Area CEOs Try to M&A Themselves to Greatness

[Bloomberg]( Today’s Agenda - From [United Tech]( to [Salesforce](, Merger Monday is back. - Don’t build so much new infrastructure [until we fix the old](. - With every setback, [Trump grows more reckless](. - Your stuff is [increasingly eavesdropping]( on you, which [may be a problem](. The Heroes of Merger Monday Sometimes you just have to sit back and admire those rare individuals who, with nothing but grit and several billion dollars of shareholder money, make their corporate dreams come true, by buying stuff. Such moments often come on Mondays, which is typically when massive mergers get announced, because dealmakers for whatever reason enjoy working over beautiful spring weekends. Today was a Merger Monday for the ages, starting with the announcement that United Technologies Corp. is paying $50 billion for Raytheon Co., creating an aerospace behemoth large enough to worry President Donald Trump, who said he [feared]( it would hurt competition. Brooke Sutherland writes it will certainly shift the balance of power toward suppliers and away from Boeing Co. Brooke notes the deal also marks the [culmination of the vision of United Tech CEO Greg Hayes](, who has busily cut and sculpted that storied company into a focused aerospace giant, for better or worse. Another CEO known for his vision thing is Salesforce.com Inc.’s Marc Benioff, who announced his own massive deal today, spending $15 billion on a “business intelligence” software maker called Tableau. Shira Ovide writes this is the [latest and priciest sign of Benioff’s lofty ambition]( to turn his company into a “software supermarket” a la Microsoft Corp. The trouble with such ambition, Shira notes, is it tends to put you right in the competitive path of the even bigger supermarkets. While we’re throwing big deals around, Tara Lachapelle suggests one more that might make sense: [Dish Network Corp. buying DirecTV from AT&T]( Inc. Both could benefit from greater subscriber numbers, and DirecTV is an increasingly awkward fit for A&T, Tara writes. But the deal could test just how much anti-competitive dealing regulators and courts can stomach. Further Merger Monday Reading: - Buying baby biotechs won’t help [Merck & Co. Inc. ease its dependence]( on cancer drug Keytruda. – Max Nisen - Saks Fifth Avenue parent Hudson’s Bay Co. should [jump on the chance to go private](. – Sarah Halzack No More Infrastructure Weeks “Another successful Infrastructure Week” has become a popular running joke of the Trump era partially because of the widely held disappointment it reflects: Trump keeps promising to fix our crumbling infrastructure, and keeps getting comically sidetracked. But maybe we should count our blessings, Bloomberg’s editorial board suggests. Big, splashy infrastructure deals, such as the $2 trillion one Trump and Democrats have bandied about, tend to [waste money and ignore desperately needed fixes](, the editors write. Far more useful right now are boring but necessary maintenance projects to repair the infrastructure we already have (cough Hudson River tunnel cough). Bonus Editorial: Fetal-tissue research has saved or improved hundreds of millions of lives, and [stopping it does nothing to stop abortion](. So why aren’t scientists more vigorously defending it from Trump’s shutdown of federal support? Trump Plays With 3D Fire, Not Chess The market [rallied]( today partly because Trump late Friday snuffed out the fuse on the Mexican-tariff bomb he had lit just a week earlier, panicking everyone. He strenuously objected to reports he had once again created a crisis and then “solved” it by returning to the status quo. But Tim O’Brien writes the Mexican fiasco is in keeping with [Trump’s long emulation of Auric Goldfinger](, the original villain who just wanted to watch the world burn. He keeps trying to make the biggest splash possible, without understanding the consequences. And every time he is forced to retreat, he grows more dangerous, Tim warns. Trump’s frustrations are mounting even with Senate Republicans, notes Jonathan Bernstein. They keep him in office by refusing to contemplate impeachment, but [they also refuse to do anything he wants]( them to do, Jonathan notes, from confirming his most controversial appointments to building his Big, Beautiful Border Wall. Further Political Reading: Bernie [Sanders’s nomination chances]( are sinking. – Jonathan Bernstein Life in the Panopticon Amazon.com Inc. recently filed a patent for an Alexa that listens to every word you say. You’re not alone in being disturbed by that thought, but Stephen Carter suggests you should relax: Alexa will work better if it’s always listening; and anyway, we [might as well get used to our stuff eavesdropping]( on us. Noah Smith is somewhat less sanguine, noting companies that know everything about us are [better able to discriminate against us]( in all sorts of ways. Governments must put limits on “surveillance capitalism,” Noah writes. Telltale Charts Oil demand is crumbling, and [so is the OPEC+ coalition]( to support prices, warns Julian Lee. Manufacturing [jobs really did pick up]( in Trump’s first years, but that bounce has faded; Justin Fox explores why. Further Reading The latest market rally is a [great opportunity to sell risk](. – Mohamed El-Erian Barnes & Noble [can’t blame Amazon.com Inc.]( for all its problems. – Sarah Halzack Here are five reasons [Airbnb’s IPO should fare better]( than Uber’s. – Ganesh Mani They’re like [mortgage-backed securities, but for fast-food restaurants](; and they’re not as scary as they sound.  – Brian Chappatta Despite swine flu in China and Midwest flooding, we’re [not close to a global food shortage]( yet. – David Fickling To stop overtourism, [make traveling more expensive](. – Leonid Bershidsky These [10 finance cliches are canceled]( forever. – Barry Ritholtz Dads these days are [more into cooking stuff]( than fixing stuff. – Conor Sen ICYMI A “lost” $450 million Da Vinci painting is apparently [on MBS’s yacht](. For sale: a [$13 million private island]( in Long Island Sound. Brain surgeons are [upgrading memories]( with implanted computer chips. Kickers The human brain operates [right on the edge of chaos](, a study has shown. (h/t Scott Kominers) How [night owls can adjust]( their sleep schedules. Bees make a nest [entirely from plastic waste](. The trouble with [learning chess at 40](. Note: Please send $13 million 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