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Frontrunning: June 1

  • Japan PM delays sales tax hike, puts fiscal reform on back burner (Reuters)
  • Japanese Shoppers Keep Wallets Shut Despite Sales-Tax Delay (BBG)
  • Global stocks limp into June on oil and data slips (Reuters)
  • Euro zone factory growth remained tepid in May - PMI (Reuters)
  • China's factories steadying but weak, hopes for quick recovery fade (Reuters)
  • Euro-Area Manufacturing Near Stagnation Signals Slowdown Ahead (BBG)
  • OPEC Ministers Say Oil Market Moving in Right Direction (BBG)
  • Wall Street Turns to ETFs to Sidestep Illiquidity in Bond Market (BBG)
  • U.S. Steel Tariffs Create a Double-Edged Sword (WSJ)
  • Governments must boost spending to escape 'low-growth trap': OECD (Reuters)
  • Populist as President Emerges as Option for Beleaguered Mexicans (BBG)
  • North Korea says Trump isn't screwy at all, a wise choice for president (Reuters)
  • U.S. court rules $24.9 billion Dell buyout underpriced by 22 percent (Reuters)
  • Alienation grows in Brussels district that bred Paris attackers (Reuters)
  • U.S.-backed Syrian fighters gain ground against IS (Reuters)
  • BlackRock, Nuveen Snub Bonds for Stocks as Fed Rate Odds Rise (BBG)

 

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- A spokeswoman for Shari Redstone said shareholders of Viacom Inc "have already spoken" and "want new management at the top" as she responded to criticism by board members of her role in her father Sumner Redstone's media empire. (http://on.wsj.com/1UtmSU8)

- When Michael Dell took his eponymous computer company private for $25 billion in 2013, some shareholders said he was shortchanging public investors. On Tuesday, a Delaware judge ruled that Dell was worth about $31 billion at the time, a 28 percent bump (http://on.wsj.com/1Utnedz)

- Las Vegas Sands Corp has agreed to pay more than $75 million to settle a lawsuit by its former top Macau executive, whose allegations prompted federal bribery investigations into the company, according to a person familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/1Utn99J)

- Sportswear company Under Armour Inc cut its sales outlook for the year, citing the bankruptcy of Sports Authority. (http://on.wsj.com/1UtnskG)

 

FT

A former director at Barclays Plc was arrested on Tuesday on U.S. charges that he provided inside information about impending mergers he learned about at the bank to a plumber, who used the tips to make $76,000 illegally.

Spain's Iberdrola SA has filed a lawsuit against state-owned Bankia SA over its 2011 stock market listing, a source close to the power company said on Tuesday.

British fashion retailer Austin Reed Ltd will start winding down as no viable offer was received for the company over a five-week sale process, its joint administrators said. The retailer will shut its 120 stores by the end of June, which will affect about 1,000 jobs

 

NYT

- Shari Redstone made one of her boldest statements on Tuesday in the battle over her father's $40 billion media empire. Redstone underscored that she had no desire to manage Viacom nor to lead its board, but said she wanted "the best management in place" and "strong, independent directors who will properly oversee that management". (http://nyti.ms/1Ug8z2q)

- The billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed in a statement that he has bought "a large position" in Allergan , which is technically headquartered in Dublin. He didn't detail how large of a stake or when the purchase was made. (http://nyti.ms/1Ug9WOu)

- Volkswagen reported a 19 percent drop in its quarterly profit. However, the quarterly profit of $2.7 billion, was better than what analysts had forecasted. It was also an improvement from the loss in the last three months of 2015. (http://nyti.ms/1O47yOM)

- Michael Pearson, the former chief executive of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International who departed in early May during a series of investigations into the company's business practices, will receive a $9 million severance payment and continue working as a consultant through 2017, Valeant said Tuesday. (http://nyti.ms/22wVJTz)

 

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** The federal government is increasing the amount it pays to veterans who are so incapacitated they can no longer work, but many of those who currently make the least will get raises of just a couple percentage points while those at higher ranks will get 20 percent more.(http://bit.ly/1XOR4LY)

** Hunter Tootoo suddenly resigned as fisheries minister Tuesday evening after informing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that he had lost control over his drinking and needed treatment for alcohol abuse. (http://bit.ly/1TJqlvs)

** New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant remains squarely behind the controversial Energy East pipeline project, despite the virtual elimination of the price difference between North American oil and imported crude that provided the C$15 billion ($11.47 billion) project with one of its key selling points. (http://bit.ly/1r2BOOR)

NATIONAL POST

** The House of Commons Procedure and House Affairs committee unanimously adopted a motion on Tuesday stating that the prime minister's apologies having been accepted, the point of privilege raised on May 18 was resolved and "no further action is required."

The apology is regarding a heated kerfuffle two weeks ago with Ruth Ellen Brosseau, the MP who was elbowed by the prime minister ahead of a vote on time allocation for assisted dying legislation. (http://bit.ly/1spLYu5)

** Starting Wednesday, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank customers can add bank-issued credit cards and Interac debit cards to a supported iPhone's digital wallet, Apple Pay, for contactless purchases in-store. (http://bit.ly/25Asrsv)

 

Britain

The Times

- The former boss of Lloyds Banking Group, Eric Daniels, has been accused of keeping silent on rate-rigging at the state-backed bank in a court claim that raises fresh questions about the City watchdog's investigation into market abuse. (http://bit.ly/25zpSqG)

- Leave campaigners Michael Gove and Boris Johnson will promise today to introduce an Australian-style points system to control immigration within three years of a vote to leave the European Union. (http://bit.ly/25zqvk7)

The Guardian

- A decision to leave the EU would be a "disaster" for British workers who would be 38 GBP ($55.01) a week worse off outside the EU by 2030, according to the Trades Union Congress. (http://bit.ly/25zpRTI)

- More than 1,000 jobs are to be lost with the closure of 120 Austin Reed outlets after administrators failed to find a buyer for the majority of the 116-year-old tailoring company's stores. (http://bit.ly/25zpmcf)

The Telegraph

- JD Wetherspoon has sought to ensure the referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union is debated by all its customers over a pint by printing 200,000 beer mats that criticise the International Monetary Fund's intervention in the forthcoming vote. (http://bit.ly/1UsHfkv)

- Businesses could soon be checking for birds nests on their roofs using drones after facilities management firm Mitie unveiled plans to offer the service on high rise buildings. (http://bit.ly/25zq7C9)

Sky News

- Dairy giant Muller is closing two of its dairies in Scotland in a move that will affect 225 jobs and squeeze the incomes of hard-pressed dairy farmers. (http://bit.ly/25zpOHu)

- Two men have been arrested as part of a probe into the 1.3 billion pounds ($1.88 billion) sale of property loans by Ireland's so-called "bad bank" to a US private equity firm. (http://bit.ly/25zqeh5)

The Independent

- Authorities in New York have arrested a former director at Barclays Plc, Steven McClatchey, on charges that he improperly gave tip-offs to a friend about mergers before they were publicly announced. (http://ind.pn/25zqi0m)