- Puerto Rico Development Bank Won’t Make Most of a Debt Payment Monday (WSJ)
- Why the jump in futures? Tokyo slide keeps mood downbeat (Reuters)
- Indiana to test Donald Trump’s staying power with evangelicals (Reuters)
- Gold Rallies Above $1,300 for First Time Since January 2015 (BBG)
- This Tech Bubble Is Bursting (WSJ)
- Valeant’s CEO Was Key Force on Pricing (WSJ)
- US banks sound caution on commercial property loans (FT)
- As oil plows through $45 a barrel, U.S. producers rush to lock in prices (Reuters)
- Why So Many Chinese Students Come to the U.S. (WSJ)
- Big bargains entice Warren Buffett fans on Berkshire weekend (Reuters)
- Halliburton, Baker Hughes Calls Off $28 Billion Deal (BBG)
- Goldman targets ‘mass affluent’ borrowers with unusual lending plan (Reuters)
- In Ukraine’s ‘Klondike,’ a Rush for Stolen Gems (BBG)
- China April official factory activity expands but at slower pace (Reuters)
- Buffett Hits Hedge Funds While They’re Down, Faulting Fees (BBG)
- Japan final April manufacturing PMI hits lowest since Jan 2013 after Kumamoto earthquake (Reuters)
- Mobius Adds Cash to Brazil Saying Rousseff Removal Not Priced In (BBG)
- Spanish Politics Enters Uncharted Waters as Election Looms (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– Halliburton and Baker Hughes called off their merger, once valued at nearly $35 billion, which encountered opposition on several continents from regulators who claimed that it would hurt competition in the oilfield services business. (http://on.wsj.com/1Z1Avep)
– Hulu is developing a subscription service that would stream feeds of popular broadcast and cable TV channels, a move that would make the company a competitor to traditional pay-TV providers and other new digital entrants. (http://on.wsj.com/1Z1Aw1W)
– A group including private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC boosted its bid for Apollo Education Group Inc in an effort to salvage the takeover of the University of Phoenix owner amid shareholder resistance. (http://on.wsj.com/1Z1AA1A)
– Republican front runner Donald Trump holds a 15-point lead over his rivals in Indiana’s Republican presidential primary, while Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has a four-point edge ahead of Bernie Sanders, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll finds. (http://on.wsj.com/1VGzZV8)
FT
* Halliburton Co and Baker Hughes Inc are expected to announce the termination of their merger agreement on Monday following opposition from U.S. and European antitrust regulators.
* Air France-KLM’s board appointed Jean-Marc Janaillac as the Franco-Dutch airline’s new chief executive on Sunday, following the resignation earlier of Alexandre de Juniac.
* British lawmakers have asked Philip Green and his wife Tina to “respond promptly” to its request for help with inquiries into the failure of department store chain BHS and its pension liabilities.
* Deutsche Bank has “serious” and “systemic” failings in its controls against money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions, according to a confidential letter by the UK’s financial regulatory agency.
NYT
– A lawsuit seeking to be certified as a class action has been filed on behalf of consumers in New York and California against the owner of Quaker Oats after testing found traces of the pesticide glyphosate in some oatmeal. (http://nyti.ms/26Jb7jg)
– Puerto Rico’s $422-million missed payment is the biggest yet in a continuing series of defaults by the struggling United States territory, and a warning that it will probably default on even larger and more consequential payments due on July 1, unless Congress enacts rescue legislation before then. (http://nyti.ms/1X3ljPe)
– China is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into its economy in a new effort to support growth, and some of it is going into real estate sector, stocks and even egg futures. (http://nyti.ms/1TeKecS)
Britain
The Times
* Only way is up for oil price
The oil price may have reached its floor after touching decade-low levels this year because of fears about a supply glut and a stand-off between the big producing nations, according to the world’s leading energy official.
* Blackstone races to top of private equity mountain
(http://bit.ly/26IFQwK)(http://bit.ly/26IFQwK)
Blackstone Group has raised a bumper $60 billion from private equity investors over the past five years, claiming the title of the world’s biggest private equity group and leaving its rivals far behind.
The Guardian
* Leaked TTIP documents cast doubt on EU-US trade deal
Talks for a free trade deal between Europe and the U.S. face a serious impasse with “irreconcilable” differences in some areas, according to leaked negotiating texts.
* Europe’s liberal illusions shatter as Greek tragedy plays on (http://bit.ly/26IGpXy)
Greece is running out of money. The government in Athens is raiding the budgets of the health service and public utilities to pay salaries and pensions. Without fresh financial support it will struggle to make a debt payment due in July.
The Telegraph
* Lord Grabiner to be quizzed by MPs over BHS collapse
Lord Grabiner, the chairman of Arcadia, is due to be called to help MPs to understand why BHS was sold for 1 pound ($1.46) to Retail Acquisitions 13 months before its dramatic collapse.
* BT to let rival use its ducts and poles in bid to boost competition (http://bit.ly/23hrfnD)
BT Group is in talks to open up its infrastructure to a rival in a landmark test of Ofcom’s plan to introduce more competition for its much criticised Openreach network monopoly.
Sky News
* Butterkist owner to pass on the popcorn
The private equity group which owns stakes in corporate giants such as Hilton Worldwide and Versace is to take advantage of soaring UK consumer demand for popcorn by putting the Butterkist brand up for sale.
via http://ift.tt/24ifh2E Tyler Durden