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Frontrunning: February 27

  • Epic Oscars Mistake: Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty Announce Wrong Best Picture Winner (Variety)
  • 'Moonlight' upsets 'La La Land' for top Oscar after major gaffe (Reuters)
  • Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel turns Trump into recurrent punch line (Reuters)
  • After Mix-Up, Hollywood Searches for an Explanation (WSJ)
  • Trillions at Risk When Trump Speaks to Congress (BBG)
  • Bond Market Is Flashing Warning Signal on Trump Reflation Trade (WSJ)
  • Mexico Warns U.S. It'll Cut Off Nafta Talks If Tariffs Proposed (BBG)
  • Trump to Ask for Sharp Increases in Military Spending, Officials Say (NYT)
  • GOP Leaders Bet on Cooperation in Push Against Obamacare (WSJ)
  • Euro-Area Economic Confidence Climbs to Highest Since 2011 (BBG)
  • Billionaire Warren Buffett more than doubled his holdings in Apple in 2017 (CNBC)
  • Mystery deepens over Chinese forces in Afghanistan (FT)
  • Will Beijing blink again on Pyongyang? (Nikkei)
  • VX Nerve Agent Killed Kim Jong Nam in 20 Minutes (WSJ)
  • Wal-Mart launches new front in U.S. price war, targets Aldi in grocery aisle (Reuters)
  • A Radical Experiment in Monetary Policy Isn’t Working (WSJ)
  • GM Dials Up Discounts on Pickups as Rivals Tread on Truck Turf (BBG)
  • Job Hoppers Are Redefining Wage Inflation for the Fed (BBG)
  • Funds prepare $2 billion oil market play as supply tightens (Reuters)
  • Supersmart Robots Will Outnumber Humans Within 30 Years, Says SoftBank CEO (WSJ)
  • The Man Who Moved Oil With His Words Won’t Talk About It Anymore (BBG)
  • North Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, U.N. says (Reuters)
  • US prime property is magnet for illicit wealth, warns Treasury (FT)
  • Russian frigate heads to Mediterranean on Syria mission (Reuters)
  • Trump's trade czar expected to get easy U.S. Senate confirmation (Reuters)
  • Philippines says hostage may have been beheaded because he was sick (Reuters)
  • Philadelphia Jewish cemetery desecrated by vandals (Reuters)

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- Facing mounting criticism about prices, drug companies put some limits on their increases this year. Prescription-drug makers traditionally raise list prices in January but this year they didn't raise prices for as many drugs as the year before. According to an analysis by investment firm Raymond James & Associates, about 5.5 percent of the increases reached the 10 percent level. A year ago, 15 percent did, and two years ago, 20 percent did. http://on.wsj.com/2lWcbRd

- Malaysia said Sunday that a high dose of a lethal nerve agent killed Kim Jong Nam within 20 minutes of being assaulted on Feb. 13, while authorities checked for traces of the substance at the main international airport and at a condominium here. Medical specialists are now turning over a full autopsy report to the police. http://on.wsj.com/2lW02vo

- The planned megamerger between Deutsche Börse AG and London Stock Exchange Group PLC to create Europe's largest exchange is at risk after the LSE said late Sunday it wouldn't sell its majority-owned fixed-income trading platform in Italy to appease antitrust concerns over the deal. http://on.wsj.com/2lW667d

- 'Moonlight' shocked audiences around the world by winning best picture at the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday. It was a Hollywood twist at the last minute of the ceremony, after presenter Faye Dunaway announced that frontrunner 'La La Land' was the winner. While that movie's producers were making their acceptance speeches, they were interrupted and told that 'Moonlight' was the actual winner. http://on.wsj.com/2lW4j1V

- President Donald Trump's first budget will seek a sizable increase in military funding but won't make changes to the largest future drivers of government spending: Social Security and Medicare. Work to prepare the president's first budget proposal, expected to be released in mid-March, ramped up last week following the Feb. 16 confirmation of Mick Mulvaney as director of

 

FT

London Stock Exchange Group Plc said on Sunday it believes the European Commission is unlikely to approve its proposed merger with Deutsche Boerse AG after LSE's board concluded it would not be able to meet a new condition proposed by antitrust regulators in Brussels.

Prudential Regulation Authority Chief Executive and Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods warned against rolling back reforms made in the wake of the financial crisis, arguing against any "retreat" to light-touch regulation after Brexit and the election of President Donald Trump.

The European Commission plans to take a tough stance on rules that could provide a post-Brexit lifeline for the UK financial sector, according to a document obtained by the Financial Times, dealing a blow to the City of London's hopes of maximising access to the EU.

The Father of the House of Commons, Gerald Kaufman, died on Sunday evening having been ill for several months, his family said. He was 86.

 

NYT

- The London Stock Exchange Group said late on Sunday that European regulators were unlikely to approve its merger with Deutsche Boerse, which would have created a European heavyweight in a rapidly consolidating industry. http://nyti.ms/2lprOxv

- President Donald Trump will instruct federal agencies on Monday to assemble a budget for the coming fiscal year that includes sharp increases in Defense Department spending and drastic enough cuts to domestic agencies that he can keep his promise to leave Social Security and Medicare alone. http://nyti.ms/2lphBRG

- The father of the commando killed in a Special Operations raid in Yemen last month said in an interview published this weekend that he had refused to meet with President Trump on the day his son's body was returned home, and criticized the White House over the mission, saying, "Don't hide behind my son's death to prevent an investigation." http://nyti.ms/2lpCuvX

- As Defense Secretary Jim Mattis prepares to submit his first big pitch to his new boss — options for accelerating the fight against the Islamic State — he is balancing the need to rein in President Trump's more extreme impulses without distancing himself too much and losing White House favor. http://nyti.ms/2lpF4C5

 

Britain

The Times

Frontier Economics, the consultancy helping to make the competition case for Tesco Plc's merger with Booker Group Plc, has provoked concerns over a potential conflict of interest after winning a contract with the Competition and Markets Authority. http://bit.ly/2mtsbrK

A government green paper suggests that struggling companies could soon be allowed to dodge their liabilities to former employees by separating out their pensions funds and setting them up as standalone entities. http://bit.ly/2mtqMkE

The Guardian

Workers in UK saw their wages fall by 1 percent a year in the period following the financial crisis, putting the country in 103rd place in a global ranking of pay growth compiled by the TUC. http://bit.ly/2mtsHpG

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is lobbying Japan, the country that pioneered modern high-speed trains, to buy rolling stock from Derby as part of the government’s post-Brexit trade push. http://bit.ly/2mtvL4R

The Telegraph

The London Stock Exchange Group Plc's merger with Deutsche Boerse AG was thrown into doubt last night after the LSE's board said addressing EU competition concerns would be "detrimental" to the business. http://bit.ly/2mtse6I

UK has risen a place in investors' eyes to equal Germany as the third most-important country for company growth prospects in a sign that Brexit has not weighed on the country's international business standing, according to analysis from PwC. http://bit.ly/2mttSWa

Sky News

Barclays Plc will this week announce the appointment of Ian Cheshire as chairman of its UK-based operations, a key milestone in its planning for new rules aimed at protecting taxpayers in a future banking crisis. http://bit.ly/2msBlEB

The Independent

Gerald Kaufman, the father of the House of Commons as the oldest serving MP, has died at the age of 86. http://ind.pn/2mtoNwY