Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Amazon under the hammer

The US Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon Tuesday, bringing the hammer down on the e-commerce giant for allegedly monopolizing online marketplace services by—among other things—overcharging sellers and stifling competition. The company is also accused of illegally forcing sellers on its platform to use its logistics and delivery services in exchange for prominent placement, and punishing merchants who offer lower prices on competing sites. This is the fourth lawsuit this year the FTC has filed against Amazon, underscoring President Joe Biden’s push to rein in the concentration of corporate power, especially among tech behemoths. Other regulatory agencies also have filed antitrust suits against Google and Facebook parent Meta. The case against Amazon is arguably a career defining one for FTC Chair Lina Kahn, who has had Amazon in her sights since she was a student and has transformed her office into a fierce watchdog. —Margaret Sutherlin

Biden endorsed the United Auto Workers’ demands for a structural wage and benefit increase during a historic visit to a picket line at a General Motors plant in suburban Detroit, said to be the first by a sitting president. The UAW’s strike has entered its twelfth day and centers in part on wage and benefit demands given up during the financial crisis 15 years ago. Biden’s visit comes a day before ex-President Donald Trump, the current 2024 GOP frontrunner despite facing four felony prosecutions and having been impeached twice, also heads to Michigan. On Tuesday, a New York judge added to his legal woes by ruling Trump is liable for fraud for exaggerating his net worth by billions of dollars a year on financial records submitted to banks and insurers.

US President Joe Biden addresses striking members of the United Auto Workers on Tuesday. Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP

Congress is once again in crisis mode as a major government shutdown looms. Senate leaders and moderates in the House are rushing to make a deal to keep the government open after Oct. 1. (One may have been reached in the Senate, the New York Times reported.) Any finalized deal would likely extend funding another 45 days—a move that risks renewed uncertainty for the economy at the end of the year. At the same time, moderate House Republicans are prepared to join with Democrats to invoke a rarely used procedure to force a vote on a bipartisan temporary funding plan. They are deals that Kevin McCarthy, beholden to the GOP’s far-right since obtaining the Speaker’s gavel, may not even be able to bring up lest they move to unseat him. Any agreement will require compromise and some funding may be increasingly unlikely to make the final cut. While markets may be prepared for the latest game of chicken with the economy, there are signs the government’s inaction this time could hit different.  

For a brief moment in 2020, much of corporate America united around a common goal: to address the stark racial imbalances in their workplaces. Mass protests sparked by the police murder of George Floyd and other unarmed Black men led to a flurry of company promises, both specific and vague, to hire and promote more Black people and others from underrepresented groups. New analysis shows in the year after the protests, the biggest public companies added over 300,000 jobs—and 94% of them went to people of color.

Demonstrators in New York City in 2020 protesting the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd and other killings of unarmed Americans by law enforcement. Photographer: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

The European Union’s new, tougher approach to China is being shaped by French President Emmanuel Macron's concerns that Beijing’s trade practices have started to pose a critical threat to core industries, especially the auto industry. Officials pointed to the solar industry debacle a decade ago, when cheap imports from China gutted European production. The goal though isn’t to turn Europe’s $900 billion-a-year trading relationship with China into a head-to-head battle, but rather to establish a level playing field. Meanwhile Tesla finds itself in the crosshairs of an EU anti-subsidy probe.

Target is closing nine stores in four US states over concerns of organized crime and theft. It’s the latest retailer to shutter stores over safety concerns. US stores are also cutting operating hours and changing product selections in response to company reports of an increase in crime, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

The billionaire founder of the Zara clothing chain snapped up a luxury building in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood last month for $232 million. And a real estate firm led by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer bought a 57-unit apartment building just steps from Manhattan’s Gramercy Park. The trend of the world’s ultra-wealthy buying up US apartment real estate is booming, as many of those investors are betting they can snag a deal as prices have fallen amid the recent commercial-property downturn. 

• The CIA is creating its own version of ChatGPT to counter China.
• Which economies are most likely to benefit from AI? 
• There’s a real chance crude oil could reach $100 a barrel this year.
• High profile Democrats are calling for Robert Menendez to resign.
• Striking actors will expand their walkout to include video game-makers.
• Florida’s housing market is now more valuable than New York’s. 
• Victoria’s Secret is bleeding money. Can a fashion show save it?

Though the Hollywood writer and actor strikes have shuffled some of the major releases of 2023—including the Dune sequel and the highly anticipated tennis drama Challengers—there are plenty of other movies to rush out to see this year. Here’s our list. 

Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio star in Killers of the Flower Moon, set for theatrical release on Oct. 20. Source: Apple TV+

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