The U.S. and Japanese governments have acted together to try to prop up the value of the yen on global currency markets. The way they did it contains a clue about U.S. goals — and has some worrying implications for global markets.
The big picture: Headline indicators have been steady across global financial markets this summer. Yet there are some signs of strains beneath the surface, particularly in the form of rising long-term borrowing costs at a time of elevated debt worldwide.
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.
