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Frontrunning: January 25

  • Oil Drops as Saudis to Maintain Spending, China Diesel Use Falls (BBG)
  • Saudi Arabia is able to withstand low prices says Saudi Aramco Chairman (WSJ)
  • Recession Warnings May Not Come to Pass (WSJ)... or they May
  • Problems Found at Theranos Lab (WSJ)
  • New York rebounds after blizzard, Washington shuts down government (Reuters)
  • China business confidence, recruitment hit record lows in January - SMI survey (Reuters)
  • Twitter to Revamp Leadership Under CEO Jack Dorsey (WSJ)
  • Johnson Controls to Combine With Tyco, Move Domicile to Ireland (BBG)
  • Birinyi More Worried About Markets Than Any Time Since 2009 (BBG)
  • Wal-Mart: It Came, It Conquered, Now It's Packing Up and Leaving (BBG)
  • Sanders, Clinton cool to Bloomberg's possible entry into 2016 race (Reuters)
  • Ford Shutting Operations in Japan, Indonesia on Lack of Profit (BBG)
  • China’s Working-Age Population Sees Biggest-Ever Decline (WSJ)
  • More holes than fingers? Beijing struggles to plug capital flight (Reuters)
  • Chinese Developer Aims Lower Amid Manhattan's Luxury-Condo Glut (BBG)
  • Merkel's party, sliding in polls, weighs German 'border centres' (Reuters)
  • German Business Sentiment Falls as Market Woes Cloud Outlook (BBG)
  • Syria opposition to meet Tuesday, blames Russia for 'obstacles' (Reuters)
  • U.S. Relies Heavily on Saudi Money to Support Syrian Rebels (NYT)
  • U.S. IPO Market on Track for Slowest Month Since Recession (BBG)
  • Canada's Trudeau to DiCaprio: Your climate remarks don't help (Reuters)

 

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- Twitter Inc Chief Executive Jack Dorsey is revamping his top ranks as he tries to find ways to revive the social media company and earn the trust of investors. (http://on.wsj.com/1RHubsr)

- U.S. health inspectors have found serious deficiencies at Theranos Inc's laboratory in Northern California, according to people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/1RHGjtC)

- Johnson Controls Inc and Tyco International PLC are in advanced talks to combine, according to people familiar with the matter, in a deal that could value Tyco as high as $20 billion and signal that companies are still willing to embark on large mergers despite being shaken by recent market volatility. (http://on.wsj.com/1QsUkda)

- Canada's efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions are calling into question oil majors' ability to tap the world's third-largest oil reserves. (http://on.wsj.com/1OQkSk3)

 

FT

Twitter is on the verge of a major management shake-up. Three of its most senior executives - head of product, head of media and head of engineering are leaving the company. The San Francisco-based company might announce the appointment of two new members to its board as soon as this week.

U.S. asset manager Third Avenue Management's asset under management have dropped by more than $1 billion. The company had $6.3 billion under its management at the end of 2015, however, investment losses coupled with client redemptions have led to a reduction in its assets under management to $5 billion.

Investors in China's rural commercial banks are selling their stakes on Taobao showing signs of desperation amongst cash-straped investors. The sale in lenders at the bottom of China's financial system require minimum to no regulatory approval at all.

Iran plans to sign a contract with Airbus to buy 114 new aircrafts. Following the lifting of economic sanctions against the middle-eastern nation, president Hassan Rouhani's government is determined to show Iranians the economic benefits of its diplomacy.

 

NYT

- Avocados From Mexico and two other advertisers - Skittles and Wix.com - have decided to return to the Super Bowl, indicating that live television remains important for advertisers. (http://nyti.ms/1WIMWLr)

- Traders and portfolio managers worry that sophisticated institutional investors, who generally tend to take a long-term view, have been the ones driving the selling over the past six months. (http://nyti.ms/1Nu7j86)

- Whether or not negotiators reach a pact by Feb. 1 on how companies such as Google and Facebook use Europeans' online data, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, who chairs the group of European data protection regulators as well as France's watchdog called the CNIL, is in a position to propel privacy protection efforts. (http://nyti.ms/1ZMrViZ)

- Twitter will undergo a major overhaul of its top ranks in the next few weeks, from its eight-member board to key executives in engineering and product. (http://nyti.ms/23mTROW)

 

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Sears Canada Inc is stepping up its efforts to close another round of stores. The company has instructed real estate firm CBRE to look for alternative uses for Sears's weakest stores, such as its clearance outlets, Brandon Stranzl, executive chairman of Sears Canada, said in an interview. (http://bit.ly/1nJ5Rdj)

** Canadian investigators are analyzing cellphone data in an attempt to track down the masterminds of a militant attack that killed six Canadians, Burkina Faso foreign minister Alpha Barry, said in an interview with The Globe and Mail. (http://bit.ly/1nJ6bIW)

NATIONAL POST

** Peter MacKay, a high ranking cabinet member in the previous Conservative government, is joining the Toronto office of global law firm of Baker and McKenzie as a partner. (http://bit.ly/1lJKdE6)

** By arguing that publishing peer viewed research conflicted with her role as an indigenous scholar, former law professor Lorna June McCue has won her bid for a human rights tribunal hearing after losing her job at the University of British Columbia. (http://bit.ly/1lJKjeW)

 

Britain

The Times

The Financial Conduct Authority has been accused of betraying the confidence of whistleblowers by passing on evidence and sensitive information to the high street banks that were the subject of their complaints. (http://thetim.es/1OQsuDl)

Competition to win the £4 billion contract to build superfast trains for the HS2 rail line has been blown open by a promise from Alstom, the French industrial giant, to bring rolling stock production back to Britain if it wins the tender. (http://thetim.es/1SGgXfG)

The Guardian

Unilever, the consumer goods group behind Persil and Magnum ice-creams, has said it will not scale back its UK operations if Britain votes to leave the EU. (http://bit.ly/23lUh8v)

Iran plans to buy 114 aircraft from the European company Airbus by March, and is looking for other deals, senior Iranian officials said on Sunday as their country emerges from sanctions and international isolation. (http://bit.ly/1Pwfy4Q)

The Telegraph

HSBC is poised to make a decision on whether it will stay in the UK as early as this week, The Daily Telegraph has learnt. (http://bit.ly/1ZXvoAC)

Former Ofcom chief Ed Richards has ruled himself out of the race to become the next chief executive of City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority, the Telegraph understands, further narrowing the field of candidates to take over from ousted boss Martin Wheatley. (http://bit.ly/23mji3e)

Sky News

The Government is considering taking thousands of unaccompanied Syrian refugee children from migrant camps in Europe, the International Development Secretary has told Sky News. (http://bit.ly/20nGiMI)

Severe weather warnings are being issued as the snowstorm that deluged the U.S. heads to Britain, bringing up to 8 inches (20cm) of rain in some areas. (http://bit.ly/1PtRFkH)

The Independent

A controversial policy reportedly forcing asylum seekers in Cardiff to wear brightly coloured wristbands has been axed after a public outcry. (http://ind.pn/1Jw3NiN)