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The bipartisan passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package in the House of Representatives this weekend sent one of Joe Biden’s key pieces of legislation to the Resolute Desk.
And it isn’t just the Biden administration declaring victory today. Stocks for construction and materials companies are up across the board.
You Can Dig It
According to the White House, roughly 20% of the nation’s highways and major roads need repairs — good for nearly 173,000 miles of roadwork. And with $550 billion committed to new federal investments over the next five years — including $312 billion for transportation with $109 billion earmarked for roads, bridges, and other major projects — there’s plenty of work to go around.
Investors are already spreading the love:
- Caterpillar was up nearly 5.5% to a three-month high — the biggest premarket gain within the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- In the opening minutes of trading on Monday, the Global X US Infrastructure Investment ETF (which trades as PAVE and holds steel producer Nucor, Vulcan Materials, and equipment provider United Rentals) gained 1.5%, reaching its all-time high.
Grant Land: Early proposals from the Biden camp to expand broadband access stoked fears among telecoms of government-backed competitors and price regulations. The final bill, however, skips such provisions, instead offering more than $40 billion in grants to get rural areas online.
Crypto-nite? The bill also includes a provision requiring cryptocurrency brokers and exchanges to disclose their customers via a 1099-like form. Businesses and exchanges also must disclose each time they receive more than $10,000. But crypto hobbyists and lobbyists alike say the bill’s definition of “broker” is far too vague. Will Congress’s crypto-headache continue?