Trump Effect: Week In Review

Infrastructure stocks were under pressure this week after Mike Allen and Jonathan Swan of Axios said in an article that the new U.S. administration is planning to push off until next year its "massive" bill for roads, airports and big projects. Continuing his round of meetings with CEOs, President Donald Trump sat down with the heads of several manufacturing companies on Thursday. INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR: On Thursday, shares of several infrastructure names slipped on a report that the Trump administration may be pushing its bill for roads, airports and other big projects to 2018. Amid a busy calendar, which includes a Supreme Court nomination, Affordable Care Act repeal legislation, tax reform, budget, spending and debt-ceiling fights, this would give Republican lawmakers "more breathing room," according to Axios. Among the publicly traded companies in the infrastructure sector that dropped after the report were Steel Dynamics (STLD), AK Steel (AKS), U.S. Steel (X), Fluor (FLR), Granite Construction (GVA), Vulcan Materials (VMC), Quanta Services (PWR), Aecom (ACM), Jacobs Engineering (JEC), KBR (KBR), Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), and MasTec (MTZ). MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: Also on Thursday, President Trump met with CEOs of two dozen manufacturing companies, such as Dell (DELL), Ford (F), General Electric (GE), Emerson Electric (EMR), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Caterpillar (CAT), Dow Chemical (DOW), Lockheed Martin (LMT), U.S. Steel, United Technologies (UTX), and Campbell Soup (CPB). Among the topics addressed during the meeting, job losses in manufacturing industries were at the center of the discussion, with the President once again reiterating his wish of bringing back work that has been outsourced. "My administration's policies and regulatory reform, tax reform, trade policies will return significant manufacturing jobs to our country," Trump said. CATERPILLAR: During the meeting with the heads of several manufacturing companies, Donald Trump told Caterpillar's CEO Douglas Oberhelman that his company is "great," adding that he plans on giving Caterpillar a "level playing field" when it comes to doing business in other countries. EXECUTIVE ORDER IN PUSH TO SLASH REGULATIONS: On Friday, President Donald Trump signed another executive order in push to curb regulations and help businesses. The order directs each federal agency to establish "regulatory reform" task forces that will evaluate federal rules. The new administration expects officials to reduce expensive and unnecessary regulation. "Trump Effect: Week in Review" is The Fly's weekly recap of its recurring series of "Trump Effect" exclusive stories that highlight stocks that are being impacted, or are predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration.