J.J. gets paid

MARKETS

• U.S. budget: For the first time in seven years, the U.S. budget deficit has topped $1 trillion.
• U.S. markets: Stocks are nearing record highs as Presidents Trump and Xi play footsie ahead of trade talks next month. Yesterday, Trump said he would consider an interim trade deal with China. And the Dow is only 2.5 games back in the Wild Card after its 7-day winning streak.

WORKFORCE

Google Employees Express Themselves

We can only assume this is a prank intended to start food fights nationwide: The National Labor Relations Board is encouraging political talk at work.

It’s ordered Google to affirm employees’ rights to express their views on political and workplace issues. The demand aims to settle a complaint made to the regulator about Google allegedly clamping down on speech.

The order is a reality check for Google...

...which likes to think of itself as a haven for dissenting opinion. But recently, current and former Googlers have accused the company of overreaching in its restrictions on what employees can discuss.

Both sides of the aisle can unite against management. Some conservatives at the company have said their views make them pariahs on Google’s campus. Some liberals say their opposition to YouTube’s changing policy on hate speech has fallen on deaf ears.

One former engineer, Kevin Cernekee, claims he was fired for expressing right-wing beliefs on company message boards. Google says he was fired for violating company policies, including downloading confidential documents onto a personal device.

Not mad, just disappointed

As part of the settlement, Google will announce to employees that it’s scrapping a proposed set of rules restricting what they can say to each other and the media. A spokesperson for the company said it will also post a notice reminding employees of their rights.

• Between the lines: The board is not making a formal determination about whether Google behaved inappropriately.

Google’s press release writers are getting a workout

They probably know the word “settlement” in every language. Just yesterday, the company announced plans to settle a tax fraud investigation with French authorities for over $1 billion. And last week, Google-owned YouTube was fined $170 million to resolve a probe into the video platform’s ad targeting practices for children’s content.

Bottom line: Google hasn’t lived up to its dissent-friendly reputation.

INTERNATIONAL

Draghi Tries to Juice the European Economy

On Thursday, the European Central Bank announced its largest set of stimulus measures in three years, including:

• Dropping the interest rate on deposits from -0.4% to -0.5%
• A pledge to maintain low rates until inflation crawls back up near 2%
• Restarting monthly bond purchases of 20 billion euros

Concerns: Some analysts worry the ECB will take so many trips to the bond store that the shelves will run dry in about a year. Plus, with ECB President Mario Draghi unleashing all the big guns to boost the economy, there could be little ammo left if a big downturn occurs.

Draghi’s asking European governments, especially Germany, to rely a little less on central bank action and spend more. But...

...don’t hold your breath waiting on Europe’s largest economy to start spending on big projects like infrastructure, even if you say “bitte.” As CNN notes, German leaders have historically been wary of borrowing. Besides, Oktoberfest is about to start and they have priorities.

Back in the U.S., President Trump criticized Draghi’s plan as an attempt to hurt U.S. exports, then resumed jabbing his favorite Fed punching bag with requests for rate cuts next week.

MEDIA

J.J. Abrams Finds His Island

Yesterday, J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath’s production company, Bad Robot, closed a five-year deal with AT&T’s WarnerMedia. Terms weren’t disclosed, but THR’s sources put it around $250 million.

• The prolific producer’s TV business has been under the Warner Bros. umbrella since 2006. But under the new deal, Bad Robot’s film work will join the family, as well as games and digital content.
• The deal runs through 2024.

Zoom out: Media and tech companies are competing to take household-name creators to the streaming prom...and they’re spending all their allowance. Netflix recently inked eye-popping deals with Ryan Murphy of Glee ($300 million) and duo D.B. Weiss and David Benioff of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame ($200 million).

• Apple came close to picking up Abrams in its limo. Comcast/NBCUniversal and Sony also tried but got turned down.

So what made Abrams go with WarnerMedia? Reportedly, the right to work with other studios and WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey’s tireless efforts to bring Bad Robot on board.

ENVIRONMENT

The EPA's on a Rollback

Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency repealed a major Obama-era environmental protection for streams and wetlands.

The backstory: Before 2015, the EPA decided case-by-case whether individual streams or wetlands had significant impacts on downstream rivers and were therefore subject to federal clean water standards.

• In 2015, the Obama administration created federal pollution protections for ~60% of U.S. waters, including these smaller waterways.

Now, the EPA wants to go back to the old system. The repeal was Step 1: Next, it’ll create stricter requirements for what waterways can be federally protected.

Water they doing this for

The Trump administration says the 2015 rule stepped on states’ toes, was too broadly written, and made life unreasonably difficult for businesses.

• To give you a clue who didn’t like it...the repeal was signed at the National Association of Manufacturers’s HQ. Farmers, miners, developers, and oil and gas companies also weren’t fans.

Zoom out: This is the Trump administration’s 7th trim of water pollution regulations. To date, it’s completed or is working on rollbacks of 84 other environmental rules.

QUIZ

Quizkaidekaphobia

Never walks under a ladder. Always keeps an open umbrella outside. Fingers are forever crossed. It's the Brew's Weekly News Quiz.

1. At its event on Tuesday, Apple revealed the prices for its TV and gaming subscription services. Which costs more in the U.S...Apple Arcade or Apple TV+?

2. Which major oil-producing country appointed a new energy minister on Tuesday?

3. I bought DirecTV in 2015. My CEO is Randall Stephenson. Elliott Management just revealed it owned $3.2 billion of my stock and is pushing for changes. What company am I?

4. Fill in the blank: Amazon said it has _______ open positions.

5. This guy retired as chairman of Alibaba this week. What’s his name?

Answers: 1. Trick question, they cost the same at $4.99/month 2. Saudi Arabia 3. AT&T 4. 30,000 5. Jack Ma

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• The CEOs of 145 companies, including Uber, Airbnb, and Twitter, wrote a letter urging U.S. Senate leaders to take up some gun control measures.
• SmileDirectClub, which makes alternatives to braces, IPO'd on the Nasdaq yesterday...but then shares tumbled 28%.
• Old Navy is planning to almost double its store count in North America before it splits from parent Gap Inc. next year.
• Walmart (+0.78%) is launching a grocery delivery subscription service this fall. For $98/year, customers in 200 markets can get unlimited same-day delivery.

BREAKROOM

Friday Puzzle
Let us introduce you to the eban number sequence. These are the numbers whose names do not contain the letter “e” when written out in English.

The first five numbers of the sequence are 2, 4, 6, 30, and 32. What is the 22nd number in the sequence?

Breakroom Answers