Today's Agenda  Trade War Strategery Trade-war optimism rebounded on Wall Street today after President Donald Trump pinky-swore he'd end this "little squabble" soon, and his word is apparently good enough to put 200 or so points back on the Dow. But trade-war optimism has been the pain trade for the past week, and there's no reason to expect that to change. Bloomberg's editorial board suggests investors still underestimate just how much Trump is willing to watch the world burn to save face, and how much China is willing to reciprocate. Even as Trump reassured, his administration prepared to hit China with more tariffs. And even if the current spat produces a deal, much damage has already been done, the editors write. Anyway, no deal will happen until markets freak out enough to force one, writes Jim Bianco. Of course, if market turmoil and economic pain force China and the Federal Reserve to stimulate the Chinese and U.S. economies, respectively, then Trump wins anyway, suggests John Authers. But there's that whole "pain" part to get through first, including a far bigger stock-market collapse than we've seen so far. Conor Sen suggests Trump's objective is really to curb China's geopolitical ambitions, which might make some short-term economic pain worthwhile. Though whether Americans will tolerate such pain is a different question. The only upside right now is that the trade war's demand destruction is offsetting the oil-supply shocks from rising tensions in the Middle East, Liam Denning notes. Yay? And we give Trump far too much credit if we think he has some grand strategy, writes Tim O'Brien. All his life, Trump has been driven by personal grievances, Tim writes; it's as if the mom from "Carrie," who warns, "They're all gonna laugh at you," has permanent residence in Trump's head. And he's made clear time and again that tariffs will keep China from laughing at us, Tim notes. If Trump were truly strategic, then he would leverage the world's annoyance with China and round up some allies for this fight, suggests David Fickling. A unified approach – not unlike the Trans Pacific Partnership Trump rejected, say – would put far more pressure on China. Instead, David writes, China's the one drawing countries into its orbit. Car Talk With atmospheric carbon dioxide now at 415 parts per million and steadily rising, it would be a fantastic time to get a bunch of electric cars on the road. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of Tesla Inc., the Chinese government and others, batteries are still far too expensive to allow widespread use, writes Anjani Trivedi. And that may not change for a while. Also not changing is the dire situation affecting the Big Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Ball of Drama and Car-Making. Former chief Carlos Ghosn is still in big legal trouble, Nissan is still in big financial trouble, and Renault's stock price is just in trouble, writes Lionel Laurent. And yet Emmanuel Macron has taken up Ghosn's quest to mash Renault and Nissan into one unhappy company. Lionel writes it's still a bad idea. Bonus Car Talk: The timing seems terrible, but Volkwagen AG is right to restart the IPO process for its truck division. – Chris Bryant Blaming Banks Uber Technologies Inc. shares finally stopped falling today, but are still 14 percent below Friday's IPO price. Investors are looking for scapegoats, starting with Morgan Stanley, which led the offering. But you can't really blame Morgan Stanley for Uber's pratfall, argues Matt Levine. The bank made the best of a terrible situation, Matt writes; namely, that the market doesn't think very highly of Uber. Similarly, some investors are angry with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other banks that sold them on a leveraged loan that went bad. JPMorgan knew the company had issues, which might be a problem if it had been selling a security; but leveraged loans aren't technically securities, notes Brian Chappatta. This case could eventually change that, which would roil the market, Brian writes. Meanwhile, leveraged loan buyers should be more choosy, Brian suggests. Further Finance Reading: We should liquidate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so they stop distorting the mortgage market. – Karl W. Smith Indexing Apocalypse It's an apocalyptic moment for old-school money managers: The SEC just approved an ETF with negative fees – meaning the fund manager pays investors for the privilege of passively investing their money. Real wrath-of-God type stuff: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria. This particular fund will only do this until it hits $100 million under management, notes Mark Gilbert. But it's a key moment in the inexorable trend toward low-fee management, Mark writes. Good news, though, contrary to any apocalyptic talk you may have heard about this trend, it does not actually hurt consumers, writes Barry Ritholtz. Here's the first clue: Prices are falling. Telltale Charts A strong job market is enticing more kids to skip college, but they could hurt themselves in the long run, writes Justin Fox.  With a deal to buy Comcast Corp.'s stake in Hulu, the Walt Disney Co.'s streaming-bundle plans are almost complete, writes Tara Lachapelle; but they won't come cheaply.  Further Reading Recent abortion bills in Georgia and elsewhere are invitations for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. But don't expect that until after the 2020 election, at least. – Noah Feldman The Attorney General is basically inviting foreign interference in 2020. – Frank Wilkinson On the 20th anniversary of NATO's expansion, we must remember how much good it did. – Hal Brands After a $2 billion Roundup verdict, Bayer AG just keeps regretting that Monsanto takeover. – Chris Hughes Anti-vaxxers are a lost cause, but we can end measles by getting vaccines to people in developing nations. – Faye Flam ICYMI Nobody wants to live in Trump Tower any more. The next "Star Wars" movie will be handled by the "Game of Thrones" guys. RIP Tim Conway. Kickers Scientists invent glowing plants. (h/t Scott Kominers) Humans and ants wage war in similar ways. Meet the people who named their kids after Daenerys Targaryen. You don't have to eat "breakfast food" for breakfast. Note: Please send breakfast and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? 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