Friday Morning Reads

Stimulus deal remains elusive

It's been quite a choppy trading week on Wall Street, and the trend didn't stop overnight, with U.S. stock index futures inching into the green after spending the first half of session in the red. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said progress on a stimulus deal was "just about there," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow cautioned "significant policy differences" remained, which were unlikely to be resolved before the election. On the economy, the latest weekly initial jobless claims dropped 55,000 to fall below 800,000 for first time since March, while about a fifth of S&P 500 companies have so far reported Q3 results, of which 84.1% beat earnings estimates.

Final debate

In a relatively civil debate following a turbulent first faceoff, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden traded some barbs last night over the economy. Trump said Biden would "destroy the oil industry" after the latter talked up plans about a "transition to renewable energy over time," as well as ending federal subsidies to the sector. Regarding coronavirus shutdowns... Trump declared, "we can't keep this country closed... the cure cannot be worse than the problem itself," while Biden replied, "I'm going to shut down the virus, not the country," though he didn't rule out additional shutdowns. The two also differed on minimum wage, with Trump stating it should be left up to states and Biden saying it deserves to be $15 an hour on a federal level (from the current $7.25).

All clear for remdesivir

Shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) are up nearly 6% in premarket trade after its antiviral therapy remdesivir became the first drug to obtain formal FDA clearance for treating COVID-19. That could help solidify its position as the go-to medicine for patients even when other drugs begin to reach the market. In May, the FDA granted remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, emergency use authorization, allowing hospitals and doctors to use the medication even though it had not been formally approved by the agency.

Opioid crisis

Launching a preemptive strike against an impending opioid-related lawsuit from the Justice Department, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is suing the federal government regarding the obligations of pharmacists under the Controlled Substances Act. "They are now threatening a completely unjustified lawsuit against Walmart, claiming in hindsight pharmacists should have refused to fill otherwise valid opioid prescriptions that were written by the very doctors that the federal government still approves to write prescriptions," Walmart said in the filing. While the suit won't necessarily head off any DOJ action, a court ruling siding with the company's view of the law could bolster it against any government case.

Next antitrust suit against Silicon Valley

The Federal Trade Commission is "huddling privately" to discuss its antitrust probe of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), according to The Washington Post, signaling its investigation has moved closer to an endgame. While the exact timing of any action is unclear, a federal suit would follow closely on the Justice Department's landmark antitrust suit against Google (GOOG, GOOGL). As with Google, the focus is on competition, and specifically Facebook's dominance in social networking along with its purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp.

Goldman pleads guilty

Adding to fines and settlements in Hong Kong and Malaysia, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) will pay a record $2.9B foreign bribery penalty in the U.S. and plead guilty for its involvement in the scandal-plagued 1MDB investment fund. That brings the global cost for the bank to more than $5B. Those hefty fines are also leading Goldman to claw back some executive compensation from current and former executives, including CEO David Solomon and his predecessor, Lloyd Blankfein.

U.K. signs first post-Brexit trade deal

As the clock ticks down to reach an agreement with the European Union, the U.K. has signed a trade deal with Japan, its first with a major economy since Brexit. The bilateral deal largely preserves the terms under which the U.K. traded with Tokyo when it was part of the EU, but is expected to boost British trade by £15B and GDP by 0.07% over the next 15 years. It will also make it easier for British companies to operate in Japan, with tariff-free trade on 99% of exports to the country, and benefit "all parts of the country and Scotland, London and the East Midlands in particular."

What else is happening...

Why Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) horrible quarter could boost Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Dell (NYSE:DELL) and HP (NYSE:HPQ).

Gap (NYSE:GPS) shares hit 52-week high after charting course to profitability.

Airbus (OTCPK:EADSY) plans to ramp up A320 output in show of confidence.

Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) helps the U.S. government with COVID-19 vaccine tracking.

IBM (NYSE:IBM), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) design AI model that can predict Alzheimer's.

Wirecard North America (OTCPK:WCAGY) sells itself to Syncapay.