What you need to know on Wall Street today

Thomson Reuters

Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, speaks at the WSJ Digital Conference in Laguna Beach

A scary little statistic is buried beneath the US economy's apparent stability: Consumer-debt levels are now well above those seen before the Great Recession.

As of June, US households were more than half a trillion dollars deeper in debt than they were a year earlier, according to the latest figures from the Federal Reserve. Total household debt now totals $12.84 trillion - also, incidentally, about two-thirds of gross domestic product.

And according to Business Insider's Pedro da Costa, that's creating an economic trap.

In other news, an $18 billion fund manager started by Al Gore and a Goldman Sachs exec is setting its sights on Silicon Valley. The new titans of Wall Street have their eyes on your savings. And Bill Ackman told a CEO he gets more "clicks on the internet" than anyone except Donald Trump.

President Trump says "there will be NO change to your 401(k)" after reports Republicans want new caps on retirement savings. Traders now have a brand-new way to bet on Trump tax reform.

In deal news, Cisco is buying a telecom-software company for $1.9 billion. And Saudi Aramco's IPO is on track for 2018, according to its CEO.

Lastly, Wall Street's favorite deal-making restaurant has opened in Larry Ellison's hotel - we went inside.