The meeting with President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on how to fund the $2 trillion infrastructure bill was short lived.  Looks like, for now, that agenda is not going to move forward, as Trump will not move while the Democrats are investigating him.  The president had already put Congress on notice yesterday that the deal will be second to a trade deal.  In a letter to  Pelosi and Schumer, Trump wrote,  “Before we get to infrastructure, it is my strong view that Congress should first pass the important and popular USMCA trade deal.”

The major indices have been in the red all day, despite staging a couple failed rally attempts.  Investors continue to worry about tariffs and trade, especially as more retailers report disappointing earnings.  At midday, the Dow is down 105, Nasdaq -35 and the S&P -10.  

Energy is down the hardest as U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 4.7millions compared to estimates for a decline for 599,000. 

Semiconductors are getting hit again on the Qualcomm (QCOM) news.  The stock is getting hammered, down 11.5% today, as a judge rules that the company violated anti-trust laws.  It seemed that QCOM was in the all clear after its settlement with Apple, but not so fast.  

At 2pm, we will get the release of the FOMC minutes.