• House Passes $3 Trillion Democratic Stimulus With No Path to Law

    House Passes $3 Trillion Democratic Stimulus With No Path to Law(Bloomberg) — The House passed a $3 trillion Democratic economic stimulus bill Friday that Republicans and President Donald Trump have already rejected and isn’t likely to trigger bipartisan negotiations any time soon.The measure, passed 208-199, would give cash-strapped states and local governments more than $1 trillion while providing most Americans with a new round of $1,200 checks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it should be the basis of talks with the GOP-controlled Senate and White House, which have called for a “pause” to allow earlier coronavirus recovery spending to work.“A horrible virus has made a vicious attack on the lives and livelihoods of the American people, and indeed on the life of our democracy,” Pelosi said on the House floor before the vote. “It’s always interesting to see how much patience some people have with the pain and suffering of other people.”Pelosi this week has repeatedly invoked Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who has said Congress will have to inject more fiscal stimulus into the economy to prevent a prolonged recession. The U.S. has more than 1.4 million coronavirus cases, and more than 86,000 have died.But Republicans also cite the Fed chief, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying Powell hasn’t explicitly said how quickly Congress must act. He and other Republicans have dismissed the House Democrats’ bill as a liberal wish list and are using it to attack Democrats, whom polls give an increasing chance of holding the House and taking the Senate in November’s election.“This is much more about political messaging than effective legislating,” Republican Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma said.GOP members said some provisions don’t belong in a virus bill, such as reductions in immigration enforcement, providing stimulus checks to undocumented immigrants, money for the troubled U.S. Postal Service and a national requirement to hold elections by mail.Trump and Republican congressional leaders have acknowledged, however, that some sort of further economic stimulus will likely be necessary as the economy continues to shed jobs. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits since March now exceeds 36 million.“Phase four is going to happen but it’s going to happen in a much better way for the American people,” Trump old reporters Friday. He said he holds leverage over Democrats in any future talks.“We have all the cards because we have the cards of the American people. I know what they want,” the president said.House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said he anticipates another bill eventually.Senate to Evaluate“I would not wait for December,” McCarthy told reporters. “But I would not pass a bill without having any hearings, from the standpoint, without any feedback.”The Senate plans to ignore the House proposal next week, focusing instead on confirming Trump administration nominees. Aides say that in June, the chamber may consider legislation to give businesses protection from virus-related lawsuits, and that bill could be combined with some limited economic aid.McConnell said Thursday it will take time to evaluate the nearly $3 trillion in spending already enacted by Congress to combat the virus and its economic effects.“The chairman of the Fed is correct and we do anticipate having to act again at some point,” McConnell said in an interview on Fox News. “I do think though in terms of timing, the chairman of the Fed didn’t say how quickly, and we need to verify how we have done so far and make sure whatever mistakes we have made we don’t want to repeat.”Democratic QualmsA group of the most vulnerable Democrats in swing districts voted against the bill, arguing that they preferred a bipartisan approach to the virus.“I could not in good conscience vote to accept this Washington gamesmanship, or vote to approve unrelated wastes of taxpayer dollars, while Iowa sees its Covid-19 case rates climbing and parts of my district become a national hot spot,” said Iowa freshman Democrat Cindy Axne.Oklahoma’s Kendra Horn said in an interview that in addition to opposing the inclusion of provisions such as those on immigration, she objected to spending $3 trillion without committee hearings and being given an 1,800-page bill only three days before a vote.“I know there are many of us who are concerned about the size of this package and the scope that goes beyond direct response,” Horn said. “We need to have a transparent process that allows for bipartisan agreement.”Horn said Congress should work out a compromise bill focused on state and local aid, fixing small business loans and defeating the virus.SALT DeductionOther Democrats, though, backed Pelosi’s decision to expand the plan’s reach to include priorities such as eliminating the tax code’s cap on state and local deductions for individuals, as well as expanded employee-retention tax credits.But the speaker decided against several costly items sought by progressives including recurring stimulus payments to Americans linked to future unemployment. She said Congress could vote on more rounds of aid later if necessary.Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairwoman Pramila Jayapal opposed the bill, citing its lack of funds to guarantee paychecks. She had proposed direct federal payments to employers to rehire furloughed workers.“At the core, our response from Congress must match the true scale of this devastating crisis. The Heroes Act — while it contains many important provisions — simply fails to do that,” Jayapal said in a statement.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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  • California officials reject subsidies for Musk’s SpaceX over Tesla spat

    California officials reject subsidies for Musk's SpaceX over Tesla spatThe snub comes as Musk has sparred with officials in Alameda County over his plans to resume production at the Tesla plant there, which was stopped because of the coronavirus. Five members of California’s Employment Training Panel voted to reject the proposal and two voted for it, with one member absent, after discussing Musk’s tweets on Tesla’s reopening and media reports of layoffs at SpaceX’s Hawthorne, California headquarters in recent years.

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  • 3 fantastic ASX shares to buy when you’re young

    social-media-young-people

    Arguably one of the easiest ways to create wealth is by investing regularly with a long term view and taking advantage of the power of compound interest.

    Given how much of an impact time has on your potential returns, I feel it is very important to start early and to re-invest as much of your returns as possible.

    In addition, if you invest when you’re young, you can afford to take higher risks as you have time to recover from any losses.

    With that in mind, here are three top shares that younger investors might want to consider as long term investments:

    Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

    I think Afterpay could be a great long term investment. It has been growing its underlying sales at an astonishing rate over the last few years after disrupting the payments market with its buy now pay later offering. This service has proven to be incredibly popular with both consumers and retailers and shows no signs of stopping. Another positive is that the company is still only active in the ANZ, UK, and U.S. markets. I believe in time Afterpay will expand into most developed markets, which should underpin strong sales growth for many years to come. 

    Jumbo Interactive (ASX: JIN)

    Another option to consider buying is Jumbo Interactive. It is an online lottery ticket seller and the operator of the Oz Lotteries website. I believe it is well-placed to benefit from a shift to online gambling globally. Management certainly believes this will be the case. It is aiming to generate $1 billion in global ticket sales annually through its platform by FY 2022. This will be triple what it achieved in FY 2019. 

    Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

    A final share to consider is ecommerce company Kogan. While the majority of consumer spending is still made in retail stores, more and more of it is being made online. I expect this trend to accelerate in the coming years and drive strong sales and profit growth for Kogan. Especially given the increasing popularity of its products and its growing customer base. A recent update shows that it now has almost 2 million active customers. Other positives include its expansion into other verticals such as energy and mobile and the launch of Kogan Marketplace.

    And here is a fourth ASX share which should arguably be a staple in everyone’s portfolio.

    One “All In” ASX Buy Alert, that could be one of our greatest discoveries

    Investing expert Scott Phillips has just named what he believes is the #1 Top “Buy Alert” after stumbling upon a little-owned opportunity he believes could be one of the greatest discoveries of his 25 years as a professional investor.

    This under-the-radar ASX recommendation is virtually unknown among individual investors, and no wonder.

    What it offers is an utterly unique strategy to position yourself to potentially profit alongside some of the world’s biggest and most powerful tech companies.

    Potential returns of 1X, 2X and even 3X are all in play. Best of all, you could hold onto this little-known equity for DECADES to come

    Simply click here to see how you can find out the name of this ‘all in’ buy alert… before the next stock market rally.

    Find out the name of Scott’s ‘All in’ Buy Alert

    Returns as of 6/5/2020

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    James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Jumbo Interactive Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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