The final lap

Despite a healthy economy and slowing inflation, Americans have been telling pollsters those issues remain front-of-mind this election year. Now with two months left until November, new data points to improving conditions for them and their bank accounts. US households’ inflation-adjusted incomes rose last year for the first time since before the pandemic, and consumers are getting some relief on grocery bills, too. Online prices fell 3.7% in August from a month earlier, the largest decline since 2014. Taken together, it’s good news for Vice President Kamala Harris, who has accused grocery chains of price gouging. Since she took the place in the campaign of President Joe Biden, 81, who was shown the door by the Democratic Party after a poor debate performance, Harris, 59, is reportedly in a dead heat with a 78-year-old Donald Trump. As Harris heads into Tuesday night’s faceoff with Trump, the fight during, after and all the way to Election Day will be for the undecided voters in seven swing states. —Margaret Sutherlin

When it comes to politics, America’s one percent are pulling out their checkbooks for one candidate: Trump. Thirteen members on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index have donated at least $24.4 million to the Republican this election cycle. Harris’s campaign, meanwhile, has received at least $12.8 million from 20 people, including those who donated to Biden’s campaign before he stepped down.

Apple lost its court fight over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) Irish tax bill and Google lost its challenge over a €2.4 billion fine for abusing its market power in a big win for the European Union’s crackdown on Big Tech. The court decisions are victories for EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager just weeks before the end of her second term. The Apple decision was by far the biggest in her decade-long campaign for tax fairness, which has also targeted the likes of Amazon and carmaker Stellantis’s Fiat.

A rally in tech stocks helped offset a selloff in bank stocks Tuesday after the big banks issued cautious outlooks. JPMorgan tumbled the most in four years after its president said analysts are being too optimistic in projecting some of next year’s metrics. Bank of America said results for investment banking will come in lower than some on Wall Street expected. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs signaled its trading unit is on course to drop 10% from the prior year. Here’s your markets wrap.

Israel struck a crowded humanitarian zone along the coast in Gaza, killing at least 19 and injuring 60, Hamas’s health ministry said. Israel said the assault was aimed at senior Hamas fighters “embedded” in the tent camp, a claim Hamas denied. The strike is likely to raise tensions again around stalled cease-fire negotiations in a nearly year-long war that has killed tens of thousands, mostly in Gaza. Additionally, the Israeli military announced it probably killed an American citizen in the West Bank by accident. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers shot the woman, a 26-year-old from Seattle, in the head.

Germany’s embattled auto industry got more bad news on Tuesday. BMW warned profits will be hit by a costly brake recall impacting 1.5 million vehicles. Volkswagen announced it would scrap job protections that German workers have enjoyed for three decades. It’s another blow to the country’s premiere industry, which has struggled with the transition to electric vehicles and competition from China.

There’s one bright spot in the sluggish EV market: leases. As new cars remain out of reach for many consumers, EVs can come with bargain payments. Just how low can they go? In Colorado, some leases on 2025 electric Nissan Leaf models were available in July for as little as $20 a month. That’s less than a tank of gas.

Starbucks’ new chief executive wants you back. He promises to make its stores inviting and return to the company’s “core.” Brian Niccol took over the coffee chain on Monday, weeks after its board ousted its previous CEO, whose 18-month tenure was marked by a sales slump and brand identity crisis. In recent years, the chain has emphasized to-go orders from its mobile app and reduced seating in cafes, a shift that upended the image of a cozy coffee shop it had crafted for decades.

Over the past decade, a herbal supplement called kratom has been growing in popularity all across America. Derived from the leaves of a tropical tree indigenous to Southeast Asia, the US Drug Enforcement Agency says it can be a stimulant in low doses and a sedative in high doses. The DEA also says its use—smoked, brewed or more commonly in gel capsules, concentrated shots and even gummies—can lead to addiction. In The Growing Toll of America’s $1 Billion Kratom Industry, Bloomberg Originals reveals the casualties that have been rising along with it.

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