Succession talk dents dollar

Good morning. President Trump has a few candidates in mind to succeed Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve. AT&T is going all in on fiber-optic. And drug cartels are smuggling a different type of cocaine to new labs overseas… Listen to the day’s top stories.

Donald Trump said he has three or four people in mind to head the Federal Reserve when Jerome Powell’s term ends next year. The dollar fell to a three-year low as traders took that as a sign interest rates could be cut sooner than expected. It all adds another element of risk to the greenback and Treasuries, which are falling out of favor due to uncertainties around the impact of tariffs and a ballooning fiscal deficit.

Not such big oil. Shell said it doesn’t intend to make an offer for rival BP, quelling speculation that the two oil majors would end up as one. Even following years of poor share performance from BP and rising pressure from an activist shareholder, the question remains whether Shell really be able to swallow such a deal.

Ben & Jerry's is pushing back after a social media post intended for Black History Month was blocked by parent Unilever, along with others supporting Palestinian refugees and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Unilever has watered down some of its social and environmental pledges but this is the latest attempt by the consumer giant to bring the brand’s independent board to heel. It’s a battle that has turned into a test case for companies’ ability to support social causes in the Trump era.

Star college basketball recruit Alijah Arenas has spoken publicly for the first time about his harrowing Tesla Cybertruck crash in April, telling how the steering wheel stopped working and he had to be pulled out of the burning vehicle. The incident highlights safety concerns with Tesla's newest model, which has been recalled eight times within 15 months of sales.

Where’s the beef? US ranchers are finally growing their herds again after hitting a 70-year low. Good news for meatpackers like JBS—and for shoppers tired of sky-high beef prices.

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Deep Dive: AT&T’s Big Fiber-Optic Bet

AT&T execs are going full court press on fiber-optic cable as the company tries to get customers to give up their copper lines, which cost it $6 billion a year to maintain. “The beauty of fiber is it’s symmetrical,” CEO John Stankey told Bloomberg TV’s Chief Future Officer. “It sends the same amount of data up as it sends down.”

The Big Take: A Retreat From Wall Street

China’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund once bailed out Morgan Stanley. But now it’s caught in the middle of trade tensions and being increasingly shut out of the US as the world’s two largest economies decouple.

Opinion

The Israel-Iran ceasefire is a big political win for Trump, but it’s too soon to bet on a comeback for the US exceptionalism trade, John Authers writes. Investors still see tariffs as a reason to move elsewhere.

Before You Go

Cocaine’s global shift. Drug cartels are moving cocaine production outside Colombia, smuggling coca paste to labs as far away as Italy to be processed into powder and concealing it in goods like paint and plastic. The trend reflects booming supply—up over 30% globally—as Colombia scales back the military campaign against the private armies of the traffickers.

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