Thursday Morning Reads
Reads:
- Dirty Money Probe
- Oil Traders Rattled by U.S. Sanctions on China Tanker Firms
- ‘It’s a Crisis’
- Danger of Haves and Have-Nots
- Vaping Fallout Widens
- Confounding Puzzle
- The Elusive $1 Billion Fund
- Stockpiling Cash
- QE-Distorted Markets
News:
- Beyond Meat up 11% on McDonald's test
- Peloton prices IPO at $29 per share
- Philip Morris adds to smokefree portfolio
- Accenture hikes dividend by 10% to $0.80
- Morgan Stanley on utility stocks: what to own, what to avoid
- Rite Aid EPS beats by $0.05, misses on revenue
- Gold tumbles as Trump 'nothing-burger' lifts stocks
- Accenture EPS beats by $0.02, revenue in-line
- Micron Technology Q4 2019 Earnings Preview
- Budweiser Brewing trades in Grey Market
- Takeda's TAK-925 shows encouraging action in early-stage narcolepsy study
- Nio heads lower again
Briefing:
- WeWork (WE) aims to sell three business units. The Information Report
- Department of Justice aims to investigate Facebook (FB) over antitrust issues. Bloomberg Report
- Lululemon (LULU) aims to close seven more stores in its Ivivva kids business. CNBC Report
- SoftBank (SFTBY) aims to increase WeWork (WE) investment by an extra $1 bln (IPOXX). FT Report
- PG&E (PCG) noteholders aim to invest $29.2 bln into the company. WSJ Report
- Oracle (ORCL) was asked for information in Google (GOOG) antitrust case. Reuters Report
- United Microelectronics (UMC) 2020 revenues could increase by at least 10%. Digitimes Report
- Takeda (TAK) near deal to sell emerging markets and western European drug assets for more than $4 bln. Bloomberg Report
Futures:
Premium:
Morning Charts:
Seeking Alpha:
The whistleblower complaint about President Trump’s communications with Ukraine has been declassified and could be released as early as this morning. Yesterday, stocks posted gains despite the political turmoil after Trump’s positive comments on the U.S.-China trade negotiations.
Facebook’s newest antitrust probe
The U.S. Department of Justice will investigate Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) for potential antitrust violations, according to Bloomberg. They will examine conduct separate from the ongoing FTC investigation. Facebook also faces probes from a group of state attorneys general and the House Judiciary Committee.
Go Deeper: Facebook’s average Sell Side, Quant, and SA Author ratings.
Peloton IPO could price at $29/share
Fitness startup Peloton (PTON) will price its IPO at the top end of its $26-29/share range, Reuters reports. The listing will offer 40M shares, which makes for a $1.2B raise and valuation of more than $8B.
Go Deeper: IPO Edge breaks down the Peloton IPO.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) and the United Auto Workers union are nearing a tentative agreement that could soon end the strike, according to CNBC. Talks between the two sides have intensified in the past couple of days, and UAW VP Terry Dittes told union members late yesterday that “all unsettled proposals are now at the Main Table and have been presented” to GM.
Go Deeper: GM lays off more workers due to the UAW strike.
WeWork mulls selling three businesses
WeWork (WE) is considering selling the recently acquired businesses to help raise cash and cut costs after the IPO stumble, The Information reports. The businesses relate to office cleaning services, group meetings, and marketing services. Earlier this week, the publication reported that WeWork was looking to cut one-third of its workforce to reduce costs.
Go Deeper: Amazon, Time Warner vets become WeWork CEOs.
PG&E noteholders ready to invest $29.2B in reorg plan
A group of PG&E (NYSE:PCG) noteholders are prepared to put $29.2B into their reorganization plan for the company, according to a court filing. The plan would get them new debt and a controlling equity stake while providing for paying off insurers and victims of the 2017-2018 wildfires that bankrupted the company. It's got support from the victims, but the company has its own plan.
Go Deeper: PG&E formalizes deal to resolve wildfire claims.
Italy pushing Delta toward bigger Alitalia stake
Italy's government is pressing Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) to take a stake in failed carrier Alitalia that could exceed 15%, vs. current plans for Delta to buy in at 10%, according to a newspaper report. But that's one of a few factors up for debate in the current approach, among companies involved in the rescue. Delta could agree to the bigger stake if it sees more weight on the board or top management changes.
Ericsson makes $1.2B provision to settle SEC, DOJ probes
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) plans a provision of 12B Swedish kronor in Q3 for investigations by the SEC and Justice Dept. over compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It's estimating $1B in combined monetary sanctions, along with costs to resolve the probes.
What else is happening...
WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC), Mobile Mini (NASDAQ:MINI) rise on report of buyout offer.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) steers away from arbitration in Thai energy dispute.
Vaping trade association sues NY over flavored product ban.
Cactus II crude pipeline rates OK'd by FERC.
BAE Systems (OTCPK:BAESY) wins $2.7B U.S. defense contract.
In Asia, Japan +0.13%. Hong Kong +0.37%. China -0.89%. India +1.03%.
In Europe, at midday, London +1.20%. Paris +0.70%. Frankfurt +0.42%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.21%. S&P +0.18%. Nasdaq +0.12%. Crude +0.21% to $56.61. Gold +0.15% to $1,514.50. Bitcoin -0.11% to $8,445.60.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -2.8bps to 1.704%.
Today's Economic Calendar
8:30 GDP Q2
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 International Trade in Goods
8:30 Retail Inventories (Advance)
8:30 Wholesale Inventories (Advance)
8:30 Corporate profits
9:30 Fed's Kaplan Speech
10:00 Fed's Bullard: “Banking and the Economy: A Forum for Minorities in Banking”
10:00 Pending Home Sales
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
11:00 Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey
11:45 Fed's Daly Speech
11:45 Fed's Clarida Speech
1:00 PM Results of $32B, 7-Year Note Auction
2:00 PM Fed's Kashkari Speech
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet