Your Weekend Reading: Wall Street Conspiracy Theory

(Bloomberg) --

There was some fertile ground for conspiracy theories this week. The Fed cut rates and sparked a bout of market angst. U.S. President Donald Trump wanted more, saying Chair Jerome Powell “let us down.” Investors piled into Treasuries. As trade talks stalled, Trump threatened to slap tariffs on another $300 billion in Chinese imports. Wall Street has a theory, however: Powell cited trade as a reason for lower rates, so Trump’s latest trade-tweet might be him trying to manipulate the central bank.

What you’ll want to read this weekend

U.S. stocks suffered the worst week of 2019 as investors fretted over Trump’s trade war saber-rattling. 

The latest employment report suggests the U.S. economy doesn’t need much stimulus. Meanwhile, the average worker can expect 15 job changes over the course of a career. Pro tip: incorporate the side hustle.

The U.S. quit the landmark 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, blaming Russia for a long history of non-compliance. The U.S. is planning to test new missile tech that would have violated the accord.

The bloody battle for streaming: By this time next year, AT&T’s WarnerMedia, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Walt Disney and Apple will have released sinewy new services, joining Hulu, Amazon and Netflix.

Marketers struggling to understand Gen Z are looking more at how they were taught by their overlooked Gen X parents to be “autonomous, cynical, with looser reins.”

What you’ll need to know next week

• Single in New York? You may need a six-figure salary to stay.
• D.C. is empty, Trump is off for two weeks and the DNI job is open.
• More key earnings are coming: Lyft and Uber face a big test.
• Peru invites 100 nations to discuss an end to the crisis in Venezuela.
• U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo travels to the South Pacific.

What you’ll want to see in Bloomberg Graphics

A vast hydroelectric dam has become a point of national pride and economic development for Ethiopia. Then, with water resources an issue of conflict, the project’s chief engineer was found dead. Though officially ruled a suicide, some think not.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net, James Ludden

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