Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Goldman takes a hit

Goldman Sachs Group’s profit plunged as the Wall Street giant notched one of its weakest quarters under Chief Executive Officer David Solomon. Second-quarter earnings fell a whopping 58% on an investment-banking slump, real estate markdowns and a goodwill writedown in its consumer business. Return on equity, a key measure of profitability, slid to 4%—the worst among the top US banks. The firm had been actively tamping down expectations heading into the report, prompting analysts to slash their estimates for quarterly profit by almost half since mid-June. 

Solomon said the mergers and capital-markets business is “a fundamental part of our economy” that isn’t going to disappear, even though it’s been depressed for several quarters. “I think this is a cycle,” the CEO said. Sandy Pomeroy, a money manager at Neuberger Berman Group, had this take on the cyclical theme: “They need to come out and articulate some confidence that we are at the bottom from a cyclical perspective and that they’ve cleaned up all of their problems.” —David E. Rovella

Microsoft’s artificial intelligence-driven rally has pushed its stock to new highs and nudged CEO Satya Nadella’s total windfall from the company above $1 billion. Nadella’s boon includes all payouts he has collected from Microsoft that can be parsed from regulatory filings: equity grants, salary, bonuses and dividends. It’s underpinned by Microsoft shares returning more than 1,000% since his first day in the top job.

The crackdown that pays. Netflix added 5.89 million customers in the second quarter of the year, more than doubling Wall Street estimates after cracking down on people who share passwords. The results announced Wednesday mark the company’s best second quarter since the depths of the pandemic three years ago and far surpass Wall Street forecasts of 2.07 million new subscribers. 

Apple is quietly working on AI tools that could challenge those of  OpenAI, Google and others, but the company has yet to devise a clear strategy for releasing the technology to consumers. In recent months, the AI push is said to have become a major effort for Apple, with several teams collaborating on the project.  

Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. The iPhone maker is said to have built its own framework to create large language models—the AI-based systems behind new offerings like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.  Photographer: Sam Hall/Bloomberg

Jin Xing’s early career looked like a textbook case of brain drain. In 1996, he moved from China to Europe and eventually became chief engineer for the automotive electronics division of the Dutch firm NXP Semiconductors. But in 2010, he reversed course and moved back to China. There, he started a company that competes with his former employer. Jin was one of more than 30,000 European experts—mostly from semiconductor and telecom equipment makers—who have left for Chinese organizations. A new report on the phenomenon is stoking Western fears over Beijing’s tech ambitions, especially in semiconductors, an area where the US and its allies have ratcheted up export bans.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he welcomed a meeting between former President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese leader Xi Jinping amid signs that his Beijing-leaning predecessor disagrees with Manila’s warming ties with the US.

Rodrigo Duterte with Xi Jinping in Beijing on July 17 Photographer: Yin Bogu/Xinhua/AP Photo

Singapore’s main opposition party announced that lawmaker Leon Perera resigned following an affair with a colleague—just days after two ruling party members of parliament stepped down over a similar inappropriate relationship. The resignations are the latest in a series of scandals to send shockwaves through the city-state, including a graft probe involving a cabinet minister.

Donald Trump’s quest for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination seems to benefit from his increasing legal jeopardy, with polls showing the party’s far-right base rallying to his side. So in that vein, this week has brought some good news for Trump the candidate. The Justice Department’s Special Counsel appears to be on a fast track to seek his indictment in connection with efforts to block President Joe Biden from taking office. A parallel state investigation in Georgia may yield similar charges as soon as next month (not unlike a prosecution announced in Michigan this week). Meanwhile, the twice impeached Trump failed in his attempt to move a pending New York state hush money prosecution to federal court. And finally, he could be looking at a federal trial in his classified files prosecution by the new year. This avalanche of legal troubles may land just as the primary season is heating up.

• Vladimir Putin bails on South Africa BRICS trip, avoiding possible arrest.
• What’s known about the US soldier who fled to North Korea.
• Gas explosion leaves several injured in downtown Johannesburg.
• In London, New York and Paris, a giant office bet is going wrong.
• Carvana soars after reaching a debt restructuring deal.
• Brutal 115F heat is killing mobile phones on Sardinia.
• Four ways to travel cheaply this summer.

Post-retirement cognitive declines were almost three times more acute among White Americans compared with their Black peers, and twice as large for men as for women. That’s according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. It found that immediately after retirement, white adults tended to experience a significant worsening of cognitive function, whereas for Black retirees the decline was minimal.

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