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A few days ago, a Chicago-area company in the business of recycling everything from inkjet cartridges to mobile phones triggered a shock wave that rattled Wall Street. A $693 million loan Clover Technologies took to market five years ago lost a third of its value—almost overnight. The nosedive provided a sobering lesson: Investing in a $1.3 trillion leveraged loan market where the chase for yield is fueling massive borrowing and lax underwriting can be perilous. In the past, that sort of behavior has ended very badly. 

Here are today’s top stories

Vladimir Putin spent $300 billion buying weapons to refurbish an aging Russian military. Doing so meant a lot of borrowing. Now his defense industry is suffocating under a mountain of debt.

The U.S. House is nearing a vote to condemn President Donald Trump for comments widely criticized as racist. The chamber’s top Republican, Kevin McCarthy of California, insisted Trump isn’t a racist and said the vote is “all politics.”

Trump’s latest attempt to block immigrants was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued to halt his move to bar most Central Americans from seeking asylum at the Mexico border.

Tech jobs are supposed to be the golden door to wealth in 21st century America, but  Bloomberg’s Work Wise reveals that some things haven’t changed since the last century. Remember when your mother told you to be a doctor? She was right.

Internet searches for “Canceling Amazon Prime” skyrocketed Monday, the beginning of Amazon’s two-day sale. The data suggest shoppers want to snatch up discounts without making a long-term commitment.

Brexit talks are getting even more hostile as the European Union considers some more sweeteners for the U.K. The British pound, meanwhile, has reacted badly to the threat of a no-deal Brexit.

What’s Luke Kawa thinking about? The Bloomberg cross-asset reporter said that, as bank earnings get underway, “boring” helps explain why banks haven’t been able to lead. Since the immediate aftermath of Trump’s election win, the only time financials meaningfully outperformed for an extended period as the market rose was near the end of 2017, when the Republicans pushed through tax cuts. 

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

  • Fed Chair Jerome Powell seems to be sticking to a rate-cut plan.
  • Get ready for 24-hour trading in Saudi Arabia.
  • Nestle said it found a way to make chocolate without sugar.
  • Apple is planning to bankroll its very own podcasts.
  • Bloomberg Opinion: People make it hard to ditch plastic straws.
  • Bloomberg Businessweek: Most cannabis CEOs are like the rest.
  • Wall Street is moving to swallow up America’s ice cream

What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Work Wise

Learn how much money your dream job pays. America’s recent graduates and young professionals want to chase their dreams, which often means doing good for less money. But with massive student debt, incredibly expensive cities and an uncertain world, balance is necessary. How do you make a difference while securing your financial future? Let Bloomberg Work Wise lead the way. Start by trying our exclusive career calculator.

 

To contact the author of this story: David Rovella in New York at drovella@bloomberg.net

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