Will The U.S. Raise The Roof? 💸

Lawmakers appear to be ready to put aside their differences annnd… not choose violence. An ongoing battle over the debt limit might draw to a close tonight, assuming 60 Congressmen vote in the affirmative to punt the debt limit problem. 

The vote will be held around 7:30pm ET tonight. The vote came about after Minority Leader Mitch McConnell extended an olive branch to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, just over a week before the U.S. is expected to hit the ceiling. The short-term solution appeased investors today and markets pushed into the green. 💚 With that being said, it’s not over ’til it’s over. The $480 billion boost for the ceiling will only tide over the Treasury until Dec. 3.

In other explicitly political news affecting stocks and making investors feel like political science majors — the Democrats are still figuring out how to feel about themes presented in Biden’s “progressive” social spending plan. 💸

Stocks rose as political turmoil subsided and energy woes were contained. Initial claims were lower than forecasted today, supporting the case for the Fed to begin tapering in November.

Apple is readying up a new play for your car, but it technically isn’t CarPlay.

The Big Tech giant is reportedly looking to launch a feature which will allow users to control their car’s air conditioning, seats, radio, and other functions directly from their phone. It would also allow users (in some cases) to use their phone as a companion for their vehicle. 🚗 📱

It’s untold if these features will be folded into Apple’s existing ecosystem for vehicles. However, it comes nearly seven years after the company launched CarPlay, which is now supported by most major automakers. The current version of CarPlay allows users to control apps from their vehicle’s dashboard. It also includes a digital key feature called CarKey, which allows users to unlock their car using an iPhone or Apple Watch. However, not all car companies have rushed to implement the full suite of Apple software into their vehicles.

To get the full experience, Apple stans might have to wait for Tim Cook and team to drop the Apple Car. The highly-rumored electric vehicle is expected to drop in 2024, representing a meaningful threat to existing EV players like Tesla. However, 2024 is a hot minute away. In the meantime, we’ll stay speculating about Apple’s vehicle-centric software developments. 🤖

$AAPL closed up 0.91% today.

The steel sector was slammed after Goldman Sachs published a piece predicting lower prices for top steel producers. 

In a key sector update, Goldman Sachs analyst Emily Chieng decreased her price target for U.S. Steel to $21/share, while downgrading the group’s rating to “sell” from “neutral.”

$X decoupled 8.65% on Wednesday but recouped 1.37% today. The stock is still up 25% YTD.

Steel futures got the boot too, pulling back from recent highs. Here is the weekly chart:

Today, Ireland lifted its opposition to global tax reforms — the country’s compliance will result in the elimination of its infamous 12.5% tax rate for multinational companies. Ireland’s tax rates will rise to 15%. 🇮🇪 ☘️

Ireland headquarters a variety of blue-chip companies seeking tax cuts, including Apple, Google, and Facebook. Relinquishing the country’s low tax rate puts Ireland at risk for losing companies and investments it has attracted over the years, but the agreement could also be a unifying move contributing to the decline of international tax evasion.

The tax reform was proposed by the OECD, or the organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. If Ireland decided not to comply with the OECD’s proposal, multinational companies headquartered in Ireland nonetheless might have had to pay above the 12.5% tax rate anyway to compensate for taxes elsewhere. 

Ireland’s Finance Minister, Pascal Donohoe, commented “This is a difficult and complex decision but I believe it is the right one.” Kieran McQuinn, a research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, said “We would be reasonably confident that this won’t have a substantial impact.”

Ireland will be allowed to keep its 12.5% rate for smaller companies. Meanwhile, Hungary has still not accepted the OECD’s unified tax proposal.