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Good afternoon. Here's what you should know today, March 26: | |
- Trump could be indicted as early as this week
- Israel's Netanyahu must decide whether to press on with efforts to pass a divisive judicial overhaul
- 'Succession' returns tonight
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 | | Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says U.S. banks keeping a tighter leash on lending could 'easily have a significant macroeconomic effect.' PHOTO: LEAH MILLIS/REUTERS | | |
1. U.S. bank failures pose threats to global growth. | |
| The immediate risk brought on by the turmoil in the banking sector is that banks keep a tighter leash on lending to American households and businesses to ensure their balance sheets stay healthy and depositors sleep easy. A U.S. lending squeeze could pinch demand for foreign goods and services, such as German cars, French holidays or Chinese-made electronics. This week, investors will continue parsing the health of banks, along with new readings on home prices, consumer confidence and the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. | |
| How Options Hedging Turbocharged Oil Volatility (Read) Economy Week Ahead: U.S. Household Spending and Home Prices in Focus (Read) | |
2. Trump's first large-scale campaign event shows his hold on the Republican electorate. | |
| Thousands of supporters attended a rally in Waco, Texas, over the weekend, where the former president attacked the various legal investigations he is facing. He hardly had to convince his supporters to stick with him, many of whom were given signs with the slogan "Witch Hunt." Trump could face an indictment as early as this week in the Manhattan district attorney's probe—triggered by a 2018 Wall Street Journal investigation—into his role in a hush-money payment to a porn star. | |
| Republicans Push for Access to Trump Case Documents on Potential Indictment (Read) | |
3. Ukraine's offensive is taking shape, but big unknowns remain. | |
| After months of new weapons deliveries from the West, Ukraine is poised to punch back at Russia's invasion forces in coming weeks—a high-risk campaign that will set the course of subsequent battles and potential peace negotiations. For Ukraine to succeed against Russia's deeper resources and entrenched defenses it will need a combination of skill and luck, finding and quickly exploiting weak points, strategists say. | |
| Ukraine Warns Against Russian Threat to Put Nuclear Weapons in Belarus (Read) Ukraine Says Front Lines Around Embattled City of Bakhmut Are Stabilizing (Read) | |
4. New York is poised to ban gas stoves in new homes. | |
| It is set to become the first state in the U.S. to pass a law banning natural-gas and other fossil-fuel hookups in new buildings to help it meet targets for greenhouse-gas reductions. "The basic premise here is that if you continue to build buildings that are going to require fossil fuels for decades to come, you are baking in…destructive behavior that burning fossil fuels causes," said Democratic state Sen. Brian Kavanagh. The measure is on track to be added to the state's coming budget, which is due to be completed this week, though not everyone is happy with it. | |
5. Israeli lawmakers are calling for Netanyahu to delay a judicial overhaul. | |
| Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three other lawmakers have called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan to be delayed, raising questions as to whether he has the votes necessary to pass a plan that has sharply divided the country. Netanyahu had previously said he intended to bring a key part of the plan up for a vote this week. The overhaul has sparked mass protests and sent the country into a monthslong political crisis. | |
| 🎥 Netanyahu Vows to 'Mend the Rift' as Protests Continue (Watch) | |
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