Your final exam

MARKETS

• Trade: It's deadline day for Canada to join a revamped NAFTA deal already agreed upon by the U.S. and Mexico.
• More trade: Bloomberg reported President Trump plans to move ahead with an additional $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods next week, a major escalation in the trade war. That's one reason for all the red you see above.
• Yup, even more trade: What can we say? It was a busy day. In an interview, President Trump threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the World Trade Organization "if they don't shape up."

HR

Microsoft Ups the Ante for Working Parents

Never wake a sleeping baby, and never doubt Microsoft's (-0.06%) power of persuasion. The tech titan announced it'll require all U.S.-based suppliers and vendors to institute paid parental leave policies that mirror its own.

Like what?

If you're a company with 50+ employees and want to do "substantial work" for Microsoft, you must...

• Offer a minimum 12 weeks of paid parental leave, for both birth and adoption
• Pay employees on leave up to $1,000 per week

Microsoft's plan will be phased in over the next year, and it was inspired by a similar Washington state law set to take effect in 2020.

Why it's big

Microsoft has more than 1,000 partners in the U.S., meaning thousands of workers could soon reap benefits similar to those Microsoft's own employees already get. Parents working there get 12 weeks of fully paid leave, plus an additional eight weeks for birth mothers.

So what's Microsoft's thinking?

• "Studies show that paid parental leave enriches the lives of families. Women who take paid maternity leave are more likely to be in the workforce a year later and earn more than mothers who do not receive paid time off," Microsoft said.

Why you should care

Many European countries require companies to offer paid leave for parents, but the U.S. doesn't have any federal mandate for paid parental leave—in fact, the OECD (what The Economist loves to call "a club of rich countries") ranks the U.S. dead last in terms of paid parental leave.

• Only ~13% of private sector workers in the U.S. get paid parental leave, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not everyone can work at Spotify, Etsy, or Twitter...but will more firms follow Microsoft's lead?
• In Bulgaria, parents get nearly 60 weeks of leave. In the U.K., parents get 52 weeks of leave, 39 of which are partially paid.

FYI: The Trump administration proposed six weeks of paid leave for parents in its 2019 budget proposal, but details and funding specs still have to be ironed out.

CONSUMER GOODS

Campbell Soup Wants to Get Rid of Extra Baggage

Campbell Soup (-2.10%) is selling its international and fresh foods businesses, proving once and for all, too many business units spoil the broth.

Zoom out: The 149-year-old company has struggled to gain traction outside the soup aisle.

• Remember: Former Campbell CEO Denise Morrison left unexpectedly in May (when Campbell announced a "strategic review" of the company). She'd led Campbell toward healthier/fresher foods, heading up deals like its 2012 acquisition of Bolthouse Farms.

Now, that same Bolthouse Farms is up for sale, along with other brands which together generate ~$2.1 billion in annual revenue.

So what's next? Campbell will focus on what it knows: snacks, meals, and beverages. And it's worth noting: under pressure from activist investor Dan Loeb, execs did leave the door open to a full sale of the company...

Wall Street's pick for a Campbell buyer? Kraft Heinz.

• Don't choke on your SpaghettiOs just yet...major Kraft Heinz investor Warren Buffett said it would be "very hard" to offer a premium for a packaged food company.

INTERNATIONAL

Headline of the Day

Unlike your MIA boss, emerging markets haven't had a particularly relaxing summer. Just weeks after Turkey had its own currency crisis, Argentina's central bank suddenly raised interest rates by 15 percentage points to boost the free-falling peso (it's lost more than 50% of its value this year).

• The backstory: On Wednesday, Argentine President Mauricio Macri announced that he asked the IMF to get going already with its $50 billion bailout package.
• The domino effect: Other emerging market currencies—like the Turkish lira and the South African rand—also took a hit.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Summer Box Office: Scene 1

We pan from the Hollywood sign to a lavish poolside soirée—movie producers toast Veuve Clicquot. Beautiful people are everywhere.

PRODUCER ONE: [Clinks glass] Here's to summer movie revenue totaling $4.39 billion, up 14% from last year. ComScore says it'll be the fifth best summer on record. How 'bout that?

PRODUCER TWO: [Takes apprehensive sip] It definitely removes the bad taste from last year, which was the worst summer for movie revenue in more than a decade...

But you know, I'm still a little worried about attendance. If you divide summer revenue by the average YTD ticket price of $9.27, we've seen about 473 million moviegoers. Sure, that's up 10% from last summer, but it's still the second-worst summer attendance since 1992.

PRODUCER ONE: Well, as long as Disney keeps churning out the hits I think we'll be okay. It's got the top spots on domestic summer charts—Avengers: Infinity War raked in something like $679 million, plus Incredibles 2 snagged $597.1 million. Juggernaut.

PRODUCER TWO: Good for Disney. But for now, I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing Labor Day weekend without too much box office drama. Crazy Rich Asians will probably top the charts again this week...making it three in a row.

QUIZ

The Brew’s Weekly News Quiz: The Final Exam

Today is the final day of Back to School Week, which means it's time to take the final exam. At Brew U, final exams are cumulative, so we're going to test you on questions from this week and from the previous 30 days.

Note: Must get five correct answers to graduate.

1. Fill in the blank: Nearly 1-in-10 Airbnb hosts in the U.S. is a _______.
2. What company am I? I am an online learning startup with 150+ university partners. I was recently valued at $814 million. I offer something called a MOOC.
3. Must answer in Jeopardy-style: In 2012, Japanese entrepreneur Takanobu Nishimoto started an online platform to rent out these.
4. Who blogged this? "I knew the process of going private would be challenging, but it's clear that it would be even more time-consuming and distracting than initially anticipated."
5. Which city is redacted from the following chart?



6. Which of the following did not happen to Chipotle on a disastrous National Avocado Day?

   1. Its app and website crashed for some customers
   2. People got sick after eating at an Ohio store
   3. It had to borrow guac from Qdoba after running out
   4. Fraudsters offered fake social media ads for free gift cards

7. Speed round: Time to show your co-workers just how in-the-know you are. Call an emergency team meeting, grab a piece of paper, and set the timer to :60. Then, write down as many colleges (not universities) you can think of. Winner gets next Tuesday off.

Answers: 1) Teacher 2) Coursera 3) Who are middle-aged men? 4) Elon Musk 5) San Francisco 6) It did not have to borrow guac 7) You're on your own

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• New York City was briefly renamed "Jewtropolis" on Snapchat's and other companies' map features after a hacker committed what Snap called a "deeply offensive" act of anti-Semitic "vandalism."
• President Trump said that civilian employees of the federal government will not get raises in 2019. A 2.1% paycheck hike had been penciled in for January.
• Gay dating app Grindr is planning to go public.
• Apple (+0.92%) set a date for its annual product launch event: September 12.
• The Justice Department is backing a lawsuit challenging Harvard's admissions process as biased against Asian Americans.
• San Francisco granted permits to two e-scooter companies, Scoot and Skip, for one-year pilot programs. That's a major defeat for e-scooter startup giants Bird and Lime (hey, at least they got permits from Santa Monica as a consolation prize).

BREAKROOM

BACK TO SCHOOL TIP
Here’s our advice: Between the studying, the homework, the extracurriculars, the part-time job, the self-reflection, the self-discovery, the utter confusion...just don’t forget to have fun.

BACK TO SCHOOL TRIVIA
College football is back this weekend. But before you hit the tailgate, can you name the top three most valuable programs? (Hint: none of the three are in the SEC).

(Answer located at bottom of newsletter)

Breakroom Answers