The airlines that announced 32,000 job cuts did say that they would reverse the move if the government agrees to additional support in the coming days -- adding more pressure on policy makers to reach an eleventh-hour stimulus deal. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi both said their 90-minute meeting yesterday made progress and House Democrats postponed a vote on the $2.2 trillion package to allow more time for talks. With the House set to leave Washington tomorrow, today's talks are a race against the clock. While the current White House counterproposal is greater than the $1.5 trillion previously touted, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said any package that "starts with a two" would cause a "real problem."

Due to the ongoing "economic uncertainty from the coronavirus response" and the need for the banking industry to preserve capital, the Fed has extended its ban on share buybacks for the rest of the year. Additionally, dividends will continue to be capped and tied to a formula based on recent income. The decision will apply to banks with more than $100B in assets, and will likely come as a disappoint to lenders like JPMorgan, which had already indicated interest in resuming share repurchases.

It's getting dicey over in Europe:  Calling it "the first step in an infringement procedure," the European Union has launched legal proceedings against the United Kingdom for a breach of "good faith" clauses in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.  Should the U.K. refuse to drop its Internal Markets Bill, the EU has threatened further legal action, while some say hefty fines or trade sanctions are even on the table.

U.S. weekly jobless claims total 837,000, vs 850,000 estimate – these are some of the lowest numbers since March.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Josh Fenili.