Today's Agenda  The Shaky, Record-Setting Stock Market Fastenal Co. may not be a household name, but it's a bellwether of the state of the global economy. And that state is not great. The Minnesota industrial-supply company today dumped a bunch of second-quarter numbers "that disappointed in every way," writes Brooke Sutherland. Because Fastenal sells stuff to the massive companies that make other stuff, its view of business conditions is noteworthy, Brooke writes. Unfortunately, its current view is that global industrial weakness seems to be here to stay, confirming recent downbeat trade and economic data from around the world. Ah, but there's nothing to worry about, according to the stock market, where new records were briefly set today, thanks to a near-promise from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell of an interest-rate cut. A hotter-than-expected inflation report turned down the market's permagrin, but only because it threatened those rate-cut hopes. And that highlights the market's big problem: It's a fragile snowflake, Robert Burgess writes, dependent on stimulus while Fastenal and others point to an earnings slowdown ahead. Rock-bottom interest rates are good for asset prices, but at this point can't do much for the U.S. economy, argues Mohamed El-Erian. The global economy's woes suggest some monetary stimulus couldn't hurt, but fiscal policies would be far more effective, Mohamed suggests. Keeping markets on an IV drip of monetary policy is unhealthy in the long run. Amazon's Charm Offensive Amazon.com Inc. has lately been hammered by news reports, books, op-eds and late-night comedy segments about working conditions at its fulfillment centers. The consensus is that these places are Boschian hellscapes where exhausted workers desperately scrabble to package your, say, Nicolas Cage pillowcase on time and avoid firing. Allegedly! Amazon really does not care for this characterization, observes Shira Ovide. That helps explain why the company recently boosted its minimum wage to $15 an hour and today said it plans to spend $700 million on training workers to help them advance beyond the warehouse floor. These are decent PR moves, Shira notes, but they're also increasingly necessary recruitment tools in a hot job market. Further Amazon Reading: Browsing for stuff is a huge pain on Amazon, which could help explain its slowing sales growth. – Shira Ovide Further Labor Reading: Stop the Fair-Lending Rollback After the financial crisis, Congress and President Barack Obama's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau tried to fight discrimination by making banks disclose more about their lending decisions. President Donald Trump's CFPB, along with the current Congress, are already rolling back those disclosure requirements. Bloomberg's editorial board writes this won't save banks much money but will make it easier to lend unfairly with impunity. It's morally wrong and could help fuel the next lending crisis. Telltale Charts Yesterday's Persian Gulf confrontation between Iran's Revolutionary Guard and a British warship seems to be an isolated incident so far and not a dramatic escalation of already high tensions in the region. – Julian Lee  Greece's long, austerity-fueled economic nightmare, which has been worse than the U.S. Great Depression, should be a lesson for Europe's elites, writes Mervyn King.  Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. seems finally to have learned its lesson, but its education is painful, writes Sarah Halzack.  Further Reading Trump's recent failures on curbing drug prices could pave the way for better plans. – Max Nisen Trump's threat to retaliate over French taxes on big American tech companies is a hostility meant to divide Europe. – Lionel Laurent China's film industry is suffering from government censorship, to Hollywood's benefit. – Adam Minter Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have learned nothing from his recent political setback, which is bad news for Turkey's economy. – Bobby Ghosh Christine Lagarde's ECB will be short on economists. – Ferdinando Giugliano Don't blame yourself for your addiction to sugar; blame food companies. – Faye Flam Corporate Synergies Corner You read Liam Denning's column earlier this week about how Trump talks about the environment while doing nothing to help it. Now, in a new TicToc video, you can watch Liam talking about Trump talking about the environment. ICYMI It looks like Trump might drop his effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Tropical Storm Barry poses a huge threat to New Orleans. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has an unexpected new fan. Fruit juice is as unhealthy as soda, a study has shown. Kickers A quarter of a million people have vowed to storm Area 51. (h/t James Greiff) American homes are starting to run like offices, with Slack and everything. Meet the people and snakes fighting Florida's giant python invasion. Here's an ice cream recipe from 1687. Note: Please send ice cream and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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