U.S. President Donald Trump, encouraged that Chinese President Xi Jinping sent him what Trump described as a “beautiful letter,” insists a trade deal is still in reach at talks this week. Trump said this while reiterating plans to raise tariffs in his escalating trade war. —Josh Petri

Here are today’s top stories

The entire 2019 recovery is at risk should the trade war intensify, according to worst-case Wall Street forecasts. The U.S. yield curve on Thursday inverted for the first time since March. 

Trump plans to nominate Patrick Shanahan as defense secretary. The former Boeing executive has proven his loyalty, backing the president's use of troops on the southern border of the U.S.

The company behind Gore-Tex is coming for your eyeballs. W.L. Gore, the classic American innovator, is building artificial corneas.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, whose Blue Origin space program is ramping up, makes his case for going to the moon.

As Boeing developed the 737 Max, former engineers say the company's relentless emphasis on speed, cost and shareholders sacrificed safety.

A new generation of home flippers inspired by HGTV reality shows have piled into the market, cashing in on rising home prices. Now, Bloomberg Businessweek reports, they're encountering their first slowdown. 

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? Exchange hacks are nothing new in the crypto world, says the Bloomberg news director. But when Binance revealed someone made off with 7,000 Bitcoins worth about $42 million, there were some twists. The first is that Binance is one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, and is considered to be well run. It's also wildly profitable, so the hack is not a grave risk. But most importantly, there was some brief talk about whether or not the hack could be reversed or erased in some way. Here's why that's extremely controversial.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

• These are the best (and worst) airlines and airports of 2019.
• Nike got sick of people returning sneakers. So they made an app.
• The defunct Hartford Whalers are still selling lots of merchandise.
• Senator Bernie Sanders wants a 15% cap on credit card interest.
• China Mobile was barred from the U.S. over espionage concerns.
• Australia printed $1.6 billion of currency with a typo.
• Uber has gone public, and is pricing its shares at $45.

What you’ll want to read tonight in Pursuits

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