[Bloomberg]( Infrastructure bill is here at long last, Fed leadership debate heats up, and delta spreads to China. Bill beckons The U.S. Senate looks poised this week to pass a $550 billion infrastructure [bill]( that would provide the biggest infusion of federal spending on public works in decades and a boost to President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. Democratic and Republican senators combed through the 2,702-page bill text before submitting it to the full Senate Sunday night, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it would pass “in a matter of days.” It includes about $110 billion in new spending for roads and bridges, $73 billion of power grid upgrades, $66 billion for rail and Amtrak, and $65 billion for broadband expansion. The bill falls short on a clean energy standard and electric vehicle tax credits. Controversially, it would extend some tax reporting rules to cryptocurrency brokers. In Monday [trading](, Bitcoin pulled back to below $40,000 after climbing over the weekend to the highest since May. Fed leadership Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard staked out different ground from the Jerome Powell-led monetary authority on some [regulatory issues]( ahead of Biden’s decision on Fed leadership. Brainard, considered a leading candidate in a succession decision expected no sooner than September, said she’s much more inclined to use regulatory tools to head off financial excesses like asset bubbles. In remarks late Friday to the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, she also exhibited a greater willingness to adopt a central bank digital currency, and more inclination to make a decision than Powell. Nonetheless, she was aligned with Powell on monetary policy, saying a further notable improvement in the jobs market is needed for the Fed to start scaling back massive [bond purchases](. Delta blues China is confronting its broadest Covid-19 [outbreak]( since the late 2019 outbreak, with the delta variant spreading to places declared virus-free for months, including original epicenter Wuhan. While the overall number of infections -- more than 300 so far -- is still far lower than Covid resurgences elsewhere, it’s a challenge to China’s pandemic strategy as the highly infectious strain becomes pervasive. Israel is seeing signs of waning vaccine efficacy among the inoculated elderly. India is [likely]( to see a new, though smaller, wave of infections that may peak in October, according to the forecaster who accurately predicted the country’s Covid peak earlier this year. Markets rise After notching their longest winning streak since 2018 in July, global stocks are in familiar rally territory. Overnight the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.45% while Japan’s Topix index closed 2% higher. In Europe the Stoxx 600 Index had gained 0.6% by 5:10 a.m. Eastern Time. S&P 500 futures [pointed to a decent pop at the open](, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 1.23%, [oil fell to $73 a barrel]( and gold was lower. Coming up... Barometers of the economic comeback will come with July PMI manufacturing, due at 9:45 a.m., followed by ISM manufacturing and employment for the month at 10:00 a.m. The earnings season continues with reports from Williams Cos., Loews Corp., Global Payments Inc. and ON Semiconductor Corp. What we've been reading Here's what caught our eye over the weekend. - Xi Jinping’s capitalist [smackdown]( sparks a $1 trillion reckoning.
- In Provincetown, Covid hits 14 friends in [show of delta’s might](.
- Can the mad rush to deliver groceries in 10 minutes be [profitable](?
- New age of [anger]( awaits India and Brazil.
- How should investors react to China’s [crackdown](?
- World’s biggest pension fund [cuts](U.S. bond weighting by record.
- Einstein is proved [right]( again. And finally, here’s what Justina’s interested in this morning Last Friday Christopher Harvey at Wells Fargo posed an interesting question on whether the equity market will be influenced by nominal rates or inflation expectations. Since the Powell press conference last Wednesday, we’ve seen real yields collapse to the lowest ever. Nominal Treasury yields moved just a bit lower while breakeven rates rose. Harvey’s question is interesting because there are a few ways to think about the relationship between rates and the value trade. One is that with real yields crashing and nominal rates staying put, the longer-term cash flows of growth stocks are discounted at lower rates. Or to put it another way, value is essentially a duration trade. That’s why a lot of people also try to take cues from the yield curve -- which has been flattening -- in divining the value-growth outlook. Another way of looking at this: Investors are expecting the Fed’s commitment to accommodative policy to aid economic growth and fuel higher inflation. This could be good for value stocks, which are typically more cyclical in nature. Since that yield move last week, the second reading seems to be panning out, with a market-neutral value index bouncing back. It’s a common view these days that stock-market internals are increasingly swayed by the bond market. But last week’s moves show that it isn’t always straightforward. Follow Bloomberg's Justina Lee on Twitter at [@justinaknope]( Like Bloomberg's Five Things? [Subscribe for unlimited access]( to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Follow Us Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Five Things - Americas newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox.
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