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U.S. stock futures were pointing to a lower open on Wall Street after the Dow's first unchanged performance in 5½-years.

How SoftBank’s billions left workers in a hole

The Japanese conglomerate poured money from its almost $100 billion Vision Fund into start-ups, which dangled cash incentives to attract workers. But when those companies failed to make a profit, many contractors were left holding the bag, Nathaniel Popper, Vindu Goel and Arjun Harindranath report in the NYT.The New York Times reviewed contracts and internal company documents, and interviewed more than 50 workers from SoftBank-funded start-ups. What emerged was a modern “bait-and-switch” pattern that was repeated across the world. Here’s what the writers found:

• Rappi, a Colombian food delivery company, has grown quickly with $1 billion of SoftBank cash, but widening losses have forced it to cut wages, and at the same time it has been criticized as neglecting the safety of its workers.

• The hotel start-up Oyo, which received $1.55 billion of SoftBank funding, promised local hoteliers in India big fees from high-paying corporate travelers if they signed up with the company and upgraded their properties, but later heavily discounted the room prices online.

“This is the result of a broader phenomenon known as overcapitalization,” in which venture funds give start-ups too much money, Mr. Popper, Mr. Goel and Mr. Harindranath write.

• “Flush with cash, entrepreneurs operated with scant oversight and little regard for profit.”

• “SoftBank and other investors have valued these start-ups at inflated levels, leading to an overheated system filled with unsound businesses.”

Now, unrest is growing among people who are most dependent on these companies. Protests against start-ups backed by SoftBank have erupted in New York, Bogotá, Mumbai and elsewhere, Mr. Popper, Mr. Goel and Mr. Harindranath report.

 Is Uber just a new utility to politicians?

Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital has written an opinion article for the FT in which he suggests that transportation start-ups like Uber and Lyft are providing a service that means many lawmakers see them as a utility — and now they’re being treated as such.“Many of the companies that rely on a set of wheels to be in business started because of the failure of politicians — particularly in the U.S. — to address chronic urban issues,” Mr. Moritz writes.Now, with its competitors, at peak times Uber “is estimated to account for about 25 percent of all vehicular trips in downtown San Francisco,” he adds. “They are, in all but name, the new utility companies and are being treated as such.”But “thanks to its presence on the streets of hundreds of cities around the world, Uber is running into the same issues that long ago beset the original privately financed gas, electricity, streetcar and underground railway companies,” Mr. Moritz writes. Politicians, “goaded by taxi companies, the public transit operators, and complaints about urban congestion,” he adds, “are rushing to intervene.”

• “In San Francisco, voters passed a special tax that slapped a 3.25 percent surcharge on most rides and a 1.5 percent tax on shared rides and zero-emissions vehicles, starting in January 2020.”

• “California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, recently signed into law a bill that could change the nature of employment arrangements for many of the same companies: it will, almost inevitably, result in expensive political campaigns during 2020 and years of legal challenges.”

‘The people we are running against are crazy'

In a speech at the Economic Club of New York yesterday, President Trump claimed credit for an economic “boom,” played down any negative effect on the American economy from his tariffs, and said the U.S. was “close” to an interim trade deal with China — but did not rule out imposing additional tariffs on the country.Mr. Trump defended his tariffs to New York business leaders, a group that has been particularly skeptical about that policy, Ana Swanson, Maggie Haberman and Jeanna Smialek of the NYT write.

• He accused China of having cheated the U.S. for years, and denied that his trade policy had created uncertainty for the economy.

• “We will only accept a deal if it’s good for the United States,” he said. If Beijing does not accede to America’s trade terms, he said, “we’re going to substantially raise those tariffs.”

“Mr. Trump credited a program of tax cuts, deregulation and tough trade policy for creating seven million new jobs so far in his term and encouraging companies to set up shop in the United States,” Ms. Swanson, Ms. Haberman and Ms. Smialek write. “If Republicans took back the House and retained control of the Senate and the White House in 2020, America’s prosperity would continue, the president said.”Instead, he blamed the Fed for any economic woes, “berating central bank officials for keeping interest rates too high and putting the United States at a competitive disadvantage to other countries,” they add.And he predicted business leaders would vote for him. “The truth is look, you have no choice, because the people we are running against are crazy,” he said. “O.K.? They are crazy.”

Stocks to Watch

Nike (NKE) products will no longer be available for sale on Amazon (AMZN), with Nike saying it had decided to focus on its own direct sales business.SmileDirectClub (SDC) posted a quarterly loss of 83 cents per share, smaller than the 98 cent loss that Wall Street was expecting. The dental products maker also saw revenue come in better-than-expected, but sees losses continuing this quarter amid increased expenses.CyberArk Software (CYBR) announced its intention to offer $500 million in convertible debt, subject to market conditions.United Airlines (UAL) was rated "buy" in new coverage at UBS, which said the carrier had superior cost management compared to its rivals that could support profit margin expansion.