donald j. trump may call himself a genius for his tax avoidance strategies, but in comparison, corporate america is being run by absolute virtuosos, andrew ross sorkin writes . in fact, if working families could carry over deductions or spread out their taxable incomes over years like businesses, and mr. trump, virtually every taxpayer would be better off , according to lily batchelder, a law and public policy professor at new york university. instead, mr. trump and the trillions of dollars that fortune 500 companies have managed to shelter overseas serve only to highlight the need to fix the tax system. whichever leader manages that would be considered a true genius, mr. sorkin argues. as for mr. trump, his campaign says he has a <u+201c>fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required.<u+201d> that defense remains questionable, gretchen morgenson writes . <u+201c>there is no such thing as a fiduciary duty as a businessman to oneself,<u+201d> says richard w. painter, a professor of corporate law at the university of minnesota and former chief ethics lawyer in the george w. bush white house. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s called greed. and greed is not a component of the law of fiduciary duty anywhere.<u+201d> bass pro shops to buy cabela<u+2019>s cabela<u+2019>s, whose credit card became a status symbol for hunting and fishing enthusiasts across the united states, will sell its retail business to bass pro shops for $5.5 billion. it has also agreed to sell $5.2 billion worth of credit card receivables and $5 billion in associated liabilities to the capital one financial corporation. bass pro shops is expected to receive royalties for bringing in more credit card customers as well as use of the brand. the two companies may both be outdoor retailers but there will still be <u+201c>significant integration risk,<u+201d> said mike zuccaro, a moody<u+2019>s retail analyst. <u+201c>the company<u+2019>s final capital structure is unclear given that expected proceeds from capital one<u+2019>s purchase of certain financial services assets and assumed liabilities have not been disclosed,<u+201d> he said. what<u+2019>s the attraction for bass pro shops? according to bill smead, the chief executive and chief investment officer of smead capital management, cabela<u+2019>s <u+201c>created a cult of addicted customers and attached the most successful credit card operation to that cult.<u+201d> quotation of the day <u+201c>a so-called hard brexit, in which the u.k. places heavy restrictions on inflows of e.u. economic migrants, risks doing the most damage to the u.k. economy in the long run.<u+201d> <u+2014> holger schmieding and kallum pickering, economists at berenberg bank in london . continued angst over the way in which britain would leave the european union dragged the pound down again on tuesday, to a 31-year low . scrutiny chills small lenders a postcrisis push for loan growth has prompted regulatory warnings about lax lending standards and made smaller banks shy away from the market. brokers say there are fewer lenders for commercial property deals, particularly ones that involve construction or redevelopment because they are considered riskier. this means that bankers are sticking to business closer to home and finding their growth by buying up other banks instead. there were 6,122 banks in the united states in the second quarter, and at the current pace of consolidation , that figure should dip below 6,000 this quarter. but this raises questions about how banks will fare in the long term. commercial real estate has been a <u+201c>lifeline for community banks for decades upon decades,<u+201d> said collyn gilbert, an analyst at keefe bruyette & woods. <u+201c>if we are seeing a shift in that, then where are these banks going to go for growth?<u+201d> coming up <u+2022> google will hold an event in san francisco to unveil a series of hardware products before the holiday shopping season. one of the most highly anticipated items is google<u+2019>s answer to the amazon echo. follow amie tsang on twitter @amietsang .
morning agenda: small-fry tax avoidance, an outdoor merger, a chill on small lenders
amie tsang