General
Trump Asks Supreme Court to Block New York Subpoena for Tax Records
Jess Bravin et al., The Wall Street Journal
President Trump asked the Supreme Court Thursday to block a subpoena for his tax records issued by New York prosecutors investigating hush-money payments to two women who allege they had affairs with Mr. Trump. The filing marks a new phase in Mr. Trump’s battles with the judicial branch, thrusting the Supreme Court into the constitutional struggle between a norm-smashing president and law-enforcement authorities and congressional opponents.
Blankfein and Cooperman Strike Back at Warren Over Her New Ad
Max Abelson, Bloomberg
Billionaires Lloyd Blankfein and Leon Cooperman, both targets of Elizabeth Warren’s new campaign ad, struck back on Thursday. Blankfein, who ran Goldman Sachs Group Inc. until last year, said on Twitter that vilifying the rich is bad for the U.S.
Powell Signals Optimism on Economy but Cites Trade Uncertainties
Nick Timiraos, The Wall Street Journal
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank was optimistic its interest-rate cuts this year would buoy the U.S. economy against lingering headwinds, including trade uncertainty and a slowdown in global growth. The U.S.-China trade conflict that escalated this summer has contributed to declines in domestic manufacturing activity, Mr. Powell told the House Budget Committee on Thursday.
Mnuchin emerges, again, as key player in budget talks
Jennifer Shutt, Roll Call
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is surfacing as the administration’s liaison with Congress in spending negotiations, reprising a role he played over the summer when he helped clinch a budget caps deal freeing up $171 billion more for appropriators to parcel out this fiscal year. Mnuchin spoke with Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday night.
Fed’s Bullard: After Three Rate Cuts, It’s Now Time for Fed to Hold Steady
Michael S. Derby, The Wall Street Journal
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said he doesn’t see any need to lower interest rates beyond the three cuts the U.S. central bank has made this year. “Now it makes sense to wait and see how the economy responds during the fourth quarter here and into 2020” before contemplating further action, Mr. Bullard told reporters after a speech in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday.
New York Fed’s Williams Backs Keeping Rates Steady
Michael S. Derby, The Wall Street Journal
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams echoed the views of many of his colleagues Thursday, saying that after three rate cuts, U.S. central-bank interest-rate policy is in the right place to deal with the current environment of uncertainty. “The economy is in a good place, and monetary policy is as well,” Mr. Williams said in the text of a speech to be presented at a conference at the San Francisco Fed.
U.S. Official Says First-Phase China Trade Talks in Final Stages
Shawn Donnan, Bloomberg
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said negotiations over the first phase of a trade agreement with China were coming down to the final stages, with the two sides in close contact.
Battleground Democrats make USMCA push amid impeachment furor
Sabrina Rodriguez et al., Politico
A group of battleground House Democrats on Thursday staged a dramatic show of support for President Donald Trump’s NAFTA update at a special caucus meeting on the issue, upping pressure on Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the final stretch of negotiations. The moderate Democrats privately worked to rally support for the trade deal ahead of the caucus-wide discussion, encouraging each other to show up and voice support for the deal, according to multiple people familiar with the conversations.
U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher, Treasuries Decline: Markets Wrap
Samuel Potter, Bloomberg
U.S. equity-index futures climbed with Asian stocks after a senior American official signaled progress on a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies. European shares erased gains and Treasuries slipped.
Banking
Is time running out to save black-owned banks?
John Reosti, American Banker
A recent bank failure and a new legislative effort are drawing attention to the struggles of black-owned banks. City National Bank of New Jersey was shuttered by regulators earlier this month, reducing the number of black-owned banks to 21.
Goldman Promotes 465 Managing Directors as It Looks to Regain Its Luster
Liz Hoffman, The Wall Street Journal
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS 0.05% promoted 465 employees to the role of managing director, a smaller class than previous ones as the bank looks to cut costs and restore the luster of its upper ranks. Managing directors are the last role before a slot in Goldman’s partnership, which David Solomon, in the chief executive role for a year, has been working to shrink and re-energize.
Ex-Deutsche Bank executive to pay $500,000 subprime settlement
Kadhim Shubber, Financial Times
Paul Mangione denied DoJ claims he misled investors into buying dud securities.
Financial Products and Investments
New Proxy Voting Rules Take Aim at Powerful Advisory Firms
Andrea Vittorio, Bloomberg Businessweek
The shareholder vote is fundamental to how publicly traded companies are run. But the question of who gets a real voice in a proxy fight is more complicated than one vote for every share.
Housing and GSEs
FHA capital level is the highest since 2007
Kathleen Howley, HousingWire
The Federal Housing Administration’s flagship Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund is in the best condition since before the financial crisis, with capital levels at the highest level since 2007. The FHA’s annual report to Congress showed a capital ratio of 4.84%, up from 2.76% last year. That’s from a fund that seven years ago, in the wake of the mortgage meltdown, was essentially bankrupt.
FHA finances improve markedly, but officials won’t cut premiums yet
Bonnie Sinnock, American Banker
The Federal Housing Administration’s key measure of mortgage-insurance fund soundness jumped to a 12-year high Thursday, renewing calls for premium cuts, but officials said other considerations argue against immediately making one.”I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s something we’re looking at,” Federal Housing Commissioner Brian Montgomery said when asked about the potential for premium cuts during a press call about the FHA’s annual report to Congress. Changes to premiums have also been contemplated in housing reform proposals, he noted.
Taxes
Raise Billions From Billionaires? Tax Experts Say It’s Not That Simple
Paul Sullivan, The New York Times
One of the signature initiatives of Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign is a wealth tax that, she says, would pay for many of the programs she proposes, like government-paid health care and free college tuition. Bernie Sanders, one of her opponents in the Democratic race, has proposed his own version of a wealth tax that would collect, according to estimates, about $4 trillion over a 10-year period, or $500 billion more than Senator Warren’s plan.
Tax rules have been largely written by rich, white men — and it shows, researchers say
Andrew Keshner, MarketWatch
If you’re physically hurt on the job, the Internal Revenue Service generally won’t touch the worker’s compensation or legal settlement you receive. But if your boss harasses you, makes comments about your body and turns your job into a recurring nightmare, the IRS says any settlement based on “emotional distress” counts as taxable income.
IRS Hired About 9,700 People This Year—Thousands More On the Way
Allyson Versprille, Bloomberg Law
The IRS is in the midst of one of its biggest hiring surges in almost a decade, the agency’s leader said. The agency hired about 9,700 people during fiscal 2019 and is in the process of bringing on an additional 5,300 people, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said Nov. 14 at the American Institute of CPAs conference in Washington.
Financial Technology
Meet the Facebook executive who wants you to trust him with your money
Clare Duffy, CNN
The night of June 18, David Marcus and his team at Facebook pulled an all-nighter as they prepared for a big company announcement the next day. They’d spent the past year working nights and weekends, developing Libra, a digital currency that would make it as easy and cheap to send money across the world as it is to send an email.
Fed’s faster payments network likely ahead of schedule: Powell
John Heltman, American Banker
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told members of Congress Thursday that he believes the central bank’s faster payments system could be operational in “three or four” years rather than the five years that the agency initially projected. Speaking before the House Budget Committee, Powell said the FedNow system was a “top priority” for the agency and he expects it to be completed ahead of schedule.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
America’s Global Trade Interests Depend on Countering China’s Plan to Control the Seas
Ernest Istook, Morning Consult
Ending America’s Jones Act would surrender control of global trade to foreign countries and reward nations that keep pumping billions into subsidizing their merchant fleets. China, for example, has a plan to dominate the 90 percent of world trade that goes by ship, and thanks to those massive subsidies, it is working.
Why a ‘Republican Economist’ Plans to Vote in the Democratic Primary
N. Gregory Mankiw, The New York Times
A few weeks ago, I drove to my local city hall and changed my voter registration from Republican to independent. That was a momentous change for me, a lifelong Republican.
Research Reports
Financial well-being by state
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
In 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its first report on financial well-being based on in-depth interviews with adults ages 18 and older across the United States. The report revealed that people’s definition of financial well-being was the same regardless of geographic location and other demographic factors.
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