Brexit’s endgame leaves Brexiteers behind

[Bloomberg]( Today’s Agenda - Brexiteers are [getting their comeuppance](. - A T-Mobile-Sprint merger [might hurt consumers]( after all. - Tech IPOs aren’t [what they used to be](. - Cracking down on China could [hurt U.S. automakers](. Twilight of the Brexiteers Four years ago, hard-line Brexiteers helped David Cameron win the premiership of the U.K., and he rewarded them with a chance to sell the country on Brexit. They defied the odds and made it happen, beginning a lengthy political process that has had all the quiet dignity of a clown disco on the Titanic. Now this depressing shindig is nearing a key turning point that threatens to [make fools of the Brexiteers who got it started](, writes Therese Raphael. Events this week have stripped Cameron’s successor, Theresa May, of much of her power and made a soft Brexit, or no Brexit at all, more likely than ever, Therese notes. By making “promises they couldn’t keep and then demands that were non-negotiable,” Therese writes, hard-line Brexiteers squandered their power, possibly leaving them out in the cold for the rest of the Brexit process. Even if May does manage to squeak her Brexit plan through parliament on a third vote tomorrow – and it increasingly [looks as if]( she can’t – then it will [still be a disastrous outcome for the U.K.](, writes Bloomberg’s editorial board. Her deal is far worse for the country than not Brexiting at all, leaving it with many of the burdens of EU membership but less of the benefits. That’s certainly a far cry from what those Brexiteers sold the public on in 2016. Further Brexit Reading: Brexit [isn’t a threat to global markets](, but it sure is entertaining. – John Authers An Inconvenient Truth for T-Mobile and Sprint T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. have been thirstily trying to merge for about a year now, but the deal is increasingly getting the stink eye from U.S. antitrust regulators. One of the companies’ arguments has been that, ha ha, of course winnowing the number of major U.S. wireless providers down from four to three won’t hurt consumers. How, then, Tara Lachapelle asks, [do they explain this chart](: It sure seems as if AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. investors think a T-Mobile-Sprint deal would help the whole industry by giving it more pricing power. Meet the New Tech Ride-sharing company Lyft Inc. will probably launch its public offering tonight, part of a coming IPO flood (including Lyft’s bigger rival Uber) that may [ring the bell]( at the top of the bull market, as Bloomberg Opinion columnist emeritus Mike Regan writes. After all, this fits a pattern we’ve seen at market tops before. But one thing is really different this time, Shira Ovide notes: [Tech IPOs aren’t what they used to be](, with startups preferring to slosh around for much, much longer in a warm bath of plentiful venture capital. Further Tech-Stock Reading: An index reshuffling makes it [harder to define “tech” stocks](, but better reflects the real economy. – Stephen Gandel Dispatches From the Digital Cold War Technology is the core of the U.S-China trade relationship, for better or worse. President Donald Trump’s China policy is partly driven by a desire to protect U.S. tech companies from some of China’s worst practices, including spying and intellectual-property theft. But this growing digital cold war, as some are calling it, will [blow back on the U.S. auto industry](, warns Andrew Browne. The rise of electric and self-driving cars means autos and high tech are increasingly inseparable, and neither country can afford to do without the other’s expertise, Andrew writes. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is a big piece in this chess game. Some in the U.S. accusing the Chinese telecom giant of using its equipment to spy for the Chinese government. Lo and behold, a new U.K. study finds [Huawei’s equipment is vulnerable to hacks](, and not just of the government variety, notes Alex Webb. Now in the middle of several other PR nightmares, it must fix this problem to keep its sales from vaporizing, Alex writes. Further China Reading: China is packaging up [bad debts and selling them to foreign investors](. You might want to be careful with that. –Anjani Trivedi Telltale Charts Love it or hate it, you can’t argue with Fox News’s success: The cable network is spinning rage into pure gold, writes Tara Lachapelle, driving [most of the profits for the new Fox Corp.](, which was recently spun off from the former 21st Century Fox (which was itself bought by The Walt Disney Co., in media’s never-ending game of musical chairs). The merger of state-owned Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco and state-owned Saudi chemicals giant Sabic [could be a lot less cozy than it sounds](, warns David Fickling. Aramco may think it’s hedging against declining oil demand with a bet on plastics demand; but that is no sure thing either. Further Reading Boeing has [been through many crises before]( and come out fine; it will do so again this time. – Joe Nocera Wow Air’s closure [casts doubt on a European airline model]( and threatens Iceland’s tourist-driven economy. – Leonid Bershidsky A new look at Chief Justice John Roberts’s thinking in the Supreme Court’s 2012 Obamacare ruling [suggests he won’t buy the latest Obamacare challenge](. – Ramesh Ponnuru The laws won’t let us [fight white-supremacist terrorism]( the same way we fight Islamist terrorism. – Noah Feldman A new study suggests the [death of local newspapers]( is making us more politically polarized – Stephen Carter An elite college education is [not at all the same thing]( as a good education. – Elaine Ou Don’t feel [too sorry for that family making $500,000]( a year and feeling average. – Noah Smith ICYMI Wells Fargo & Co. CEO [Tim Sloan steps down](. A wave of [layoffs hits finance](. Kickers We’ve finally solved the mystery of [why Garfield phones keeping washing]( up on the beach. (h/t Mike Smedley) A genetic mutation makes this Scottish [woman impervious to pain](. (h/t Scott Kominers) The [frog apocalypse is worse]( than we thought. Why our kids are stuck in a [cult of homework](. Note: Please send Garfield phones and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( SEND TO A FRIEND [Share with a friend] You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022