Top 10 Headlines: The Stories Shaping America Today

17 venezuelan oil fields holding roughly 64,000,000,000 barrels of reserves were just handed to a single little known company in episode one eighty four we stripped out the political noise to track the decisions shifting national ground today that shift sits in maracaibo and washington donald trump called it the biggest oil deal in history the reality on the ground is narrower and far more complicated the firm chosen to deliver it is north american blue energy partners led by venezuelan businessman alejandra betancourt until recently betancourt was a target of federal money laundering probes involving state oil company pdvsa under the terms the united states takes a 35% stake in the parent company along with the right to purchase one fifth of total production at cost that part is confirmed the operational timeline to pull that oil out is claimed not confirmed i will tell you the moment it is meanwhile in washington the domestic numbers just landed a direct blow to the federal reserve gross domestic product for the third quarter expanded at an annualized rate of 3.4%

pushed by a massive 20.9% surge in business equipment spending consumer spending rose 3.8% on wednesday fed chair kevin warsh held interest rates steady insisting the economy wasn't overheating and that he didn't want to throw sand in the gears of the expansion the price data tells another story the commerce department's personal consumption expenditures price index rose to 3.6% in september climbing further away from the fed's 2% target more than half the items measured saw annual price jumps topping 3% two fed policymakers lisa cook and beth hammack already dissented this week to demand immediate hikes with consumer spending outpacing personal income growth the room warsh had to maneuver has all but vanished the pressure isn't domestic alone in the strait of hormuz an explosive device from a small boat struck an oil tanker this morning keeping crude prices elevated for a fourth consecutive monthly gain as the conflict with iran enters month eight the security fallout is immediate exxonmobil and chevron both canceled executive travel to next week's major united arab emirates energy conference our wire coverage

today does not support the 10 distinct national headlines the bulletin usually carries and we don't invent filler when the verifiable tape is thin between an audacious offshore oil gamble and persistent domestic price spikes the pressure on household budgets is mounting from both ends that is the picture from here back to you in the studio