End in sight: Congress sped toward reopening the government today, as Senate Democrats dropped their objections to a temporary funding bill in return for assurances from Republicans leaders that they will soon take up immigration and other contentious issues. Senate Republican leader McConnell’s commitment to quickly tackle the issue of immigrant “Dreamers” was contingent on Democrats providing enough votes now for a stopgap spending measure lasting a little less than three weeks. The measure needed 60 votes, and Democrats provided 33 of the 81 it got. Before the government can reopen the Senate must vote on final passage, the House must approve in turn, and President Donald Trump must sign the measure. Read more.
Big Blue in the black: IBM reported its first quarter of revenue growth in more than five years as the company ramps up its cloud computing business and looks for new opportunities from its investments in artificial intelligence. The company, however, still reported a quarterly loss of $1.05 billion, reflecting a $5.5 billion charge associated with recent tax legislation. IBM reported a $4.5 billion profit in the same period a year earlier. Read more.
On file: Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the owner of the largest U.S. East Coast oil refining complex, announced to its employees on Sunday that it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Reuters reports. The bankruptcy comes six years after private equity firm Carlyle Group LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP’s Sunoco Inc. rescued the company from financial distress. Philadelphia Energy Solutions has secured access to $260 million in new financing, and said it expected the bankruptcy filing to have no immediate impact on its employees, according to the memo Reuters obtained. Read more.
