Washington Edition

This is Washington Edition, the newsletter about money, power and politics in the nation’s capital. Every Monday, Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst Nathan Dean gives his insights into what’s been happening and what’s coming up in the nooks and crannies of government and markets. Sign up here and follow us at @bpolitics. Email our editors here.

Slowing the Cycle

Today was one of those mornings where I grabbed my coffee, yogurt, a piece of fruit from the Bloomberg pantry and then promptly forgot about them.

The reason was President Donald Trump declaring on Truth Social that companies shouldn’t be forced to deliver earnings reports on a quarterly basis and should switch to a six-month cycle. And while many of us have been hearing of this issue floating around town for a while, I was surprised to see Trump post about it today.

Yet this isn’t new. Trump floated the idea back in 2018 and the SEC even opened a request for comment. But since the SEC generally isn’t in the business of telling the White House no, as I write on the Bloomberg Terminal, I fully expect the Wall Street regulator to start exploring the idea again — with a decent chance we move to semi-annual reporting by 2027.

At one of my eighty-six child events this past weekend, a government contractor friend asked me for an update on the potential of a government shutdown. I’m still at 40%. While “Shutdown Risk Grows as GOP Rebuffs Schumer Health-Care Demands,” I still don’t see how it ends well for them, especially if Republicans release a clean(ish) funding stopgap to November, which may come today. Look for a House vote potentially as soon as this weekend.

We’re also seeing some movement on TikTok, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying that a deal framework is in place. We’ll have to wait and see what’s in any final deal. But as this comes in advance of Trump’s call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday, expect more headlines — potentially tied to tariffs.

Tidbits

Watch out for the US-EU spat over Google and Apple to potentially move into high gear over the next few weeks, especially after Trump vowed to slap a Section 301 investigation on the 27-member bloc. Here’s Bloomberg News’ Jeff Green with “ America’s New EU Ambassador Vows to Fight Red Tape for US Companies“.
When my children were born, I immediately invested in a 529 plan for both of them for their education. But I’d like to do more, hence why I took a look at this piece from Charlie Wells “ How to Build a Million-Dollar Future for Your Kids”.
Finally, a real estate agent friend of mine said we’re finally moving into a buyer’s market in the Washington area, so I thought this piece from August could be worthwhile given the anticipated Fed rate cut this week. “ What to Know About Trying to Time the Housing Market.”

Don’t Miss

Trump expects to announce economic deals totaling more than $10 billion as well as an effort to deepen connections between financial hubs in both countries during his trip this week to the UK.

House Republicans intend to bolster lawmaker security as part of a must-pass spending bill following the assassination of the conservative political activist Charlie Kirk last week.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio refrained from criticizing Israel over its missile strike on Qatar last week and said the priority is to make sure Hamas surrenders and disarms to end the war in Gaza.

Trump said the US military struck a second vessel ferrying drugs from Venezuela, showing his determination to continue attacks that have increased tensions with the country and raised legal questions.

A team of US officials is set to spend a day in India for trade deal discussions, signaling the two nations are moving closer to resolving differences after Trump doubled tariffs on the country.

Trump suggested there could be financial consequences for New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s endorsement of Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayor’s race.

The president made a final push to sway a US appeals court to let him oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud before next week’s Fed vote on interest rates.

Lisa Cook. Photographer: Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is hiring part-time price collectors for a key inflation metric that’s increasingly relying on a statistical guessing method to compensate for lost staff.

Trump’s new threat to “Federalize” Washington, DC, sets up a potential showdown between local leaders and Republican lawmakers as District Mayor Muriel Bowser heads to the Capitol this week.

Maurene Comey, a longtime Manhattan federal prosecutor and the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, sued the Justice Department and the White House over her abrupt firing in July.

Watch & Listen

Today on Bloomberg Television’s Balance of Power early edition at 1 p.m., hosts Joe Mathieu and Kriti Gupta interviewed Henrietta Levin, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about how Trump’s planned call with Xi could affect US-China relations.

On the program at 5 p.m., they talk with Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California about the Trump-Xi call and China’s ruling that Nvidia violated it’s anti-monopoly laws.

On the Odd Lots podcast, Bloomberg’s Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal speak with Ryan Fox, containers and packaging analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, about box production and cost as an economic indicator, how companies choose their packaging and what makes the perfect box. Listen on iHeart, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Chart of the Day

The capitalization of US financial markets has increased significantly more than those in other nations since the start of the pandemic. American tech giants such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple have been leading the global market, and Google parent Alphabet today joined the elite group of companies valued at more than $3 trillion. The stock has soared more than 70% off its April low, adding roughly $1.2 trillion in value over that span. American companies have shown strong earnings growth in recent years compared to those in Europe and emerging markets. Still, the US share of global holdings has slipped from roughly 50.7% of the global stock market value as of late January to 48.2% this month. — Alex Tanzi

What’s Next

Retail sales for August will be reported tomorrow.

The import price index also will be reported tomorrow.

Industrial production in the US also will be reported tomorrow.

Trump is scheduled to depart tomorrow for a state visit to the UK.

Housing starts in August will be released Wednesday.

The Fed announces a decision on its benchmark interest rate Wednesday.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 13 will be released on Thursday.

A memorial service for Kirk, the slain conservative activist, is scheduled for Sunday in Arizona.

Existing home sales for August will be reported Sept. 23.

The deadline for Congress to approve funding for government operations in the new fiscal year is Sept. 30.

Seen Elsewhere