Bezos briefly tops Gates as world’s richest; Are stocks too hot? Venezuelans scramble for food

Exciting news! A brand-new version of this newsletter – with more video and more of Quest's voice and global perspective -- will be launching in your inbox soon. Profitable Moment   Navigating the messy web of airline partnerships The weird world of airline ownership was on full display today. The news: Delta is buying 10% of Air France-KLM, while Air France -KLM is buying 31% of Virgin Atlantic. And the three airlines (along with Alitalia) will merge their various joint ventures across the Atlantic.   None of these convoluted transactions would be necessary if airlines followed the same rules as other sectors -- but they don't. For strategic reasons, most nations restrict foreign ownership of domestic carriers to less than 50%. It means complicated joint ventures are necessary instead of straight mergers.   The new tie-up will create a powerful grouping. And that's just what is required to compete against two equally-strong joint ventures: the one lead by American Airlines and IAG, and another headlined by United Airlines and Lufthansa Group.   These alliances are a messy way to run a business, but there is no alternative. Now, expect to see the others grow bigger, too   A post script: Thank you Sir Richard Branson. When you started Virgin 33 years ago, no one thought you would succeed. Today, you have given up majority ownership of your airline, but you will always remain one of aviation's pioneers!  -Richard.Quest@cnn.com  What's new... what's next   By Matt Egan and Julia Horowitz of CNNMoney 1. Desperate Venezuelans scramble for food The chaos in Venezuela is perhaps best symbolized by food. Millions of Venezuelans are suffering from food shortages or out-of-control prices. Venezuelans wait hours in line every day at government-regulated markets and go home with little or nothing. Food is available in private markets, it just costs far too much. A bottle of Aunt Jemima maple syrup costs roughly a month's salary at minimum wage. "I don't know if I have a future in this country," one struggling teenage girl in Caracas told CNNMoney. 2. Foxconn in U.S.: Workers 'should be wary' Apple supplier Foxconn, which has announced a $10 billion investment in Wisconsin, has been hailed by President Trump as "one of the truly great companies of the world." Industry observers are more skeptical of the Taiwanese manufacturer. They highlight Foxconn's poor record on worker rights, its goal of replacing workers with robots and a history of grand promises that haven't always panned out. In 2013, Foxconn said it would build a $30 million plant in Pennsylvania, but so far that has not come to fruition. 3. Bezos briefly tops Gates as world's richest About two decades ago Jeff Bezos started selling books online from his garage. Today, the Amazon CEO became the richest person on the planet, for a few hours at least. By the end of the day, Bezos's net worth fell back behind Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.  Still, the milestone reflects the enormous rise of Bezos, who has been hailed as the smartest guy in business. Amazon's market value surpassed $500 billion this week for the first time.  4. Is this a sign that stocks are too hot? America's surging stock market finally cooled off a bit on Thursday, as high-flying tech stocks in the Nasdaq retreated. That's not a bad thing given the recent string of record highs. Some market veterans worry stocks are too pricey. Consider that the S&P 500 is trading at 2.1 times its trailing revenue. The last time it was higher? September 2000, just as the dotcom bubble was popping. "Valuations don't matter until they do," said analyst Peter Boockvar. 5. Quick Takes: More signs of Venezuela crisis: Delta is pulling out R.I.P. border adjustment tax: The most controversial part of tax reform is dead So much for the Trump bump. Twitter is losing U.S. users America may run on Dunkin', but Dunkin' is slowing expansion to a light jog Speaking of coffee, Starbucks brewed a major deal in China London's 'Walkie Talkie' office tower sells for $1.7 billion -- a U.K. record 850 Spirit Airlines flights scrapped by pilot showdown 6. What's next: How fast is the Trump economy growing? Trump famously promised 4% growth on the campaign trail. As president, he's set a more moderate target of 3%. Second-quarter GDP numbers are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Economists believe the U.S. economy gained steam last quarter to a 2.6% growth pace, compared with 1.4% in the beginning of the year. Big Oil, massive profits: ExxonMobil and Chevron kick off earnings season among major oil companies on Friday morning. Wall Street is expecting both companies will say their second-quarter profits roughly doubled from last year thanks to healthier oil prices. Exxon may also face questions charges it violated U.S. sanctions on Russia in 2014. Make this newsletter better. Please send us your feedback to CNNMoneyfeedback@turner.com Share Tweet Forward Sign up for CNN Money's morning markets newsletter: Before the Bell Sign up for CNN Money's closing markets newsletter: Markets Now Copyright © 2017 Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved., All rights reserved. You're receiving this newsletter because you opted in at cnn.com or cnnmoney.com. Our mailing address is: Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences