- Stocks choppy, Kiwi soars after rate cut (Reuters)
- Putin discusses Crimea security after alleged Ukrainian incursions (Reuters)
- IEA Sees Oil Glut Easing (BBG)
- Meanwhile: more oil – Iraq, oil companies agree to restart investment, boost output (Reuters)
- U.S. Drillers Need $60 Oil to Stage Real Comeback, IEA Say (BBG)
- Lopsided Housing Rebound Leaves Millions of People Out in the Cold (WSJ)
- Clinton to Criticize Trump’s Economic Plan as Self-Serving (WSJ)
- U.S. mutual funds boost own performance with unicorn mark-ups (Reuters)
- Clinton’s Fiscal Prudence Runs Counter to Krugman’s Call to Borrow (BBG)
- ECB negative rates at limit, should focus on asset buys, IMF economists say (Reuters)
- German economy lost growth momentum in Q2: economy ministry (Reuters)
- Alphabet Unit Google’s VC Chief Bill Maris to Exit (WSJ)
- Alibaba’s revenue jump 59 percent, GMV increases by a quarter (Reuters)
- Alibaba Results Boosted by More Users, Mobile Growth (WSJ)
- Romantic Relationship With Fannie Mae CEO Prompted Firing of Fifth Third Lawyer (WSJ)
- Gold Price Surge Seen Cutting India’s Demand This Year, World Gold Council Says (BBG)
- Brexit Bulletin: U.K. Home Sales Slump Most Since 2008 (BBG)
- Investing in Venezuela Could Be Hugely Profitable or Potentially Lethal (BBG)
- Libyan forces capture Sirte convention center from Islamic State (Reuters)
- Cutting China’s Capital Down to Size (WSJ)
- Fighting in Aleppo persists despite Russia ceasefire announcement (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc defrauded insurers by shrouding its ties to a mail-order pharmacy that boosted sales of its drugs, people familiar with the matter said. http://on.wsj.com/2bgU5mp
– The chief executive of Delta Air Lines Inc took full responsibility for the computer failure that forced the airline to cancel more than 2,100 flights over three days, but he said it was a one-time event. http://on.wsj.com/2bgU81k
– Eli Lilly and Co said Wednesday its investigational cancer-fighting drug failed to meet efficacy criteria in an interim analysis of a phase-3 trial for treatment of breast cancer. http://on.wsj.com/2bgU41z
FT
Casino and bingo hall operator Rank Group Plc and online gambling company 888 Holdings Plc called on Wednesday for talks with the board of William Hill Plc after their proposed joint bid was rejected by the British bookmaker. William Hill rejected a 3.16 billion pound ($4.11 billion) bid by smaller rivals Rank Group and 888 Holdings on Tuesday, saying a 16 percent premium “substantially undervalued” the British bookmaker.
Chesapeake Energy Corp said on Wednesday that it would sell its Barnett shale acreage in Texas to private equity-backed Saddle Barnett Resources LLC and had renegotiated an expensive pipeline contract with Williams Partners LP , steps that should save more than $1.9 billion in future liabilities.
Tesla Motors Inc said on Wednesday that one of its cars had crashed in Beijing while in “autopilot” mode, with the driver contending sales staff sold the function as “self-driving”, overplaying its actual capabilities.
NYT
– The world’s biggest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, said it had resolved a harassment claim filed against it by an employee who recently left the firm. http://nyti.ms/2b7LEeE
– South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Thursday it will acquire U.S.-based luxury appliances maker Dacor Inc, seeking to boost high-end product sales. http://nyti.ms/2b7MHv8
– Bill Maris is stepping down as chief executive of GV, the venture finance arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc , according to a person who asked for anonymity because the details were private. http://nyti.ms/2b7MIyY
– A federal appeals court said on Wednesday the U.S. Federal Communications Commission could not block two states from setting limits on municipal broadband expansion, a decision seen as a win for private-sector providers of broadband internet and a setback for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. http://nyti.ms/2b7Mc4d
Britain
The Times
– Cavendish Fluor Partnership, a joint venture led by Babcock, the British defence and engineering company, has told the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority that the cost of cleaning up the 12 Magnox reactors will rise by 18 percent to more than 10 billion pounds ($13.02 billion). http://bit.ly/2b06POC
– Investors flocked to sell government bonds to the Bank of England, restoring confidence in its new 60 billion pound stimulus plan. The deal was a key test for the latest 60 billion pound of quantitative easing. http://bit.ly/2b07uzu
The Guardian
– Lloyds Banking Group has told its 75,000 staff that the chief executive has “no case to answer” over questions he may have breached the bank’s expenses policy. The bank issued the memo after The Sun raised the questions about Antonio Horta-Osorio’s expenses in a story about a business trip to Singapore where he was photographed with a female companion. http://bit.ly/2b07RK9
– The Scottish government is to redirect 100 million pounds from a budget underspend last year into a new initiative to help cushion the economy from the impacts of a post-EU referendum downturn. Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, said the spending was needed to help stimulate the already weak Scottish economy in the wake of the “deep and widespread uncertainty” caused by the Brexit vote in June. http://bit.ly/2b07Q99
The Telegraph
– ITV faces pressure to improve on its £1bn bid for Entertainment One after it was immediately dismissed by the Peppa Pig maker’s board. Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster wants to add eOne to its long list of television production takeovers, as chief executive Adam Crozier seeks to make the company less reliant on the UK’s volatile advertising market, which is facing a downturn in the wake of the EU referendum. http://bit.ly/2b07D5U
– Eyal Shaked, the son of 888 co-founder Avi Shaked, has attacked William Hill for spurning the 3.2 billion pound joint takeover bid it made with Rank Group, claiming the strongly worded rejection would mark the troubled bookmaker’s “downfall.” http://bit.ly/2b08ym
Sky News
– San Leon Energy is close to finalising a $200 million fundraising to finance the acquisition of a near-10 percent stake in a major oil-producing asset in Nigeria. It would also announce the appointment of Mutiu Sunmonu, the former head of Shell Nigeria, as its new non-executive chairman. http://bit.ly/2b08pQc
– Local government leaders have accused the government of “looting” money from councils which sell homes under the Right To Buy scheme. The claim comes as new figures show that last year councils replaced less than 20 percent of homes sold under Right To Buy. http://bit.ly/2b08dkb
The Independent
– Royal Mail’s “gold-standard” pension scheme could close by 2018 as the company readies itself for crunch talks with unions. The company wrote to employees saying that tough market conditions meant the cost of keeping the plan open would spiral to 900 million pounds, a figure it said was “simply unaffordable.” http://ind.pn/2b087sz
– Prudential, the UK’s largest insurer by value, has said it is considering shifting funds from M&G, its assets management business, to Dublin or Luxembourg following UK’s vote to leave the EU. Anne Richard, the chief executive of M&G, said the decision to move assets will depend on the outcome of UK’s negotiations with the EU. http://ind.pn/2b08GCT
via http://ift.tt/2aYLfHT Tyler Durden