Pelosi and Mnuchin discuss airline aid, why oil got left behind as stocks soar, and more

Federal Reserve officials raised concerns about a lack of additional fiscal stimulus during their September meeting, roughly three weeks before President Donald Trump axed negotiations for new aid.

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's September 15-16 meeting revealed policymakers "assumed the enactment of some additional fiscal policy support this year." Without such support from Congress, "the pace of the economic recovery would likely be slower," according to the minutes.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, spoke Wednesday about the prospects of a stand-alone bill for airline relief, as President Trump continued to walk back his own retreat from negotiations on a broader coronavirus relief package and to push for more narrow legislation.

The U.S. stock market was back in rally mode Wednesday, recovering all of the previous day’s slide and more as hopes revived for an eventual round of fiscal stimulus from Congress. But oil futures got left way behind.

That might say something about the expected timing of a spending package, said Robert Yawger, director of energy at Mizuho Securities U.S.A., in a note.

Former Vice President Joe Biden wants to advance a green-tinged infrastructure package in February if he wins the presidential election, a key lawmaker said today.

"The Biden folks say they want to move in February on infrastructure. So we've got a framework for them," House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said at a virtual event this morning.

We are witnessing a historic moment for oil and for the energy industry as a whole as the world moves toward a clean energy transition that has been catalyzed considerably by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the novel coronavirus disrupted the global economy and international industries and supply chains, there was already a lot of talk about peak oil coming up around the bend and renewable energies such as solar and wind power have been getting cheaper and more efficient by the year, outgrowing subsidies and becoming competitive with some fossil fuels.