Today's Agenda  Strange New World for Corporate America President Donald Trump has opened an odd new front in the trade war: siccing his government on America's own tech giants. It may be merited and have bipartisan appeal, but the timing is awkward. The first warning shot came on Friday, with news the DOJ will soon launch an antitrust probe of Alphabet Inc.'s Google. Some might read this as just more Trumpian bluster, not unlike his tweet attacking AT&T Inc., which the market laughed off, sending AT&T shares higher. But Google must take the threat of potential action very seriously, writes Shira Ovide. It only narrowly avoided antitrust consequences back in 2013, she notes, and the political tides have turned against it since then. Today we learned the Federal Trade Commission will probe Facebook Inc.'s business practices. And Reuters reported the DOJ might give Apple Inc. its own antitrust exam. The headlines crushed the Nasdaq and shaved billions from the valuations of the very tech titans that led the market to record highs in recent years. Ramesh Ponnuru suggests Facebook and others accused of bias might cool Trump's ire with more transparency about how they regulate content. But the winds have clearly shifted for companies that were recently the darlings of Corporate America. The same is true for the multinational companies that thrived along with globalization; Trump's trade war has turned their world upside down, writes David Fickling. From Chinese scrutiny of American firms to the scrambling of intricate global supply chains, sticking close to home looks more appealing all the time, David writes. That may help explain why the Blackstone Group is buying up U.S. warehouse space, notes Brooke Sutherland: Trade war or no, e-commerce isn't going away, and those products need warehousing whether they're made in Guangdong or Grand Rapids. Strategy? We Don't Need No Stinking Strategy When dismissing the growing damage from the trade war, Trump supporters, and some neutral observers, suggest Trump must have a grand strategy for it all, one that will win in the end and make everybody happy. But Trump's only strategy is whatever gets his goat at any given moment; he was not strategic in business and isn't now, writes Tim O'Brien. Trump's random lashings-out are simply driven by his frustrated desire to influence people and phenomena he doesn't fully understand, Tim writes. The backlash is usually significant and often catches the president by surprise. China isn't rolling over as easily as Trump might have expected, for example, as embodied by the coded message a Chinese TV anchor wore during a recent Fox interview, note Fei Bo and Andrew Browne. Trump's attacks on Mexico, meanwhile, are self-defeating, writes Shannon O'Neil: Mexico can't stop illegal immigration, and Trump's flailing moves so far have made the problem worse. Mexico can retaliate in the trade war, hurting swing-state economies and making Trump's reelection far harder, Shannon writes. Further Trade-War Reading: Stop Hitting Yourself, Markets Trade and tech hurt stocks today, while bonds rallied hard, driving interest rates lower. Bonds are now priced for at least two Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. But Brian Chappatta suggests the bond market is not perfectly prescient. After all, the economy still looks pretty good and we don't know exactly how badly the trade war will hurt it. But investors could turn their worries into a self-fulfilling prophecy, warns Mohamed El-Erian. Panicky markets hammer sentiment and put the Fed in an impossible situation, demanding rate cuts that may not be necessary. For now, though, for better or worse, the Fed seems to be ignoring the market, writes Jim Bianco. Further Jittery Market Reading: Negative yields are a headache for the ECB, which never got to normalize policy and now faces fresh weakness. – Mark Gilbert Beware Trumps Bearing Trade Deals While all of this was happening, Trump was hobnobbing with the Queen of England, the first stage of a U.K. trip that might include meetings with top Brexiteers Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson. Trump has made clear he loves Brexit and its most famous proponents, writes Therese Raphael. Today he promised a "big Trade Deal is possible once U.K. gets rid of the shackles" of the EU. But the U.K. should be wary of such a deal, Therese warns; the U.S. probably won't make Brexiteers any happier than the EU. Telltale Charts OPEC has given non-member Russia too much power, when it really hasn't earned the right, writes Julian Lee. It may be time to end the OPEC+ pact to cut production.  Don't dismiss the idea that Africa could be the next China, writes Noah Smith; a manufacturing boom is still possible.  Further Reading Trump's rationale for adding an immigration question to the 2020 Census isn't legit. The Supreme Court must stop this destructive policy change. – Bloomberg's editorial board Raising $100 billion won't be as easy this time for Masayoshi Son. – Tim Culpan Instagram's new Checkout feature threatens Amazon.com Inc. via luxury sales. – Andrea Felsted A Deutsche Bank-UBS merger might make sense, but will take a crisis to actually happen. – Elisa Martinuzzi Benjamin Netanyahu's rough political tactics come back to haunt him. – Zev Chafets Israel shouldn't help Saudi Arabia spy on its citizens. – Eli Lake Whether they impeach or not, Democrats must daily fight Trump's efforts to obscure the truth. – Francis Wilkinson ICYMI Tesla Inc.'s secret cash sources are revealed. Jared Kushner has thoughts on the Palestinians. Cruise ships are the worst, Venice edition. Kickers Ancient chess piece found. Bark shield is surprisingly hard. (h/t Scott Kominers for the first two kickers) Drinking water is sitting in pipes too long. Tony Soprano's house is for sale. Note: Please send ziti and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
Post a Comment