Axios

The leaders of America's biggest companies are much less optimistic than they were before the start of the war earlier this year, according to a survey of Fortune 500 leaders out Thursday morning.

Why it matters: When leaders are feeling optimistic, they push for more hiring, capital investment and dealmaking, and that drives growth in the economy and markets.

• And all of that is critically important right now — businesses' AI infrastructure spending is a key driver of GDP growth. Regular folks, meanwhile, are struggling in the face of rising prices.

The FBI opened an investigation into whether President Trump was acting as a Russian asset after he fired FBI Director James Comey in 2017, newly declassified memos show.

Why it matters: The release of the files on the probe, known as "Oxferd Comma," revives one of the most consequential episodes in the Trump-Comey saga and comes months after Trump's Department of Justice again put the former FBI director under criminal indictment.

The U.S. Air Force recently deployed laser weapons to help combat drones overseas, according to an announcement that has flown relatively under the radar.

Why it matters: Employment of directed energy, whether laser or microwave or some combination of the two, is still relatively rare.

• That's despite decades of research and billions and billions of dollars spent.

Private equity just met its match: International soccer.

Driving the news: FIFA has dropped plans to form a commercial subsidiary backed by up to $4.2 billion in private investment, led by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Eternal, less than a week after they became publicly known.

America has been napping or distracted by trivialities while China is racing toward the future, in part by taking advantage of President Trump's trade, immigration and budget policies.

• That's the eye-opening reality that Evan Osnos unfurls in a 12-page piece for The New Yorker, "The Future, Made in China."

Why it matters: China could beat the U.S. to the future on a host of fronts, including engineering a cure for cancer.

Nearly eight months after President Trump predicted U.S. companies would "rapidly rebuild Venezuela's dilapidated oil industry" to boost production, no new petroleum deals have been finalized there with American firms.

• The U.S. Department of Energy is largely to blame, a dozen oil industry professionals, senior U.S. officials and Venezuela insiders tell Axios.

Why it matters: The price of oil is climbing as the Iran war squeezes global supplies, spotlighting the absence of finalized deals in Venezuela — a nation with the highest estimated petroleum reserves on the planet.

President Trump said Saturday night that he has called off a potential attack on Iran due to progress in negotiations between the two nations.

The big picture: There had been indications from some U.S. officials that an attack on Iran's infrastructure was possible, all in an effort to get the Iranians to agree to the U.S.' terms in ceasefire negotiations.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke to President Trump on Saturday and expressed concern over his plans for massive new strikes against Iran, according to two U.S. officials and a third source with knowledge of the call.

Why it matters: Trump is seriously considering attacking Iranian energy targets in the coming days in response to Iran's missile strike on a U.S. base in Jordan and its continued disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. He has yet to issue final orders.

President Trump is seriously considering launching attacks against energy targets in Iran in the next few days, but hasn't given final orders to do it, a U.S. official told Axios on Friday.

Why it matters: A new U.S. bombing campaign in Iran against energy and infrastructure targets would be aimed at trying to get the Iranians to agree to the United States' terms in ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

Concluding a busy week in central bank land, the Bank of Japan elected to leave interest rates unchanged overnight Thursday. But its communications were in sharp contrast to the Fed's from Wednesday.

Driving the news: The bank left its target policy rate at 1% as Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda pledged that it will not fall behind the curve on its interest rate policy, one of several comments that signal more interest rate increases might be on the way.

• It adds up to a sign that a rate hike in the months ahead is more likely.