- Dick’s Raises Age for Gun Buyers, Won’t Sell Assault Weapons (WSJ)
- How Defective Guns Became the Only Product That Can’t Be Recalled (BBG)
- The First Day of School After Florida Shooting (WSJ)
- NFL Partners With Pizza Hut After Split With Papa John’s (WSJ)
- Manafort Joined Trump as Ukraine Work Dried Up (BBG)
- Summers Warns Next U.S. Recession Could Outlast Previous One (BBG)
- GM Is Raking In the Cash (BBG)
- Goldman Sachs, Adviser to the Elite, Wants to Be Your Local Bank (WSJ)
- U.S. regulators examine Wall Street’s Volcker rule wish list (Reuters)
- State Health Policies Show Stark Divide Along Party Lines (WSJ)
- In Syria, Foreign Powers’ Scramble for Influence Intensifies (WSJ)
- Mogul Is $13 Billion Richer After Leaving NYC for China (BBG)
- China’s military flexes muscles for domestic objective: more funding (Reuters)
- Lowe’s Punished by Investors for Not Growing Like Home Depot (BBG)
- Cyprus’s Anastasiades says no peace talks as natgas standoff persists (Reuters)
- Big Short’s Eisman Says U.S. Bank Outlook Is Best Since 1990s (BBG)
- Forecasts for Oil Prices Rise for Fifth-Straight Month (WSJ)
- Musk’s Dream of Space-Based Internet Sent Others Crashing to Earth (BBG)
- Bayer to win EU approval for $62.5 billion Monsanto deal (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– Amazon.com Inc acquired Ring, maker of video doorbells, in a deal valued at more than $1 billion, giving the online giant a bigger foothold in the burgeoning internet business of home security. on.wsj.com/2HQ7KzX
– The White House downgraded the security clearance of senior adviser Jared Kushner last week as part of White House chief of staff John Kelly’s push to tighten control of classified information inside the Trump administration. on.wsj.com/2HSCWhS
– Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner’s spokesman Josh Raffel is leaving the White House, administration officials said Tuesday, becoming the latest official to depart the West Wing. on.wsj.com/2HS9NU7
– The Trump administration said it has reached an initial deal with Boeing Co to buy and convert two jumbo jets to replace the aging planes that fly as Air Force One. on.wsj.com/2HRriUj
– North Korea shipped 50 tons of supplies to Syria for use in building what is suspected to be an industrial-scale chemical weapons factory, according to intelligence information cited in a confidential United Nations report. on.wsj.com/2HRs0Rt
FT
– Michel Barnier, EU’s top Brexit negotiator, hit out at David Davis for avoiding talks in Brussels. Barnier told EU27 ministers in Brussels that the talks were “in a form of stagnation”.
– U.S. cable operator Comcast Corp made a surprise bid for Sky Plc that values it at 22.1 billion pounds. Buying Sky would give it a powerful footprint in the UK, Germany and Italy, where Sky has 23 million subscribers.
– Standard Chartered Plc, after two years of capital rebuilding, restarted its dividend as the bank returns to profit.
– Provident Financial Plc’s shares soared on Tuesday as the sub-prime lender tapped investors for 300 mln pounds in fresh funds via a rights issue and announced a lower than expected settlement with the Financial Conduct Authority.
NYT
– Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, lost his top-secret clearance, a White House official and another person familiar with the situation said. nyti.ms/2ovrnFd
– Companies like Delta Air Lines Inc have found themselves facing conservative backlash as they become mired in the gun control debate, highlighting the challenge of catering to both ends of the U.S. political spectrum. nyti.ms/2FdfRbm
– Amazon.com Inc said Tuesday that it had acquired Ring, a maker of internet-connected doorbells and cameras, pushing more deeply into the home security market. nyti.ms/2ovyiOJ
– Comcast Corp may have found a way to disrupt Walt Disney Co’s plan to buy most of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc by topping Fox’s bid to buy the British satellite broadcaster Sky Plc with its own $31 billion takeover offer. nyti.ms/2CLEias
– Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, in his first public appearance as head of the U.S. central bank, said his expectations for domestic economic growth have increased since the beginning of the year, citing the passage of the $1.5 trillion tax cut and stronger global growth. nyti.ms/2t46ZQc
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The federal government says it is open to granting charitable status to media companies, which would allow them to receive tax-deductible donations to support investigative and public-interest journalism. tgam.ca/2CsaUdG
** Canada’s top securities regulator is turning up the heat on a small Ontario marijuana producer after it failed to disclose to investors that its chief executive officer is under investigation for his actions at another company. tgam.ca/2GSu62p
** B.C. is suspending rules for its money-losing public auto insurer that are designed to ensure it has enough capital to make payouts, raising the prospect that the government will have to bail it out. tgam.ca/2oASHRG
NATIONAL POST
** The small business tax revolt that rocked Canadian politics for much of last year has resulted in a simpler and scaled-back proposal for taxing passive investment income, and it appears likely to calm the concerns from tax experts. bit.ly/2EYpBqr
Britain
The Times
– Cities in Germany have been given the green light to ban older diesel cars in a court ruling likely to have a far-reaching impact on resale values and the fuel’s long-term future. bit.ly/2GOuhM0
– Smaller British development agencies have dismissed 67 aid workers and other staff for sexual misconduct. Figures supplied to the Times by 11 overseas aid charities showed that they had dealt with 120 cases of sexual exploitation or harassment. bit.ly/2GOt6fv
The Guardian
– Comcast Corp is attempting to gatecrash Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of Sky Plc, submitting a rival offer to the UK broadcaster’s shareholders worth about 22 billion pounds ($30.59 billion). bit.ly/2GPnaD4
The Telegraph
– Britain’s demand for gas is set to surge to its highest level in over six years this week as freezing temperatures take hold across the country. bit.ly/2GMXcQM
– The government must share the blame for the bungling of a multi-billion pound nuclear clean-up contract after failing to protect taxpayers from spiralling costs, MPs have said. bit.ly/2GPAG9G
Sky News
– Nearly 6,000 retail sector jobs are hanging in the balance on Tuesday night as the UK arm of Toys R Us and electricals chain Maplin prepare to call in administrators. bit.ly/2GOupeF
– Liam Fox has defended the government’s Brexit plans by saying UK’s departure from the European Union is “a little bit more complicated than a packet of Walkers”. bit.ly/2GP5Oq5
The Independent
– Beer sold across UK’s supermarkets and off-licences is almost 188 percent more affordable today than it was three decades ago, supporting calls for greater legislation to relieve pressure on health services, new research has revealed. ind.pn/2GLKcuD
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/2oCTbqD Tyler Durden