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Wells Fargo, the largest employer among U.S. banks, is preparing to cut thousands of jobs starting later this year, potentially setting a bleak precedent for an industry that’s been resisting mass layoffs as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. And while fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, more than 18 million were still claiming those benefits at the end of June. Initial jobless claims fell by the most in a month, but they’re still double the highest level during the Great Recession. With companies like United Airlines also warning of massive cuts by October, states like Texas and Florida delaying or walking back reopenings after infection spikes, and other firms slashing expenses due to lower-than-expected consumer demand, any recovery for the U.S. economy may be further away than previously thought. —David E. Rovella

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Here are today’s top stories

“There’s no way I can lose.” This from a 36-year-old tech startup worker who opened her first trading account in Beijing on Tuesday. Five years after China’s last big equity boom ended, signs of euphoria among the nation’s investors are everywhere. Margin debt has risen at the fastest pace since 2015 and online trading platforms have struggled to keep up. Over the past eight days, Chinese stocks have added more than $1 trillion in value, far outpacing gains in every other market worldwide.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a big victory Thursday when it effectively blocked any public release of his financial records before the November election. The court decided to stay House subpoenas until lower courts further explore the Congressional request. Trump, however, was still miffed, as the high court also held that New York prosecutors may indeed access his financial records as part of a grand jury investigation. That ruling was a victory for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who is probing whether the Trump Organization falsified business records to disguise hush payments to two women who claimed they had sex with Trump before he took office. The ruling, written by Republican-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts, also set down a Constitutional marker by rejecting the White House’s argument of almost untrammeled presidential immunity.

The coronavirus is flaring again in parts of Asia, with Hong Kong and Tokyo reporting record jumps in new infections just days after Melbourne locked down again, reflecting the challenge of containing the pathogen even in places that seemed beyond the worst. Some 12.1 million people have been infected globally, and 551,000 have died.

As Americans watch nervously to see whether the explosion in infections across the South and West will translate into the kind of monstrous death toll witnessed by the Northeast, Florida provided a sobering signal: In just one day, its death rate almost tripled, leaping from 48 to 120, bringing the state’s total lives lost to 4,009. Nationwide, confirmed daily U.S. infections topped 60,000, a new record.

The Boy Scouts of America, which filed for bankruptcy court protection in February, is expected to face at least 10,000 sex abuse claims.

At least 200,000 seafaring workers remain trapped by the virus. From cargo vessels and oil tankers to luxury cruise liners, restrictions on ships docking, border shutdowns and a lack of flights have conspired to leave them all at sea.

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director says Wall Street has finally realized that things aren’t getting better. Recovery, reflation and other normalizing-type trades all peaked almost exactly a month ago. Since then, Joe says, they’ve been headed down.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Markets

Hedge Fund Says Bond ‘Tipping Point’ Is Close

The deluge of debt sold around the world may be raising risks for bond buyers. Companies have sold over $2 trillion of bonds this year, a 55% jump from the same period last year and a record tally. With Covid-19 wreaking havoc, government and state-related agencies have raised similar amounts to fund bailouts. According to the world’s largest publicly listed hedge fund firm, the bond market tipping point may soon arrive.

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