Netflix

Brexit, IMF, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Netflix, Volkswagen, The Masters

Caracal Global TW January.png

Brexit, IMF, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Netflix, Volkswagen, The Masters

Caracal Global Daily
April 11, 2019
Curation and commentary from 
Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia 

Caracal Global Daily  = News + Analysis at the Intersection of Globalization + Disruption + Politics


TOP FIVE

✔️ EU leaders agree to six-month Brexit delay

✔️ Gliding missiles that fly faster than Mach 5 are coming

✔️ Netflix is making a major play for the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood

✔️ Chuck E. Cheese operates 515 locations nationwide

✔️ HBD: Jeremy Clarkson, TV presenter, Top Gear and Grand Tour

GLOBALIZATION

WSJ: WikiLeaks’s Assange arrested at Ecuador embassy in London

Assange has been holed up for almost seven years. 

IMF warning: The IMF's new chief economist, Gita Gopinath, does not foresee a global recession, but she does warn of "many downside risks." The fund reckons global growth will be 3.3% this year—a 0.2 percentage point downgrade from earlier forecasts—and 3.6% next year. Particular weaknesses are seen in the U.K., Germany, Italy, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa.

Europe’s small, open countries brace for Brexit: Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium are most exposed.

EU gives UK more time to resolve Brexit: WSJ reports, European Union leaders agreed to postpone Brexit until Oct. 31 to allow British Prime Minister Theresa May more time to try to get the UK’s Parliament to approve the country’s divorce deal with the bloc.

EU leaders agree to six-month Brexit delay: FT reports, Theresa May told she has until end of October to finalize UK’s departure.

The prime minister is due to update the Commons today on the new deadline of October 31, which was set at the extraordinary European Council.

Iain Duncan Smith led calls for Theresa May to name her departure date following the news overnight that Brexit would be delayed for a further six months.

UK business lobby accused this morning of “driving small firms to despair” with “debating, dithering and delay” in the three years since Britain voted to leave the European Union. 


Philip Stephens: Britain can now change its mind about Brexit: Macron’s emergence as a latter-day de Gaulle should not stop a second referendum.

Angela Merkel vs. Emmanuel Macron: Battle between her legacy and his future plays out at summit.

Renewed tensions between Italy and Brussels: Italy's populist government has conceded it won’t hit the budget-deficit target agreed on with EU authorities, setting the stage for another standoff with Brussels. The finance ministry said this year's deficit will be 2.4% of GDP, rather than 2% agreed upon in December after tense negotiations. Those discussions resulted in a rise in borrowing costs for Italian banks, businesses, and households, reviving memories of the eurozone’s 2010-12 debt crisis, from which Italy has yet to fully recover.

Did Russia meddle in Magadascar's election? A BBC investigation has revealed that at least six candidates were offered money by Russians in the lead up to last year’s presidential elections in Madagascar. The presence of Russian political strategists with alleged ties to the Kremlin, posing as tourists with the alleged aim of helping to control the tightly fought race, has raised questions whether democracy in the former French colony has been fatally compromised. https://bbc.in/2Kq5tRi

US military wary of China’s foothold in Venezuela: Foreign Policy reports, the head of US Southern Command says Beijing is using disinformation and debt diplomacy to dig in as Maduro clings to power. 

US warship cruises disputed sea in Philippine war games: AFP reports, the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, with at least 10 F-35B stealth jets on deck, stood guard as amphibious tanks rolled onto a Philippine beach located a short sail from islands also claimed by China.

China sweetens its cloud offer in US trade talks: WSJ reports, Beijing sweetened an offer to open its cloud-computing sector to foreign companies, in a bid to forge a trade deal after U.S. negotiators rejected an earlier proposal.

US, China agree to establish trade deal enforcement offices: Mnuchin: Reuters reports, the United States and China have largely agreed on a mechanism to police any trade agreement they reach, including establishing new "enforcement offices," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday.

Janah Ganesh: Donald Trump’s trade obsession keeps the peace with China: The US president is not interested in a clash of philosophies because of his fixation.

Hong Kong's stock market capitalization overnight surpassed Japan's for the first time since the Chinese equity bubble popped in 2015.

FT: Japan wants better access to US in return for free trade deal

Tokyo says Trump administration will have to offer significant concessions.

An agreement that does not include concessions to Japan would be illegal under World Trade Organization rules and stands no chance of ratification by Japan’s Diet, according to a senior trade official directly involved in preparations for the talks.


Nikkei: China's 'Japan hands' make comeback as US ties wilt

Newly appointed Tokyo ambassador puts Rolodex in motion for Xi visit preparation.

As China's next ambassador in Tokyo, Kong Xuanyou will pave the way for President Xi Jinping to visit Japan, possibly twice, this year. 


Australia to pick its next leader—with an election: WSJ reports, Australia’s conservative government said it would hold national elections on May 18, betting on tax cuts and security spending to fend off a challenge by center-left opponents.

Australia will hold new elections in May: DW reports, Prime Minister Scott Morrison moved to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. The conservative leader will face a challenge from center-left Labor leader Bill Shorten, who currently leads in the polls.

Edward Luce: Trump is building a populist global club: Benjamin Netanyahu’s win would not have happened without the US president’s help.

AFP: Sudan's defence minister says army has arrested President Omar al-Bashir

Sudan’s military overthrows the president, ending his 30-year rule: WP reports, the apparent ouster of President Omar al-Bashir came after months of growing protests across Sudan.

In letter on clerical sex abuse, Pope Benedict XVI decries ’60s sexual revolution, describes seminaries filled with ‘homosexual cliques’: WP reports, the pope emeritus broke his years of silence on major church affairs, attributing the clerical sex abuse crisis to a breakdown of church and societal moral teaching and said he felt compelled to assist “in this difficult hour.”

DISRUPTION

Black hole picture captured for first time in space ‘breakthrough’: The image of a black hole captured by the Event Horizon Telescope. Photograph: EHT Collaboration.

A network of eight radio telescopes around the world helped to record the image.

Hypersonic missiles: Gliding missiles that fly faster than Mach 5 are coming. They combine the speed of intercontinental ballistic missiles with the accuracy of cruise missiles.

10 breakthrough technologies for 2019 curated by Bill Gates. http://bit.ly/2UNpXqY

POLITICS

Ex-Obama counsel expects to be charged soon in Mueller-related case: NYT reports, Gregory B. Craig may soon be indicted on charges related to his work for the Russia-aligned government of Ukraine, lawyers said. Craig would become the first top Democrat to be charged in a case developed by the special counsel.

Pete Buttigieg challenges religious right on their own turf: NYT reports, Buttigieg has confronted evangelicals like Vice President Mike Pence, questioning the moral authority of religious leaders who have stayed silent on Trump’s conduct.

New York City declares a public health emergency over measles outbreak, mandates vaccination: New York City declared a public health emergency yesterday over a measles outbreak that has sickened 285 people — most of them in an Orthodox Jewish community — since last fall.

COMMERCE

Netflix continues pursuit for Oscar glory: In a deal reported to be worth tens of millions of dollars, Netflix is making a major play for the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Owning the cinema would allow Netflix to more easily showcase films that it wants to put up for Academy Award contention without dealing with traditional theatrical release windows.

JetBlue appears to be gearing up for service across the Atlantic.

YouTube broadens its already huge array of e-sports content.

Standard & Poors is rolling out a new version of its S&P 500 index, but focused on "socially-minded" companies.

Standard Chartered will pay US and British authorities more than $1 billion to settle a probe over allegedly violating Iran sanctions.

Boeing revealed it received zero 737 Max orders last month.

Chuck E. Cheese: The company averages $1.6 million per restaurant and operates 515 locations nationwide.

NYT: Uber is said to aim for IPO valuation of up to $100 billion

Volkswagen AG is exploring purchasing a big stake in its Chinese electric vehicle joint venture partner JAC Motors.

The twilight of combustion comes for Germany's empire of engines: The nation that invented the heart of the car at the dawn of the 20th century might struggle to adapt to the coming electric era. https://bloom.bg/2KtP0LJ

Nikkei: Tesla and Panasonic freeze spending on $4.5bn gigafactory

The Japanese company also suspends planned investment in Shanghai plant.

Walmart to refit 500 more stores to lure back online shoppers: FT reports, biggest US retailer focuses on improving existing estate as it battles with Amazon.

What is Huawei and why is the US government so afraid of it? LAT reports, Ren Zhengfei turned a company with no intellectual property into the world’s largest telecom. Washington says he had help from Beijing.

WP: Stadium wants to be America’s biggest sports network. And it doesn’t want to be on cable.

CULTURE

“Killing Eve” delights because it is so anti-Bond: The series, which has recently returned for a second season, plays with the tropes of the thriller genre. https://econ.st/2KnNN8G

Will Apple just kill iTunes already? Adam Clark Estes writes, people have been complaining about iTunes for ages. The bloated and confusingly arcane piece of software has been updated and repurposed and jerry-rigged to handle new tasks for the past 18 years, and one developer says it won't live to see its 19th birthday.

HBD: Jeremy Clarkson, TV presenter, Top Gear and Grand Tour

Simon Kuper: Why the elite media are surviving in this populist age: ‘A reader introduced himself as “an FT/Economist liberal”. Elite media are becoming clubs.’

The bursting, beautiful shelves of famous bibliophiles: Amid the decluttering craze, we asked José Andrés, Andrew Sean Greer and other famous book lovers for the stories behind their collections. https://wapo.st/2KtlFkM

SPORT

The Masters tournament begins at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.

Canada, Trump, Kim, Paris, ZTE, Uber, Netflix, Citi, Brazil

Marc Ross Daily June.png

Canada, Trump, Kim, Paris, ZTE, Uber, Netflix, Citi, Brazil

Marc Ross Daily
June 12, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

Marc Ross Daily  = Business News at the Intersection of Global Politics + Policy + Profits

Subscribe here
https://goo.gl/bSQKwA

TOP FIVE

✔️ Does your state trade with Canada?

✔️ The G7 fiasco: It's time to isolate Donald Trump

✔️ Trump and Kim leave the denuclearization details for later

✔️ Paris more attractive than London for business investment

✔️ Senators move to sink Trump’s ZTE deal

ROSS RANT

Think populism is slowing down? Check out how Ontario voted

Populism establishes a beachhead in Canada's most prosperous and most important province of Ontario.

To understand what will happen with American politics and upcoming elections, I find exploring elections in other Western democracies to be an essential tool.

Last Thursday night, Doug Ford was elected as the next Premier of Ontario. A new expansion of populism now confronts Canada. Think Trump lands in Ontario.

CBC's Chris Hall wrote, "Doug Ford — the bombastic, blustering and populist former Toronto city councilor — is going to be the next premier of Canada's most populous province. His victory, convincing as it was, came with an exclamation mark. He put an end to 15 straight years of Liberal rule."

Toronto Star columnist Edward Keenan echoed the same scripting "Ford era promises a rocky road ahead for all of us."

He went onto say "the next four years under Premier Doug Ford: constant reasons to wonder about the malice vs. incompetence debate, with a loud portion of Ford’s supporters hoping and cheering for the former option. And many of the rest of us hoping instead for the latter, because perhaps if a problem is caused by incompetence, there is some hope it will be fixed, as those who caused it realize their mistake or grow more competent and capable."

@Richard_Florida tweeted: Ontario went from being a pro-urban province/ state like California or New York to joining the ranks of anti-urban Red states ... 

I don't see the expansion of populism around Great Lakes stopping any time. Until CEOs of multinational corporations, Governors, and Mayors show leadership and engage voters in the Midwest on the value of globalization, this will be the result at the ballot box.

Endless outrage by the coastal elites will do little to change election outcomes.

Cross the Hudson and be in Cleveland.

Cross the Potomac and be in Detroit.

This is the three-part question facing US voters in 2018 and 2020: Do we protect the jobs of the past or invest in the jobs of the future? Do we subsidize the grey hairs or invest in today's 8th graders? Do we want to be part of a global world or not?

Voters today want protection, subsidies, and unilateralism.

Plan accordingly.

GEOECONOMICS

CBC: Trump says Trudeau's 'pushed around' comments will cost Canada 'a lot of money'

Trump says Trudeau "probably didn't know that Air Force One has about 20 televisions'

The G7 fiasco: It's time to isolate Donald Trump: The G7 summit once again made it clear that US President Donald Trump is intent on treating America's allies worse than its enemies. Europe must draw the consequences and seek to isolate Trump on the international stage. 
Der Spiegel - Roland Nelles

East Germans invest and vote differently. Here's why. Data shows that both recent and older history influences how we behave in daily life. https://bloom.bg/2t7PQCf

OTD: In 1991 Boris Yeltsin became the first democratically elected president of Russia.

WSJ: Trump: Kim to start to denuclearization steps

Pact is short on details; President promises to halt military exercises

NYT: Trump and Kim see new chapter for nations after summit

FT: Trump and Kim pledge peace on Korean peninsula

LAT: Trump-Kim Jong Un summit fails to produce disarmament plan

Nikkei: Trump and Kim leave the denuclearization details for later


Bloomberg: Trump gave Kim a summit but left with little to show for it

WP: Trump says US, North Korea are ‘ready to write a new chapter’

US military in Korea says no guidance on cancelling war games:
 Reuters reports, US military forces in Korea have not received any direction to cease joint military drills, a spokesman said on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said war games would be ended amid talks with North Korea.

US opens new $255m de facto embassy in Taiwan: FT reports, the US has held a ceremony to mark the opening of its new de facto embassy in Taiwan, in a show of support for the government in Taipei amid mounting Chinese pressure on the self-ruled island. The diplomatic base reflected the “strength” of US-Taiwan ties and would “make possible even greater cooperation for many years to come”, said Marie Royce, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, and the highest-ranking US official in attendance on Tuesday.

Friday: June 15 is the deadline for the US to publish the final list of Chinese products subject to $50 billion in tariffs

Aussie-Sino relations: Vast quantities of Australian wine are stuck in Chinese ports as relations between the two countries sour over criticism of Beijing's expanding military and spy network.

Entrance exams in China focus on the thoughts of Xi: Asia Times reports, almost 10 million high school graduates in China sat the nation’s annual college entrance exams earlier this week. The themes and reference materials are always a topic of conversation among parents and the online community. 

It is estimated that around 80% of global trade is part of long supply chains, and around 40% of global trade is within companies. 

BBC: First direct flight from China lands at Edinburgh Airport

Paris more attractive than London for business investment, says consultancy firm EY
: AFP reports, For the first time, Paris is ahead of London as the most attractive European city for businesses to invest in, according to a report by consultancy firm EY. EY convened a panel of 502 international business leaders who concluded that Paris was preferable to London in this respect. This comes as France’s overall attractiveness to investors continued to improve in 2017, for the second year in a row, partly thanks to President Emmanuel Macron’s economic reforms, according to the same report, published on June 11.

Brexit: The best hope for an orderly withdrawal from the European Union lies in all Conservative MPs uniting and backing the government.

MPs debate 15 amendments made by peers to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.

In Brexit showdown, British PM May faces challenge over 'meaningful vote': Reuters reports, British Prime Minister Theresa May faces a showdown on Tuesday with lawmakers who want power to force her government to go back to the negotiating table if they reject a Brexit deal, testing her plans for leaving the European Union.

UK should not legislate to control children's use of technology, says culture secretary:Guardian reports, Matt Hancock refuses to rule out law to protect minors online, but would stop short of French measures.

Digital and social media firms should be forced to protect children from addiction, UK experts say: Telegraph reports, Social media and online gaming firms should have a statutory “duty of care” to protect children from mental ill health, abuse and addictive behaviour, a coalition of the country’s leading experts demands today. Data amassed by charities, academics and doctors links children’s use of social media and gaming to a range of serious and lasting harms, many of which build gradually over time and go undetected by parents or teachers.

AMERICAN POLITICS

The $1.4 trillion US ‘surplus’ that Trump’s not talking about: Bloomberg reports, the US has a surplus of $20 billion with China and $1.4 trillion with the rest of the world. That’s not a normal trade balance, of course, where the US registered an annual deficit of more than $330 billion with China and about $550 billion with the world last year, but an "aggregate sales surplus" which measures both direct trade and the sales of multinational companies, according to research by Deutsche Bank AG

Senators move to sink Trump’s ZTE deal: WSJ reports, in a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump, Republican Senate leaders set up a vote for this week that would undo the White House deal to revive Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corp. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was on Capitol Hill late Monday to lobby against the move. But Democratic and Republican lawmakers said that an agreement had been reached to wrap into the National Defense Authorization Act an amendment that would ban ZTE from buying components from US suppliers.

Politico: The 10 names that matter on China policy: Trump’s skepticism of Asia was a key part of his campaign’s identity. These 10 people are dealing with the reality. https://politi.co/2t1F8Nz

The Atlantic - Reihan Salam: Normalizing trade relations with China was a mistake: Lawmakers wanted to turn a potential enemy into a friend—instead, they squandered their leverage, in ways that shortchanged both nations. https://theatln.tc/2t2Slp0

Lawrence Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, had a very mild heart attack Monday.

@CNBC: Paul Manafort will be arraigned Friday on witness tampering charges levied in the latest indictment from special counsel Robert Mueller.

Today: The Fed starts a two-day meeting with an expected rate hike announcement on Wednesday.

LAT: John Cox says Trump will campaign for him in California governor's race

Romney looks to lead GOP’s establishment wing
: Politico reports, Mitt Romney, is positioning himself to be a force in the Senate — and a potential counterweight to Trump. 

Today: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will eclipse former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) as the longest-serving Republican leader in Senate history.

Inside Obama’s secret meetings with 2020 contenders: Politico reports, still the reluctant leader of the Democratic Party, Obama has been providing counsel to Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and other presidential hopefuls.

ENTERPRISE

Forbes Global 2000: The world's largest public companies http://bit.ly/2y6NFEA

1. ICBC
2. China Construction Bank
3. JP Morgan Chase
4. Berkshire Hathaway
5. Agricultural Bank of China
6. Bank of America
7. Wells Fargo
8. Apple
9. Bank of China
10. Ping An Insurance Group
11. Royal Dutch Shell
12. Toyota Motor
13. ExxonMobil
14. Samsung Electronics
15. AT&T


Grocery chains are being squeezed from all sides: WSJ reports, pressure from rapidly changing consumer tastes, European discounters and Whole Foods will hurt smaller grocery chains most but the big players like Kroger will struggle to grow. 

What Caracal Global thinks: Deck: The Future Of Retail - see it herehttp://bit.ly/2HowjaB

Uber is considering an acquisition of Motivate, the company behind the Ford GoBike.

Today: A judge will decide whether AT&T can buy Time Warner

Citi issues stark warning on automation of bank jobs: FT reports, Citigroup’s investment bank has suggested that it will shed up to half of its 20,000 technology and operations staff in the next five years, as machines supplant humans at a faster pace.

US tech companies return to Taiwan as China ties sour: Nikkei reports, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google seek cutting-edge products for IoT.

AFP: Shoemaker Louboutin wins EU court battle over red soles

TRENDS

World Cup: why millennials will transform football’s greatest event: The way the game is experienced away from the pitch is the latest powerful example of digital disruption. https://on.ft.com/2l4CqTR

"Developing a first-class enterprise—retailer or tech company or football team or symphony orchestra—is all about developing people.” -- Tom Peters

CULTURE

A company built on a bluff: NY Mag reports for almost 25 years, Shane Smith’s plan for Vice was that, by the time the suckers caught on, he’d never be stuck owning the company he co-founded. https://nym.ag/2t0dDnc

A senior manager once joked that the company’s hiring strategy had a “22 Rule”: “Hire 22-year-olds, pay them $22,000, and work them 22 hours a day.”

Inside the binge factory: Netflix is hiring everybody in and out of Hollywood to make more TV shows than any network ever has, and it already knows which ones you’ll like. http://bit.ly/2sWZnMj

HBDs: George HW Bush is 94 yo today and Chick Corea reaches 77 yo.

Former Olympic skier Bode Miller ‘beyond devastated’ after death of 19-month-old daughter: WP reports, “Never in a million years did we think we would experience a pain like this,” Miller said of the death, which occurred by drowning.

SPORT

A German system that has made them the team of the century: The inside story of the model that has become the envy of the football world. http://bit.ly/2sXkM7W

Germany is not flying to Russia to see the sights, "but to win the tournament," said team director Oliver Bierhoff.

Goldman tips Brazil for World Cup after 1 million simulations: Bloomberg reports, so much for the unpredictable nature of the beautiful game. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reckons Brazil will win its sixth World Cup, basing its forecast on data mining, machine learning, and econometrics. The investment bank is the latest to jump into the excitement before the soccer championship kicks off this week. It used 200,000 statistical models, sifted data on individual players and recent team performance and ran 1 million simulations of the tournament.

The Times: It’s time for Belgium’s golden generation to live up to the hype

Trump letters might be key to bid to host 2026 World Cup
: NYT reports, three previously undisclosed letters from President Trump to FIFA have reassured the organization’s members that all fans and teams would be welcome, regardless of US immigration policy.

2026 World Cup: FIFA members will decide on Wednesday whether to vote for a joint US-Canadian-Mexican bid or whether the World Cup -- which will feature 48 teams for the first time -- will return to Africa for only the second time in 2026.

Foreign-owned football clubs:

China: AC Milan, Inter Milan, Southampton, West Bromwich

India: Blackburn

Pakistan: Fulham

Iran: Everton

Qatar: PSG, Malaga

Russia: Chelsea

UAE: Man City

Singapore: Valencia

USA: Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, Marseille, Roma

North Korea, Ireland, Estonia, Samsung, Netflix, Real Madrid v Liverpool

Marc Ross Daily June.png

North Korea, Ireland, Estonia, Samsung, Netflix, Real Madrid v Liverpool

Marc Ross Daily
May 25, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

Marc Ross Daily  = Business News at the Intersection of Global Politics + Policy + Profits

Subscribe here
https://goo.gl/bSQKwA

TOP FIVE

✔️ Trump’s gamble hits reality check in North Korea

✔️ Is Kim Jong-un back in Beijing?

✔️ Relations between Australia and China are buckling

✔️ The death of retail is greatly exaggerated

✔️ People in their 20s and 30s are drinking less alcohol

GEOECONOMICS

NYT: Trump’s gamble hits reality check in North Korea negotiations

The North Korea summit crumbled after China lined up against it:
 NBC News reports, Xi became increasingly anxious about the potential reunification of the Korean Peninsula, with China on the sidelines.

Is Kim Jong-un back in Beijing? High-ranking North Korean official reportedly visiting Chinese capital: AP reports, the North Korean official arrived in Beijing by air before being picked up by a Chinese government vehicle, the source said.

After summit pullout, South Korea and China have little appetite for Trump’s ‘maximum pressure': WP reports, Trump credited his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions and threats with bringing North Korea to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear weapons program. Now, having abruptly decided to call off an unprecedented summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month, Trump looks poised to revert to a hard-line approach. There’s just one problem: “The multilateral pressure coalition has fallen apart,” says Mira Rapp-Hooper, an East Asia expert at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center.  

@TheEconomist: Donald Trump's decision to cancel the meeting had come to seem almost inevitable econ.st/2GOuNJt

WP: ‘A lot of dial tones’: The inside story of how Trump’s North Korea summit fell apart https://wapo.st/2s64eLd

The weird zigzags of a ship trying to navigate the US-China trade war: CBC reports, the travels of an 80,000-tonne shipment of an obscure American feed crop symbolize everything wrong with Trump's trade fight with China.

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will travel to China from June 2 to June 4.

Then there was eighteen: Taiwan lost its second diplomatic partner in less than a month as the West African state of Burkina Faso severed relations. Taiwan now only has diplomatic recognition with just 18 states.

Relations between Australia and China are buckling as suspicion grows over the latter’s political meddling.

Turbulent week for Trump's trade tactics puts the world on edge: Bloomberg reports, over five days, the U.S. called off a trade war with China, cast doubt over the framework of talks with Beijing, and threatened tariffs on car and truck imports to protect national security. In other words, it’s been just another week for the volatile trade policy of President Donald Trump. The coming days aren’t looking much calmer.

@sallyshin: who's ready for GDPR!!!

Today: St Petersburg Forum begins in Russia

Crude has slipped back under $70/bbl.

Bankers may have moved $13 billion through Baltic laundromat: Bloomberg reports, banks operating in the Baltic nation of Estonia may have laundered considerably larger sums than first thought. Estonian police now estimate that bankers in their country were involved in suspicious transfers of money and securities, mainly from Russia, totaling more than $13 billion from 2011 to 2016.

Europe is ready to move on from Brexit: Leavers hoped to start a continent-wide revolution. Turns out there are more pressing problems. https://bloom.bg/2kqySuw

As Brexit clock ticks, the UK tries to agree on a plan: WSJ reports, an idea being considered could avoid a disruptive exit from the EU, but London may not unite behind it before a critical June summit.

"Since Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016, politicians on both sides have committed to preserve the status quo on the island of Ireland. But the British government has also said it plans to leave the EU customs union and its single market, which would necessitate customs checks along the Irish border with Britain."

Telegraph: Theresa May needs to quit as Prime Minister over 'Greek tragedy' Brexit talks - major Tory donor

Scotland's bid for another shot at independence is creeping back
: Bloomberg reports, After championing the cause for staying in the European Union, Scotland’s nationalists are reigniting their effort to leave the U.K. with plans for a new currency, economic regime and an open door for immigrants. A report published on Friday by a Scottish National Party commission made the case that Scotland should look to emulate small, better-performing economies such as Denmark and New Zealand. 

You can read the report here: http://bit.ly/2IO0G6T

Ireland votes: Irish voters will decide today whether to remove a ban on abortion from the country's constitution.

Italy’s new coalition government presents Europe with a difficult choice: pacify populists or pull no punches.

Military looks at foreign recruits to boost ranks: CBC reports, Canada's military is considering lifting a longstanding citizenship requirement as a way to boost its numbers. Right now, Canadian citizenship is a key requirement for enlistment, with waivers offered in exceptional cases.

Escaping Venezuela: Migrants are pouring into Brazil by the thousands looking for work and a chance at a new life. 

AMERICAN POLITICS

Roger Stone sought information on Clinton from Assange, emails show: WSJ reports, ex-Trump adviser urged intermediary to ask WikiLeaks for specific dates of rival candidate’s communications.

"Please ask Assange for any State or [Hillary Clinton] e-mail from August 10 to August 30--particularly on August 20, 2011" 

Today: Trump delivers commencement remarks at the US Naval Academy

Trump 2020: Donald Trump's 2020 campaign and the Republican National Committee wrote to Facebook and Twitter to ask how they will "guarantee that conservative voices are no longer censored."

@parscale: We won’t tolerate bias toward conservatives or @realDonaldTrump supporters. We’re standing up for you and demanding answers. @GOPChairwoman and I have sent the following letter to @facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and @Twitter’s @jack Dorsey. #StopTheBias

US house prices: Home values have jumped 8.7% since last April, per Zillow. That's the fastest pace since 2006.

Senior Republicans blast Trump’s auto tariff threat: Bloomberg reports, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said Thursday the move would amount to a tax paid by American car buyers. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said Congress should take back some of the powers it has given the president to impose tariffs on national security grounds, while Bob Corker of Tennessee said the administration “is using trade policy maybe too transactionally.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a statement it "strongly opposes" the Trump administration’s threat of tariffs. If carried out, the proposal would “threaten to ignite a global trade war,” the group said.

Trump identifies his trade weapon of choice, to the dismay of Congress: WSJ reports, the president’s use of a national security law to threaten tariffs, most recently on imported cars, has lawmakers, the auto industry and foreign trade partners worried.

WSJ - Editorial: Trump’s trade confusion

"Auto tariffs, NAFTA bullying and China disarray, oh my."

The Trump trade - Why corporate America loves Donald Trump: The Economist reports, American executives are betting that the president is good for business. Not in the long run. https://econ.st/2kqUAPm

Where US manufacturing is thriving in 2018: The ‘80s futurist John Naisbitt once called manufacturing “a declining sport,” and to be sure the share of Americans working in factories has fallen far from the 1950 peak of 30% to roughly 8.5% last year. Yet, manufacturing’s contributions to the economy are far out of proportion to its shrinking share of employment. In 2013, the manufacturing sector employed 12 million workers, but generated an additional 17.1 million indirect jobs. http://bit.ly/2J5Ezfu

ENTERPRISE

Lego has partnered with Tencent to offer videos for the Chinese market.

Samsung has been ordered to pay Apple $539 million in a patent infringement case.

Netflix briefly surpassed Walt Disney Co. in market value Thursday to be the most valuable global media brand.

I am long DIS and short NFLX.

StumbleUpon will shut down June 30.

The great sneaker race: Gucci, Prada, and Balenciaga are increasingly looking to sneakers for growth, putting them in direct competition with sportswear giants like Nike and Adidas.

Uber announced today that it plans to invest €20M ($23.5M USD) in France over the next five years to develop aerial mobility.

Kellogg’s cereal brand Froot Loops is rolling out its first new flavor in 10 years: Wild Berry.

Publicis Groupe is no longer a holding company. As of today, it's a "platform." Meet Marcelhttp://bit.ly/2IIzxpO

TRENDS

33 industries that could be transformed by driverless carshttp://bit.ly/2kpL7HN

Drinking: People in their 20s and 30s are drinking less alcohol. One in 5 millennials doesn’t drink, and 66% say that alcohol isn’t important to their social lives, according to a survey by Demos.

No phone vaca: According to a survey of 2,000 US travelers from Asurion, a mobile device insurance company, and OnePoll, a UK-based marketing research company. more than 20 percent of respondents said they checked their smartphones once per hour during their most recent vacations while about 14 percent said they checked it twice per hour.

The death of retail is greatly exaggerated http://bit.ly/2IL6tya

CULTURE

Harvey Weinstein facing arrest in New York following sex assault inquiry: NYT reports, Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, is expected to surrender to investigators on Friday after a monthslong inquiry into allegations that he sexually assaulted numerous women. Mr. Weinstein is to be charged by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, according to two law enforcement officials.

Scientists plan to scour loch ness in search for the mythical monster's DNA: NDTV reports, the project's leader, Neil Gemmell of New Zealand's Otago University, doubts that the Loch Ness monster actually exists.

Today: National Wine Day

Barry Ritholtz's 10 books for a summer reading listhttps://bloom.bg/2knXfcn

SOTD

Jamie T - Sheila http://bit.ly/2GP7z6b

SPORT

UEFA Champions League - Final

Real Madrid v Liverpool @ 2:45 ET on Saturday

All you need to know about the Champions League finalhttp://bit.ly/2konEqD

The French Open is already mired in controversy even before play starts on Sunday: Bloomberg reports, Serena Williams, resuming her comeback after maternity leave, is unseeded and will open against a tough opponent in 70th-ranked Kristyna Pliskova. Ivanka Trump blasted the Women's Tennis Association, saying the three-time champion is being penalized professionally for having a child.

2018 World Cup Jerseys (photos) http://bit.ly/2kqtxUo

BBC's World Cup promo ad: The BBC was inspired by the centuries-old Russian tradition of tapestry for its World Cup 2018 promo -- it has created an incredible, intricate animated tapestry of the tournament's history, as well as a real-life work of embroidery. The animated launch film "The Tapestry," created by BBC Creative with BBC Sport Marketing and directed by Nicos Livesey of Blinkink, takes the viewer on a journey through iconic moments from World Cup's past, from Diego Maradona's ball skills to Paul Gascoigne's tears and through to the current team lineup. You can see the ad here: http://bit.ly/2kqxGaw

The British bookmaker betting big on American sports gambling: William Hill’s early wager may soon pay off. https://bloom.bg/2IIVqFv