Stimulus bill keeps stalling, Israel-UAE forge peace pact, and targeted quarantines are a new normal. Another wrenchPresident Donald Trump said he wouldn't veto a stimulus bill that contains funding for the Postal Service, backtracking on earlier comments tying his opposition to criticism of mail-in voting. In an interview with Fox Business on Thursday, Trump had said withholding funding would make it harder for people to vote by mail and encourage them to go to polls. The attacks had raised concerns among Democrats, who are seeking the money along with $3.6 billion in election funding. Negotiations over a new coronavirus relief plan remain at a standstill ahead of presidential nominating conventions for Republicans and Democrats. Historic potentialIsrael and the United Arab Emirates forged a pact to begin normalizing relations, a potentially historic move dubbed by Palestinian officials as a betrayal. A joint statement from the U.S., Israel and UAE announced that the two Mideast nations will establish normal ties, signaling they will send ambassadors and open more direct commercial relations, including air travel. Israel agreed to suspend efforts to declare sovereignty over parts of the West Bank, but no timeline was set by American or Israeli officials on how long the suspension was expected to hold. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that the pause was temporary. Palestinian officials called the UAE's decision a "betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa and the Palestinian cause." Virus updateTargeted quarantines are the new normal. Even as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said England can resume the easing of lockdown rules, the U.K. said it will require travelers from France, the Netherlands and Malta to quarantine for 14 days. Meanwhile, Germany added the most new cases since May 1, while the head of the French Health Agency Jerome Salomon said the situation in his country is worsening. As a reminder, recorded global cases have topped 20.9 million, with deaths at more than 759,000. Markets downNo Friday summer cheer in markets amid renewed virus jitters. Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed, with Japan's Topix index closing flat. In Europe the Stoxx 600 Index was down 1.5% by 10:58 a.m. Eastern time with travel and leisure stocks among the biggest losers and after data showed a record drop in second-quarter employment. S&P 500 futures pointed to a lower open, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 0.69% and gold was down. Coming up...The biggest event today is U.S. retail sales for July at 8:30 a.m. The data is expected to show a slowdown in the consumer recovery with a 2.1% expansion, versus 7.5% in June and 18.2% in May. Industrial and manufacturing production data for July is due at 9:15 a.m., with the preliminary University of Michigan sentiment survey for August at 10:00 a.m. Baker Hughes U.S. rig count is at 1:00 p.m. It's the deadline for hedge funds to submit their second-quarter equity holdings. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan speaks at a virtual event hosted by the Dallas Friday Club at 10:00 a.m. What we've been readingThis is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours. - Forced isolation to fight the virus.
- Kamala Harris's Indian connections spark social media frenzy.
- Gamemakers give Apple an antitrust grilling.
- Goldman sees room for the S&P Index to surpass 3,600.
- Hotels go for reinvention.
- Former slave ports at center of U.K.'s reckoning with racism.
- Higgs boson refuses to misbehave.
And finally, here's what Emily's interested in this morningA standout feature of this week's Treasury market selloff was the climb in real yields. It's strange to be talking about an increase, since the 10-year inflation-adjusted rate was recently at an historic low, amid a miserable growth outlook and faith in the Fed's ultra-easy policy stance. The Fed is widely expected to formalize its commitment to keeping interest rates floored at its next meeting. And it's hard to argue that the economic picture has brightened much. The pandemic is on a collision course with the U.S. flu season.
Jobless numbers have clearly improved, but unemployment is still in double digits, and the better-than-feared data may simply have eased pressure on lawmakers to come together on a fiscal plan quickly. There is still no sign of an agreement on further stimulus. So it seems real yields are rising, like nominals, on the flood of supply. But not everyone is ready to dismiss the more-optimistic reflation story that until a week ago was propelling gains in stocks and gold, not to mention pummeling the U.S. dollar.  After all, a larger-than-expected gain in U.S. payrolls earlier in August provided a cue for Treasury fans to exit, pursued by bears (to borrow from a more-famous but equally convenient plot device). There's also the possibility of progress in tackling the virus. JPMorgan strategists have observed that the 5- to 30-year Treasury curve is "loosely correlated" to an indicator they created to track the ratios of positive virus tests across the U.S., and they reckon "bonds seem to be responding to the improving COVID trends." Follow Bloomberg's Emily Barrett on Twitter at @notthatECB Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. | 
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