ASX 200 chasing SP500…can small-caps be “defensive”?

Detailed summary

The ASX200 is clawing back ground on Wall Street, and a 494-page bill in Washington could hand ASX miners a gift. Back home, your pay packet tells a grimmer story. The post ASX…

That gap was much wider a month ago, and the highlighted patch shows how fast it has narrowed in November.

As I wrote earlier this week, Nvidia’s board is investigating its own CEO over his relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence asset.

Nvidia makes up nearly 7% of the S&P 500, and it reports quarterly earnings next week.

Democrats won both chambers of Congress in last week’s midterms, setting up two years of divided government with Donald Trump from January.

On Monday US time, the Senate voted 73 to 25 to open debate on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026.

It’s a 494-page overhaul of how the US approves new projects, and it was only introduced on 30 September.

Anyone challenging a project’s environmental approval in court would have 150 days to file, down from a default of six years under current law.

A shorter window would shrink one of the biggest risks facing ASX companies funding mines in states like Nevada, Arizona and Wyoming.

The bill needs a final Senate vote and a House vote before the new Congress arrives in January.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Fat Tail Daily. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.