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Today marks day one of the Fed’s big address to Congress regarding the economy. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is meeting with Congressional Democrats on a far-reaching infrastructure proposal. The president is trying hard to push through on some of his major campaign promises. So what did the stock market do today?

• The S&P 500 closed up 0.12%

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.13%

• The Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.22%

So what else did the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.

What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Talked Inflation.

We all knew today’s meeting between Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and Congress was going to be a hotbed for inflation talk. And inflation talk there certainly was.

Powell maintained the Federal Reserve’s position that the inflation we have been seeing is transitory and a result of pandemic recovery. Of course, he is talking in response to the Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI) report, in which it was revealed that June jumped 0.9%. It also cites the largest year-over-year increase in 13 years of 5.4% from June 2020 to June 2021.

Powell says that the Federal Reserve was not anticipating such high inflation, saying it is “higher than we’ve expected and a little bit more persistent than we had expected and hoped.” Indeed, Powell puts the blame on supply shortages creating a sort of “perfect storm scenario” that allowed inflation to run rampant.

He then went on to talk about U.S. monetary policy, something that many hoped he’d tackle. Powell says that the inflation is likely to remain in its elevated state for a bit before leveling out. As such, he is not turning his back on the pandemic recovery effort. He made no hard statement on tapering, much to the chagrin of Fed leaders like James Bullard, who says the time is ripe to begin pulling back. In fact, the Fed chairman says the economy “is still a ways off” from full recovery.

Powell maintains that the economy is not out of the woods yet, and so, emergency spending is to continue. Meanwhile, countries like New Zealand are beginning to taper their own emergency spending.

Democrats Look to Push $3.5 Trillion Expansion Budget

Democrats are banding together to try and push some expansive program budgeting while they hold control of the executive and legislative branches. Today, President Joe Biden and Congressional Dems are fleshing out the details behind a large proposal.

Much of Biden’s campaign promises dealt in accessibility: access to higher education, access to healthcare and childcare, and access to green energy. Today, Biden met with his counterparts across the National Mall to discuss a budget for a plan that would encompass a vast majority of these concerns in some capacity or another.

From what we know, there are some major details in this plan; universal pre-school, free community college tuition, accessible prescription drug prices and emphasis on clean energy make up just a few of the major talking points.

However, the president has a lot of convincing to do if he hopes to get this budget through the Capitol unscathed. Moderate Democrats are proving to be the most powerful politicians in the country right now. Senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia will likely cast the deciding votes standing between Biden and the adoption of the expansive program.

Manchin is remaining largely neutral toward the proposal, saying “we’re waiting to see everything, and we’ll make a determination later.” Meanwhile, more progressive Congressmen like Bernie Sanders are softening up to the plan after originally pushing for an even heftier proposal.

What Else We’re Watching

• Olivia Rodrigo wants young Americans to be happy and healthy. As part of the effort to get young people vaccinated against the coronavirus, the Biden administration hosted the rising pop star at the White House.

• Lucid Motors is trying hard to rally investors ahead of its SPAC merger with Churchill Capital (NYSE:CCIV). However, yesterday’s shareholder call fell flat, and the stock slipped over 8%.

• Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) reached a major milestone today when it breached the $100 billion market capitalization mark. However, with the delta variant hot on the U.S.’s heels, it doesn’t have much time to celebrate before digging back into its vaccination campaign.

• A penny stock called Life Clips (OTCMKTS:LCLP) gained a pretty decent 1,800% during today’s trading session. It is announcing its entry into the world of crypto through the acquisition of crypto exchange platform Belfrics Group.

On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

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