Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Big buyer in brutal selloff

Tuesday’s brutal selloff in the aftermath of August’s hotter-than-expected inflation numbers looked like an opportunity to Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management. The firm bought 27 stocks across its eight exchange-traded funds that day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This was her largest buy. On Wednesday, stocks closed up (barely), with the S&P 500 swinging between gains and losses for much of the day. Retail sales due Thursday and University of Michigan readings Friday will be parsed for more clues on the strength of the US economy and inflation expectations. Here’s your markets wrap. —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

The potential US rail strike this week threatens to push inflation even higher. About 125,000 workers could walk off the job if a deal isn’t reached by Friday’s deadline, with talks between rail companies and unions not showing signs of progress. The stoppage would be the largest of its kind since 1992, snarling a wide range of goods—from food to metal and auto parts. The White House is considering an emergency decree to keep key items flowing, and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh hosted talks with the parties on Wednesday.

Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping declared a “no limits” friendship. Yet even though Putin’s forces are now suffering humiliating losses, he shouldn’t expect much help at the Thursday meeting with his Chinese counterpart.

At the same time, Russia’s financial sector has suffered hundreds of billions of dollars in “direct losses” from the sweeping sanctions imposed by the US and its allies, according to an internal Finance Ministry document.

Stunned by lightning Ukrainian gains on the battlefield, Putin faces narrowing options as he seeks to turn the tide in the war he started. Some of his deputies are rattling the nuclear saber again.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visiting troops in Izyum Wednesday. Source: President of Ukraine

Walmart is about to offer checking. A venture that’s majority-backed by the retailer is poised to emerge from the shadows this month, with digital bank accounts meant for the big box giant’s 1.6 million US employees and legions of weekly shoppers.

Ethermine, the largest Ethereum mining services provider by computing power, will shut down its servers for miners after the blockchain completes its historic technical upgrade. The news comes on the eve of Ethereum’s highly-anticipated software revamp (the “Merge”) which will shift the most-used blockchain from a proof of work consensus mechanism to proof of stake. 

A court in South Korea issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon, the founder of the Terraform Labs cryptocurrency ecosystem, whose implosion earlier this year sparked a global crypto rout. 

Do Kwon Photographer: Woohae Cho/Bloomberg

• Amtrak cancels long-distance trains as rail-strike deadline draws near.
• Amazon keeps prices “artificially high,” California says in antitrust suit.
• Chicago faces deep-seated ills in shadow of Citadel-Boeing defections.
• This is the judge who may decide which Mar-a-Lago files are privileged.
• Bloomberg Opinion: A Texas judge just took religious “freedom” too far.
• This billionaire bought the last major tract on Florida’s Fisher Island.
• Meet the undisputed king of college athlete endorsement deals.

Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili’s $800 million lawsuit against a trust firm owned by Credit Suisse Group is set to become a test case for the global industry handling billions of dollars in assets for wealthy families. A win for Ivanishvili may force a major rethink of how and when trust operators flag unusual transactions or other shady practices.

Bidzina Ivanishvili Photographer: Daro Sulakauri

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