You are here

Frontrunning: May 27

  • Oil prices ease from seven-month high to below $49 (Reuters)
  • Wall Street Waits for Yellen Before Taking Off for a Long Weekend (BBG)
  • Donald Trump Celebrates Clinching GOP Delegate Race (WSJ)
  • Trump vows to undo Obama's climate agenda in appeal to oil sector (Reuters)
  • Japan Fails in Bid to Have G-7 Warn of Global Crisis Risk (BBG)
  • Valeant Rejected Joint Takeover Approach From Takeda, TPG (WSJ)
  • Activist William Ackman, Valeant Investor, Tries Life as an Inside Man (WSJ)
  • Islamic State drives Syria rebels from near Turkish border (Reuters)
  • Singapore court revokes bail decision for ex-BSI wealth manager (Reuters)
  • CEO Bonuses: How Pro Forma Results Boost Them (WSJ)
  • French fuel blockade lifted, Hollande says won't let protesters choke economy (Reuters)
  • Hollande Vows to Press New French Labor Law as Unions Resist (BBG)
  • U.S. futures regulator adds hedging exemptions to position limit proposal (Reuters)
  • California’s Recovery Loses Luster as Tax Increases Set to Lapse (BBG)
  • Russian demining experts return from Syria-Ifax cites defense ministry (Reuters)
  • Miami’s Condo Frenzy Ends With Inventory Piling Up in New Towers (BBG)
  • Automakers recall 12 million U.S. vehicles over Takata air bags (Reuters)

 

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- Donald Trump on Thursday secured the delegates he needs to become the Republican Party's presidential nominee, and immediately showed what an unpredictable general-election candidate he will be. (http://on.wsj.com/1Z50kdQ)

- A federal jury found that Google's use of Oracle Corp's Java software in its mobile products didn't violate copyright law, a verdict cheered by many in Silicon Valley who believe it will protect how they write and use software. (http://on.wsj.com/1Z50vG0)

- Sears Holdings Corp is losing its finance chief, as the company remains mired in red ink and explores strategic alternatives for some of its most-prized brands. (http://on.wsj.com/1Z51nKE)

- LendingClub Corp is in talks with Citigroup Inc about the New York bank buying or providing financing for future loans made by the online platform, people familiar with the discussions said. (http://on.wsj.com/1Z51N3E)

 

FT

* Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, promised on Thursday to roll back some of America's most ambitious environmental policies, actions that he said would revive the ailing U.S. oil and coal industries and bolster national security.

* A U.S. jury handed Google a major victory on Thursday in a long-running copyright battle with Oracle Corp over Android software used to run most of the world's smartphones.

* A top Apple executive had raised the prospect of the company buying Time Warner, according to three people briefed on the matter.

 

NYT

- In new court documents filed Wednesday, directors of National Amusements added Sumner Redstone's two great-grandchildren as so-called nominal defendants to their suit challenging his mental capacity. They also added Phyllis Redstone, 91, as a nominal defendant. She was the first wife of Redstone, the ailing media mogul. (http://nyti.ms/1secPcB)

- Snapchat, the disappearing message service with big media ambitions, has finished raising $1.8 billion, according to a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (http://nyti.ms/1OQEMvE)

- Security researchers have tied the recent spate of digital breaches on Asian banks to North Korea, in what they say appears to be the first known case of a nation using digital attacks for financial gain. (http://nyti.ms/1WYX8mD)

- McDonald Corp's French headquarters have been raided by financial investigators, the latest salvo a campaign by President François Hollande's government to make multinational corporations pay more in taxes. (http://nyti.ms/1NReGh7)

- Philips, the Dutch electronics giant, said on Thursday that the initial public offering of its lighting unit valued the business at 3 billion euros, or about $3.3 billion, based on market capitalization. (http://nyti.ms/1OQEZyQ)

 

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Canadian companies suffered their least-profitable quarter in more than five years in the first quarter, as the damage from the oil crash reached new depths. Statistics Canada's quarterly survey of private-sector, for-profit corporations said countrywide operating profits totalled C$73.1-billion ($56.09 billion)- their lowest since Q4 2010. (http://bit.ly/1WQj4zK)

** Toronto homeowners may get a shock later this month when they open their property assessment notices to find the value of their home has jumped nearly 50 percent. The latest assessment data released by the Municipal Property Assessment Corp show property values in Toronto have appreciated 30 percent on average over the past four years. (http://bit.ly/1TZX53k)

** Donald Trump's hold on an eponymous Toronto hotel is slipping away, as one-time partner Alex Shnaider and his bank attempt to sell Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto or put the troubled property into creditor protection and sever their management contract with Trump's company. (http://bit.ly/1RwbHp6)

NATIONAL POST

** Canadian PM Justin Trudeau got an "unequivocal" commitment from other G7 countries on Friday to not pay terrorist groups to release kidnapped hostages and got some backing for Canada's position that the world's leading economies most do more to empower women. (http://bit.ly/1TEkRCe)

** The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project will not face multi-year delay, Kinder Morgan Canada president Ian Anderson said on Thursday. Anderson said his company would begin construction work on Trans Mountain next summer, assuming it receives final federal approval in December. (http://bit.ly/1seLCXc)

** Three of Canada's big banks disclosed higher impaired loans and loan loss provisions related to weakness in the oilpatch on Thursday, but the financial damage was not as extensive as many had feared, with one bank suggesting a "high water mark" may have been reached. (http://bit.ly/1sBTEcp)

 

Britain

The Times

The government's proposal to save Tata Steel UK could set a dangerous precedent, ultimately costing millions of pension savers up to 200 billion pounds in lost retirement incomes, experts warned yesterday. (http://bit.ly/1WYjZi9)

Accrol Papers said yesterday that it planned to list on the AIM in a deal expected to value the business at about 100 million pounds. The flotation is expected to take place on June 10 in defiance of City nervousness ahead of the European referendum just two weeks later. (http://bit.ly/1WYknNI)

The Guardian

Government plans to overhaul the pension scheme behind Tata Steel have been supported by the trustees despite warnings that the move would set a dangerous precedent. (http://bit.ly/1WYjKnf)

MPs investigating controversial business practices at Sports Direct have told its founder, Mike Ashley, they will not visit the company's headquarters before next month's select committee hearing and made it clear they still expect him to show up at Westminster. (http://bit.ly/1WYk2dR)

The Telegraph

Rolls-Royce is understood to have lost out on a contract, to supply a version of EJ200 jet it produces through its membership of the Eurojet consortium, to power a new generation of combat jets for the South Korean military. (http://bit.ly/1WYkIju)

Debenhams has appointed an Amazon executive to replace its outgoing chief executive as the department store focuses on the growth of its online sales. (http://bit.ly/1WYlbCc)

Sky News

The barrel price of Brent Crude oil, which is seen as the global benchmark of oil industry performance, has reached $50 for the first time in 2016 as supply problems due to wildfires in Canada continue to have an impact. (http://bit.ly/1WYlInL)

Ministers have drawn up secret plans to sell the Government's entire shareholding in its 4 billion pounds Green Investment Bank (GIB) in an attempt to secure a bigger-than-expected windfall from the privatisation. (http://bit.ly/1WYlkp7)

The Independent

McDonald' French headquarters were searched on 18 May as part of an ongoing tax probe, according to police sources. (http://ind.pn/1WYjFzS)

Starbucks CEO said the company's China's business could one day outgrow that of the United States as it opens its first coffee roaster outside of the country. (http://ind.pn/1WYjQvl)