- No big bets ahead of Trump-Xi meeting; oil, metal prices firm (Reuters)
- Senate on the Brink of ‘Nuclear Option’ in Gorsuch Vote (WSJ)
- Le Pen Ambushed on Euro in French Debate (BBG)
- Trump touts coal but utilities aren’t listening (Reuters)
- Trump Officials Alarmed China May Bid for Westinghouse Unit (BBG)
- EU lawmakers adopt Brexit resolution, reject pro-Gibraltar hint (Reuters)
- EU, Greece urge deal on bailout review on Friday (Reuters)
- Russia Detains Terror Suspects in St. Petersburg After Blast (BBG)
- Apple Pay Promised to Make Plastic Obsolete. Then Came Wary Shoppers, Confused Clerks (WSJ)
- Global Shipping Fleet Braces for Chaos of $60 Billion Fuel Shock (BBG)
- Ultralow rate driving Japan’s public pension fund out of JGBs (Nikkei)
- ETFs Are the New Bond Kings (BBG)
- Arianna Huffington Leads Crusade to Deal With Uber’s Scandals (WSJ)
- JAB Holding to buy bakery chain Panera Bread in $7.5 billion deal (Reuters)
- Ferguson mayor re-elected in his first election after shooting (Reuters)
- South Africa’s ANC stands by Zuma, rejects calls for president to quit (Reuters)
- EU clears ChemChina takeover of Syngenta with conditions (Reuters)
- Deutsche Bank Loses Senior Executives After Bonuses Slashed (BBG)
- Apple aims for more control, less cost as it accelerates in chip design (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– U.S. companies are poised to report their strongest quarterly earnings in years, another sign that the stock market rally could have further to run. http://on.wsj.com/2nVWZ5f
– Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker unexpectedly stepped down Tuesday after revealing his involvement in a 2012 leak of confidential information that sparked a criminal investigation, prompted outrage on Capitol Hill and deeply embarrassed the Fed. http://on.wsj.com/2nVX1Kp
– The House Intelligence Committee wants Susan Rice, a top aide in the Obama administration, to testify in a probe of alleged Russian election interference, as the investigation widens to include allegations that Obama officials improperly used intelligence information involving President Donald Trump or his associates. http://on.wsj.com/2nW54Hd
– Staples Inc is exploring a sale to possible private-equity bidders, the retailer’s latest move to revive its turnaround effort after a failed merger with rival Office Depot Inc and as competition stiffens with web retailers such as Amazon.com Inc http://on.wsj.com/2nVXPPH
– McDonald’s Corp U.S. marketing chief Deborah Wahl will leave the company as part of another management shake-up aimed at reviving the burger chain’s fortunes. http://on.wsj.com/2nVXmgq
– The Senate is barreling toward a bitter showdown over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, as Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he has enough votes to change the Senate rules and eliminate the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations. http://on.wsj.com/2nW2LEh
FT
* The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee recommended that half of the UK’s senior executives should be female and long-term incentive bonuses should be abolished.
* British Prime Minister Theresa May hinted on her Jordan trip that Britain will not finalise a new trade deal with the EU until after Brexit is complete in 2019.
* Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker abruptly left the U.S. central bank on Tuesday after admitting that a conversation he had with a Wall Street analyst in 2012 may have disclosed confidential information about Fed policy options.
NYT
– The National Football League has reached an agreement with Amazon.com Inc to allow Amazon Prime customers to stream 10 “Thursday Night Football” games in the coming season, NFL and Amazon representatives said. http://nyti.ms/2oB4Uba
– Spotify and Universal Music Group — whose hundreds of artists include Drake, U2, the Weeknd and Lady Gaga — reached a multiyear license deal, the companies announced on Tuesday. http://nyti.ms/2nC7SYq
– New York State’s highest court dealt a blow to Facebook Inc and other social media companies seeking to expand privacy protections, ruling on Tuesday that Facebook had no right to ask an appellate court to quash search warrants ordering the company to hand over information from hundreds of accounts in a disability fraud case. http://nyti.ms/2nCrxHu
– Boeing Co announced a tentative agreement on Tuesday to sell up to 60 737s to Iran’s Aseman Airlines, a transaction valued at $6 billion that angered American critics of Iran and appeared likely to test the Trump administration’s avowed hostility toward that country. http://nyti.ms/2n9f7f2
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The Liberal governments in Ottawa and Quebec City appear to be trying to close the door on the pay hike controversy at Bombardier Inc, saying the plane maker took appropriate action in wake of the uproar. https://tgam.ca/2nDkEFU
** As the International Criminal Court struggles to quell a mutiny by its African members, the Canadian government has begun a quiet backroom effort to find a compromise with South Africa, the court’s most powerful African opponent. https://tgam.ca/2nDjdqX
NATIONAL POST
** The heads of Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia defended their organizations’ sales practices to shareholders on Tuesday, with the latter’s chief executive calling allegations of aggressive tactics at some banks “largely unsubstantiated.” http://bit.ly/2nDbE3F
** Realtors in Vancouver, Canada’s most expensive city for housing, predict prices will continue to rise amid a shortage of listings they maintain is stifling the market. http://bit.ly/2nDmdE2
Britain
The Times
– British Prime Minister Theresa May has added some prime ministerial clout to the London Stock Exchange’s attempt to persuade Saudi Arabian Oil Co <IPO-ARMO.SE> mco to list its shares in the UK. http://bit.ly/2o7cWb1
– PA Consulting Services, brought in by UK Trade and Investment in 2014 for a three-year contract, exploited poor decision-making by the government agency responsible for boosting overseas trade to increase profits and pass costs to the taxpayer, MPs have found. http://bit.ly/2o7dnCb
The Guardian
– Britain’s North Sea oil and gas sector received 396 million pounds ($492.58 million), net of tax payments, from the government in 2016 compared with a contribution to the exchequer of £381m the previous year, according to analysis by energy specialist Carbon Brief. http://bit.ly/2o78KYT
– The Bank of England has flagged up new concerns about the rapid growth in consumer borrowing as Britons rack up debt on credit cards, car purchase schemes and personal loans. http://bit.ly/2o7sbRd
The Telegraph
– Telecom company Vodafone Plc is closing in on a multi-million pound deal to rename West Ham’s football ground. The company is in advanced talks with the owners of the former Olympic Stadium in East London with a six-year agreement possible this month, according to multiple sources. http://bit.ly/2o75ZXo
– JPMorgan’s head Jamie Dimon has admitted he will not move many jobs out of Britain in the next two years as a result of Brexit, in a U-turn on his pre-referendum warning that a vote to leave the European Union could mean as many as 4,000 jobs moving across the Channel. http://bit.ly/2o7bEgn
Sky News
– Crisis-hit Toshiba Corp is being forced to buy out a French firm’s stake in the venture behind a proposed new nuclear power station in Cumbria – throwing its future into further doubt. http://bit.ly/2o7c5qR
– Ministers and regulators should act swiftly to curb soaring bosses’ pay in British boardrooms, a report from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee of MPs has warned. http://bit.ly/2o7gqKN
The Independent
– Food inflation in Britain hit 1 per cent year-on-year last month, the sharpest rise since February 2014 and marking the second month in a row of rising prices, according to the latest BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index. http://ind.pn/2o7ahxV
– Around 100,000 jobs may now be at risk after a top EU lawmaker warned that financial business denominated in euros must move from the UK to the EU after Brexit. http://ind.pn/2o7c46t
via http://ift.tt/2o9cQQ6 Tyler Durden