Wednesday Morning Reads

Stocks

Facebook is requiring EU users to accept targeted ads as a condition for using its service, ahead of strict new privacy rules that take effect across the bloc next month. "Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is an advertising-supported service," Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman declared. "All ads on Facebook are targeted to some extent, and that’s true for offline advertising, as well."

Amazon has launched an international shopping feature that will allow customers across the world to shop more than 45M items that can be shipped to their country from the U.S. It will display pricing, shipping costs and import duty estimates, with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) managing courier service and customs clearance in case of potential surprises at the time of purchase or delivery.

All company-owned Starbucks stores nationwide, a total of 8,000 cafes, will be closed in the afternoon of May 29 for employee racial-bias training. The move follows protests and calls for boycotts after the arrest of two black men waiting in a Philadelphia store. "The company's founding values are based on humanity and inclusion," said Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) executive chairman Howard Schultz.

Marking its latest step in becoming a power player, Total (NYSE:TOT) is paying €1.4B for a majority stake in electricity provider Direct Energie (OTC:PWOPY). The move represents a strategic shift among oil majors, grappling with how to manage a long-term shift away from fossil fuels and the more immediate pressure of finding a market for renewable power.

Top shareholder duo Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason are at it again with Xerox (NYSE:XRX), suggesting the removal of current management and monetizing the company’s "untapped" intellectual property as opposed to a planned merger with Fujifilm (OTCPK:FUJIY). Xerox said the proposal was repeating "prior misleading statements" and "failed to provide a credible or actionable alternative to create value for shareholders."

Carl Icahn has also reportedly taken a "medium"-sized stake in VMware (NYSE:VMW), but it's below the 5% threshold that mandates public disclosure. That move could set up Icahn to face off with Michael Dell yet again. Dell is considering a reverse-merger with VMware, where the firm and its tracker stock, DVMT, would be rolled into one publicly-traded company.

Amid a growing shortage that has spared the U.S., Canada is working with the FDA to access supplies of Mylan's (NASDAQ:MYL) EpiPen. The allergy antidote is made at a single Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) unit near St. Louis, Missouri, but it has been recently hit by manufacturing problems. According to Health Canada, four companies have authorization to sell epinephrine auto-injectors, but none are currently marketing them in the country.

There's a new way to invest in electric and autonomous vehicles. The Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF (NASDAQ:DRIV) is being introduced to track the Solactive Autonomous & Electric Vehicles Index. The list of companies includes those in the development of autonomous vehicle software and hardware, as well as companies that produce EVs.

Nearly 5,000 JetBlue flight attendants have voted to join the Transport Workers Union of America, an outcome the airline said was disappointing "because we believe the direct relationship is superior to third-party representation." Adding another collective bargaining unit raises the prospect of higher costs (pilots unionized in 2014) as Jetblue (NASDAQ:JBLU) negotiates pay rates and less flexible work rules.

European regulators this month began requiring an inspection by early 2019 of the type of engine that blew apart on a Southwest (NYSE:LUV) flight on Tuesday. The CFM56 is produced by CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric (NYSE:GE) and France's Safran (OTCPK:SAFRY). Shrapnel from the explosion shattered a window on the Boeing 737, sucking out one passenger, who later died of her injuries.

Concerned by a rise in near collisions by unmanned aircraft and commercial jets, the world's airlines are backing the development of a UN-led global registry for drones. The International Air Transport Association will also consider collaborating on the initiative with the International Civil Aviation Organization, which is formulating common rules for flying and tracking unmanned aircraft. Related stocks: AMBA, AVAV, DJI, HON, INVN, IXYS, TRMB