Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Biden’s slow start

US President Joe Biden celebrated the anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act on Wednesday, saying it was spurring job growth and addressing climate threats as he sought a political boost from his signature legislative achievement. The landmark package—the most sweeping of its kind in a generation or more—promised to create a wave of demand for made-in-America electric vehicles by offering lucrative tax credits. But a year later, the IRA has yet to trigger any such inundation. Though arguably early days for any transition spurred by the law, US car buyers and automakers are nevertheless struggling with qualifications that have limited eligibility for many current electrified models. And the bar for full credits will soon get higher, as the US sets new rules aimed at curbing foreign battery sourcing and manufacturing. Automakers, who already are seeing a build-up of EV inventories, may have to change supply chains further or risk losing some or all of their qualifications to make electric models more affordable. —David E. Rovella

In China, the news is going from bad to worse. Chinese authorities are said to have asked some investment funds this week to avoid being net sellers of equities as a rout in the nation’s financial markets deepened. Stock exchanges issued the so-called window guidance to several large mutual fund houses, telling them to refrain for a day from selling more onshore shares than they purchased. China is resorting to a familiar tactic to stem a downdraft in local assets as the economic slowdown deepens and a crisis brews in the shadow banking industry. An interest-rate cut on Tuesday has done little to shore up sentiment, and speculation is growing that the government will roll out more steps to provide support.

About those shadow banks. Chinese investors protested outside the office of one of the country’s biggest in a rare show of public outrage after the firm skipped payments on dozens of investment products. Videos of the incident appear to show about two dozen protesters at Zhongrong International Trust, demanding payment on high-yield products that were pitched as safe investments. 

Argentina’s far-right presidential candidate, Javier Milei, pledged to close the nation’s central bank while saying he would try to avoid a default on the country’s sovereign debt if he wins in October. “I will make every effort to avoid a default, obviously,” Milei told Bloomberg. “If you do the fiscal adjustment that’s needed, the financing will be there.”  

Javier Milei Photographer: Erica Canepa/Bloomberg

BAE Systems is said to be in talks about a possible acquisition of Ball Corp.’s aerospace division in what would be the year’s largest deal by a UK corporation. The London-listed defense giant is in discussions with the US packaging group about the terms of a takeover of the unit, which manufactures instruments and sensors for everything from space travel to weather forecasting.

Sinclair Broadcast Group is accused of wrongly siphoning more than $1.5 billion from a subsidiary operating a network of local sports channels that filed bankruptcy earlier this year, according to a lawsuit made public Wednesday.

Sacks Parente Golf’s shares plummeted 85% Wednesday, erasing almost all of the first-day gains that made it the strongest US stock-market debut of 2023. Shares of the company, which makes golf equipment including $400 putters, closed at $4.47 Wednesday. That eliminated most of the Tuesday rally that pushed the stock up 624% from the $4 initial offering price.

Kansas state investigators reportedly said they are probing a Marion, Kansas, police department raid of a local newspaper, the Marion County Record, in what’s been widely condemned by journalists and legal experts as a flagrant violation of the First Amendment. Even the White House says it’s closely following the case, according to the Associated Press. The AP also reported that a state prosecutor said he found insufficient evidence to support the raid by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody and his employees and that all seized material should be returned. An attorney for the newspaper told the AP that the newspaper had been investigating the circumstances around Cody’s departure from the Kansas City, Missouri, police department. Marion police also raided the home of the newspaper’s owner, Eric Meyer, and his mother, 98-year-old Joan Meyer. She died the next day. Cody hasn’t responded to a request for comment.

The offices of the Marion County Record in Marion, Kansas Photographer: John Hanna/AP

• Fed minutes show that rate hikes may not be over just yet.
• Goldman Sachs blames "zero-day” options for S&P 500 selloff.
• Meanwhile, Goldman CEO Solomon has a mutiny on his hands.
• Apple supplier Foxconn begins iPhone 15 production in India.
• Brookfield joins the private equity stampede into insurance.
• High-potency marijuana market is triggering regulatory blowback.
• Storm Hilary threatens Southern California with flooding.

Pacha, the nightlife juggernaut often credited with kickstarting Ibiza’s world-famous party scene, turns 50 this year. But the hedonistic reputation of the Spanish isle dates back at least 2,500 years. And while much has changed since the Carthaginians held sway with their deities of love and fertility, Ibizan culture still revolves around their modern-day incarnates: boho-chic wellness gurus and nouveau-riche club rats. Each summer, about 2 million vacationers arrive on the island, looking to trance the night away to thumping techno. Close behind is a legion of hospitality capitalists who profit from the sybaritic whims of the world’s elite. As one local said, Los Angeles has actors while Ibiza has concierges. These are the wild things you learn when you become one.

The dance floor at Pacha Photographer: Zowy Voeten/Getty Images Europe

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