Express Scripts, CVS Health, and UnitedHealth Group lost a combined $5 billion in market cap Thursday after it was revealed the Trump administration is proposing a rule that will alter how drug rebates can legally work in federal health care programs.
Flashback: These pharmacy benefit managers took a similar beating in May when the rebate chatter began.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Thursday that he felt he "needed to correct the record" following President Trump's comments during the Helsinki summit with Russia President Vladimir Putin, adding that he wished Trump had "made a different statement" as it is "undeniable that the Russians are taking a lead on this."
Our thought bubble: It was a STUNNING interview ... and is already catching heat and attention among Trump loyalists. I've already had two phone calls from sources close to Trump expressing their astonishment. The fact that Trump’s own intelligence director is saying these things is extraordinary. A moment of true and startling independence. Reveals how concerned Coats is about what happened with Putin.
President Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson that he's consistently wondered why the U.S. would be willing to go to war to defend smaller NATO countries like Montenegro or Albania.
Why it matters: The mutual defense pact is the bedrock of NATO, and the only time it has been invoked was after the September 11 attacks.
President Donald Trump told CNBC's Joe Kernen that he's "not thrilled" with the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates, claiming that the timing of the hikes will disrupt the booming economy and put the U.S. at a "disadvantage" compared to countries with loose monetary policy.
Why it matters via Axios' Dan Primack:Presidents are usually loathe to credit or criticize the Fed, believing there should be a separation between monetary and fiscal policy. Trump even acknowledged in the interview that he was setting himself up for criticism, but said that he "couldn't care less" because his views haven't changed from when he was a private citizen.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday that he believes Trump's trade war will move toward a resolution "well within a year."
"I think we will have made very substantial progress well within a year. Whether it's gonna be exactly China, whether it'll be EU, whether it'll be NAFTA, I would be very surprised if we were in this exact same situation as we are now."
The details: One reason Ross cites for his optimism is that Beijing is having difficulty sustaining its war against American soybeans. "They're literally having to pay farmers to try to convince them to grow soybeans instead of a more lucrative crop," Ross said.
Unveiling a "Pledge to America's Workers," President Trump today will launch a White House effort to promote high-tech retraining for workers — preparation for a workplace that'll increasingly be dominated by data and automation.
Why it matters: Workers, particularly in parts of the industrial Midwest where Trump is strong, are rightly worried about the threat to jobs from robots and automation.
The Trump administration has been telling members of Congress that it plans to get a trade deal with Mexico before its new president is inaugurated in December, which it thinks will then prompt Canada to cut a deal. It would then move on to trying to make deals with other entities, like China and the EU.
Between the lines: It's unclear whether this strategy will work, but it's also unclear what President Trump's tariffs will do to the economy and international relations in the meantime.
Low-wage workers get trapped in largely manual jobs because of the difficulty of acquiring better-paid skills, according to a new study from MIT.
Why it matters: Some argue that workers whose jobs become automated could learn new skills to stay employed. But the difficulty of jumping from physical work to a job that requires mainly social and cognitive skills may leave low-wage workers with no recourse when manual labor is turned over to robots.
President Trump's chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC's Delivering Alpha conference Wednesday morning that he believes that Chinese President Xi Jinping is "holding the game up" on a trade deal with the United States — all while playing down the idea that the two countries are engaged in a trade war.
Our thought bubble from Axios’ Dan Primack: After first giving some lip service to generally opposing blanket tariffs, Kudlow stated "the president is doing exactly the right thing here" and China’s "local party leaders" are similar to "mafioso dons." I’ve had a tough time finding anyone at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen who has amended, or is thinking about amending, their tech investment strategy because of the trade wars.
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has opened an investigation into whether U.S. dependence on uranium imports poses a threat to national security.
Why it matters: Domestic production of uranium, which is a key resource for both nuclear weapons and the nuclear reactors that power 20% of the American electric grid, have dropped from 49% of total uranium requirements in 1987 to 5% today. The investigation could ultimately result in new tariffs at a moment when more than half of America's nuclear reactors are losing money, according to Bloomberg.
Move over, telecom and big tech: Mass market retailers and grocers are developing their own content and advertising businesses to compete with legacy media.
Why it matters: Ad-serving and video creation has become so democratized that any company with an audience is now able to steal advertising dollars or consumer attention away from traditional media companies.
