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Frontrunning: April 18

  • Crude's Losses Drag Ruble, Loonie Lower; Stocks Pare Their Drop (BBG)
  • Grand Oil Bargain Is Victim of Saudi Arabia's Iran Fixation (BBG)
  • Both Parties’ Presidential Front-Runners Increasingly Unpopular (WSJ)
  • It's up to you, New York: state takes center stage in election campaign (Reuters)
  • Rousseff Hangs by a Thread After Losing Impeachment Vote (BBG)
  • China March home prices rise at fastest rate in two years, top cities boom (Reuters)
  • Shaken Ecuador hunts for survivors amid 7.8 quake debris (Reuters)
  • Oil Worker Strike Cuts in Half Kuwait Crude Production (WSJ)
  • Greek lender mission chiefs resume reform talks in Athens (Reuters)
  • Greece’s Creditors Weigh Extra Austerity Measures to Break Deadlock (WSJ)
  • Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei Takes Aim at Donald Trump’s Trade Policies (WSJ)
  • The Hole at the Center of the Rally: S&P 500 Margins in Decline (BBG)
  • The Trucker's Nightmare That Could Flatten Europe's Economy (BBG)
  • London’s super-rich turn to renting (FT)
  • Treasury Market’s Fastest Traders Don’t Like Trading Treasuries (BBG)
  • Six corpses found in migrant boat, 108 rescued: Italy coast guard (Reuters)
  • Sunedison bankruptcy filing imminent (Reuters)
  • ECB not aiming to weaken euro against dollar: sources (Reuters)

 

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- Brazil's Congress took a giant step toward removing President Dilma Rousseff from office Sunday when the lower house voted to send the impeachment process to the Senate for trial. (on.wsj.com/1S4kDXT)

- Verizon Communications Inc was among a handful of firms moving ahead with offers to buy Yahoo or parts of it, compared with the roughly 40 firms that had initially expressed interest, people familiar with the process said. (on.wsj.com/1S4kL9K)

- Residents of several coastal towns in Ecuador scrambled to free survivors trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings after the country's strongest earthquake in decades killed hundreds and destroyed homes, bridges and roads. (on.wsj.com/1S4kSCh)

- The world's financial leaders gathered in Washington for IMF and World Bank meetings said that Beijing's moves to stabilize its economy have temporarily eased global fears tied to the world's No. 2 economy. (on.wsj.com/1S4kZ0t)

 

FT

- Rugby club Harlequins is seeking to raise about 15 million pounds ($21.27 million) by issuing a mini-bond, joining other sports teams that are finding alternative ways to bolster their finances by tapping fans for investment. (http://bit.ly/1YBU24V)

- HSBC Holdings Plc is committing a minimum of 10 billion pounds of loans to smaller businesses this year, in spite of the looming threat of the UK leaving the European Union. (http://bit.ly/1YBU8tk)

- Caixabank SA has launched a takeover bid for Banco BPI, pushing efforts to break a deadlock with Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos for control of the Lisbon-based lender. (http://bit.ly/1YBUbVM)

- Uncertainty over the outcome of Britain's EU referendum in June is having a negative effect on business activity, as companies are pulling back on hiring and investment across sectors. (http://bit.ly/1YBUdwX)

 

NYT

- Amazon.com Inc is introducing new options to subscribe to its Prime membership service on a monthly basis, a change that could make the company's video service a tougher competitor to Netflix. (http://nyti.ms/1SlVo21)

- SunEdison Inc, which grew from making chemicals and components for solar modules to become a giant of the renewable energy business, is preparing for bankruptcy, according to a filing with regulators on Friday. (http://nyti.ms/1VcqtIZ)

- Jose Cuervo, a brand of tequila that is over two centuries old, is preparing for an IPO, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The family-owned Mexican company is working with JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley to prepare for the deal, said the people, who asked not to be named because the process is still private. (http://nyti.ms/1paaRrs)

- XIO Group, a private equity firm co-founded in 2014 by the former head of BlackRock Alternative Investors for Asia Pacific, said on Friday that it had agreed to acquire J.D.Power and Associates for $1.1 billion from McGraw Hill Financial, in what will be its biggest investment yet and its first in the United States. (http://nyti.ms/1SUcNfC)

 

Britain

The Times

- AstraZeneca Plc has been tracking Medivation Inc for six months, and is yet to make a formal offer, but has held internal talks about a bid. (http://bit.ly/1YBUxf7)

- Standard Chartered Plc has spoken to Paul Tucker, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England, about becoming its chairman. (http://bit.ly/1YBUAHP)

The Guardian

- Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc has reduced its global lending to oil and gas companies and doubled its green energy loans in the UK to 1 billion pounds ($1.42 billion) a year, according to new figures released. (http://bit.ly/1YBUIqY)

- Britain would be "permanently poorer" if voters choose to leave the EU, George Osborne has warned, as a Treasury study claimed the economy would shrink by 6 percent by 2030, costing every household the equivalent of 4,300 pounds a year. (http://bit.ly/1YBUOPg)

The Telegraph

- Andrew Mackenzie, the chief executive of struggling mining giant BHP Billiton Plc, has joined the chorus of FTSE 100 bosses pleading with voters to opt to remain in the EU, claiming a Brexit could result in a 'decade of disruption' to trade agreements. (http://bit.ly/1WzOt8C)

Sky News

- Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers has insisted border arrangements between Ireland and the UK would not change if the public votes to leave the EU. (http://bit.ly/1WzOAkx)

The Independent

- Norway's $860 billion sovereign wealth fund has unveiled the first list of miners and power producers to be excluded from its portfolio following a ban on coal investments. (http://ind.pn/1WzOIQM)