- Belgium hunts ‘third man’ after Islamic State bombings (Reuters)
- Number of Attackers, Key Details of Brussels Assaults Remain Unclear (WSJ)
- Surviving Paris attacks suspect wants to return to ‘explain himself’: lawyer (Reuters)
- Brussels Suicide Bomber Slipped Terror Net (WSJ)
- Dollar rise hits commodities as Fed talks of tightening (Reuters)
- Treasuries Hold Gains Before Durable Goods, Jobless Claims Data (BBG)
- The next valeant Leader of Valeant Investor Sequoia Resigns (WSJ); Goldfarb Exits as Sequoia’s Valeant Debacle Caps 45-Year Career (BBG)
- Wall Street’s 0.01%: An Inside Look at Citi’s Secret Client List (BBG)
- Starboard to Start Proxy Fight to Remove Yahoo’s Board (WSJ)
- Trump’s tariff plan could boomerang, spark trade wars with China, Mexico (Reuters)
- Oil’s Decline Takes Toll on Saudi Conglomerate (WSJ)
- Tech Slowdown Seen in San Francisco’s Commercial-Property Market (BBG)
- Credit Suisse Confusion on Costly Trades Adds to CEO’s Woes (BBG)
- Exxon Mobil must allow climate change vote: SEC (Reuters)
- Chinese Earnings Estimates Cut Most Among Major Asian Markets (BBG)
- Mounting debts could derail China plans to cut steel, coal glut (Reuters)
- Japanese Bonds Fall as BOJ Trims Size of Its Purchases Thursday (BBG)
- SNB Spent $88 Billion on Interventions in Year of Cap Exit (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– One of the Brussels suicide bombers was detained last summer on suspicion of being an Islamic State fighter, but Turkish authorities sent him on the path toward freedom after their Belgian counterparts couldn’t establish that he had any link to terror groups. (http://on.wsj.com/1MmSYR3)
– Hedge fund Starboard Value LP is seeking to remove the entire board of Yahoo Inc, setting the stage for a battle over the future of the faded Web giant. (http://on.wsj.com/1pJkXAO)
– Google’s efforts to enter the Cuban market have benefited from the frequent alignment of its interests with those of the administration. (http://on.wsj.com/1MmEkt7)
– Companies and freelance hackers have been working furiously to find a way into the iPhone used by terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook. (http://on.wsj.com/1RhMQKq)
FT
The Hinkley Point nuclear power project in Britain will go ahead, EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz told British lawmakers on Wednesday, though he did not give a definite schedule.
Britain’s membership of the European Union helps secure the country’s energy supply from any possible threat by Russia to restrict gas flows, energy minister Amber Rudd will say on Thursday.
Dyson, a British company known for its vacuum cleaners, will be using public funds to develop an electric car, according to government documents seen by the Financial Times.
NYT
– The Labor Department plans to announce on Thursday new rules that sharply reduce workplace exposure to silica, a potentially deadly mineral found in materials commonly used in construction and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. (http://nyti.ms/1RAvSsz)
– Pershing Square Holdings, the publicly listed entity of William Ackman’s firm, reported a year-to-date loss of 25.2 percent as of March 22. The majority of the losses stem from his very public all-in bet on Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, whose shares have been battered. (http://nyti.ms/1RAvXfZ)
– The Labor Department released the final version of a rule requiring employers to disclose relationships with the consultants they hire to help persuade workers not to form a union or support a union’s collective bargaining position. (http://nyti.ms/1RAvZVc)
– The Securities and Exchange Commission has told Exxon Mobil Corp it must include a resolution on its annual shareholder proxy that, if approved, would force the company to outline for investors how its profitability may be affected by climate change and the legislation that aims to combat it. (http://nyti.ms/1RAw1fD)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The federal broadcast regulator has cleared the way for Corus Entertainment Inc’s C$2.65 billion ($2.00 billion) acquisition of Shaw Media Inc, removing the final obstacle to a deal that endured a public dissection at the hands of shareholders. (http://bit.ly/1RAPkp2)
** Eldorado Gold Corp has swung to a big loss in the fourth quarter and for the year as a whole, citing huge impairment charges totalling more than C$1.5 billion in 2015.(http://bit.ly/1MnkP3I)
** Quebec’s securities regulator has laid charges in the biggest insider-trading investigation in Canadian history against David Baazov, the CEO of Amaya Inc.(http://bit.ly/1LGxbnz)
NATIONAL POST
** Bombardier Inc’s funding talks with the federal government are “progressing to plan,” but the company will be just fine even if it doesn’t receive any support, according to the head of the CSeries program Rob Dewar.(http://bit.ly/1Sj0ls8)
** Investors in convertible debentures have won a significant victory which became official this week when Premium Brands Holdings Corp raised C$75 million by way of an offering of 4.65 percent five-year converts.(http://bit.ly/1Rzf3bn)
** Pebble Technology Corp, the U.S. smartwatch company founded by a University of Waterloo graduate, is laying off one quarter of its staff, the company said on Wednesday. (http://bit.ly/1MnmWVf
Britain
The Times
– UK has nothing to fear from a Brexit because it would be overwhelmingly in the European Union’s interests to strike a generous free trade deal with the UK, according pro-Brexit Mayor of London Boris Johnson. (http://thetim.es/1Psf7Z6)
– Vincent de Rivaz, the boss of EDF Energy, has guaranteed that the costly Hinkley Point nuclear project will go ahead, but has declined again to give a precise date for a final investment decision. (http://thetim.es/1RhWLQ2)
The Guardian
– The billionaire Barclay twins who own the Daily Telegraph and the Ritz in London are considering a sale of 25 percent of their retail business, Shop Direct. (http://bit.ly/1Psg7MT)
– Vacuum Cleaner-maker Dyson is developing an electric car at its headquarters in Wiltshire with the help of public funds, according to government documents. (http://bit.ly/1PsgeaZ)
The Telegraph
– News Group Newspapers Ltd, publisher of the Sun, has reported a 253 million pounds ($357.06 million) loss after slashing the intangible value of its newspapers by more than a third amid declining print sales and continuing fallout from the phone hacking scandal. (http://bit.ly/1PsgyGU)
– Standard Life Plc’s former Chief Executive David Nish is to join HSBC Holdings Plc’s board at the start of May. (http://bit.ly/1PsgCq5)
Sky News
– Thousands of Dutch citizens face having details of their Swiss bank accounts combed over by tax authorities despite a court ruling they should not have been disclosed. (http://bit.ly/1PsenD5)
– Rail platforms at London’s Waterloo that were once used for Eurostar services are to be brought back into use as part of an 800 million pounds ($1.13 billion) investment at the station. (http://bit.ly/1RhXxMQ)
The Independent
– Leaflets sent out by Zac Goldsmith’s mayoral campaign to British Indian voters risked a “stereotypical and patronising” approach to winning the ethnic minority vote, a Tory councillor has warned. (http://ind.pn/1PsifEd)
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1T7rIaN Tyler Durden