Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees, but I don't really need it.

Infliction is killing me!

But who cares? Big retailers are making record profits!

That's why we support the Durban Marshall Credit Card Bill!

See? Banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll.

This bill would cut the vital resources they need.

While increasing megastore profits, they deserve it. Don't they? Tell Congress, stop the Durban Marshall money grab for corporate megastores. Paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

Here is your midday brief for Wednesday, April 22nd.

I'm Alex O'Sullough for the Wall Street Journal.

Iran has attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and escorted two of them to Iranian waters.

An Iranian gunboat fired on a container ship northeast of Oman and a second vessel off the coast of Iran.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired on a third ship.

U.S. officials said that President Trump plans to offer Iran a few days to present a peace plan after he extended the ceasefire.

But Iranian officials said that the ceasefire extension is meaningless and that Tehran considers the U.S. blockade to be an act of war.

We're exclusively reporting that the Trump administration is nearing a rescue deal for Spirit Airlines.

The agreement under discussion would have the U.S. government loan the discount airline as much as $500 million.

In return, the government would get warrants for a potential significant stake in spirit.

The government has helped the airline industry in times of

crisis like the aftermath of September 11th, but rescuing spirit would be a rare intervention

to prop up a single carrier. And in other aviation news, Boeing's commercial jet production lines

continued to gain steam in the first quarter, helping reduce the company's quarterly loss.

The plane maker's sales jumped 14% from a year earlier to about $22 billion, and it posted a $7 million loss for the quarter compared with a $31 million loss the year before.

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