Trump Trade: Fannie, Freddie ordered to explore crypto as federal mortgage asset

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:

CRYPTO AS FEDERAL MORTGAGE ASSET: FHFA Director William Pulte has ordered Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) to explore crypto as an asset for single-family mortgage applications without converting it to U.S. dollars, CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos reports. Only digital assets held on U.S.-regulated, centralized exchanges will qualify under the new guidance and Fannie and Freddie must design safeguards to account for crypto’s volatility and submit their plans to the FHFA, according to the report. The move aligns with President Donald Trump’s vision “to make the United States the crypto capital of the world,” Sigalos writes. “Cryptocurrency is an emerging asset class that may offer an opportunity to build wealth outside of the stock and bond markets,” the order states. 

BUDGET REQUEST: President Donald Trump wants to raise the pay for troops, more high-tech missiles, and drones in next year’s defense budget, while also cutting jobs at the Navy as well as buying fewer ships and fighter jets, Mike Stone of Reuters reports, citing budget materials. The defense and national security budget request, set to be $892.6B, is flat compared to this year Publicly traded defense companies in the space include BAE Systems (BAESY), Boeing (BA), GE Aerospace (GE), General Dynamics (GD), HII (HII), L3Harris Technologies (LHX), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC) and RTX (RTX). Publicly traded drone companies in the space include Amazon (AMZN), EHang (EH), Kratos (KTOS), and AeroVironment (AVAV).

RULINGS ON MEDICAID PROVISION: Senate Republicans are facing new issues with their domestic policy “Big Beautiful Bill” after the chamber’s parliamentarian advised senators that several provisions they are counting on to reap hundreds of billions of dollars in budget savings won’t be able to pass along party lines, including major pieces of Medicaid policy, reported Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill. Publicly traded companies in the health insurance space include CVS Health (CVS), Centene (CNC), Cigna (CI), Elevance Health (ELV), Humana (HUM), Molina Healthcare (MOH) and UnitedHealth (UNH).

NEW FED CHAIR COULD BE NAMED EARLY: President Donald Trump is considering announcing his pick to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell earlier than expected, The Wall Street Journal’s Brian Schwartz and Nick Timiraos report. Former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former World Bank President David Malpass and Fed governor Christopher Waller are potential candidates, according to people familiar with the matter. An early announcement could let the chair-in-waiting influence investor expectations about interest rates.