Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Investors look for Fed rate hike clues. The US central bank is not expected to announce any big changes to its plans to raise interest rates this year, but analysts will scour the Fed’s statement for indications about a possible hike in June.
Tesla’s cash-burning update from “manufacturing hell.” The electric car company is under pressure to increase production of its Model 3 sedan while also curbing costs. Elon Musk has promised that Tesla doesn’t need to raise additional capital, but investors are dubious.
Macron and Turnbull talk about China. The French president and Australian prime minister will discuss the strategic landscape in the South Pacific, where China has been building military bases, and the home of French territories in New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
While you were sleeping
Apple allayed fears of an iPhone slump. The company sold 52.2 million smartphones in the second quarter, up 2.9% and in line with what analysts expected. But its financial results easily outpaced estimates, as earnings rose 25.5% to $13.8 billion and revenue rose 16% to $61.1 billion. Shares were up 5% in after-hours trading.
Facebook rolled out dating and VR products to a sympathetic crowd. The company announced a Tinder-like dating service and debuted its Oculus Go virtual reality headset at a developers conference, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged recent scandals but tried to move past them. Separately, UK lawmakers demanded that Zuckerberg testify in person about the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Hasbro is buying “Power Rangers” from Haim Saban. Saban Entertainment will reportedly receive $520 million in cash and stock for the long-running children’s superhero franchise, Reuters reported. If the deal is completed, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers will join other Hasbro properties like “My Little Pony” and “The Transformers.”
The iconic guitar maker Gibson filed for bankruptcy. The company, which has long blamed a consumer-electronics unit for its financial problems, says filing for Chapter 11 protection from creditors gives it an opportunity to restructure.
A California-led coalition sued the Trump administration over auto emission caps. Eighteen states and Washington DC filed a suit against Environmental Protection Agency secretary Scott Pruitt, who has said he plans to demolish Obama-era fuel efficiency requirements. The move could effectively split the US auto market in half (paywall).
Quartz obsession interlude
Helen Edwards and Dave Edwards on how Tesla over-automated its factory: “Robots aren’t as flexible as humans; they aren’t as good as humans at adapting to product variants nor can they handle as many complex movements as humans. This means that, beyond a certain point, automation can raise costs, and contrary to what you’d expect, not help quality or productivity. Importantly, automation needs to be overlaid on a stable process to ensure that it’s not the errors that are being automated.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Capitalism is obsolete. Today’s problems are far too complex for market economies to fix—and in many cases capitalism makes them worse.
Society, not biology, makes men bad at friendship. Pressure to reject “feminine” ideals like openness, empathy, and vulnerability leads to increasing male loneliness.
Double-spacing is an abomination. A new study found that it slightly improves readability, but it’s really an anachronism from the monospace fonts of the typewriter era.
Surprising discoveries
Some of the world’s richest nations have the weakest passports. Canada and China essentially “lock their citizens in” due to low visa accessibility.
Crowded airport lounges are irritating the 1%. One well-heeled traveler described recent arrivals as “farm animals.” (paywall)
Scientists may have made a quantum computing breakthrough. A new method using Bose-Einstein condensates could create thousands of entangled particles at once.
Swedish meatballs are actually Turkish. The country has admitted that its national food was based on a recipe brought home by King Charles XII after a visit to Turkey.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, airport lounge passes, and meatball recipes to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written and edited by Susan Howson and Adam Pasick.