates and extra savings have boosted market, reviving debate over financial stability.

Fintechs Need to Be Regulated More Like Banks, Says Report From Global Regulator Group

Julie Steinberg, The Wall Street Journal

Calls are growing louder to impose more stringent regulation on technology giants that spill over into financial services. A paper published by the Bank for International Settlements, a consortium of central banks and financial regulators, said tech companies that play a critical role in payments and other areas should be subject to stricter regulatory scrutiny that considers issues beyond traditional market risks.

Robinhood Sold IPO Shares to More Than 300,000 of Its Customers

Marie Beuadette, The Wall Street Journal

Hundreds of thousands of Robinhood Markets Inc.’s customers bought shares in the trading app’s rocky initial public offering earlier this week. In a post on its app, Robinhood said 301,573 users participated in the IPO, which raised about $2 billion and valued the company at $32 billion.

Robinhood IPO: why believers failed to deliver the ‘moonshot’

Madison Darbyshire et al., Financial Times

Fear of regulatory intervention has put off retail traders and institutional investors alike.

How the Fed Is Hedging Its Inflation Bet

Phil Gramm and Thomas R. Saving, The Wall Street Journal

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last month told the House Banking Committee “it would be a mistake” to tighten monetary policy “at a time when virtually all forecasters” believe that inflation “will come down” on its own. His message couldn’t have been clearer: Mr. Powell isn’t in a hurry to start paring the Fed’s monthly purchases of $120 billion in Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities, and the Fed plans to continue monetary easing into 2022.

Narrowing the U.S. wealth gap is important. Narrowing the racial wealth gap is urgent.

Editorial Board, The Washington Post

The Federal Housing Act. The Social Security Act. The G.I. Bill. To list these landmark 20th-century laws is to understand how important government support was to building a broad middle class, endowed with a modest but meaningful “piece of the rock,” in the United States.

How Should Investors React to China’s Crackdown?

Mohamed A. El-Erian, Bloomberg

China’s high-profile regulatory curbs on private companies have done more than inflict losses on domestic and international investors. They have also raised questions about whether the Chinese market as a whole risks becoming “uninvestible” for foreign investors, what that means for other financial markets and how investors could react.