Stress-free on Wall Street

Federal Reserve officials set an October start for shrinking their $4.5 trillion stockpile of assets, moving to unwind a pillar of their crisis-era support for the economy. They left the benchmark interest rate unchanged, but continued to forecast one more hike later this year, saying storm damage will have only a temporary impact on the economy.

A GOP health bill would end the current guarantee that sick people won’t pay more. Under the latest effort to repeal Obamacare—which Senate GOP leaders hope to pass next week before a Sept. 30 deadline—states could get a waiver allowing insurers to charge people higher premiums if they or a dependent have a pre-existing condition, or if they get sick and want to keep their insurance. Meanwhile, much confusion remains over the effect the rushed bill would have on U.S. healthcare.

Hurricane Maria batters Puerto Rico. Maria made landfall in the southeastern part of the U.S. territory Wednesday with winds reaching 155 miles per hour, causing potentially billions of dollars in damage and threatening to continue the population exodus that has pushed the island into bankruptcy.

Bitcoin is likely to split again in November. The splintering would create a third version of the world’s largest cryptocurrency as miners and developers pursue separate visions to scale its rapidly growing marketplace. It comes after a group split off from legacy bitcoin in recent weeks to use a new version known as Bitcoin Cash.

Toy "R" Us will live—because Mattel and Hasbro can’t let it die. The toy seller, hobbled by more than $5 billion in debt, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday night. But the makers of Barbie and Transformers are standing by the company, largely because they need the last remaining toy chain and are eager for whatever leverage they still have against the might of Amazon and Wal-Mart.

Blame Henry Ford for deadly superbugs. The modern U.S. food system’s abundance problem has led to a scarcity problem. Fewer breeds of livestock and crops and the overuse of antibiotics has left us with drug-resistant superbugs. It all started with Henry Ford and the soybean.