The next recession, Mark Zuckerberg's security chief, and UnitedHealth Group's $100 billion goal

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The next recession, Mark Zuckerberg's security chief, and UnitedHealth Group's $100 billion goal

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It was a rough week for the market, with Donald Trump's decree on Thursday that the US will impose tariffs of 5% on Mexican imports starting June 10, sending stocks into a spin.

Morgan Stanley strategists think the economy looks far worse under the surface than most realize, even before the tariffs, with the Wall Street firm highlighting weak durable goods and capital spending in April and a decline in the Markit Purchasing Managers' Index.

A proprietary economic indicator maintained by Morgan Stanley has now fallen to its lowest level since the most recent recession more than a decade ago.

"We think this means the US economic slowdown and rising recession risk is happening regardless of the trade outcome," the strategists said.

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And the trade outcome isn't look great right now. There's little sign of a breakthrough with China, and the latest tariffs have the potential to push Mexico and the US towards a recession, given the inter-connectedness of the two economies post NAFTA, according to experts.

Separately, the Fed just sounded the alarm on companies stockpiling debt and using it for all the wrong reasons, a reminder that the economy's in a potentially vulnerable position should a slowdown arrive.

Despite the tough environment, there are those investors who continue to prosper. Akin Oyedele talked to five of the top-rated US equity fund managers to learn about their strategies, strongest convictions in the market, and advice for other investors looking to replicate their success.

Here are some other highlights from BI's investing team this week:

As a reminder, Business Insider is hosting a finance event at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, June 10, from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m. IGNITION: Transforming Finance will feature top Wall Street executives and innovators who are disrupting from within.

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Interested in attending? Admission is free but space is limited. Please complete this form to be considered for our invitation list.

As always, you can contact me at mturner@businessinsider.com if you have any ideas or suggestions.

-- Matt

Quote of the week

"Cable has a giant reach in tens of millions of homes, which was quite tantalizing to us, but we all know the world is going towards streaming and so it felt necessary that we be there as well." - Sam Dolnick, the assistant managing editor at the New York Times, explains the publication's push into TV.

In conversation

Finance and Investing

JPMorgan says it's poaching Google tech whizzes for its new equity-trading bot as Wall Street ramps up its automation revolution

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A Wall Street firm crunched the numbers around how much Apple will make from its new credit card with Goldman Sachs

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Tech, Media, Telecoms

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Healthcare, Retail, Transportation

UnitedHealth is already the biggest US health insurer. Now it wants to make going to the doctor its next $100 billion business.

UnitedHealth Group is a healthcare giant, and it's only getting bigger.

The cofounder of Groupon launched a cancer-data startup after his wife's diagnosis. Now it's worth $3.1 billion after less than 4 years.

In 2015, the world was just starting to get outraged about drug pricing, Jimmy Carter announced a cancer diagnosis, and the latest venture from Groupon cofounder Eric Lefkofsky was just getting off the ground.

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