Ed Kalecki

This is California Democrat Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.

And Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett.

Oil gained as traders weighed whether talks between the U.S.

and Iran will be enough to avert conflict, following a report that American military intervention could come sooner than expected.

Brent crude briefly rose above $70, while West Texas Intermediate rose as much as 4.1% to trade near $65 a barrel after Axios reported that any U.S.

military operation would likely be a weeks-long campaign rather than the pinpoint operation that took place in Venezuela last month.

Israel's government is pushing for a scenario targeting regime change.

Bloomberg National Security Editor Michelle Jamrisko says it's still unclear how this will all end.

You can hear more from Michelle Jamrisco on the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast.

U.S.

orders for business equipment increased in December by more than projected, suggesting solid capital investment at the end of last year as trade policy uncertainty gradually diminished.

The value of core capital goods orders, a proxy for investment in equipment that excludes commercial aircraft and military hardware, increased 0.6% in December after a revised 0.8% gain a month earlier that was twice as much

as previously estimated.

The Wall Street Journal reports that according to U.S.

officials, a major U.S.

arms sales package for Taiwan is in limbo following pressure from Chinese leader Xi Jinping and concerns among some in the Trump administration that greenlighting the weapons deal would derail President Trump's coming visit to Beijing.

In a phone call earlier this month with Trump, Xi urged caution on U.S.

arms sales to Taiwan, the democratic self-governing island that China claims is part of its territory.

Trump wants to avoid antagonizing China ahead of his visit set for the first week of April.

A second day of U.S.-brokered meetings between Russia and Ukraine in Geneva broke up after barely 90 minutes today.