President Trump announced on Twitter Wednesday he would delay the increase on existing tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods ahead of the U.S. resuming trade talks with China.
Why it matters: There's evidence that the U.S.-China trade war has hurt both of the world's 2 leading economies. It's dented consumer sentiment and a survey of members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai released Wednesday found 51% said U.S. and Chinese tariffs had a negative effect on revenue.
Just this week, Amazon, Target and Wendy's have announced plans to hire a combined 180,000 new workers or temps, adding to the swelling number of jobs that so far outpaces the number of people who are available to work.
Why it matters: The tight labor market — and the scarcity of workers — may come in the way of those ambitions.
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti unveiled an 8-step plan on Tuesday to save the internet from the "dumpster fire" that it has become. He's calling on the public, media, government and corporate America to pressure platforms into elevating quality journalism and weeding out bad content online.
Why it matters: Peretti made his name by making things go viral on the internet. Now, he says that society needs to "unbreak" the modern web that he helped pioneer, before internet trolls take it over.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing proposed on Wednesday to acquire the London Stock Exchange for around $39 billion, contingent on the LSE dropping its $27 billion purchase of financial data company Refinitiv from The Blackstone Group and Thomson Reuters.
Why it matters: Both Hong Kong and London are worried about remaining global financial centers, due to the anti-China protests and Brexit. This could either firm up their position or obliterate it.
WeWork is moving forward with its IPO, as this space has repeatedly predicted, despite recent reports that major investor SoftBank was pushing for a delay.
Between the lines: It's unclear if SoftBank leaked word of its own resistance. But lots of people think SoftBank was the source, which might as well be the same thing in terms of future perception among founders and venture capitalists.
As Western tech companies compete for shares of India's increasingly crowded market, they're confronting the challenges of a customer base largely dependent on cash payment and mobile internet access.
The popularity of the recently unveiled — and more recently shelved — Popeyes chicken sandwich was unlike anything KeyBanc Capital Markets equity research analyst Eric Gonzalez had ever seen.
What it means: For the short time in August that it was available, Gonzalez estimates Popeyes' store traffic doubled and about 1,000 chicken sandwiches were sold in each store every day, accounting for about 30% of total sales.
More than half of all issue advertising this year has been on health care, and that spending will only increase as the 2020 campaign gets closer.
Between the lines: Most of the top health care spenders are focused on issues like surprise medical bills and drug prices — many of which would cut into the health care industry's profits.
China's Ministry of Finance announced in a statement Wednesday that it's exempting 16 types of exported U.S. goods from import tariffs ahead of stalled trade talks resuming with the Trump administration. The exemption is effective Sept. 17 through Sept. 16, 2020.
Why it matters: President Trump's trade war has led to bigger trade deficits with China, it's dented consumer sentiment, and the International Monetary Fund has said the prolonged tensions weighed down the global economy.
