The daily business briefing: July 26, 2019

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1. House passes $2.7 trillion budget deal
2. 4 automakers reach deal with California on fuel efficiency standards
3. Amazon shares fall after mixed quarterly report
4. Trump administration unveils new bailout for farmers hurt by trade war
5. Stock futures rise with more earnings reports looming

published 26 July 2019

1. House passes $2.7 trillion budget deal

The House on Thursday passed a $2.7 trillion bipartisan budget deal that would increase military and domestic spending while raising the debt ceiling by $320 billion for two years. Despite President Trump's support for the agreement, many Republicans made it clear they were unhappy the bill lacked spending cuts they wanted. Still, the bill passed 284-149, with 65 Republicans joining the Democratic majority and 132 Republicans voting against it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin led negotiations on the deal, which now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass. It will then go to Trump's desk, and he's said he'll sign it.

Four major automakers on Thursday announced that they had reached a deal with California on fuel efficiency rules. The agreement, which comes as the Trump administration tries to prevent states from setting their own standards to fight climate change, calls for the automakers to make vehicles with an average efficiency of 51 miles per gallon by 2026, looser than the Obama administration's target of 54 miles per gallon but tougher than the Trump administration's proposal to roll back the standard to 37 miles per gallon. "Ensuring that America's vehicles are efficient, safe, and affordable is a priority for us all," Ford, BMW, Volkswagen, and Honda said in a joint statement.

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Amazon shares fell by as much as 2 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday after the online retail giant reported mixed quarterly results. The company reported $63.4 billion in sales in the latest quarter. That beat Wall Street's expectations and marked a 20 percent increase over the same period in 2018. Amazon's earnings fell short of expectations, however, partly due to a slowdown in the growth of Amazon's cloud computing business. Amazon this spring announced a plan to make one-day shipping standard for its 100 million Prime members, who traditionally have received two-day shipping. Amazon said the move would cost $800 million in the second quarter, but boost sales by helping Amazon compete better for sales of items customers need quickly.

The federal government will pay American farmers between $15 and $150 per acre under a $16 billion aid package for those hurt by the Trump administration's trade war with China, officials said on Thursday. The payouts, designed to focus on small farmers, are intended to make up for lower prices and lost sales. The latest bailout follows a $12 billion aid package last year. Farmers have been among the hardest hit in President Trump's trade war with Beijing. Shipments of soybeans to China, the No. 1 buyer, fell to a 16-year low in 2018. Democrats objected to the plan, saying farmers need fair trade practices, not a bailout.

U.S. stock index futures rose early Friday, shaking off Thursday's losses as investors looked ahead to more corporate earnings. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent, while those of the Nasdaq were up by 0.4 percent. Twitter shares jumped by nearly 7 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. McDonald's is among the other major companies reporting earnings Friday. Amazon shares slipped after the online retail powerhouse reported mixed results late Thursday, while Google-parent Alphabet posted earnings that beat expectations and saw its stock jump by 6 percent after hours. On Friday, traders also will be focusing on fresh economic data including the latest U.S. GDP figures.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.