Not the wine

MARKETS

• Economy: Central bankers returned to sea level from their meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But the theme of this year’s conference, “Challenges for Monetary Policy,” will continue to feel very relevant after a busy G7 weekend.
• U.S. markets: If you’re a glass-half-empty kind of person, then we’ll point you to the energy sector, which is the worst performer in the S&P this year.

TRADE

Walking the Minefield at the G7 Summit

We could write another story about how President Trump "regrets not raising the tariffs higher" on China...but there's an entire planet of trade negotiations begging for the Brew treatment. Let's check in on some of the world's largest economies as they wrap up the G7 summit in France today.

Starting with France...President Trump declared his Saturday lunch with host/French President Emmanuel Macron was "the best meeting we have yet had," but that might have been before they got the bill.

• Trump threatened tariffs on French wine in response to France's digital tax on Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook. European Council President Donald Tusk said Europe would respond "in kind" if the other Donald goes through with it.

Brazil also commanded lots of attention. Germany and Britain are pushing back on Macron's threat to block a landmark trade deal with South American countries over Brazil's handling of fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest.

In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson's juggling chainsaws: avoiding a no-deal Brexit while creating a trade deal with the U.S. that doesn't irk EU leaders.

• Trump, who supports Brexit, met with Johnson Sunday. Their officials will continue to work on "a very big trade deal" for when the U.K. says adiEU.

Trump said Sunday that a trade deal with Japan involving industrial tariffs, agriculture, and digital trade "is done in principle."

Canada's back on the nice list. Trump left last year's summit in Canada early with choice words for PM Justin Trudeau. This year, the pair had an amicable meeting, touting the USMCA trade agreement.

Zoom out: While the G7 summit used to present a more united front, it's harder—but not impossible—to find common ground on global economic issues today.

FASHION

Fashion's Trending Green at the G7

Believe it or not, tariffs aren’t the only item on the G7 agenda. Today, 32 companies representing around 150 fashion brands are presenting a sustainability pact for a greener future.

Who's signing: High fashion (Chanel, Prada, Hermès), fast fashion (H&M, Zara parent Inditex), and sweat fashion (Nike, Adidas).

• They're led by François-Henri Pinault, a French luxury billionaire and CEO of Kering, the parent company of Balenciaga, Gucci, and Alexander McQueen.
• Who's not signing: LVMH, the largest luxury group by sales.

What they want: 1) guidelines addressing the sector’s oversized impact on climate, oceans, and biodiversity 2) industry-wide participation to achieve zero emissions by 2050 and 3) increased transparency and accountability.

There's always a but

As you might've picked up from "guidelines," the G7 Fashion Pact is voluntary and toothless in its enforcement for signatories that fail to meet targets (which, right now, are vague). Business of Fashion notes the agreement "represents the latest in a growing list of industry initiatives that have so far generated lofty goals, but limited tangible change."

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AUTO

Toyota Shows Off New Toys for the Olympics

Toyota announced its full lineup of vehicles to help people get around the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer. Close to 90% of the fleet—which includes scooters, mopeds, buses, and more—will be electrified.

Here's the autonomous e-Palette that will shuttle athletes and staff around the Olympic Village. Keep it PG in there.

Then, take a look at Concept-i, the car that will carry the Olympic torch on one leg of the journey. Its defining feature is Yui, an artificial intelligence interface that can read your emotions.

Zoom out, via The Verge: "Toyota...was a pioneer in the field of alternative fuels, with the release of the hybrid Prius in 1997. But since then it has lagged behind in the race to release premium and mass-market electric vehicles, having been overtaken by Tesla, GM, Nissan, and others."

MEDIA

Sinclair Likes Sports, and We Don't Care Who Knows

Sinclair, the owner of 191 TV stations nationwide, completed its $9.6 billion acquisition of 21 Fox Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) on Friday.

...but not from Fox. Disney gained control of the RSNs via its $71.3 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox assets. However, the government told Disney it couldn't own ESPN and all the local channels ESPN is trying to put out of business, so Disney sold them to Sinclair.

Why it's a big deal: These networks form the largest cluster of regional sports networks on the market and include the exclusive local rights to 42 professional sports teams in the NBA, NHL, and MLB. Together, the networks generated $3.8 billion in revenue in 2018.

Zoom out: Local sports programming, especially when the hometown team is winning games, can be helpful to station owners navigating the streaming revolution. That's why Sinclair is looking to tack on even more regional sports outlets from AT&T, the WSJ reports.

CALENDAR

The Syllabus Week Ahead

TFW class participation contributes 80% to the total course grade.

Monday: Durable goods; U.S. Open begins; MTV Video Music Awards

Tuesday: Consumer confidence

Wednesday: Earnings (Coty, Five Below, Tiffany, Box); Venice International Film Festival begins

Thursday: Second estimate of Q2 GDP; Disney’s Star Wars theme park opens in Orlando; earnings (TD Bank, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Workday, Dell, Best Buy, Ulta); one week until NFL football

Friday: Earnings (Campbell Soup); Islamic New Year begins at sundown; Happy 89th Warren Buffett!

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck shocked the NFL world and announced his retirement from the league.
• Disney gave more info on its upcoming film releases at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA.
• British Airways received tens of thousands of customer complaints after it sent confusing and conflicting emails about flight cancellations.
• 33 B Corp CEOs took out an ad in the NYT challenging Business Roundtable leaders to walk the walk in moving past a shareholder interest model.
• The hedge fund Third Point has taken a stake in EssilorLuxottica, the largest glasses maker in the world, per Reuters.

BREAKROOM

Choose the Bigger Number: VMA Edition
Streamlined the format a bit this week.

1. YouTube views: “Thank u, next” by Ariana Grande or “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus.
2. Appearances on Barack Obama’s summer playlist: Bruce Springsteen or Lizzo?
3. VMA Nominations: Ariana Grande or Taylor Swift?
4. Paid U.S. subscriptions: Apple Music or Spotify

Breakroom Answers

Choose the Bigger Number
1. “Thank u, next” has 416 million views while “Old Town Road” has almost 289 million.
2. Lizzo. Bruce didn’t appear once.
3. It’s a tie at 10 each.
4. Apple Music has more paid U.S. subscribers, per the WSJ.