Your Sunday UK Briefing: Of Power Prices and Dragons

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(Bloomberg) — Well, hello again.

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Whether you’ve got the barbecue fired up or are wondering if it’s time to review that to-do list, here’s a little something to get you primed for the new week.

The big number: Ofgem will announce the new upper limit at which UK suppliers can charge for household energy in October. The average bill will probably be nearly £3,600, according to consultancy Auxilione, which estimates the price cap could top £6,000 in April—an eye-watering level that would push millions of Britons into fuel poverty.

The big backlog: About 2,000 dockers at the Port of Felixstowe have gone on strike for eight days, halting the flow of goods through the UK’s largest gateway for containerized imports and exports.

The big data: Europeans returning from their summer breaks will find a more fragile economy that risks buckling under the threats of energy rationing, record inflation and tighter monetary policy, Jana Randow reports from Frankfurt. Purchasing managers’ indexes due Tuesday are set to show private-sector output shrinking for a second month, adding to signs that a recession in the euro zone is now more likely than not.

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The big speech: All ears will be tuned into Jay Powell’s words at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday. It’s his big chance to reset expectations among investors, who’ve driven markets higher since the Fed’s last policy meeting. Powell is expected to restate the central bank’s resolve to get inflation under control, though he’ll probably stop short of signaling how big officials will go next month, write Matthew Boesler and Jana Randow.

The big market thought:  Equities are set to fade while bonds look better placed to extend their rally as central bank tightening and recession fears take hold once again.

The big match: Manchester United face off against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Monday, with both teams seeking their first win this season. Erik ten Hag’s squad has looked a sorry bunch in its two Premier League outings so far and now off-pitch maneuvers are hogging the headlines. The Glazer family, rarely popular with the fans, is considering the sale of a minority stake, Bloomberg has reported, and even Elon Musk joked about getting a piece of the action. Here are five things you need to know about any potential deal.

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The big binge: Blood, sex, violence, plotting and dragons are back. Bloomberg Pursuits got an early preview of the first six episodes of House of the Dragon (if you didn’t get into Game of Thrones, this will have passed you by.) Here’s the verdict: It will make Sunday night on HBO necessary viewing again.

The big tech idea: Mark your calendars. Apple aims to launch the iPhone 14 series on Sept. 7,  reports Mark Gurman. The new phones kickstart a busy fall product season, testing consumer appetite for high-end devices even as the economy slows. And here’s another scoop from Gurman. Netflix doesn’t plan on letting users of its new ad-supported tier download shows to their devices for offline viewing or skip through ads, according to code found within its iPhone app. Food for thought: If you can’t download a movie to make your next plane trip bearable, are the savings really worth it?

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The big trip:  Fancy a visit to Mount Kilimanjaro? Tanzania has installed high-speed internet on Africa’s tallest mountain, which means climbers can now post selfies (or make Zoom calls, if you must) at 19,000 feet. As many as 6,000 visitors are on Kilimanjaro at any one time, and better connectivity is likely to increase that number.

The big show: It’s a bit of a schlepp, admittedly, but the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California is one of the more spectacular car shows around. Stare open-mouthed at, say, the latest hypercar from Sweden’s Koenigsegg or the McLaren Solus GT, the real-life version of a concept car that featured in the Gran Turismo Sport video game. The exhibits will be parked on the 18th fairway of the ultra-exclusive Pebble Beach Golf Links and judged by clipboard-carrying men and women in navy blazers, white gloves and, very importantly, straw boaters.

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ICYM our Big Take: What role did one of the world’s richest men play in bringing the landmark US climate and tax bill — once thought dead — into fruition? Turns out that Bill Gates, along with others from environmental groups, labor unions and economists, spent long months lobbying Joe Manchin, who held the crucial vote need to pass legislation in the evenly split Senate. Bloomberg Green spoke with Gates to find out how his three-year campaign to influence Manchin helped bring about the new climate bill.

And finally, here’s an interesting podcast to take you into the new trading week: Andrew Beer stops by the “What Goes Up” podcast to explain how to beat the hedge funds at their own game.

Good luck this week. See you on the other side.