Your Evening Briefing

(Bloomberg) --

Peter Thiel, the billionaire Silicon Valley supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, may find it easy to back the China trade war since his investments have barely been affected by it. Longtime Trump friend Tom Barrack was an early advocate of the administration's efforts to strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia. Now his firm, Colony Capital, is doing business with its sovereign wealth fund. However, while JSW Steel (USA) was a big fan of Trump's metal tariffs, it eventually discovered that it didn't get an exemption for imports it needed. Now it's suing.

Here are today's top stories

Citigroup has started firing traders as part of a planned termination of 400 people, joining Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale in eliminating hundreds of jobs across equities and fixed-income trading divisions.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating acquisitions by Facebook as part of a nascent antitrust probe.

Former Vice President Joseph Biden emerged bruised but intact after Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate. But it was the legacy of his former boss that is increasingly under attack.

Justin Fox writes in Bloomberg Opinion that one reason economic growth in the U.S. is slowing is uncertainty stemming from Trump's tweet storms on trade, the border, government shutdowns and the Fed.

Bloomberg Businessweek reports how banks, fintechs and peer-to-peer lenders are aggressively courting Generation Z in China.

Is a vegan burger that touches beef fat still a vegan burger? That's the question fast-food chains are grappling with as they increasingly add plant-based options to their crowded griddles.

What's Lorcan Roche Kelly thinking? The Bloomberg cross-asset editor is comparing Fed Chair Jerome Powell with a famous predecessor, Alan Greenspan. Powell described Wednesday's rate cut as a “mid-cycle adjustment,” raising comparisons with Greenspan's mid-1990s cuts in order to prolong an upswing. But that's where the parallel stops.

What you'll need to know tomorrow

A Chinese Navy ship collided with a Taiwanese freighter.
Goldman Sachs is betting millions on this Indian food company.
Trump launched a fresh Twitter tariff volley against China.
Wall Street, and oil, reacted to his tweets by tanking.
This is the firm that wrecked private equity for the Middle East.
The U.S. government is waging a secret war on analogue drugs.
Reagan and Nixon exchanged racist jokes, a recording reveals.

What you'll want to read in Bloomberg Pursuits

Behind the carefully orchestrated travelogue that is the Tour de France, won this week by Colombian Egan Bernal, the sport is suffering. In recent years, teams have been folding at an alarming rate, leaving riders and staff scrambling to find jobs. Cycling's financial model has created a world of haves and have-nots. Now, its biggest stakeholders are trying to fix it before it's too late.