Yesterday President Biden signed into law the massive Inflation Reduction Act, a wide-ranging reconciliation measure “meant to reduce health costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and raise taxes on corporations and wealthy investors” that was a solid year in the making (BBB anyone?) - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and Law360
Among many other things, the bill will deliver “80 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service,” and Treasury Secretary Yellen wasted no time in ordering her agency to “develop an operational plan for deploying the funds, kick-starting an overhaul of the beleaguered tax collector.” Among Yellen’s top aims: “clearing a backlog of unprocessed tax returns, improving taxpayer services, revamping antiquated technology and hiring thousands of new employees” - NYTimes
Walmart delivered mixed quarterly results on Tuesday, with earnings up 6.5% from a year prior but overall operating income down nearly 7% by the same metric. That performance actually exceeded the lowered forecast that Walmart put out last month. This all-over-the-map performance shows “how difficult it has been for even the most sophisticated retailers to navigate the changes in consumer behavior in recent months” - NYTimes and WSJ and Marketplace
For its part, Home Depot also posted strong quarterly sales, beating expectations even as the total number of transactions at the home-improvement chain fell 3% - WSJ and MarketWatch
The Dow considered the reports good reason to celebrate and closed up 240 points. The S&P500 was also up—though slightly—while the Nasdaq closed down 25 points - WSJ
We’ll see how it adjusts today to Target’s news that its overloaded inventory meant profits falling “further than the retailer anticipated” as it “rapidly worked through a glut of inventory” - WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
The EV chicken/egg problem’s equivalent of broken eggs: inoperative chargers - NYTimes
Bloomberg fills us in on the eye-popping $2 billion in fines that federal regulators expect to assess against the “world’s biggest investment banks” after years of frustrating attempts to investigate market manipulation by traders communicating “outside of official channels” [think WhatsApp] - Bloomberg
Amazon’s reportedly unhappy with the FTC’s scrutiny of founder Jeff Bezos and other top executives, complaining in a recent petition with the agency that its “demands on the company have been ‘overly broad and burdensome’ and its legal tactics have been unfair.” Cue an orchestra of tiny violins - WSJ and MarketWatch
A slowing Chinese economy (detailed here the other day) has perhaps surprisingly led to “one of the most widespread acts of public defiance in a country where even minor protests are quelled”: hundreds of thousands of Chinese homeowners “banding together and refusing to repay loans on unfinished properties” - NYTimes
NBCUniversal has shown CNBC chair Mark Hoffman the door after 10+ years at the company. He’ll be replaced by KC Hoffman, “president and managing director of NBCUniversal’s global advertising and partnerships business” - NYTimes
In rare praise of a regional sports network—in this case, SNY—actually elevating the product on the field, thanks in large part to game director John DeMarsico’s flair for the cinematic (even when the Mets didn’t exactly deserve it) - NYTimes
Stay safe,
MDR
The Robins Kaplan Financial Daily Dose features top stories and latest news headlines in financial markets, banking, securities and technology topics.
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