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America’s responsibility

Evening Briefing
Bloomberg

Facebook and Twitter tumbled the most in weeks after consumer giant Unilever said it would halt U.S. advertisements on the social media platforms for the rest of 2020 because of concerns over hate speech and polarized American politics. The move added the maker of Hellmann's mayonnaise and Axe grooming products to a growing list of high-profile consumer companies to pull ads from Facebook and its subsidiary, Instagram. Unilever's ban also sweeps in Twitter, which has struggled to deal with offensive posts but recently took a more active stance than Facebook. The popular group of megacap technology stocks known as Fang ended the week with the worst plunge since the depths of the coronavirus crash. —David E. Rovella

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Here are today's top stories

Long assailed for not removing hate speech and false or misleading voting information, including posts by President Donald Trump, Facebook said Friday it will begin labeling all posts that include information about voting (regardless of whether it's misleading) with a link encouraging users to get facts from the company's new voting hub. The company also expanded its prohibition on hate speech in advertising.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said the failure by individual Americans to take precautions against the coronavirus is playing a significant role in the wildfire of infections sweeping across the South and West. His briefing came the day after the U.S. recorded more than 39,000 new infections. Texas and Florida continued to retreat from reopenings as Arizona witnessed a fresh surge of cases from the virus, which has killed 125,000 Americans. Fauci was accompanied at the press conference by Vice President Mike Pence, who said it was "encouraging" that many of the new cases are in Americans under the age of 35. Fauci warned, however, that those young people can infect the elderly or other vulnerable populations who are more likely to be sickened or die. The European Union, meanwhile, moved closer to recommending that travelers from the U.S. shouldn't be allowed to enter the bloc after July 1. Globally, the virus continues to surge in South and Central America and South Asia. The world is approaching 10 million infected and 500,000 dead.

JPMorgan said it is cracking down on racism by its customers, revamping a policy for dealing with abusive clients to include racism toward call-center employees as behavior that could warrant cutting ties.

Wirecard's long-time auditors, Ernst & Young, accused their client of "an elaborate and sophisticated fraud" that allowed more than $2 billion to go missing.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals dropped as much as 21% after a Stifel analyst cut his rating. The stock had recently seen a nine-fold increase, driven in part by day trader enthusiasm for small-cap Covid-19 plays.

Kanye West is going to try to make Gap cool. The struggling apparel company's shares soared the most in at least 40 years after it revealed a partnership agreement with the rapper and designer. West, whose sneaker line with Adidas routinely sells out, will work with Gap on a new line of apparel for men, women and kids called Yeezy Gap.

What's Emily Barrett thinking? The U.S. rates reporter says there's no shortage of evidence to support the case for an upward trend in inflation: the destruction of global supply chains, which have in turn exacerbated food shortages, lingering optimism about a V-shaped recovery and the Fed's own effort to hit its 2% target. It's just that there are a lot of well-worn counterarguments, from the structural forces of an aging population and declining immigration to advances in technology, she says. The more powerful display of the Fed's effectiveness is in the rates volatility market, where tranquility has emboldened investors to pile into risk assets. That said, the rates market surface may not stay glassy for long, especially if corporate bond defaults start piling up. The default rate for speculative-grade companies could triple by next March, and more companies than ever are in danger of losing their investment-grade ratings.

What you'll need to know tomorrow

What you'll want to read in Bloomberg Pursuits

An Old West Town Is for SaleIn New Zealand

In 2012, Rob Bartley bought a detailed replica of an 1860s Wyoming frontier town, set in the heart of a 900-acre ranch, with a handshake deal. The entire project, Mellonsfolly Ranch, had been built for $5 million. Set in the heart of New Zealand's North Island, about a six-hour drive from Auckland, the ranch derives additional income from producing Manuka honey. Harvested from Manuka trees, it's said to have antibacterial properties. In recent years, it has skyrocketed in popularity and price.

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