Scott Horsley

American Express says its quarterly profits jumped 16 percent, thanks in part to robust spending by wealthy Amex cardholders.

The company also says it's fielded half a million requests for its new perk-laden platinum card, despite raising the annual fee to nearly $900.

And the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce is suing the Trump administration over its plan to charge $100,000 for new high-tech visas.

The lawsuit says the fee is unlawful and would harm U.S.

businesses.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

The Commerce Department's report on retail sales for September is delayed.

As with other key data points, it's been sidetracked by the government shutdown.

A collection of anecdotal reports released by the Federal Reserve this week suggest consumer spending has been inching down, but spending by high-income households remains strong.

Fed Governor Chris Waller says upper income households are less affected by rising prices and a softening job market.

Waller and his colleagues appear to be on track for another quarter point cut in interest rates at the next Fed meeting in about two weeks.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

Bank of America and Morgan Stanley both reported better-than-expected quarterly profits, fueled in part by robust deal-making fees.

B of A helped two big railroads couple up this summer, while Morgan Stanley helped brew the coffee merger combining Keurig Dr. Pepper and Peet's.

The solid results echo the profit reports from other big banks earlier this week.

Stock in Papa John's Pizza jumped after reports that a private equity firm wants to take the company private.

Apollo Global Management is offering $64 a share.

And this was the day we were supposed to get an inflation report for September.

That report's been pushed back until next Friday, though, as a result of the government shutdown.