Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a Ukrainian jet that fell from the sky after taking off from Tehran was likely shot down by Iran. The Boeing 737-800 was on fire when it crashed, killing all 176 aboard. More than one-third of the dead were Canadian. The incident occurred amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S.—shortly before the crash, Iran fired missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq in retaliation for the earlier U.S. killing in Baghdad of Iran’s top general. —Josh Petri Here are today’s top stories President Donald Trump’s supporters approve of his decision to order the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, even though the move may undermine his promise to end U.S.military involvement in the region. The New York City Bar Association asked Congress to investigate U.S. Attorney General William Barr, saying his actions and statements have positioned federal prosecutors as “political partisans willing to use the levers of government to empower certain groups over others.” As the U.S. labor market continues to tighten, fast-food chain Taco Bell is raising salaries for managers to $100,000. The rise of the index fund was one of the biggest shifts in corporate power in a generation. Their success has had a weird and unintended consequence: They’ve concentrated shareholder power in BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street. A quiet crisis is unfolding for U.S. hospitals, with bankruptcies and closures threatening to leave some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens without care. Mall-based retailers like Kohls and J.C. Penney reported drops in a key sales metric over the holiday period despite a broader rise in consumer spending. The news is so grim that one analyst said Victoria's Secret may fade into obscurity. What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director contends recession isn’t high on the list of concerns right now. The stock market is high, volatility is low, employment is growing, the Fed is disengaged and it seems unlikely Trump would purposely cause any market shocks in an election year. In his latest blog post, University of Oregon economist Tim Duy highlights one reason why the art of recession forecasting is different from what it used to be. What you’ll need to know tomorrow Nancy Pelosi says she’ll soon send Trump’s impeachment articles. It’s Thursday, so of course the S&P 500 hit another record. DNA testing service 23andMe enters the pharmaceutical business. What financial freedom means for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Wealthy investors steer billions towards a new Trump tax break. New York state wants to double its beer tax and give it to colleges. The Roomba maker developing robot with arms to do the dishes. What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Pursuits New York’s Billionaire’s Row is rife with supertall towers: Central Park Tower, 432 Park Avenue, and 111 West 57th Street are all close to a quarter-mile high. Critics complain about the mega-sized shadows these oligarchic skyscrapers cast on Central Park (or that many owners may pay little-to-no property tax). But then there’s the exhilaration and occasional terror of actually being in an apartment at the cruising altitude of a helicopter. We borrowed virtual reality cameras from Google and took a 91-story ride on an exterior hoist to film life at 1,420 feet. This is what life is like at the very top of Manhattan real estate. Like Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com. You’ll get our unmatched global news coverage and two premium daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close, and much, much more. See our limited-time introductory offer. Something new in your inbox. The Weekly Fix is an email with the latest fixed income news, charts, and insights. Sign up here to start getting it in your inbox on Fridays. Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. Learn more. |