Your Evening Briefing

Josh Petri

08 Sep 2018, 02:45 AM IST

(Bloomberg) --

American wages, which have been lagging, ticked up more than expected in August while hiring also rose. What does it mean? The data keeps the Fed on track to lift interest rates later this month and makes another hike in December more likely.

Here are today's top stories

Tesla shares dived as news emerged that two senior executives will leave. Meanwhile, Elon Musk spent his evening being interviewed on a podcast, drinking whiskey and taking a puff of marijuana.

President Donald Trump, under siege by reports of a staff mutiny, said he wants the Justice Department to find the author of an op-ed that said White House aides are working to thwart his "more misguided impulses." Trump also said the government is exploring the possibility of unspecified legal action against the New York Times, which published it.

Former President Barack Obama charged back into electoral politics Friday with a detailed critique of the current president and his party. "This is one of those pivotal moments when every one of us as citizens of the U.S. need to determine just who we are, what it is that we stand for," Obama said.

Candidate Trump pledged to drain the swamp. President Trump has surrounded himself with people accused of conflicts of interest, misuse of public funds, influence peddling, self-enrichment, working for foreign governments, and violating ethics rules. These are their scandals.

Trump also made more tariff threats Friday, this time on an additional $267 billion in Chinese goods. This would be on top of tariffs on $200 billion in goods he previously promised to hit.

We do hope you've been paying attention to all the political news this week, because here's a chance to test your knowledge and catch up on what you may have missed. It's pop quiz time.

What's Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director is watching emerging markets, which are enduring their longest rout since the financial crisis. South Africa’s slide into recession helped catalyze another drubbing of developing-economy fixed income this week, with further pain foreseen. And the dominoes keep falling. The magnitude of the selloff may tempt bargain hunters, but Wall Street’s not optimistic.

What you'll need to know tomorrow

The NFL season opener saw a drop in viewers for the third straight year.
France says Russia may have tried to intercept communications from its military satellites.
After mass bleaching, the Great Barrier Reef is showing signs of recovery.
Amazon is under attack for seeking tax breaks in exchange for its second headquarters.
Billionaire Jack Ma is preparing for life after Alibaba.
A glut of rentals is cooling the hottest U.S. housing markets.
Verizon CEO Tim Armstrong is in talks to leave the company as soon as next month.

What you'll want to read tonight

The Conde family has been handcrafting flamenco instruments at the Conde Hermanos workshop in Madrid for more than 100 years. It takes craftsmen about two and a half months to complete two guitars, all created using wood (usually German spruce) that has been dried for at least 30 years. The price for such an exquisite instrument? Well if you have to ask...