Your Evening Briefing

(Bloomberg) --

Senate Republicans say they’re growing confident that they have the votes to block new testimony in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and acquit him. That would allow them to avoid a potential appearance by former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who reportedly said Trump told him that he withheld almost $400 million in military aid to force Ukraine to interfere with the 2020 campaign. Trump has repeatedly denied there was a quid pro quo, but his lawyers now say that even if there was one, he shouldn’t be removed from office for such a scheme.  

Here are today’s top stories

The World Health Organization called the outbreak of coronavirus in China a global health emergency.

Lockheed Martin’s dysfunctional $428 billion F-35 program has yet another defect to add to a list of 800 flaws: a gun that can’t shoot straight.

U.S. consumer spending growth slowed, business investment further deteriorated and annualized growth stayed the same at the end of 2019.

A key slice of the U.S. yield curve inverted on Thursday for the first time since October, reviving bad memories of growth fears.

Amazon beat Wall Street estimates for the holiday quarter, showing the largest U.S. e-commerce company can invest heavily in next-day delivery without devastating its bottom line. Shares surged 10% on the news.

Tilman Fertitta is looking to take advantage of red-hot investor demand for leveraged loans to finance a $200 million payday.

What’s Eddie van der Walt thinking about? The Bloomberg commodities markets reporter says more investors are worrying about how the coronavirus will affect the world’s second-biggest economy, and commodities are having a rough time. But are they getting ahead of themselves? The facts about the virus are alarming, but few raw materials could reliably expect substantial shifts in demand on what’s been revealed so far. Industrial metals are heavily exposed to China, it’s true, but that’s because the country is at the heart of the global industrial machine.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

• A Trump rape accuser is seeking his DNA in a defamation lawsuit.
• A coronavirus scare on a Carnival cruise ship trapped 7,000.
• A health-records company pushed opioids on doctors.
• Elon Musk made $2.3 billion in one hour.
• Global agriculture has a planting problem.
• The FBI toughens drone enforcement for this week’s Super Bowl.
• Michael Bloomberg, Trump reveal dueling ads for Sunday’s game.

What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Wealth

The way Uruguay’s president-elect sees it, his government will face a couple of problems: too few residents and too little investment. So why not make the country so attractive to well-heeled foreigners that they’ll pack up and move there, solving both with one blow?

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Petri at jpetri4@bloomberg.net

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.