VW-Ford alliance, S&P 500 record, rogue moons

Good morning, Quartz readers!

What to watch for today

VW discusses deepening its alliance with Ford. At a supervisory board meeting the German giant will likely agree to share with Ford the cost of developing autonomous vehicles and making electric cars. Silicon Valley competition is prodding traditional carmakers to cooperate more.

Trump hosts a social media summit. Neither Facebook nor Twitter have been invited to the meeting, according to Bloomberg, while various conservative groups have confirmed their attendance. The US president has accused large tech companies of an anti-conservative bias.

Delta reports its second-quarter earnings. Earlier this month the US airline raised its outlook based on stronger demand heading into the summer travel season. It had projected adjusted revenue to grow 6% to 8% from the year-ago period, but tweaked that to 8% to 8.5%.

While you were sleeping

China’s mass detention of Muslims drew a rebuke. In the first concerted international effort of its kind, a group of 22 nations issued a joint statement urging Beijing to stop the arbitrary incarceration of ethnic Uighers and other Muslims. Experts estimate over a million people are detained in the re-education centers.

Fed chair Jerome Powell strongly hinted at a July 31 rate cut… The US central bank chief told lawmakers “uncertainties around trade tensions and concerns about the strength of the global economy” weighed on the economic outlook. He also said he wouldn’t quit if Trump asked him to.

…and the S&P 500 topped 3,000 for the first time. Powell’s rate remarks helped the benchmark index, widely considered a proxy for the US stock market, reach the historic mark in early Wednesday trading. Getting from 2,000 to 3,000 took under five years.

Louisiana’s governor declared a state of emergency. The low-lying southern US state faces a likely Category 1 hurricane named Barry making landfall Friday or Saturday, bringing up to 18 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Flash flooding has already hit New Orleans, and oil companies have slashed production in the Gulf of Mexico.

The UK’s ambassador to the US stepped down. Kim Darroch faced pressure after his harsh views of the “inept” Trump administration were revealed in a leak of diplomatic cables. Trump had responded that he wouldn’t deal with Darroch, calling him a “pompous fool.”

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Our week-long examination of the data boom looks today to Oregon senator Ron Wyden for an explanation of why those in power aren’t protecting your privacy. We also continue our week-long series of insights from Brandless founder Tina Sharkey, who addresses how to get employees to care about your company’s mission.

Quartz Obsession

A matter of standards. Despite low inflation and the scorn of economists, gold standard fans are moving into the mainstream. Some politicians tout it as a common sense approach to monetary policy, and since 2011, at least six states in the US have passed laws recognizing gold and silver as currency. Another three are presently contemplating bills of their own. But is all that glitters really gold? Find out in the Quartz Obsession.

Matters of debate

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Non-citizen voting is more trouble than it’s worth. Politics aside, outreach is expensive and can put undocumented immigrants in danger of deportation.

Lady Gaga is Amazon’s ticket to beauty domination. Her platform-exclusive brand Haus will force the cosmetics industry to accept Amazon as a worthy competitor.

“Free” will always beat “better.” Microsoft’s Teams tool may not be as slick as Slack, but its giant user base is unlikely to shell out cash to try the hipper version.

Surprising discoveries

Drive-thru meals could get faster with license-plate recognition. Roll up, have your tags scanned for automatic payment, grab your burgers, and hit the road.

Scientists are looking for moons on the run. “Ploonets” are exomoons that have escaped their planets to orbit their stars instead.

An entire city will be exorcised via helicopter. The bishop of Buenaventura, Colombia, will sprinkle holy water from the sky in an attempt to banish its demons.

China is losing millionaires. A slowing economy shrank the seven-figure club by 5% last year.

Lehman stocks are worth something again. Owners of the hapless lender’s paper certificates are making big bucks on eBay.

Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Lehman stocks, and holy rain to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written and edited by Susan Howson and Steve Mollman.