Crypto News: Jobs tenterhooks

Good morning. Friday’s jobs report has traders on tenterhooks. Streaming makes watching sports extremely costly, and messy. And a $10 gift card to Dunkin’ is the summer’s hottest buy. Listen to the day’s top stories.

— Angela Cullen

Market Snapshot
Nasdaq 100 Futures	29,619.75	+0.4%
WTI crude oil futures	$76.86	-0.6%
Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index	1,204.73	-0.1%
Market data as of 07:01 AM ET. Data is subject to provider delays.	Your watchlist

All eyes are on Friday’s jobs report, which may offer new clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy path. Stronger-than-expected non-farm payrolls would reinforce the case for higher-for-longer interest rates. Oil prices remained elevated as prospects for a lasting agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remained elusive.

The yen surrendered most of the gains resulting from the US and Japan’s first joint buying operation since 1998, fueling speculation that authorities may step in again. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blindsided the European Central Bank with the historic currency intervention to help Japan, informing officials in Frankfurt only after the US had sold euros to buy yen, according to the Financial Times.

Donald Trump made a second attempt to curb birthright citizenship with executive orders aimed at babies born to women deemed to be pursuing “birth tourism” or certain foreigners deemed to be undesirable. Like his previous order, they’re bound to be challenged in court. The president is also actively considering an executive order on vaccines and autism as soon as next week, people familiar said, putting a spotlight on a divisive topic officials had earlier sought to downplay ahead of the midterm elections.

Putin Looks to FSB Hardliners to Keep His Wartime Elite in Line

Greg Abel’s first major deal at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway wasn’t just a way to put a dent in an almost $400 billion cash pile. The acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home Corp. was also a bet on the American Dream, pushing the company closer to its goal of making homeownership accessible to as many people as possible.

Colombia’s new President, Abelardo de la Espriella, is about to discover that governing a deeply divided nation is harder than winning an election. He prevailed by the slimmest of margins after campaigning on the fiscal austerity of Argentina’s Javier Milei, the hard-line security policies of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, and a close alignment with Trump. Now he faces a widening budget deficit, accelerating inflation, high interest rates and a deteriorating security situation driven by record coca production that’s bolstering armed rebel groups.

Deep Dive: The Messy, and Costly, Game of Sports Streaming

The rise of streaming services has ended the era when sports fans could easily follow their favorite teams on a handful of broadcast and cable channels. Pro league deals with an array of media companies have not only created a perplexing schedule, they’ve also turned couch sports into a very costly activity.

Fan anger has grown so loud that federal officials have begun to notice. In spring, the Justice Department opened a probe into the NFL to examine whether its broadcast agreements drive up the costs for consumers.
The league already faces a potential $14 billion antitrust verdict, tossed out by a federal judge but now on appeal, over the pricing of its Sunday Ticket package. “Now, we’re really at the point of the straw breaking the proverbial camel’s back,” said antitrust specialist Kellie Lerner.
Advancing the debate, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr suggested that broadcasters — just like NFL teams — be permitted to collectively negotiate media deals as one way to drive down programming costs.
While other leagues have also struck lucrative deals, the NFL is leaps ahead with an expected $12.5 billion a year from agreements with four broadcasters, plus Amazon, YouTube and Netflix. The immense popularity of its games has prompted it to explore charging partners even more.
But that isn’t likely any time soon. CBS-owner Paramount Skydance has paused negotiations with the NFL while it deals with legal challenges to its planned merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. And Fox has indicated it won’t change its NFL contract until after the 2029 season.

The Big Take Podcast

Behind the Meltdown of Situational Awareness

Opinion

The US and Japan can both benefit from Scott Bessent’s decision to help support the yen, at least for a while, Bloomberg’s Editorial Board writes. But currency trading is no substitute for sure and steady policy. Ignore that lesson for too long, and the reckoning for all concerned could be brutal.

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Before You Go

Nextcard founder John Ta. — Nextcard founder John Ta has redeemed about $1,000 from credit cards that work with Paze.

Paze-maxxing. The hottest buy of the summer is a $10 gift card to Dunkin’, and not because its iced lattes have suddenly become more popular. Paze, offering $10 on up to 10 transactions per card to customers who activate its digital wallet, has set off an obsessive hunt for “free money.” Do the math.

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