| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a geopolitical order of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Today's Agenda  Frenemies. Photographer: AFP Contributor/AFP/Getty Images MAGA Hats Are Made, and Maybe Worn, in China Imagine you're running a very large nation and that the president of a very large rival nation is constantly imposing tariffs on your country and accusing you of ripping off and undermining his. Then, out of the blue at a summit one day, he asks you to help him win re-election. Would you: - Laugh in his face
- Have someone check his drink for narcotics
- Storm out of the room in mock outrage and then laugh
- Leap right into action helping him get re-elected
In most circumstances, 1., 2. or 3. would be logical responses. But when President Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to do him a 2020 solid, as John Bolton's new book claims, Xi was probably leaning hard toward option 4. Sure, Trump threatens China constantly, but he mainly follows through with trade wars that are the equivalent of punching himself in the face out of spite. Meanwhile, Hal Brands notes, Trump is even more aggressively hacking away at America's moral authority and the post-World War II global alliances on which America once thrived. Four more years of that, and China may be able to waltz in and pick up the pieces as a relatively stable alternative superpower. If you wanted to knock a rival several pegs lower, what better way than to keep in power a leader with Yosemite Sam levels of self-control? Trump last week confirmed plans to pull troops from Germany, weakening arguably America's most important alliance on what James Stavridis writes are false pretenses, apparently just because Angela Merkel refuses to show him proper fealty. Closer to home, Trump just shoved Venezuela's Juan Guaido under the bus, undermining his authority and edging toward legitimizing Nicolas Maduro, undoing years of policy just because he is SO MAD at Bolton, writes Eli Lake. With enemies like these, if you're Xi, who needs friends? The Fog of Coronavirus Nearly two months ago, Dave Eggers wrote a column about all the conflicting advice we get about coronavirus, in the form of a Q&A: P: It sounds like you're saying we shouldn't order stuff to be delivered. A: You shouldn't. Unless you want local businesses to die. P: So we should support local businesses … A: Absolutely. While risking their workers' lives. And so forth. Now, as he and others predicted, we're reopening economies around the world while the pandemic still rages, armed with barely more information than we had two months ago. With the Trump administration apparently determined to pretend the whole thing isn't happening, our guidance comes mainly from local officials and random headlines we come across while panic-scrolling in the middle of the night. These still offer conflicting and confusing advice, but Sarah Green Carmichael suggests there's a way through this maze. You'll just have to follow some basic rules of logic, including not taking every new study or headline as the gospel truth. I mean, we do know a few things now. One is that widespread mask-wearing can slow the pandemic and save lives. And yet too few Americans trust the public health officials telling them that, writes Tyler Cowen. Leadership, or the lack thereof, has consequences. Don't Fear the Balance Sheet To help shepherd the U.S. economy through pandemic lockdowns, the Federal Reserve has blown its balance sheet out to mammoth proportions, up to $7 trillion, on the way to $10 trillion, compared with a little more than $2 trillion after the financial crisis. As with any financial institution with a mammoth balance sheet, this exposes the Fed to some risks, writes Bill Dudley, including the risk it could lose money on its various bets, on everything from muni debt to junk bonds. But these risks are manageable and a low price to pay for, you know, saving the economy. Further Central Bank Reading: Day Trading for Fun and Capital Destruction As we've mentioned a few times, the hot new thing these days is day-trading, which is actually not that new of a thing. People have kind of been doing it for a long time. But each new generation of market gamblers seems to have to learn the painful lesson the previous one did, which is that they are almost certainly going to fail, Noah Smith writes. Time and again, studies and experience show most lose money and too few understand the costs they're paying or risks they're taking. But if you must day-trade, Brian Chappatta wonders if he might interest you in some convertible bonds. They're a way to play the stock market while offering protection from volatility. They've been doing great lately, but retail money has missed out. Telltale Charts Police present themselves as doing impossibly dangerous work, but for most, it's not nearly as risky as, say, roofing or landscaping, writes Justin Fox.  One smart thing brands are doing to support the Black Lives Matter movement is pulling ad money from Facebook Inc. until it changes its policies on racist content, writes Sarah Halzack. That hits the social network right in the moneymaker.  Further Reading You almost never get to say this, but kudos to the U.S. Senate; it allocated desperately needed money to fix up national parks. — Bloomberg's editorial board Democrats shouldn't let outrage fatigue dissuade them from impeaching Bill Barr. — Francis Wilkinson The European Union seems to be going soft on mergers. Bad idea. — Ferdinando Giugliano Turkey seems to be trying its hand at nation-building in Libya. — Bobby Ghosh Wirecard may be a one-off, but highlights fintech's hidden risks. — Lionel Laurent Don't mistake SoftBank's fire sale of T-Mobile stock as a sign of the carrier's weakness. — Tara Lachapelle ICYMI Mexico suffered a powerful earthquake. French study suggests schoolchildren don't spread coronavirus. The EU may ban American travelers. Kominers's Conundrums Hint If you're still racing to keep up with our kaleidoscopic chameleon Conundrum, maybe slow down and take a look at how the numbers change after a pair meets. The total number of chameleons is the same, of course, but what's different about the color counts? Does anything stay the same? — Scott Kominers Kickers Another painting restoration attempt goes horribly wrong. (h/t Scott Kominers) The Arctic Circle hit 101 degrees this weekend. Maybe avoid public restrooms for a while. How nose-breathing can fight viruses. Note: Please send botched restorations and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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