Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Donald Trump meets with US state governors. The discussion is expected to focus on key infrastructure projects. Ever since Trump made “rebuilding America” a key campaign promise, governors have been drafting wish lists of big ticket projects. Expect billion-dollar price tags.
Perrigo and Priceline report fourth-quarter earnings. Activist investor Starboard Value has been pressuring the struggling Dublin-based drugmaker Perrigo to make big changes, including selling its prescription business Rx Pharmaceuticals. Online-travel group Priceline is expected to post healthy results, thanks to growth in its Booking.com and Kayak platforms.
China’s top diplomat heads to the US. State councilor Yang Jiechi is the most senior Chinese official to visit the US since Trump took office. The two-day visit is expected to pave the way for a meeting between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping.
The US Commerce Department reports on orders for durable goods. Economists expect they rose 1.6% in January (pdf) after falling 0.5% in December. Meanwhile the National Association of Realtors will share numbers on pending home sales, with an expected increased of 1% in January.
Over the weekend
There was an excruciating mixup at the Oscars. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced La La Land as the Best Picture winner, but the award was actually intended for Moonlight; Pricewaterhouse Coopers had put the wrong card in the envelope. Mahershala Ali meanwhile won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Moonlight, becoming the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar.
The LSE-Deutsche Börse merger hit a big snag. The London Stock Exchange said the €29 billion ($30 billion) deal was in danger of not getting regulatory approval from Brussels in time after the LSE failed to sell its stake in Italian trading platform MTS. The merger, which would marry financial hubs London and Frankfurt, has been more than a year in the making.
Emmanuel Macron narrowed the gap in the French presidential race. Opinion polls said the independent candidate would would win in the second round of voting, defeating current front-runner Marine Le Pen of the far right Front National. A surprise alliance with veteran centrist François Bayrou, announced last week, has boosted Macron’s campaign.
Warren Buffett sent his annual letter to shareholders. Along with more prosaic investment suggestions, the head of Berkshire Hathaway offered advice on how to leverage fear. He praised the US’s “miraculous” economic achievements and the country’s “tide of talented and ambitious immigrants”—a dig at Trump.
Thomas Perez was elected chair of the US Democratic National Committee. His victory was seen as a blow to liberals who had backed Minnesota lawmaker Keith Ellison. Perez, the former labor secretary, will be the first Latino to hold the position. He picked Ellison to be his deputy.
Trump announced he will boycott the US White House Correspondents’ annual dinner in April. He will be the first president to skip the event since Ronald Reagan, who phoned in remarks from Camp David where he was recovering from being shot.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ephrat Livni on how our tech-dependent lifestyles can be threatened by something as ordinary as a heavy rain: “Now my awesome gig writing from home has turned into a challenge of its own—how to be a professional despite technological difficulties, and without the comforts that help to keep me organized and civilized.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The US could lose the second Cold War. Russia’s cyber-espionage has been remarkably successful.
Donald Trump’s policies will only further enrich the 1%. But his rhetoric is fine-tuned to make the rest of America feel taken care of (paywall).
Artificial intelligence could be more dangerous than nuclear weapons. We’re completely unprepared for the societal changes that are coming.
Surprising discoveries
Ballet dancers spin clockwise, gymnasts counter-clockwise. It isn’t clear why.
Steven Spielberg has been thanked more than God in Oscar acceptance speeches. The filmmaker has clocked up 43 expressions of gratitude versus God’s 31.
The US military is using robots to decommission WWII-era chemical weapons. All 780,000 of them.
The Taliban are upset about deforestation. They are urging Afghans to plant more trees.
Bees can be trained to roll a ball into a goal. And they can teach their friends.
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