Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:
1. U.S.-CHINA TRADE TALKS: Unlike previous rounds of negotiations, the latest meetings between Chinese and U.S. trade officials ended with fewer details about specific discussions and results, Wang Cong of Global Times reported on Thursday. "That left many to wonder" if the countries have hit an impasse in talks and whether a trade agreement is "still within reach as it had appeared to be," Cong wrote. On Friday, The Wall Street Journal quoted President Trump as having said the U.S. is "doing fine" with trade talks and "getting close" to a "historic, monumental" deal with China.
2. INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer said they held a constructive meeting with President Trump on Monday at which they agreed to seek a deal on a $2T infrastructure bill, according to The Hill’s Jordan Fabian. Pelosi and Schumer added that they and the President had not come to an agreement, however, on how to fund the $2T bill to improve the nation's roads, bridges, waterways, and broadband, but agreed to meet in another three weeks. Companies that could benefit from infrastructure spending include Vulcan Materials (VMC), Martin Marietta (MLM), American Tower (AMT), Kinder Morgan (KMI), Quanta Capital (QNTA) Nucor (NUE) and Fluor (FLR).
3. IRAN OIL SANCTIONS: Saudi Arabia has vowed to increase oil output if necessary as the Trump Administration begins to ban all Iran oil exports, however they face a possible weekslong showdown over the number of extra barrels the Kingdom would supply to global markets to keep crude prices stable, the Wall Street Journal's Benoit Faucon and Summer Said reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The U.S. is seeking to restart production in a field shared by the Kingdom and Kuwait that may unlock half a million barrels a day but Saudi Arabia, in need of higher oil prices to keep its state budget balanced, is lobbying within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to change the way it calculates whether the market is adequately supplied as a way to show the U.S. that no more oil is needed. Publicly-traded oil majors include BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and Total (TOT).
4. TRUMP'S PLAN TO END REBATES: CVS Health (CVS), Humana (HUM) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH), the insurers that control a majority of Medicare's prescription drug coverage, are arguably the most at risk from the Trump administration's plan to eliminate rebates within Medicare, Bob Herman of Axios wrote on Tuesday. Losing the rebates to offset the costs of covering prescriptions for seniors would shift billions of dollars away from the three companies, and they could lose customers if they raise premiums to make up the difference, according to Herman. Axios analyzed the Medicare businesses within the companies' 2018 filings with state insurance commissioner and found that UnitedHealthcare received $4.1B in rebates, Humana received $3.9B and CVS received $3.5B.
5. STUDENT LOANS REVIEW: The U.S. Department of Education has hired McKinsey to study how much money could be lost on the government's $1.45T student-loan portfolio amid a rise in borrowers' defaulting on their loans, Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week, citing an agency spokeswoman. To address deteriorating finances in the government's student-loan program, the Trump administration is weighing selling all or portions of the debt to private investors, the Journal added, citing administration officials familiar with the matter. Publicly-traded companies in the student-loan space include Navient (NAVI) and LendingTree (TREE).
"Week in Review" is The Fly's weekly recap of its recurring series of "Trump Effect" exclusive stories.
