Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Banks take the wheel

When it comes to the global economy, two questions bubble to the surface these days: When will central banks end their rate-hiking campaigns, and what other drama might unfold before they do? As for the latter, there’s still some skittishness out there (justifiably or not) since three midsize US banks imploded and Credit Suisse got married off to UBS. So investors have been zeroing in on bank liquidity, and in the case of Toronto-Dominion Bank, short sellers are eyeing its exposure to a housing slowdown and a supposedly dented Charles Schwab. For Wall Street and those laser-focused on interest rates, there may however be a silver lining. “Central Banks are on the verge of declaring the yearlong interest-rate hiking cycle over,” writes Marcus Ashworth for Bloomberg Opinion. “The reason: Banks have taken the wheel and are pressing the brakes.” But more broadly, the horizon is still darkening. The International Monetary Fund has warned that its five-year outlook for economic growth is the weakest it’s been in more than three decades, with geopolitical tensions and tighter monetary policy to blame.

China’s reaction to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s unprecedented meeting on US soil with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was relatively muted, even if Beijing said it plans an aggressive response. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has reason to restrain himself for the moment, including hosting French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s unpopular ideas on how to end it. Xi is also seeking support to counter US President Joe Biden’s efforts to block China’s access to new technology like advanced semiconductors. Minxin Pei writes in Bloomberg Opinion that China is right not to overreact, and that Xi should “respond positively to Biden’s call to discuss measures to cool tensions.”

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, left, shakes hands with Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during their meeting this week in Simi Valley, California. Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg

This week, Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts in the first-ever indictment of a former president. A day after his arraignment, he sought to use the case to step up efforts to enlist donors who have supported his rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Trump isn’t scheduled to be back in New York State Supreme Court as part of his prosecution until December, but there are more perilous legal threats looming over him. In one of them, former Vice President Mike Pence won’t appeal a judge’s order to testify before a federal grand jury. That panel in Washington is probing efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election, what the Congressional Jan. 6 committee concluded was America’s first-ever attempted coup.

Apple is eliminating a small number of roles within its corporate retail teams, the first such move since embarking on a belt-tightening effort last year and months after other tech giants announced mass firings and hiring freezes. In Europe, a wave of terminations among tech companies including Google and Amazon have stalled because of labor protections.

The Biden administration is on track to propose the toughest-ever US curbs on car pollution, while stopping short of an electric-vehicle mandate or ban on gas-powered models. Meanwhile Tesla is learning an old lesson: car models that go without regular redesigns grow stale. For his part, Tesla co-founder Elon Musk has been central in helpingAustralia’s electricity grid replace fossil fuels with clean power, and now it's a testing ground for global climate action.

Harry Potter fans could soon get a new online TV adaption of the book. Warner Bros. is close to a deal for the show, with the company hoping it will be a cornerstone of a new streaming strategy. Warner has been eager to do more with one of the best-selling book series of all-time. and while JK Rowling has blessed a stage play adaptation and a theme-park attraction, she had yet to sign off on new movies or a TV show.

The Harry Potter and the Cursed Child show in London Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

• Biden goes to Belfast to mark Good Friday accord’s 25th anniversary.
• Pope Francis to preside over Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square.
• US banks report, giving a sense of where deposits have moved.
• Earnings season kicks off in India; tech giants TCS and Infosys report.
• France’s Constitutional Council to rule on Macron’s pension reform.

Roulette is a game of chance—or it’s at least supposed to be. For decades, casinos scoffed as mathematicians and physicists devised elaborate systems to beat the house. Then an unassuming Croatian’s winning strategy forever changed the game. A six-month search for the winner dives into the clandestine world of professional roulette players and a secret war between those who make a living betting on the wheel and those who try to stop them.

For decades, casinos scoffed as mathematicians and physicists devised elaborate systems to beat the house.  Source: Bloomberg

Get Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing: If you were forwarded this newsletter, sign up here to get it every Saturday, along with Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing, our flagship daily report on the biggest global news.

Bloomberg Green Summit: Join us in New York on April 26 where we will gather climate champions at the crossroads of sustainability, science and culture to highlight the solutions needed to address the planet’s most pressing climate challenges, from climate economy to greener living, global changemakers and cleaner tech. Register here.