Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• EU Drafting Rules to Protect Technology From Foreign Takeovers. European Union regulators are drafting rules to protect European firms with “key technologies” from foreign takeovers, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. “We’ve heard concerns about foreign -- often state-owned -- investors taking over European companies that control key technologies," she said in a speech at the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Italy. “This issue isn’t simple. It needs careful consideration before we decide how to act. We’re working on this issue now, and we plan to put forward concrete proposals in the autumn.”

• Russia Likely to Back Extension of OPEC Deal as Prices Stabilize.

• Kushners’ China Deal Flop Was Part of Much Bigger Hunt for Cash. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, wakes up each morning to a growing problem that will not go away. His family’s real estate business, Kushner Cos., owes hundreds of millions of dollars on a 41-story office building on Fifth Avenue. It has failed to secure foreign investors, despite an extensive search, and its resources are more limited than generally understood. As a result, the company faces significant challenges.

• These Robots Are Using Static Electricity to Make Nikes. Grabit, a robotics startup, makes machines that can work at 20 times the pace of humans.

Wall Street Journal:

• Russia Protests U.S. Decision to Search Its Washington Trade Mission.  Spat comes amid flare-up of tensions between Moscow, Washington.

• Trump Returns to Gulf Coast After Hurricane Harvey’s Devastation. The president and first lady travel to Texas and Louisiana to meet with flood victims and volunteers.

• China’s Little Lenders Can’t Grow Like They Used To. Regulator crackdown on interbank market curbs smaller banks’ financial experiments.

• Trump Administration Weighs Withdrawal From South Korea Trade Pact. President Donald Trump has been a critic of the five-year-old bilateral deal.

MarketWatch.com:

• This chart spells out in black and white just how many jobs will be lost to robots. Robots will take over half of today’s jobs in 10-20 years.

Fox News:

• President Trump meets victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas: 'There's a lot of love'. (video)

• Colleges struggle over defending or curbing free speech. (video)

CNBC:

• Trump to decide whether to block China-backed buyout of US chip maker.

• Why a global ‘tug-of-war’ could drive the 10-year yield below 2%. (video)

• Texas faces fuel 'crisis' as depleted gasoline stations deal with panic buying. (video)

• Roku files for IPO of up to $100 million.

Zero Hedge:

• Pension Ponzi Exposed: Minnesota Underfunding Triples After Tweaking This One Small Assumption...

• De-Dollarization Accelerates: China Readies Yuan-Priced Crude Oil Benchmark Backed By Gold.

• FBI, DHS Officially Classify Antifa Activities As "Domestic Terrorist Violence".

• Cryptocrash: Bitcoin Tumbles To Pre Korea-Missile-Launch Level After Topping $5000. (graph)

• Trump Asks That $8 Billion Harvey "Down Payment" Be Added To Debt-Ceiling Bill.

• Amazon(AMZN) Has Twice As Many Fulfillment Centers As The Rest Of The Entire US Retail Industry.

• "Trump Should Be Concerned": Mueller Partners With "Elite" IRS Investigations Unit.

• Palladium Suddenly Spikes To 16-Year Highs. (graph)

• Oil Tanker Logjam Grows To 54 Ships As Gulf Ports Remain Closed.

• Wasserman Schultz Aide Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ As Prosecution Drops Hints About A Broader Probe Of Awan.

• Petition To Label George Soros A "Domestic Terrorist" Has 80,000 Signatures.

• Weekend Reading: Harvey & The Broken Window Fallacy.

• Floods, Nukes, & Pitiful Payrolls Spark Best Week For Stocks In 2017. (graph)

Business Insider:

• Republicans now have a drop-dead date for replacing Obamacare.

• Harvey ignites a second fire and explosion at Houston chemical plant.

• Irma will become a ‘major’ hurricane early next week.

• Trump increases federal funding for debris removal after Harvey.

USA Today:

• Houston faces threats from mold, fumes and toxic water in cleanup after Harvey.