Comment on Political Economy: U.S. trade gap contracts sharply

Timothée Chalamet behind the scenes as Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown."Macall Polay/Searchlight PicturesTimothée Chalamet portrays Bob Dylan in James Mangold's new film "A Complete Unknown."He spent five years preparing for the role, which included learning to sing and play guitar. Chalamet performs live throughout the film, instead of using prerecorded vocals or instruments.

Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher, was described by friends and colleagues as a brilliant individual with a sense of humor. Poornima RamaraoSuchir Balaji was a researcher at OpenAI who later accused his employer of violating copyright law. One of his OpenAI colleagues told BI that he was one of the "true geniuses" at the startup.

NYSE Traders working during the opening bell. JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty ImagesThe tech sector dragged US stocks lower on Monday, with major indexes down about 1%. The extended decline in the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 can be linked to rising bond yields over the past few weeks. Investors are keeping an eye on key economic data during this shortened trading week, including ISM manufacturing data.

Elon Musk. Allison Robbert/Getty ImagesRecent filings show that Fidelity once again boosted the valuation of its stakes in X and xAI. It was the third month in a row that the valuations of these two Musk companies rose.xAI recently raised $6 billion in new funding, with participation from Fidelity. Fidelity has lifted its valuation of two Elon Musk-controlled tech companies even higher, according to recent filings.

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line.""Walk the Line"/Twentieth Century FoxJames Mangold considered Joaquin Phoenix for Johnny Cash in "A Complete Unknown."Phoenix played Cash in Mangold's 2005 movie "Walk the Line."Mangold decided Phoenix would be too old and didn't want to service "meta-movie universe stuff," he told BI."A Complete Unknown," James Mangold's look at the life of Bob Dylan, almost gave us another taste of Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash.

A THAAD interceptor was launched during a test in July 2017. US Missile Defense AgencyA US air defense system in Israel was just used in combat for the first time since it was deployed. It's unclear if the THAAD battery successfully intercepted the incoming threat. The battery was reportedly used against a Houthi ballistic missile late last week.