Thursday Morning Reads

Crude comeback

Saudi Arabia has reportedly phoned other oil producers to discuss possible policy responses following crude's 4.7% plunge on Wednesday to seven-month lows. The kingdom, which has already cut production more than required under the OPEC+ agreement, said it won't tolerate a continued slide in prices and is considering all options. The U.S. benchmark crude rose 3.2% to $52.72/bbl after the Saudi efforts were revealed. Planned OPEC+ gatherings are also set for the week starting Sept. 9 in Abu Dhabi.

Suspending trade ties

Pakistani stocks dropped for a sixth straight day after the government suspended bilateral trade with India in a deepening spat over the disputed Kashmir region. The benchmark KSE-100 Index fell 2.2%, sliding to a new four-year low. On Monday, India said its central government would scrap Article 370, a constitutional provision that allowed the state of Jammu and Kashmir to make its own laws and granted special rights and privileges to permanent residents.

Uber vs. Lyft

Uber (NYSE:UBER) is in the hot seat as it gears up to report financial results after the market close. Expectations are for a rise in second-quarter revenue as growth in Uber Eats offsets a decrease in riders. Investors will also look for comments on the company's timeline on turning a profit and updates on the recent protests by drivers against low pay and working conditions. On Wednesday, rival Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) boosted its outlook for the year, as the company gained more riders and amid new signs that the once-raging price war with Uber is abating.
Go deeper: Compare Uber and Lyft side by side.

Meatless craze

Burger King (NYSE:QSR) will bring the Impossible Whopper to all of its 7,200 U.S. locations today after a successful test run in seven markets. The nation's second-largest burger chain began testing the plant-based burger from Impossible Foods at locations in St. Louis in April. Those outlets saw traffic outperform national averages by 18.5% that month, according to a report from inMarket.

Salesforce wallet still open

Just a week after Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) completed the $15.3B purchase of big data firm Tableau - its biggest deal ever - the company is again in the M&A groove. It has agreed to buy Israeli field service company ClickSoftware for $1.35B in cash and stock. Salesforce hopes the purchase will accelerate the growth of its Service Cloud platform and it expects to close the deal during its fiscal quarter ending Oct. 31.
Go deeper: Building A Long-Term Position In Salesforce by Cestrian Capital Research.

Gun purchases

Unlike PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) and Square (NYSE:SQ), Visa (NYSE:V) will continue to facilitate gun purchases as long as it is legal for people to buy guns. "We are guided by the federal laws in a country, and our job is to create and to facilitate fair and secure commerce," said CEO Alfred Kelly, the latest corporate leader to address the issue of gun control after the weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. "We shouldn't tell people they can't purchase a 32-ounce soda. We shouldn’t tell people they can't buy reproductive drugs."

Internet companies to the White House

The Trump administration has invited internet and technology companies to a roundtable discussion on violent online extremism tomorrow after coming under growing pressure to deter mass shootings tied to internet-fueled racism. It wasn’t immediately clear, though, which companies would be involved in the meeting. A Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) spokesperson declined to comment, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) did not immediately respond to requests.

What else is happening...

Above $1,500... Gold has a better return than stocks YTD.

Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) unveils latest Galaxy Note 10 models.

FDA investigating 127 reports of seizures after vaping.

First look at the Huawei ban?

Venezuela government skips talks in protest of U.S. sanctions.

Puerto Rico gets its third governor in a week.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) probed over unfair competition in Russia.