The U.K. Parliament will be suspended for almost five weeks ahead of Brexit, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson sets up a showdown with lawmakers who want to block him from taking the U.K. out of the European Union without an agreement. The pound slid on the news.—Josh Petri Here are today’s top storiesTropical Storm Dorian has been upgraded to a hurricane as it heads toward Puerto Rico. It’s expected to gain strength and become the first major hurricane to hit Florida’s east coast in 15 years. For the first time since President Donald Trump's election, more Americans say the economy is getting worse than getting better. And they're blaming it on him. The Sackler family may lose most of their wealth if they agree to an $11.5 billion settlement to resolve opioid lawsuits against them and their company Purdue Pharma. They'll still be billionaires. Michael Burry, who shot to fame and fortune by betting against mortgage securities before the 2008 crisis, sees another contrarian opportunity emerging from what he calls the “bubble” in passive investment. Costco's first store in China was overrun with customers willing to fight over discounted products and wait hours to pay for their purchases. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been the subject of international condemnation for fanning the flames of the Amazon’s destruction, but he seems unlikely to back down. What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking? Everyone knows that President Trump has been extremely critical of his hand-picked Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. However, a recent Bloomberg Opinion op-ed from former NY Fed President Bill Dudley should remind Trump that in terms of his own purposes, Powell has been a good choice. What you’ll need to know tomorrowWhat you’ll want to read tonight in BusinessweekThe inventor Buckminster Fuller once described technological progress as “ephemeralization.” Sunbeams and breezes are replacing coal and oil as energy sources, brands are more important than buildings to corporations, and fiat money has supplanted gold and silver. So it seems reasonable to conclude that the periodic table of elements—that wonky taxonomy of physical stuff such as copper, iron, mercury, and sulfur—is passé, no more relevant than a manual typewriter. Except exactly the opposite is true. Matter still matters. And on the 150th anniversary of the periodic table’s formulation by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, it’s more important than it’s ever been. So important, in fact, that Bloomberg Businessweek devoted an entire issue to it. Like Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com. You’ll get our unmatched global news coverage and two premium daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close, and much, much more. See our limited-time introductory offer. Submit a tip to Bloomberg. Do you have a confidential news tip? Here are the ways you can get in touch with our reporters. Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android. |