Excessive rain could significantly reduce the number of soybean acres planted this year, following an extremely low planting of corn acres this year, reports Bloomberg.
Why it matters: Farmers have long been struggling since President Trump initiated a trade war with China, which is the world's largest soybean purchaser. Soybean prices are at a 10-year low.
More than 600 U.S. companies and industry trade associations — including Walmart, Costco, Target and Foot Locker — wrote to President Trump on Thursday, copying senior members of his Cabinet to urge them to relent on the trade battle with China.
What they're saying: "Broadly applied tariffs are not an effective tool to change China’s unfair trade practices," the group said in the letter, which was backed by the National Retail Federation's anti-tariff lobbying campaign Tariffs Hurt the Heartland. "Tariffs are taxes paid directly by U.S. companies, including those listed below—not China."
In the absence of strong balance sheets or strong profits, the U.S. stock market is lavishing dollars on any new company that can put together a plausible theory of future success.
What's happening: The 2019 FOMO market may not have been willing to look past Uber or Lyft's $1 billion a year in losses — at least on IPO day— but the unbridled enthusiasm for companies like Beyond Meat, Shockwave Medical and Zoom show investors are desperately seeking a winner and they're willing to pay top dollar to find one.
Two of the great living campaign talkers, David Axelrod and Mike Murphy, team up for a "Hacks on Tap" podcast from Cadence13, taking listeners "deep inside the top level of American politics."
What to expect: The vibe is a bar full of campaign reporters, where one can pull up a stool to listen to two guys who have been in it, but now aren't tied to cable news cycles.
During a Fox News Town Hall, 2020 presidential candidate Julián Castro on Thursday evening said his own Hatch Act violation in 2016 differed from those of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway because he recognized what he did wrong and did not repeat the mistake.
"I don't think we are going to find anybody either in this race or in our homes and community that has never made mistakes. The true test of a leader is what do you do when you make that mistake. Are you big enough to own up to it, and make sure you correct what you do in the future? Or do you basically do what [Conway] did, which is to say 'no, I'm bigger than that.'"
— Julián Castro during Thursday evening's Fox News Town Hall
Merger talks between CBS and Viacom could reach a "critical stage" tomorrow, when the CBS board is scheduled to discuss the deal, according to Fox Business Network.
The bottom line: It's been a long time coming. Shari Redstone, the majority shareholder of both Viacom and CBS, has wanted to combine the companies for years, but was regularly thwarted by a CBS board led by then-CEO Les Moonves. With Moonves now gone and a new board in place, a merger seems likely.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told Axios' Mike Allen on Thursday that President Trump's trade war with China has caused the price of his state's soybeans to plummet 20%, costing South Dakota half a billion dollars.
Why it matters:Data show America's farmers have gone through significant economic pain as a result of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war. Republican lawmaker who represent rural parts of the nation have been divided in whether to continue supporting the Trump administration's efforts, even as they take a toll on their constituents.
Ratings agency S&P Global is now joining the market chorus — it expects at least one interest rate cut from the Fed this year, citing "increasing headwinds."
Where it stands: Earlier this year S&P predicted the Fed would hold rates steady through 2019, but said Wednesday it expects the overwhelmingly negative impacts from tariffs to put enough stress on the U.S. economy that the Fed will be forced to act.
The CEOs of IBM, JPMorgan and Cummins, the major engine manufacturer, have a gloomy outlook on what’s ahead for U.S. business if President Trump doesn’t back down on tariffs.
Why it matters: The executives said at a Business Roundtable event Wednesday that conflict with China is prompting decisions with long-term consequences — like how to shift supply chains — and the effects may show up in the economy, as companies rein in plans for spending and hiring.
Rivals Uber and Lyft have joined forces, a rare event, to oppose a California legislature bill that would make it harder for them to classify workers as independent contractors in their home state.
Driving the news: A bill that would codify last year's Dynamex decision by the state's Supreme Court passed California's Assembly (51-11) last month and will soon be in the hands of the state Senate. That decision set a new, higher bar for companies that want to pay service providers as contractors rather than employees — a practice that the ride-hailing services' businesses are built upon.
