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Good Morning. Welcome to your guide to the news from the editors of The Wall Street Journal. In today's edition: Car crashes outside U.K. parliament, Indian rupee drops as lira turmoil sends investors rushing for the exits, Coca-Cola invests in BodyArmor as it chases Gatorade, and more. |
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Developing: A car crashed into barriers outside the U.K. Houses of Parliament this morning in a suspected terrorist attack, injuring pedestrians and cyclists, just yards away from the site of an attack last year. Police said the driver, in his late 20s, was detained at the scene and later arrested on suspicion of terrorist offenses. Those hurt didn’t appear to have life-threatening injuries, they said. |
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Follow the story: Visit WSJ.com today for updates. |
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Global stocks mostly rose overnight as the lira staged a small rally. The lira rose 5.5% to 6.5250 against the dollar after selling Monday that saw the embattled Turkish currency fall as much as 10%. Chinese markets were an exception to the generally buoyant mood after data showed the country's economy continued to show signs of cooling. But the Indian rupee fell to an all-time low against the dollar as foreign investors kept selling emerging-market currencies. |
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From reporter Georgi Kantchev: With the post-crisis era of easy money coming to an end and the U.S. on a steadfast path to rising interest rates, developing countries that benefited from the Federal Reserve’s policy become more vulnerable to shocks like Turkey’s. Rising U.S. rates increase the cost of borrowing in dollars and often causes a rally in the greenback at the same time—both considerable headwinds for emerging countries. In that worsening external economic environment, any domestic turmoil can have a larger impact and spill over beyond a single country's borders. As one investor said, “those countries that didn’t fix their roofs while the sun was shining will now see water pouring down their house.” |
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Voters head to the polls in four states today. They will choose nominees for governor in Connecticut, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Vermont on a day that will also see Senate primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, eight Democrats are vying to face GOP Gov. Scott Walker, who is seeking a third term. The favorite is Tony Evers, the state schools superintendent. Minnesota politicians have a tradition of deferring to candidates who have won the endorsement of their state parties, but in 2018 the endorsed candidates in each major party are expected to lose. From reporter Reid J. Epstein: Voter turnout in the contested statewide primaries in Minnesota and Wisconsin will tell us a lot about their politics in the Trump era. The president won Wisconsin and nearly won Minnesota, but Democrats in both states are touting renewed enthusiasm. |
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Coca-Cola is buying a stake in BodyArmor. The move marks the latest attempt by the beverage giant to break Gatorade’s lock on the sports-drink market. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Coca-Cola would become BodyArmor’s second-largest shareholder, eclipsing a stake held by soda rival Keurig Dr Pepper, which also has a distribution deal. Gatorade still dominates the market, capturing about three-quarters of the $8 billion in U.S. sports-drinks sales. BodyArmor has grown quickly in the past year but is still a distant third, behind Powerade, with less than 6% of the market, according to a Wells Fargo analysis of Nielsen data. |
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Podcast: Musk Says He's Been Talking With Saudi Fund
| More details are emerging about the plan to take Tesla private. The Journal's Tim Higgins has the details. | Listen Now |
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Elon Musk’s tweets on Tesla buyout face scrutiny. The Tesla CEO’s disclosure that he has talked to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund to provide the cash to take the company private gives regulators more ammunition to fault how he first shared it on Twitter, securities-law experts said. Meanwhile, for Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund, financing a takeover of Tesla might be harder than it sounds, given the kingdom’s other commitments. |
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Microsoft is still trying to find Cortana’s voice. The software giant is moving to retool its digital voice assistant that has struggled as Microsoft shackled it to the personal computer. Its effort to turn Cortana into a viable competitor is an opportunity to lead in the next big advance in computing, our reporter Jay Greene writes. |
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What We’re Following Cigna-Express Scripts Deal: Carl Icahn no longer plans to solicit votes from Cigna shareholders against the health-insurer’s $54 billion deal to buy Express Scripts after two proxy-advisory firms recommended shareholders support the deal. Home Depot Earnings: The Atlanta company said its second-quarter profit jumped 31% to $3.5 billion, or $3.05 a share, from the year-ago period. Revenue rose 8.4% from a year earlier to $30.5 billion. |
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Trending Stories at WSJ.com | | ILLUSTRATION: PETER ARKLE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL |
| Managers are often oblivious to the impact of their words and actions. Here’s how they can open their eyes. (Read) The FBI fired agent Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump text messages landed him in the middle of a Washington battle over two politically charged investigations. (Read) President Trump sought to discredit a former White House official and ex-reality television star who released a recording of her conversation with him, depicting Omarosa Manigault Newman as lazy and despised by colleagues. (Read) |
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What Else We’re Reading The West Virginia House of Delegates impeached all four of the state’s Supreme Court justices. (AP) |
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Today’s Question and Answer Responding to yesterday's question on the trade dispute between the U.S. and Turkey: Joy Spragens of California shared: “We should not do business of any kind with a foreign country that is committing religious persecution against any American citizen.” Bill Braswell of Virginia said: “Erdogan cannot back down without risking his standing in Turkey and imperil his dictatorship. Will Russia step in to assist Turkey? Will Turkey align with Syria and Russia in Syria to hit back at Trump? You always have to look at all possible pitfalls before rushing to take an action.” Skye Mark of Canada weighed in: “If the U.S. is so apathetic in its relationship with Turkey—one of its oldest NATO allies—by aggressively and undiplomatically escalating this spat the way it has, how can other allies across the world, let alone NATO allies trust the U.S. with full confidence?” Question for tomorrow’s 10-Point: Which airports are the best—and why? The WSJ newsroom is tapping the combined experience of its readers to assess the top U.S. airports. There is one week left to participate in the survey, which may be used in a coming WSJ report on the best and worst. Email us your comments, which we may edit before publication, to 10point@wsj.com, and make sure to include your name and location. |
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| The 10-Point was the name given to the news column that runs on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Today's newsletter was curated and edited by Jessica Menton (jessica.menton@wsj.com; @JessicaMenton) in collaboration with Editor in Chief Matt Murray. Let us know what you think by replying to this email. |
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