Here's your morning brief for Tuesday, October 7th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for the Wall Street Journal.

Almost a week has passed since the U.S. government shutdown started, and discussions in Washington

are still just plodding along. Yesterday, President Trump, speaking in the Oval Office,

signaled a willingness to strike a deal, saying, quote, very good things could happen with respect to health care, end quote, before later clarifying that the government must first reopen before he will work with Democrats.

In a social media post late last night, Trump again blamed Democrats for the shutdown and insisted they should

reopen the government, quote, tonight. Wall Street's biggest banks are vying for a piece of what could be the biggest initial public offering in history, the public debut of mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Fannie and Freddie, as they are known, have been under government control since the 2008

financial crisis. Now, the Trump administration is preparing a stock offering that deal officials

believe could value the combined firms at roughly $500 billion and raise roughly $30 billion.

Bankers are navigating some novel hurdles, including the unpredictability of the Trump administration and the complexities of taking government-backed entities public.

And today marks two years since the deadly Hamas attacks that sparked conflict across the Middle East and an Israeli assault on Gaza that, according to local authorities, has led to the deaths of more than 67,000 Palestinians.

Peace negotiations are entering their second day in Cairo, Egypt, and could pave the way for a

ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. The loftier aim is achieving a longer-term

agreement for Israel to withdraw to the agreed-upon lines and for the creation of a Palestinian technocratic

leadership in Gaza. Asian stocks ended the day mixed. European stocks are ticking up in midday trading

and U.S. stock futures are down ahead of the open. And we have a lot more coverage of the day's

news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart

speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.