(Bloomberg) — Want to receive this post in your inbox every afternoon? Sign up here
Wealthy people around the globe are hunkering down for a potentially turbulent 2020. A majority of rich investors expect a significant drop in markets before the end of next year. The U.S.-China trade conflict is their top geopolitical concern, while the upcoming presidential election is seen as another significant threat to portfolios.
Here are today’s top stories
A key issue in that election may be the potential impeachment and trial of President Donald Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors under the U.S. Constitution. Televised public hearings begin tomorrow in the House.
Senate Republicans have almost universally defended Trump against the charges—substantiated by a reconstructed White House telephone transcript, several impeachment witnesses and his own chief of staff—that he asked Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential frontrunner Joseph Biden in exchange for releasing military aid approved by Congress. But they’ve also left themselves some wiggle room.
The five conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court, including two appointed by Trump, seemed inclined to let the president cancel an Obama-era program that shields almost 700,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation in a case with broad humanitarian ramifications.
Hong Kong protesters seeking democratic reforms and investigations of police violence called for disruption to the city’s busy commuter trains Wednesday. Fake news and rumors are stoking the conflict.
A federal appeals court ruling might change how home loans are valued in the secondary market, Stephen L. Carter writes in Bloomberg Opinion.
We asked 5,000 owners about what it’s like to live with Elon Musk’s electric car. Here’s what we found, and it’s bad news for BMW.
What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director is thinking about “Green QE,” or having a central bank stimulate the economy while providing financing to climate initiatives by buying green bonds. Joe contends that, if you start to break down such killing-two-birds-with-one-stone proposals, they may not work out. Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann recently gave a speech arguing that central banks should not be in the business of fighting climate change.
What you’ll need to know tomorrow
A nurses’ union endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for president. Putin pounces on Netanyahu when he’s down. Corporations pile into the bond market as borrowing costs drop. There may be a huge hole in California’s new rooftop solar rule. Saudi Arabia gives its first permanent residencies to foreigners. Charges against Russians in the 2016 election probe will expand. Businessweek explains the rag trade that “bails out everyone.”
What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Pursuits
It’s rare to get good news from the sea. Water temperatures are rising, fish stocks are falling and the ones we eat are increasingly full of microplastics. But the oceans do hold one positive portent: seaweed. It’s regenerative and carbon- and nitrogen-sequestering. Research suggests that, per acre, it can absorb more than 20 times as much carbon dioxide as a forest. And it’s really good as part of your favorite hot sauce, jerky or gin.
To contact the author of this story: David Rovella in New York at [email protected]
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.