Evening Briefing

At the close of World War II, the leaders of the U.S., Great Britain and the Soviet Union gathered in Potsdam to sketch out a new world order while sowing the seeds of the Cold War. Seventy five years later, the geopolitical map is again being redrawn. In a year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, governments are simultaneously confronting multiple crises at a time of heightening rivalry. How those shifts crystallize over the next six months may set the stage for another new world order. —David E. Rovella

Here are today’s top stories

Mike Novogratz, the longtime money manager who now runs digital currency investor Galaxy Digital Holdings, said the stock market is “unhinged from reality” and small investors should get out while they can.

China said samples of imported shrimp tested positive for the coronavirus, raising questions again over whether the pathogen can spread through food or frozen products.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued North Carolina election officials over a requirement that mail-in absentee ballots include a signature from a witness, claiming the rule will needlessly put voters at risk of exposure to Covid-19.

States across America told the Department of Health and Human Services that they need new machinery, more personnel and more tests, highlighting the ongoing supply-chain challenges that labs in states with surging coronavirus case counts face in procuring key supplies. The pandemic’s march through the Sun Belt is now killing record numbers of Americans there. But even as some leaders fall ill themselves, they have failed to contain the disease’s spread.

Mukesh Ambani has had a rollercoaster 2020, cutting a string of deals for his digital business while undergoing wild swings in his wealth and having his brother’s finances laid bare. Now he can add another chapter: eclipsing the fortune of Warren Buffett. Elon Musk is now richer than the Oracle of Omaha, too.

What’s Emily Barrett thinking? The U.S. rates reporter says the Fed’s balance sheet has become one of the greatest preoccupations in financial markets. But as of this week, it looked a tiny bit less stupendous. Assets have dipped below $7 trillion for the first time in almost two months. The $88.3 billion drop in the week to July 8 was the fourth in a row, taking the total decline over the last month to almost $250 billion. That fall was owed mainly to the declining usage of the Fed’s emergency services—the repo and dollar swap facilities it rolled out for primary dealers and foreign central banks at the height of the market turmoil in March and April.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

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What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Pursuits

Lichtenstein Nude Leads $421 Million Auction

Roy Lichtenstein’s “Nude with Joyous Painting” led Christie’s relay-style auction that played out virtually Friday in four cities around the globe. The live-streamed event, postponed from May due to the pandemic, produced $421 million in sales over four hours. Like Sotheby’s and Phillips before it, Christie’s pivoted from a live to virtual auction, connecting sales rooms in Hong Kong, Paris, London and New York digitally, and drawing more than 20,000 viewers. Also among the seven record sales Friday was a painting by Brice Marden, “Complements.”

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