Plus: Wisconsin's win, Bitcoin's bump and more. Bloomberg
This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a stew of anger, resentment, emotional flotsam and dangerous psychobabble about Bloomberg Opinionâs opinions. [Sign up here](, if you dare. Todayâs Agenda - UBS: [win](
- Abortion ban: [lose](
- Bitcoin: [win](
- Job-switching: [lose]( Value Play Picture this: Youâre in college. The biggest home football game of the season is today â the one against your schoolâs archrival. But when kickoff time rolls around, the visiting team is a mysterious no-show. Word gets around that the rival team ran out of money, and that your coach is planning to merge your team with theirs. Everyone is outraged, but no one is more livid than the parents of the football players. All of a sudden, there are 10 guys who want to be kickers, and your coach is putting the rivalâs star quarterback on the fourth string. âThe FOURTH string???â his mother screams over the phone to the coach. âJust last week, my son was scouted by the head coach of the Buffalo Bills!â His father adds â âTHE BUFFALO BILLS!!!!â Despite the vitriol, the coaches of both schools remain stoic, knowing that their unity is the only glue thatâs holding this godforsaken team together. But this kind of thing doesnât just happen to college football teams. It can happen with banks, too. A few weeks back, UBS scooped up its long-time rival Credit Suisse before the latter nearly went insolvent. Overnight, UBS became a bank with âover $1.5 trillion in assets and more than 12,000 wealth managers spread across the globe,â [according to Bloomberg News](. Deciding which players should start and [which ones should be benched]( is a very complicated process: Colm Kelleher â chairman of UBS â knows that his bank is now absolutely stacked thanks to this merger, and yet Paul J. Davies writes that he â[sounded like he was presiding over a funeral](â during Wednesdayâs annual shareholder meeting: Scheming? Photographer: Stefan Wermuth Kelleherâs somber tone mirrored that of [Axel Lehmann](, Credit Suisseâs chairman, who told an angry group of shareholders Tuesday that âultimately, there were only two options: âdealâ or âbankruptcy.â â But Kelleher and Lehmannâs united front isnât fooling anyone. Paul says âthe takeover is hugely unpopular in Switzerland, according to early polls,â adding that âCredit Suisse shareholders are getting 1 UBS share for each 22.48 shares they currently own.â Before the bankâs meltdown, analysts believed Credit Suisseâs domestic portfolio was worth at least $11 billion â almost four times what UBS is shelling out for the entire operation. Itâs a major gut punch: Naturally, Credit Suisse shareholders have many questions. For starters: How was the deal negotiated? Why did UBS pay such a low price? Can we contest it? Some junior bondholders are even planning to sue. Paul says that while the deal may not be welcomed by all, it gives UBS an opportunity to become the worldâs premier wealth manager, challenging even Morgan Stanley. If that happens, perhaps everyone will be celebrating â including the people who are angry now. The football players may be upset at first, but once they secure the national championship trophy, all this friction will be forgotten. On, Wisconsin! In a lot of ways, Wisconsin has played a formidable role in the foundation of US culture. It brought us fried [cheese curds](. [Malted milk](. The [typewriter](. The Ringling Brothers' [Circus](. The [Kringle Capital]( of America. The prince of [darkness](. And now, after the win of liberal judge Janet Protasiewicz, itâs home to the [most significant election victory]( of 2023. The stateâs Supreme Court election flips its 4-3 majority â which is a major deal, considering everything thatâs resting on Wisconsin. âProtasiewicz made abortion rights a centerpiece of her campaign, and with [her victory the court is now expected to overturn Wisconsinâs abortion ban]( rooted in a 19th-century statute,â Jonathan Bernstein writes. Her win is further evidence that Democrats will continue to campaign hard on the issue. The staunch support for reproductive rights is a major puzzle for the Republican Party, which doesnât have an answer for the incredible turnout. For years, conservatives have worked painstakingly hard to redraw Wisconsinâs district lines in their favor. As a result, they âhold large majorities in both legislative chambers and control six of eight US House seats, even though the state is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats,â Jonathan notes. But a liberal-leaning state Supreme Court may soon rebalance the power. In 2016, Trumpâs victories in [Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania]( enabled him to win the Electoral College even though he lost the popular vote. Now, all three of those states appear to be trending toward the Democratic Party. Last night, after facing criminal charges in New York, Trump returned to the comforts of his Mar-a-Lago villa. His âspeech was [a stew of anger, resentment, emotional flotsam]( and dangerous psychobabble,â Tim OâBrien writes. âOur country is going to hell,â Trump [lamented](. But if Wisconsin is any guide, hell is exactly where we want to be. Telltale Charts This chart is your annual reminder that Bitcoin is actually ⦠not bad! After rising to its highest price in ten months, some naysayers are reconsidering the value of the digital currency. Alexis Leondis points out that financial advisors are comically unaligned when it comes to crypto, with some believing itâs a next-gen Enron and others saying âit represents [a wealth creation opportunity]( that we haven't seen in 35 years.â Although Alexis says âthereâs no one-size-fits-all answer,â [a little bit of Bitcoin might be good]( for what ails you. Hereâs an interesting factoid for those who wonder whether theyâre missing out on a raise by sticking with the same desk job theyâve had since 1992: John Authers says âusually, those who switch jobs will obtain higher wage rises than those who stay,â but now âthe premium for job-switching [is] falling very significantly after hitting an all-time high last year.â This is something that really only happens when a recession is near. [The tide is turning against workers](, which is music to Jerome Powellâs ears. Further Reading Bravo, Rishi Sunak. Youâve made [UK politics boring]( again. â Bloombergâs editorial board The stock market [went sideways](, but it wonât stay crooked for long. â Jonathan Levin [Commercial real estate]( buyers hold all the cards. â Chris Hughes Ukraine gave the world [a blueprint]( to fight hunger. â Amanda Little Remembering [Nigel Lawson](, the mastermind behind Margaret Thatcherâs revolution. â Clive Crook A peak inside one CEOâs [three-year battle]( to hold on to a flawed deal. â Ed Hammond Apple TV gets [the science behind global warming]( right. â Faye Flam ICYMI Chicago got a [new mayor](. The creator of [Catan]( passed away. More [tornado]( turmoil. Pence will likely [testify](. Kickers [Emily]( is everywhere. Check for [ticks](! (h/t Lara Williams) Taylor Swiftâs unglamorous [entrance](. The White Houseâs [30,000 eggs](. A [vacation]( for bean lovers. Notes:  Please send beans and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. 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