Congress Passes Epstein Files Bill; Nvidia Earnings on Deck

0:00Donald Trump is rewriting the Washington rulebook and reshaping the global economy. If you're trying to connect the dots behind the headlines, Bloomberg's Trumponomics podcast is here to help. I'm Stephanie Flanders, head of government and economics at Bloomberg. Every week, I'll bring you a smart, focused conversation with reporters and experts from Washington, Wall Street and beyond. Listen to new episodes every Wednesday and follow Trumponomics wherever you listen. Today's show is brought to you by Vanguard. To all the financial advisors listening, let's talk bonds for a minute. Capturing value and fixed income is not easy.

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1:14All investing is subject to risk, Vanguard Marketing Corporation Distributor. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, after resisting the issue for months, Congress has ultimately made quick work of a bill to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. By a 427 to 1 vote, the House has passed the bill to compel the Justice Department to make its documents public. The Senate then agreed unanimously to approve the legislation without changes once it arrives there. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says that won't be the end of it.

1:58We know there's a corrupt Justice Department. We know that Bondi and Kash Patel do just what the president asks and wants. And we Democrats, I just had a meeting of 10 of my colleagues, are going to do everything we can to make sure all of it, all of it comes to life. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed for the unanimous consent motion, but Bloomberg Balance of Power host Joe Matthew reports the Justice Department could still push back against this bill, even if President Trump signs it. Knowing that the president has compelled the Department of Justice to investigate some Democrats, including Bill Clinton in this case, the DOJ could simply say, hey, we understand the vote, but we can't release anything because this is an ongoing investigation.

2:37A smokescreen, as some have called it here, and there's a question about whether or not this is how this ends, and maybe that's why, in fact, the president decided at the last minute to go for this. It was Bloomberg's Joe Matthew in Washington. President Trump has said he will sign the bill, saying he has nothing to hide and it's time to move on. Well, Nathan, President Trump is also moving to deepen ties with Saudi Arabia.

3:02Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a king's welcome at a White House dinner last night. The president used it to announce a new defense cooperation pact that will make Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally. A stronger and more capable alliance will advance the interests of both countries and it will serve the highest interest of peace. And President Trump's announcement came on a day that saw the U.S. offer sales of F-35 fighter jets, advanced AI ships and nuclear tech sharing to the kingdom. Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan says the crown prince is not offering much in return.

3:39What did he have to give up? Virtually nothing because he still has in his pocket the promise or the lure of normalizing relations with Israel. So it seems to me that MBS has come out by far the winner here. And former U.S. Ambassador Robert Jordan tells Bloomberg President Trump has touted a trillion dollars in investment commitments from Saudi Arabia. That's nearly the size of the kingdom's annual economy. One other note from last night's White House dinner, Elon Musk was on the guest list. The Tesla CEO and one-time Doge figurehead was back in the East Room after his public falling out with President Trump over his tax and spending cut bill.

4:20It's starting to markets now, Karen. Futures are moving higher following four straight days of losses. On Wall Street, a sell-off in the world's largest technology companies has led the way lower. Lisa Shallit is chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. The earnings revision momentum, as we like to say, has slowed. And I think that that's one of the things that has catalyzed this profit-taking moment is that people are saying, wait a minute, perhaps some of the leaders of this market, the hyperscalers, are in fact, by dint of their aggressive spending, by dint of them now assuming some debt to finance that spending, maybe that earnings growth rate is going to slow.

5:03That's Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's Lisa Shallott. And Goldman Sachs President John Waldron says markets are primed for possible further declines. We caught up with Waldron at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore. I would say you're seeing in the markets right now a pullback, which I think is healthy. Markets have run quite a bit this year, U.S. equity markets in particular. Markets heavily focused on this AI dynamic. You know, are we going to get the returns on capital invested that the market expects and is priced in? It's a big debate. Goldman Sachs president John Waldron says NVIDIA's earnings will be key for markets.

5:38And Nathan, that NVIDIA earnings report, it comes out this afternoon after the closing bell. Analysts expect the AI chip giant to show more than 50 % growth in both net income and revenue in its fiscal third quarter. Michael Ball is Bloomberg News macro strategist. We know what their customers are doing. We know what the supply chain is doing. We've got the other chip makers who are part of that ecosystem. So I think they will match or beat. It's very sensitive to any misstep. And so NVIDIA basically has no room for error. And basically the market's pricing is 6-7 % move that day, which is higher than its normal earning day move.

6:12So there's even greater sensitivity to this turnaround. And Bloomberg's Michael Ball notes that NVIDIA shares have dropped more than 12 % since hitting a peak four weeks ago. Stay with Bloomberg with complete analysis of NVIDIA's after the Bell earnings report. And then at 6.30 p.m. Wall Street time. We speak exclusively with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wong here on Bloomberg Radio and Bloomberg Television. Bitcoin holding above 90 ,000 this morning. Right now it is trading at $91 ,600. It's certainly been a rough couple of weeks for cryptocurrency investors. Bitcoin is down nearly 30 percent from its record high set back in October.

6:50Yesterday, investors pulled more than half a billion dollars from BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin trust. That's the largest single day outflow since the fund's debut. Turning to the economy now, Karen, President Trump says he thinks he's identified his choice to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve. The president spoke in the Oval Office alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. I think I already know my choice. Who is it? Well, I like him, but he's not going to take the job he refused. You like Treasury better, right? Much better, sir. So we are talking to various people. President Trump speaking there alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Besson, who has narrowed the pool of contenders to current Fed governors, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, and BlackRock's Rick Reeder.

7:40And in Europe, Nathan, UK inflation fell for the first time in seven months. Consumer prices increased 3.6 percent in October. That's down from 3.8 % in September. The figures keep alive hopes of the UK's central bank delivering a pre-Christmas cut at its next meeting after skipping a move earlier this month.

8:02Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. A panel of three federal judges has blocked Texas from using a new congressional map that Republicans drew in hopes of picking up five U.S. House seats. That map had touched off a nationwide redistricting battle and is a major piece of President Donald Trump's efforts to preserve a slim Republican majority ahead of the 2026 elections. In a 2-1 ruling, the judges in El Paso sided with opponents who argued that Texas's unusual summary drawing of congressional districts would harm black and Hispanic residents.

8:42Last night, Texas filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Federal agents have expanded their North Carolina immigration crackdown to the area around the state capital of Raleigh. The crackdown spread fear in at least one immigrant-heavy suburb, but restaurants closed and many people stayed home. The North Carolina operation began over the weekend in the state's largest city, Charlotte, where officials said more than 130 people have been arrested. This laundromat owner criticized the operation. I think it's all just political theater, really. They're just trying to instill fear in the community.

9:17The mayor of Raleigh said she did not know how long agents would be present. One man was killed and two others injured in yesterday's collapse of a construction trench in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. A huge rescue effort lasted for several hours, but a man who was buried up to his waist could not be saved. Yarmouth Fire and Rescue Department Chief Enrique Oresco. It's a very complicated rescue. We had a lot of collapse of the trench that continued to happen as we tried to remove him. Chief Oresco says another construction worker who jumped into the trench to save the trapped man was able to get out even as more walls collapsed in the Cape Cod sewer construction project.

9:59Global news, 24 hours a day. And whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now, I'm Michael Barr. This is Bloomberg. Karen. Thanks, Michael. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. And for that, we bring in John Stashauer. Thanks, Karen. LeBron James' record-breaking 23rd NBA season underway. He had been out with Siattica in his season debut. Played 30 minutes, scored 11 points, had 12 assists. The Lakers beat Utah. College basketball in New York. Michigan State beat Kentucky. Duke down Kansas. The college football playoff committee now has Georgia as the fourth team in getting a buy. Alabama dropped after its loss last Saturday, but as of now, the Crimson Tide still in the playoffs.

10:37That's your Bloomberg Sports Update. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this. Today's show is brought to you by Vanguard. To all the financial advisors listening, let's talk bonds for a minute. Capturing value and fixed income is not easy. Bond markets are massive, murky, and let's be real. Lots of firms throw a couple flashy funds your way and call it a day. But not Vanguard. At Vanguard, institutional quality isn't a tagline. It's a commitment to your clients. We're talking top-grade products across the board of over 80 bond funds, actively managed by a 200-person global squad of sector specialists, analysts, and traders.

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12:35Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM, and around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. Republican leaders and President Donald Trump had resisted the issue for months. Now Congress is making quick work of a bill to release more of the Justice Department's Jeffrey Epstein files. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the president is still a wild card. There's no reason it can't be on the president's desk in an hour. Second, the president has to sign it. You never know with him. He said he would.

13:10Let's wait and see. It was Minority Leader Chuck Schumer after the Senate agreed to pass the Epstein transparency bill without changes from the House. Joining us now is Terry Haynes, founder of Pangea Policy. Terry, good morning. President Trump has said he has nothing to hide. It's time to move on. He says he'll sign this bill. Will Washington move on? From Jeffrey Epstein. Good morning. Hi. Good morning, Nathan. Well, there's always the pull of bread and circuses, and that's very strong. So I imagine the Epstein obsession will continue. And I say that with no effort at all to try to sweep it under the rug.

13:47The man was a monster, and there's been a bonfire of the vanities with elites for a long time here. But Washington's going to have to get past this. What I suspect is that the continuing wrangling around, first with courts about the information, And secondly, about what and whether the Justice Department may do with redacting names and trying to protect the innocent. Here complicates things and keeps the thing simmering. Well, how will the bill square with the Justice Department's determination that it's going to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's links to prominent Democrats? Well, that's an additional complication, too.

14:28And we'll see, you know, the Justice Department could take a long time tap dance. The Justice Department could bring up what it's already got and make that the basis for whatever it does in the context of release. There's no way to tell which it will do. I suspect my gut is probably a little bit of both, frankly. But, you know, you see in the kind of things that Larry Summers, for example, said a few days ago about his own involvement, that there's very likely going to be more involvement across the board from people either named or not named. And this is going to splash in unpredictable ways.

15:13Now, we should note, of course, that Larry Summers is no longer a paid contributor to Bloomberg Television as well. I want to get your take as well, Terry, on the announcements around Saudi Arabia with the Crown Prince Salman in Washington. This defense pact announced last night the designation as a non-NATO ally. How significant is this? I think it's very significant. And I'd encourage markets to look at it in the broader geopolitical context, both over the past few months and today. You know, the U.S. moves have been to try to help establish peace in Gaza, a process which has been U.N. ratified just this week.

15:53You've had the Iran situation. You've had the U.S. trying to shore up Argentina in part to reduce Chinese dominance in South America. You've got Russia under more pressure. And you've got six months of the United States and China not being able to conclude an agreement on, among other things, rare earth. So very, very significant. In the middle of all that, what the United States says this week is that Saudi is now a major non-NATO ally and is moving to both, both countries are moving to shore up the three pillars of security and defense, energy in the economy, and geopolitical, including diplomacy and hopefully a peace process in Israel.

16:41China's response to all this is not just to stymie the U.S. and the West on rare earths, but is also now to bear its teeth at Japan, in addition to others in the South China Sea, including the Philippines. So this is a situation where the geopolitical risk remains very high. And in the middle of all that, the United States keeps flanking China on geopolitical interdependent alliances. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen.

17:21You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston, and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121. Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app, now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

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