• President Donald Trump reiterated his threat to use executive orders to lengthen a moratorium on evictions, halt payroll tax collections and raise unemployment benefits if a deal on a new coronavirus relief package cannot be reached soon. The Trump administration has asked federal agencies to identify unspent funds disbursed via the $2 trillion CARES Act passed in March, according to two people briefed on the matter, with White House officials working to determine whether that money could be reappropriated and used to achieve Trump’s goals. (The Washington Post)

• In addition to pursuing Trump’s tax records, the Manhattan district attorney’s office subpoenaed Deutsche Bank AG last year for financial records that the president and his company had provided to the German lender, according to four people familiar with the inquiry. The reported subpoena for Deutsche Bank, which has loaned Trump and the Trump Organization at least $2 billion since the late 1990s, appears to be the first news of a criminal inquiry into the president’s dealings with his longtime lender, which two people familiar with the inquiry said complied with the subpoena. (The New York Times)

• The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said its investment chief, Ben Meng, has resigned after more than a year with the fund, with Calpers reporting a 4.7 percent return during his first fiscal year in charge. Meng, who previously served as the deputy chief investment officer of China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, will be succeeded by deputy Dan Bienvenue as interim CIO and leaves Calpers with 71 percent of its assets on hand necessary to meet future pension commitments to its more than 2 million workers and retirees. (The Wall Street Journal)

U.S. Jobs Report to Mark Slowdown, or Worse, in Labor Recovery
Reade Pickert and Maeve Sheehey, Bloomberg

Friday’s employment report is forecast to show a 1.5 million increase in nonfarm payrolls in July, the median estimate in projections ranging from a 600,000 decline to a gain of 3.2 million. That’s following a combined rise of 7.5 million in May and June, which just started to make up the 22 million drop over the first two months of the pandemic.

Foreign Workers Living Overseas Mistakenly Received $1,200 U.S. Stimulus Checks
Sacha Pfeiffer, NPR News

Thousands of foreign workers who entered the U.S. on temporary work visas received $1,200 checks in error during the first round of stimulus payments, and many of them are spending the money in their home nations. One tax preparation firm told NPR that it has clients from 129 countries who mistakenly received stimulus checks, including Brazil, Canada, China, India, Nigeria and South Korea.

U.S. Treasury Expects Borrowing Needs to Remain Elevated Amid Coronavirus Spending
Kate Davidson, The Wall Street Journal

The Treasury Department said Wednesday it expects the government’s borrowing needs to moderate somewhat this quarter but remain elevated amid an unprecedented surge in federal spending to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Lapse in Extra Unemployment Benefits to Hurt U.S. Recovery, Economists Say
Kate Davidson, The Wall Street Journal

Many economists expect last week’s expiration of $600 in enhanced weekly unemployment benefits to lead to a sharp drop-off in household spending and a setback for the U.S. economy’s near-term recovery, even if the lapse turns out to be temporary.

Fed’s Clarida Sees Third-Quarter Growth, Slow Recovery
Josh Mitchell, The Wall Street Journal

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said he expects the economy to grow in the third quarter, adding that activity could return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021.

Wall Street Enforcement Chief to Leave Agency
Dave Michaels, The Wall Street Journal

The co-chief of enforcement for Wall Street’s main regulator will leave the government this month, the first high-profile director to leave the agency as it readies for turnover among its top personnel around the November presidential election.

Lawmakers Seek Records on Planned Kodak Federal Loan
Rachael Levy and Geoffrey Rogow, The Wall Street Journal

Democrat-led congressional committees are seeking records from Eastman Kodak Co. and the government office that announced last week a potential $765 million loan to the onetime photography giant, the latest sign of scrutiny of the company and its part in a U.S. plan to rebuild domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Democrats introduce bill to give the Federal Reserve a new mission: Ending racial inequality
Heather Long, The Washington Post

Congressional Democrats introduced new legislation on Wednesday that would make reducing racial inequality in the U.S. economy an official part of the Federal Reserve’s mission.

A growing side effect of the pandemic: Permanent job loss
Megan Cassella, Politico

Tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs in the coronavirus recession, but for many of them the news is getting even worse: Their positions are going away forever.

‘I want to get an outcome’: McConnell defends strategy as he faces GOP grumbling
John Bresnahan, Politico

McConnell is pushing a $1 trillion Senate plan to address the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic that has support from President Donald Trump. Yet Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are demanding trillions of dollars more to deal with the crisis. Talks between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and the two Democratic leaders have turned into a giant game of chicken even as millions of Americans face growing financial hardships and the U.S. economy continues to stumble along.

More generous unemployment benefits lead to better jobs: study
Niv Elis, The Hill

More generous unemployment insurance (UI) benefits help workers find better jobs, according to a study at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

U.S. Trade Gap Narrows as Autos Spur Record Exports Increase
Elizabeth Dexheimer and Katia Dmitrieva, Bloomberg

The deficit in U.S. trade of goods and services narrowed in June for the first time since February as exports jumped, though shipments remained well below pre-pandemic levels. Exports increased from the prior month by 9.4%, the most in records back to 1992 to $158.3 billion, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday. Imports climbed 4.7%, the most since March 2015, to $208.9 billion.

Businesses Thought They Were Covered for the Pandemic. Insurers Say No.
Mary Williams Walsh, The New York Times

The N.B.A.’s Houston Rockets and restaurants like Chez Panisse are among those suing their insurers for refusing to pay “business interruption” claims during the coronavirus outbreak.

How Hotel Chains Got a Slice of Government Aid for Small Businesses
Isaac Arnsdorf, ProPublica

Up to $1 billion in small business relief dollars went to hotel chains with more than 500 employees. One beneficiary was the client of a former aide to Sen. Susan Collins who was among many lobbying her to create this special exception.

European Stocks Slip on Earnings; Gold Advances: Markets Wrap
Todd White, Bloomberg

European stocks slid on earnings, while U.S. futures were steady before jobs data and word on the latest American stimulus package.

Huge US bond issuance may compel Fed to alter purchase plans
Colby Smith, Financial Times

Analysts say central bank should shift focus of purchases towards long-term debt.

German Banks Push Back as American Investors Seek More Influence
Jack Ewing, The New York Times

A few weeks ago the American private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management seemed to be on the cusp of provoking a major shake-up in German banking after it pressured the two top executives of the country’s second-largest lender to quit.

Are trading apps propping up markets?
Niv Elis, The Hill

The rush of armchair traders investing through Robinhood, an easy-to-use app for trading stocks, may be helping inflate a stock bubble and setting up investors for a potential bust.

As U.S. Congress wrangles over aid, millions of renters get desperate
Jonnelle Marte, Reuters

Amanda Geno accepted what felt like a dream job offer on March 13 from a college near Holyoke, Massachusetts, putting an end to a six-month search after she was laid off in the fall. Or so she thought.

Quicken Loans parent sells shares in IPO below target to raise $1.8 billion
Joshua Franklin, Reuters

Rocket Companies Inc, the parent of U.S. mortgage lender Quicken Loans, said its initial public offering (IPO) was priced at $18 per share on Wednesday, below a target range, and that it sold fewer shares than planned.

Sanders Tweets He Wants to Tax Titans’ ‘Obscene’ Wealth Gains
Berber Jin, Bloomberg

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said he will introduce legislation to tax what he called the “obscene wealth gains” from billionaires during the coronavirus crisis.

Tax preparers warn unemployment recipients could owe IRS
Naomi Jagoda, The Hill

Tax preparers are concerned that many of the millions of Americans receiving unemployment benefits due to the pandemic are unaware that they might owe money to the IRS next year.

IRS Processing More $500 Child Stimulus Payments After Criticism
Laura Davison, Bloomberg

The Internal Revenue Service is sending $500 payments to the children of some stimulus relief recipients who hadn’t gotten that part of the aid package after lawmakers complained that the agency wasn’t moving fast enough.

Bitcoin Delirium Makes a Reappearance While Risk Assets Surge
Amena Saad, Bloomberg

The largest cryptocurrency is surging again while other risk-on assets such as stocks approach record highs and even gold hits fresh daily milestones. After briefly exceeding $12,000 over the weekend for the first time in a year before experiencing a flash crash that pushed it almost back to $10,000, Bitcoin is quickly re-approaching that higher level.

Striking a Stimulus Deal Shouldn’t Be That Hard
Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg

Among the oddities of the current negotiations over the next big pandemic relief and economic stimulus bill is that there really don’t appear to be any obvious obstacles to a deal — as long as both sides want one.

The politics of fiscal relief is failing Americans
The Editorial Board, Financial Times

Stimulus has downsides but Congress must err on the side of action.

Analysis: How COVID-19 Has Changed Consumer Confidence in All 50 States
John Leer and Nick Laughlin, Morning Consult

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, consumer confidence has shifted dramatically in all 50 states. However, the precise magnitude and nature of those shifts varies in important ways, and those nuances carry vast implications for policymakers, businesses, and other leaders as they seek to understand the unfolding crisis and respond effectively. This report, based on Morning Consult Economic Intelligence data, tracks state-by-state consumer sentiment since the beginning of the year, and will be updated twice a month to reflect the latest data.