Who wants pancakes?

MARKETS

• U.S. markets: Those green arrows don't lie—stocks pushed forward yesterday with a little help from Apple, Amazon, and Netflix (nevermind trade war concerns).
• Energy: Oil prices continued to climb as Hurricane Florence heads for the East Coast.

INTERNATIONAL

Checking in on the World’s Second Biggest Economy

What's an $11.2 trillion economy to do when faced with high debt, slowing growth, and potential tariffs on $517 billion in goods courtesy of the biggest economy in the world (the U.S.)?

Step 1: Get cozy with Russia

U.S. adversaries Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin got together yesterday for a pancake cook-off high-level summit aimed at deepening ties between the two countries in trade, commerce, and military tactics.

Xi's takeaway: "Together with our Russian colleagues, we will increase fruitful cooperation in international affairs and intensify coordination...to oppose the policy of unilateral actions and trade protectionism."

• Translation? The two leaders vowed to stand together against protectionism (subtweeting current U.S. trade policy). Putin said he expects trade between Russia and China to climb to $100 billion this year, up from $87 billion last year.

Step 2: Cut some business deals

Xi and Putin weren't the only ones bonding over breakfast. Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba agreed to take a 10% stake in Russian tech firm Mail.Ru.

The stake's worth ~$484 million, and it's only one of the deals Alibaba shook on with the Russians. It'll also team up with the state-owned Russian Direct Investment Fund and telecom firm MegaFon to develop an online shopping platform in Russia.

+ While we're here: Boeing's also got friends in China. It said yesterday that Chinese airlines will buy $1.2 trillion worth of planes in the next two decades, hiking its previous forecast for Chinese demand by 6.2%.

Step 3: Kickstart a charm offensive

Beijing is buttering up U.S. investors in the meantime—Chinese VP Wang Qishan is set to meet with execs from JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Blackstone this weekend.

His goal? Cement the idea that, trade war aside, China "won't allow retribution" against foreign investors.

TECH

Apple’s Event Is Here

Amazon's got Prime Day, Macy's owns Thanksgiving, and Apple (+2.53%)? It's secured its own spot on the calendar, too. Today (1 pm ET to be exact) is its annual press event, when we'll find out what new products the world's most valuable public company has in store.

What to expect when you're expecting...new Apple gadgets:

• Three new iPhones. One will be a jazzed-up version of the iPhone X, one will be an iPhone X with a massive screen, and the last will be a cheaper version of the X (with an LCD screen rather than the cutting-edge OLED), per reports.
• A revamped Apple Watch. Called the "Series 4," it's expected to offer ~15% more screen space by going edge-to-edge.
• Streaming updates. It's got a content partnership locked in with Oprah. It beat out Showtime and Netflix to land a show starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. What's next for Apple as it dives into video?

Didn't get the invite to Cupertino? Don't worry, you can stream the event here. And you can bet we'll have a full recap in the Brew tomorrow.

ECONOMY

And in Further Proof of a Solid Economy...

Do you want the good news or the good news? It was another blowout day for economic data.

First up, small business optimism

It surged to its highest level ever in August, riding a wave of good vibes from tax cuts and deregulation that led to better sales, more hiring, and increased investment.

The nitty gritty: The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index reading climbed to 108.8 last month. The previous record was 108, set back in 1983 during the Reagan administration.

Next, job openings

They rallied to a fresh record, too, as the number of available job postings outpaced the number of unemployed people by 659,000 in July. At the same time, the largest share of workers since 2001 quit their jobs.

We should be excited about...quitting? Actually, yes. The stats mean a) more Americans are confident enough to leave their jobs in search of fatter paychecks, and b) labor market strength could push hourly wages higher. Remember, wages rose in August at the fastest pace since 2009.

MISC

Mid-Week Progress Report

It's Wednesday. Time to take a deep breath and assess this week's performances so far...

The left brain: A+

Per a new report from Bankrate, actuarial science is the most valuable college major (average income of $108,658 and unemployment rate of 2.3%). The next majors on the list? Zoology and nuclear engineering.

Meal prep: A-

Food conglomerate Mondelez (-0.09%), the owner of Cadbury, said it would be stockpiling chocolate and other ingredients in case Brexit causes supply interruptions. The president of Mondelez Europe confirmed, "the UK is not self-sufficient in terms of food ingredients."

Buffett tokes up: B

No, not that Buffett. Singer Jimmy Buffett is licensing his "Coral Reefer" brand to marijuana startup Surterra (for products like vape pens, edibles, and gel caps).

Space billboards: D

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is forming a committee to explore selling the naming rights to its spacecraft to offset some of its costs. NASA, do you really want something like this to be aliens' first impression of our species?

BIZ HISTORY

How the Financial Crisis Shaped Today’s Politics

This weekend marks 10 years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the biggest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history and a major catalyst for the financial crisis. This week, we're taking a look back at where we've been, what we've learned, and where we go from here (a classic trio).

Today, we explore how the financial crisis shaped the current political sphere.

For many, the 2008 election was about more than choosing Obama or McCain (or dissecting Sarah Palin's family dynamic)—in fact, it was a referendum on public trust of major institutions.

• After all, Lehman Brothers fell just two months earlier, and people started asking questions: How could big business let debt get so out of hand? How could the government not have stepped in?

Those unanswered questions sparked a shift in our politics, per the NYT's Andrew Ross Sorkin:

"Mistrust led to new political movements: the Tea Party for those who didn't trust the government and Occupy Wall Street for those who didn't trust big business."

Fast forward: The economy eventually healed, but those people remained divided...and both sides identified standard bearers in 2016: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

+ It'll probably happen again: Economist Amir Sufi's data show, "After a banking, currency, or debt crisis...the share of centrists or moderates in a country went down, while the share of left- or right-wing radicals went up in most cases."

PHARMA

Today in: You Probably Shouldn’t Say That Out Loud

Nirmal Mulye, the CEO of Nostrum Laboratories, used the following logic to defend his company's decision to hike the price of an antibiotic by 400%.

"I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can...to sell the product for the highest price.

• He also told the FT: "I agree with Martin Shkreli that when he raised the price of his drug he was within his rights because he had to reward his shareholders...this is a capitalist economy, and if you can't make money, you can't stay in business."

Mulye said Nostrum's price hike was in response to a competitor also raising prices.

The FDA Commissioner offered his thoughts...

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Naomi Osaka's victory over Serena Williams in the U.S. Open women's final last weekend drew 50% more viewers on ESPN than the men's final.
• Tesla (-2.12%) will eliminate two car color options in a bid to streamline production. Hope you weren't too attached to Obsidian Black or Metallic Silver.
• Workers at U.S. Steel (-1.73%) and ArcelorMittal (-1.80%) are demanding higher wages as steel tariffs drive profits higher.
• The FCC said it needs more time to mull over a proposed merger between Sprint (+0.50%) and T-Mobile (+0.53%).
• A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled that SEC regulations do apply to crypto ICOs.

BREAKROOM

REVISITING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
The 10-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers's collapse means great 10-year anniversary content. Here are our picks...

• Ray Dalio's free PDF version of A Template for Understanding Big Debt Crises.
• An interview with Warren Buffett about his role in the 2008 crisis.
• Bloomberg asks, "Can We Survive the Next Financial Crisis?" and answers it through a series of top-notch charts.

GUESS THE LOGO
Which company uses this color palette for its logo?

(Answer located at bottom of newsletter)

Breakroom Answers