Small-Business Optimism, Fed Rate Surprise, iPhone Plan: Eco Day

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Welcome to Tuesday, Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• Optimism among small U.S. businesses rose to a seven-month high in May as companies increased capital spending plans, suggesting firms remain confident economic growth will continue
• Chief economists at two Wall Street houses are questioning the conventional wisdom that the Federal Reserve is about to start cutting short-term interest rates to sustain the economic expansion
• Apple has a backup plan if the U.S.-China trade war gets out of hand: Its primary manufacturing partner has enough capacity to make all iPhones bound for the U.S. outside of China if necessary
• The U.K. labor market performed better than forecast in the three months through April, which may strengthen the hawkish comments coming from the Bank of England about interest-rate hikes
  • Complicating the BOE message are the hard-to-ignore threats to growth
• Germany is at risk of a recession amid escalating protectionism that is weighing on the export giant, according to Sentix

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in London at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net

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