Trade agreements

Though details of a potential pact with China aren't clear, bankers are hoping it could convince leery customers to finally go through with delayed investments.

Many business customers are putting off expansion because they can’t find enough workers to fill available jobs.

The percentage of farm lenders losing money hit a six-year high in the third quarter, according to the FDIC.

So far farm loans are holding up well, but bankers gathered at an industry conference this week said they are growing increasingly concerned that credit quality will weaken if the U.S. and China don’t reach a deal soon.

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called for the panel to hold a hearing on what he termed the danger that the Federal Reserve will meddle in the 2020 presidential election.

Competition for deposits is tight, the outlook for loan demand is uncertain, and regulatory relief is slow-moving. Yet community bankers are feeling better about the economy than they have in two years, a Promontory Interfinancial Network survey found.

China's decision to stop buying U.S. soybeans and let its currency depreciate raised the prospect of further interest rate cuts. That hurt banks slightly more than the rest of the market on what was a bad day for all equities.

The president said that European Central Bank President Mario Draghi would do a better job overseeing monetary policy in the U.S. than Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to consider changes that would allow consumers to block calls from numbers not on their contacts list while the House should vote to extend the National Flood Insurance Program.

In a presentation Thursday, co-COO Gordon Smith expanded on Jamie Dimon's recent comments about frustrations in the mortgage market, was upbeat about branch profitability and discussed some of the bank's Chase Pay challenges.