Greatest hits

MARKETS

• U.S. markets: First there's a trade war, then there's not a trade war, then there's a trade war again. Try to keep up, because the markets couldn't. The Dow fell 200 points.
• U.S. economy: Incomes are rising and consumers are spending. Personal consumption for households rose 0.6% in April. But by how much are incomes rising? Keep an eye out for the May jobs report, due this morning.

TRADE

With Tariffs, the U.S. Gives Its Friends Tough Love

Once upon a time, the U.S., the EU, Canada, and Mexico were best friends, gossiping all night and following Phish on their summer tour.

Now? Awkward silences and short, tense conversations. The U.S. slapped its three buddies with steel and aluminum tariffs of 25% and 10%, respectively...and they're really (and we mean really) ticked off.

Remember: the Trump administration announced these tariffs in March. It gave the EU, Canada, and Mexico an exemption to see if they could work things out. But nothing has come of the talks, and now, here we are.

So why are we "punishing" some of our closest allies?

• The administration says importing too many metals poses a risk to national security. But some think this argument is used only to legally justify the tariffs.
• Here's another argument: Tariffs boost domestic manufacturing by making foreign steel more expensive to import. And wouldn't you know it, metals stocks like U.S. Steel (+1.71%) gained on the announcement.

But...that knife cuts both ways.

Mexico, Canada, and the EU account for about 40% of all U.S. steel imports. Tariffs on our allies could lead to higher prices for manufacturers who use imported metal to make other products.

Not to mention, it takes two (or more) to do the trade-war tango. The EU and Mexico immediately retaliated, promising tariffs on motorcycles, bourbon, produce, and more. Canada also announced "dollar-for-dollar" tariffs on $12.8 billion worth of U.S. goods.

Put on your glasses, because this thing just got three-dimensional

• You've got an increasingly nasty spat with Europe. Could imported cars be on-deck for tariffs?
• The U.S. and China are going back and forth on massive tech and agriculture tariffs. No resolution in sight there.
• Don't forget about NAFTA. The U.S., Canada, and Mexico have been negotiating for months without results.

Bottom line: Nothing rains on a strong global economy's parade like a trade war.

AUTO

SoftBank Joins GM Behind the (Self-Driving) Wheel

Here's a weird thought: in the future you may never have to teach your kids to drive.

SoftBank's Vision Fund is making sure of that, investing $2.25 billion in GM's (+12.87%) autonomous car business, GM Cruise. It's the biggest partnership in autonomous driving to date, and GM Cruise has one goal in mind: selling self-driving vehicles by 2019.

The nuts and bolts:

• SoftBank will own 20% of the joint venture.
• It'll invest $900 million upfront and $1.35 billion when the car hits the market.
• GM's matching SoftBank's bet with a $1.1 billion investment.

GM, where do you see yourself five years from now?

"Well, that's a great question. Our stock's been stuck in autopilot for half a decade. Meanwhile, companies like Tesla and Uber have commanded insane valuations and have had no trouble raising capital."

"So...five years from now? I'd say with a lead over Waymo and Ford in the self-driving space, a bustling autonomous taxi business, a higher stock price, and two children."

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Immigrant Entrepreneurs Grab the Spotlight

Last week, the Trump administration proposed canceling the International Entrepreneur Rule—an Obama-era ruling that made it easier for immigrants to start businesses in the U.S.

The case for the proposal: Immigrants are taking jobs from Americans. They took our jobs!

The case against: Immigrants actually create more jobs than they take. They gave our jobs!

Axios offered some insight into the debate...

• More than half of the U.S.' 87 unicorn startups were at least co-founded by immigrants.
• The top 11 of those companies have created well over 17,000 jobs.
• And here are just a few: SpaceX, Palantir, and Zenefits.

Honorable mention: WeWork. Please Adam Neumann, we did what you asked. Don't kick us out yet.

MANAGEMENT

Greatest Hits from Recode's 2018 Code Conference

The A-list event wrapped up yesterday. So, what's on the minds of top executives?

• Snap CEO Evan Spiegel on Facebook's copycat ways: "We would really appreciate it if they copied our data protection practices also."
• Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake on competition with Amazon: "Part of the value proposition of Amazon...is this sea of choice. It's literally millions of things to choose from. Ours is almost the opposite: It's we're sending you five things."
• Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on Uber Eats: "Eats is an exploding business in a good way. It's now at a $6 billion bookings run rate, growing over 200 percent."
• Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai on China's growth: "There's nothing wrong with a country wanting to upgrade its own manufacturing center, go higher tech, be more innovative. But...we are seeing that there are a lot of people in America that want to stop China from doing that...they want to hold China back."

+ And finally, here's what everyone's been talking about: Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trends report.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The Most Popular Online Platforms Among Teens

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Italy's president gave his "ok" to anti-establishment groups to form a new government, capping off a chaotic week.
• Sears (-12.46%) will close 72 more stores by the end of the year.
• Deutsche Bank (-4.24%) was considered by the Fed to be in "troubled condition" last year—a fact that was just made public today by the WSJ.
• Waymo is expanding its partnership with Fiat Chrysler (+4.59%), adding up to 62,000 new minivans. The autonomous vehicle arms race is ON.
• A Goldman Sachs VP was charged with insider trading.
• Walmart (-1.88%) is introducing a same-day delivery service via text message.

BREAKROOM

CAPTION THIS

Our caption: “It is an honor to speak to you, billions of data poin—I mean 2018 grads.”

Think you can do better? Post your best caption here and we'll toss the best one on our Instagram.

MEMORY TEST
Let’s see how closely you were paying attention this week. Can you name four food and beverage brands owned by JAB Holdings?

(Answer located at bottom of newsletter)

Breakroom Answers

Memory Test
Peet's Coffee, Mighty Leaf Tea, Caribou Coffee, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Keurig Green Mountain, Krispy Kreme, Panera Bread, Bruegger's, Pret A Manger