Wednesday Morning Reads

On the rise

DJIA futures are ahead by 123 points, with stronger-than-expected earnings from Micron pushing Nasdaq futures up 0.8%, as positive trade comments from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin added to gains (see below). It followed a series of Fed comments on Tuesday that trimmed hopes of a big July rate cut and weighed down the Wall Street benchmarks. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is "insulated from short-term political pressures", while St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, the most dovish of the FOMC's voting members, declared that a 50 basis point rate cut in July would likely be "overdone" given the underlying strength of the U.S. economy.

90% complete

"We were about 90% of the way there (with a trade deal with China) and I think there’s a path to complete this," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC, ahead of a big G20 meeting between President Xi and President Trump. He's also hopeful an agreement could be struck by the end of the year but said "there needs to be the right efforts in place." The outcome could be pivotal for financial markets that have been rattled by 18 months of trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

'Do or die' Brexit

Boris Johnson has toughened his Brexit rhetoric with a "do or die" pledge to leave the European Union on Oct. 31. He then said he would scrap Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement and seek a completely new deal before then, as minor changes would not satisfy him. Not only has the EU said it will not reopen the withdrawal agreement, but the timetable would be extremely tight as parliament is in recess over the summer. Sterling -0.2% to $1.2673.

eBay takes on Prime Day

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) has announced plans to hold a "Crash Sale" on July 15 to compete with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime Day, which will offer discounts of up to 80% on a variety of products. But unlike Amazon's 48-hour event, eBay is planning weeks of deals, culminating with its Crash Sale. "If history repeats itself and Amazon crashes that day, eBay's wave of can't-miss deals on some of the season's top items will excite customers around the world," the online auction site wrote in its announcement.

Will Tesla pull off delivery goal?

"There is a lot of speculation regarding our vehicle deliveries this quarter," Elon Musk told employees in an email. "The reality is that we are on track to set an all-time record, but it will be very close. However, if we go all out, we can definitely do it!" Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has forecast it will deliver 90,000 to 100,000 cars in Q2 after handing over just 63,000 vehicles to customers in the first three months of the year. Shares have slumped 34% YTD, in part due to demand concerns that Musk has repeatedly downplayed.

Next stop, $13K

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices are partying like it's 2017 amid the recent enthusiasm stoked by Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) foray into the world of cryptocurrencies. Advancing for eight trading sessions in a row, Bitcoin jumped as much as 14% overnight to nearly $13,000, bringing its overall return for the year to 250%. Also notable is the fact that the cryptocurrency crossed above 60% market dominance for the first time in over 17 months.

Autonomous Apple

Drive.ai, a self-driving startup that was once valued at $200M, has been scooped up by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), as well as dozens of its engineers. The deal and hires confirm that Apple hasn't given up its autonomous driving project, called Project Titan, which has gone through its own struggles. Drive.ai talked with multiple possible acquirers but only Apple was left as a possible suitor. The startup also ceased operations in the past two weeks.

Expensive Botox treatment

The big healthcare news yesterday was AbbVie's (NYSE:ABBV) $63B deal for Allergan (NYSE:AGN), with the two drugmakers betting a combination will deliver new sources of growth. Buying Allergan would result in a major position in the $8B+ market for Botox and other beauty drugs, as well as a number of popular eye treatments, as AbbVie braces for the end of patent protection for the world's top-selling drug, Humira. The takeover, worth $188.24 a share in cash and stock, saw AbbVie's stock sink 16%, while shares of Allergan soared 25% on the news.

What else is happening...

'Are Institutions Selling Into This Rally?' asks contributor Chris Ciovacco.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) to lose No. 1 show 'The Office' to Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in 2021.

737 MAX pilot sues Boeing (NYSE:BA) for career damage, emotional stress.

Facebook (FB) to give France ID on users suspected of hate speech.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) aims to list minority stake in Japan unit Seiyu.

Chicken producers on watch as price-fixing case gets more serious.

Kinder Morgan's (NYSE:KMI) Permian Highway pipeline cleared by Texas judge.

Wayfair (NYSE:W) hit by protest over beds sale to border detention camp.