Axios

A few buzzy zingers and testy exchanges during Night 2 of the second round of Democratic debates on Wednesday caused ratings to tick up from the previous evening.

By the numbers: More than 10 million people tuned into the second night on live television, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen. That's higher than the 8.7 million that watched the night before.

President Trump said in a series of Thursday tweets that 10% tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of U.S. imports from China will begin September 1, accusing Beijing of reneging on a series of promises in this year's ongoing trade talks.

Why it matters: Trump had called a trade truce after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in June. He said that his administration elected to take the step announced today despite "constructive" trade talks this week in Shanghai led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Wish, a San Francisco-based mobile shopping giant, raised approximately $300 million in Series H funding at an $11.2 billion post-money valuation, led by General Atlantic.

Why it matters: Wish built much of its business by sourcing low-cost goods from China, but President Trump's tariffs threaten to upend some of those economics. That's why Wish's deal announcement highlights plans to expand its "merchant footprint in Europe and North America." Expect Amazon to use Wish as a competitive shield against monopoly claims, much like Facebook is trying to use TikTok.

Go deeper: Toy startup "Superplastic" raises $10 million in Series A funding

The last time stocks performed as well as they have so far this year was 1997, but historically as the market has boomed, August has brought significant slowdowns, analysts at LPL Financial warn.

By the numbers: "The S&P 500 has been down an average of 0.78% in August over the past 10 years, worse than any other month," LPL senior market strategist Ryan Detrick said in a recent note.

It's President Trump's move now that he got the rate cut he's been asking for since March, but Fed chair Jerome Powell stopped just short of giving him and the market everything they wanted at the Fed's policy meeting Wednesday.

Why it matters: Powell's cut is the central bank's latest effort to address the U.S. economy's current bipolar state: While consumers are confident and continue to spend, the significant pullback in the manufacturing and transportation sectors shows that businesses are not.

More than 8 million people tuned into Night 1 of the second round of Democratic primary debates for the 2020 cycle, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen.

Why it matters: It was a significantly smaller audience than that of the first round of debates that aired in June — which drew 15.3 million viewers on Night 1, while the second totaled 18.1 million viewers.

ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are suing to shut down Locast, a non-profit, over-the-air broadcast TV streaming service that they say serves as a commercial prop for AT&T and Dish Network Corp.

Why it matters: The lawsuit has been a long time coming. Critics have argued that Locast's offering is similar to that of Aereo, another over-the-air broadcast streaming service that was shut down in 2014, shortly after the Supreme Court ruled against Aereo in a similar copyright case brought by broadcast networks.

Feeling the effects of the Trump administration's trade war with China, some states and cities are stepping in to build their own relationships.

Why it matters: Mayors and governors are hearing directly from farmers and business owners concerned that the trade war will permanently cut off access to the Chinese market.

• "People are scared about their livelihoods and job opportunities going somewhere else," said Bob Holden, CEO of the U.S. Heartland China Association and former governor of Missouri. "I see now a paranoia in our culture that we've lost control."

The Carlyle Group Wednesday morning announced that it will become the latest big private equity firm to convert from a publicly traded partnership into a C-corporation.

The big picture: Carlyle converting, on its face, isn't too surprising. Rivals like Apollo, Blackstone and KKR already took the plunge. But this particular conversation is different because Carlyle is giving all of its shares equal voting rights, meaning that the firm's 30% outside owners will have a 30% say in the business. Other firms have maintained a dual-class share structure.

The private sector added 156,000 jobs in July, more than the 150,000 economists expected and an improvement from the June figures which were revised slightly higher, according to a closely watched report by ADP and Moody's Analytics.

Why it matters: The ADP report is seen as an indicator of what could come from the government's official jobs release on Friday. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics noted in a call with reporters that job growth in the private sector remains healthy, but is "throttling back" from the outsized job gains we've seen in previous months — particularly among small businesses.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg quoted scripture during the second Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday to attack Republican senators for blocking a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15.