Last week’s wild economic ride combined with China’s currency-devaluing response (and, arguably, months more of trade-war-driven global uncertainty) led to the worst day on Wall Street since last December, with the Dow plummeting more than 700 points and major US indices each taking a nearly 3% hit on Monday – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Marketplace
Streetwise helps us understand why a weakened yuan is enough to send shockwaves through the financial system – WSJ [and MarketWatch]
And on cue, the White House has declared China a currency manipulator, the first time it’s brought out that label since 1994 – Bloomberg and MarketWatch
New Media Investment Group, parent company of GateHouse Media, announced yesterday that it had agreed to buy USA Today owner Gannett in a transaction valued at around $1.4 billion. Beyond the hotel standby, Gannett also owns 100 local publications nationwide, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Detroit Free Press. GateHouse and Gannet, pre-merger, “were the two largest chains in terms of number of newspapers owned,” and they would control a combined circulation of 8 million if the deal goes through – NYTimes and WSJ and MarketWatch and HuffPost
Marriott Int’l revealed that it “booked a $126 million change” in Q2 related to a “massive data breach disclosed last year.” The hotelier also lowered its financial projections for the remainder of 2019 – WSJ and Bloomberg
Storied NYC retailer Barneys is “preparing to file for bankruptcy and nearing an agreement with lenders for a financing packages that would give” the chain time find a buyer – WSJ
The behind-the-scenes battle between states and cities over settlements resulting from the nationwide fight against drug companies’ role in the opioid epidemic ravaging America – NYTimes
The Federal Reserve—because it doesn’t have enough going on these days—is reportedly working on a plan to create a faster payments system for banks to exchange money, “providing a public option to another real-time network built by big banks” in an effort to speed up sub-$25k transactions for everyday Americans – WSJ
Chicken-giant Tyson Foods Inc. disclosed a DOJ grand jury subpoena seeking documents and information related to the chicken industry, a move that appears to signal “an expansion of a criminal investigation into allegations” the company and others in the industry “colluded to prop up prices” – WSJ
As we enter peak getaway season, the Times offers up this nice little reflection on how summer vacations can turn into family traditions – NYTimes
