WASHINGTON-A slew of high-stakes deadlines will collide on Capitol Hill this week, setting up potentially chaotic negotiations against the backdrop of expiring government funding and the threat of a possible U.S. default.
Even by the standards of a Capitol used to operating under pressure, this week's maelstrom of legislative and fiscal crosscurrents is setting the stage for an extraordinary sprint. Democratic leaders are trying to shepherd two complicated legislative packages: a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a sprawling healthcare, education and climate package whose proposed $3.5 trillion price tag and contents are still under intense debate within the party.
Logistics Operators Raise Pay, Enlist Robots to Meet Holiday Demand
Warehouse operators are throwing every tool they can at increasingly urgent efforts to hire seasonal workers as they brace for an expected flood of holiday goods amid competition for scarce labor from deep-pocketed rivals.
Logistics providers are boosting pay, adding flexibility to shifts, blanketing social media with recruitment ads and even shipping in more robots to help workers field surging e-commerce volumes. They are also jockeying with titans like Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc. that are dangling inducements, from signing bonuses to assistance with college tuition, as they push to bring on hundreds of thousands of workers ahead of the holidays.
Bitcoin Miners Eye Nuclear Power as Environmental Criticism Mounts
Bitcoin miners, under fire for their sizable environmental footprint, are forging partnerships with owners of struggling nuclear-power plants with electricity to spare.
The matchups have the potential to solve key issues facing each industry, executives and analysts say: Electricity-hungry bitcoin miners want stable and carbon-free power, while nuclear plants facing competition from cheaper power sources need new customers.
Individuals Embrace Options Trading, Turbocharging Stock Markets
Shares of Robinhood Markets Inc. had mostly disappointed the trading app's fans since their initial public offering. But Harsh Patel felt sure that was about to change.
Mr. Patel, a 27-year-old nurse in Columbus, Ohio, figured its price would rise after he saw chatter about Robinhood light up a stock market chatboard. So on Aug. 4, he paid $600 for a call option-a contract that confers the right, though not the obligation, to purchase 100 shares at a stated price by a certain date.
Corporate-Buyout Loans Near Highs of 2007
A buyout boom fueled by easy money and a looming hike in the capital-gains tax is sweeping Wall Street deal making to highs not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis.
Companies have issued $120 billion of "leveraged loans" this year through Sept. 23 to finance corporate buyouts by private-equity firms-just shy of the $124 billion record for the first nine months of the year set in 2007, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence's LCD.
Credit Investors Follow the Workers
Labor shortages and supply-chain disruptions have become make-or-break factors for some investors weighing bets on corporate debt.
Tom Murphy, portfolio manager and head of global investment-grade credit at Columbia Threadneedle, said the asset manager is placing companies in two buckets: those that can offset increased wages, bottlenecks and shortages with higher prices, and those that can't without losing business. That has him avoiding packaged-goods makers and department stores.
Prudential to Raise $2.4 Billion From Hong Kong Offer
Prudential PLC will raise $2.4 billion by issuing new shares, proceeds of which will be used by the insurer to redeem high-coupon debt due in six months and invest for growth.
The U.K. insurer will sell 130.8 million new shares in the Hong Kong offer at a maximum price of 143.8 Hong Kong dollars per share (US$18.46), Prudential said late Sunday.
Write to paul.larkins@dowjones.com
Expected Major Events for Monday
06:00/DEN: Aug Retail Sales Index
07:00/SPN: Aug PPI
08:00/ITA: Aug Foreign Trade non-EU
08:00/EU: Aug Monetary developments in the euro area (M3)
08:30/UK: Aug Capital issuance
15:59/UKR: Aug Industrial Production
23:01/UK: Aug Zoopla House Price Index
All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.
Write to us at newsletters@dowjones.com
We offer an enhanced version of this briefing that is optimized for viewing on mobile devices and sent directly to your email inbox. If you would like to sign up, please go to https://newsplus.wsj.com/subscriptions.
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-27-21 0024ET
