FED KEEPS RATES UNCHANGED, BUT POWELL SEES PROGRESS — Bloomberg’s Catarina Saraiva and Rich Miller: “Federal Reserve officials signaled they are moving closer to when they can start reducing massive support for the U.S. economy, though Chair Jerome Powell said there was still some way to go. “‘We’re not there. And we see ourselves as having some ground to cover to get there,’ he told a press conference Wednesday after the Federal Open Market Committee held interest rates in a range near zero and maintained asset purchases at $120 billion a month until “substantial further progress” was made on employment and inflation.” INFLATION IS THE NEW BATTLE LINE AS BIDEN, GOP SPAR OVER SPENDING — NYT’s Jim Tankersley: “Republicans have made Americans’ concerns over rising prices their primary line of attack on President Biden’s economic agenda, seeking to derail trillions of dollars in spending programs and tax cuts by warning that they will produce rocketing 1970s-style inflation. “They have seized on the increasing costs of gasoline, used cars, and other goods and services to accuse the president of stoking ‘Bidenflation,’ first with the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill he signed in March and now with a proposed $3.5 trillion economic bill that Democrats have begun to draft in the Senate.” FED ESTABLISHES STANDING REPO FACILITIES — Reuters’ Jonnelle Marte: “The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday it will establish separate domestic and international standing repo facilities to backstop money markets during times of stress. The domestic standing repo facility, or SRF, will conduct daily overnight repo operations against Treasury securities, agency debt securities and agency mortgage-backed securities. “Through the facility for foreign and international monetary authorities, known as the FIMA repo facility, the U.S. central bank will enter into overnight repo agreements as needed with foreign official institutions against their holdings of Treasury securities held at the New York Fed.” SBA TO SIMPLIFY PPP LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR SMALLEST BORROWERS — WSJ’s Charity L. Scott: “The Small Business Administration said it would make it easier for the smallest businesses that got funds from the Paycheck Protection Program to have their loans forgiven, as the agency seeks to wind down the Covid-19 rescue program. “About 2 million business owners with PPP loans of $150,000 or less will soon be allowed to apply for loan forgiveness directly through the SBA instead of their banks. There are about 7.1 million PPP loans that remain outstanding and about 6 million are for $150,000 or less.” ROBINHOOD HEADS TO MARKET — AP’s Stan Choe and Alex Veiga: “After a rocket rise where it introduced millions of people to investing and reshaped the brokerage industry, all while racking up a long list of controversies in less than eight years, Robinhood is about to take the leap itself into the stock market. Robinhood Markets and three of its executives are selling up to 60.5 million shares of its stock in an initial public offering, with trading expected to begin on the Nasdaq Thursday.” KUSHNER BACK TO WALL STREET — “Jared Kushner to leave politics, launch investment firm - sources,” by Reuters’ Steve Holland: “[He’s] in the final stages of launching an investment firm called Affinity Partners that will be headquartered in Miami. Kushner … is also looking to open an office in Israel.” | 
