News You Can Use From Phil’s Stock World

Financial Markets and Economy

Investors Start Doubting Oil Rally After Failure to Top $55 (Bloomberg)

The oil market’s failure to break out of the tightest range in more than a decade is sapping investor interest.

U.S. Oil Industry Becomes Refiner to the World as Exports Boom (Bloomberg)

When PBF Energy Inc. scooped up a refinery from Exxon Mobil Corp. on the Mississippi River in 2015, it wasted no time sprucing up the plant with an eye toward quickly resuming lucrative fuel exports.

Asian Stocks Gain as Metal Companies Rally on China Growth, Fed (Bloomberg)

Asian stocks gained, led by rally in energy and mining companies after China set an upbeat growth target for this year. Japan equities fell after North Korea fired four ballistic missiles early Monday that fell into the Sea of Japan.

European Stocks Decline as Deutsche Bank Leads Lenders Lower (Bloomberg)

European stocks fell in a broad decline, after capping their best weekly gain since December, as mining shares dropped with copper prices and Deutsche Bank AG helped drag lenders lower.

Cashing In on Global Threats Lures Investors to New Nordic Fund (Bloomberg)

There’s a new Nordic buyout fund that’s drawing in investors eager to make money by responding to demographic and climate-related threats.

China's Small-Cap Shares Climb After Li Keqiang's NPC Address (Bloomberg)

The ChiNext gauge climbed 1.8 percent at the close, led by automation companies including CSG Smart Science & Technology Co., after Premier Li Keqiang said the government will "actively develop" the measure.

European investors have not been so confident since just before the financial crisis (Business Insider)

European investors are more confident in the state of the continent's economy than at any time in the last 10 years, according to the survey from behavioral finance experts Sentix.

Most-Traded Indian Sovereign Bonds Drop as `Repo Squeeze' Eases (Bloomberg)

India’s most-traded bonds dropped on speculation a shortage of the securities in the repurchase market has eased, eliminating the need for investors to buy them from the secondary market.

French Bonds Decline as Juppe Stays Out of Presidential Race (Bloomberg)

French bonds dropped as former Prime Minister Alain Juppe said he won’t enter the race for the Presidency, reducing the chances of anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen being eliminated in the first round of voting.

One Chart Showing What Goldman Expects Trump to Accomplish This Year (Bloomberg)

Expectations that President Donald Trump will push through an investor-friendly fiscal stimulus package have helped boost equity markets to multiyear highs.

Everything the Market Thinks About Inflation Might Be Wrong (The Wall Street Journal)

No number is more important for investors right now than inflation. The belief that it will continue to rise underpins the recent rally in financial stocks and the slump in government bonds. It is key to commodities, currencies and more.

U.S. stock futures point to muted start for Wall Street as ‘selloff’ talk grows (Market Watch)

Stock futures pointed to a muted start for Wall Street on Monday, with appetite for equities slightly dented by geopolitical tensions involving North Korea and continued worries by some investors that equity indexes have risen too high, too fast.

Now there’s a way to invest and save democracy at the same time (Market Watch)

Thanks to millennials, socially responsible investing is now a big deal.

Investment funds dedicated to sustainable investing rose 33% during 2014-16 to $8.72 trillion, says the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment.

Dollar pulls back as geopolitics rattle the markets (Market Watch)

A cocktail of geopolitical risks is seen as sending investors searching for haven assets on Monday, pushing the dollar lower and boosting the yen.

Greece's economy performed even worse than expected at the end of 2016 (Business Insider)

Greece's economy performed much worse than forecast in the final quarter of 2016, according to the latest data from the country's statistical service Elstat.

Companies

Deutsche Bank Reunites Traders, Bankers in Latest Overhaul (Bloomberg)

One year after he split Deutsche Bank AG’s investment banking and trading units, John Cryan has put them back together with a familiar mandate: fewer clients and lower costs.

After Working With Tech Giants, Logitech Prepares to Fight Them (Bloomberg)

Since Bracken Darrell took over Logitech International SA four years ago, the company’s stock has quadrupled on robust sales of snazzy PC accessories that complement products by the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.

GM is selling its European business in $2.3 billion deal (CNN)

General Motors has reached a deal to sell its money-losing European operations to the French maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars.

GM exits Europe; Deutsche Bank wants $8.5B; Markets in the red (CNN)

GM exits Europe: General Motors (GM) has reached a deal to sell its money-losing European operations to the French maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars.

Rise of Amazon leaves even more retailers in intensive care (CNN)

The number of distressed U.S. retailers has tripled since the Great Recession and now stands at the highest level since the end of the downturn, according to a recent Moody's Investors Service report.

Technology

Verizon’s Unlimited Data Offer Puts Its Reputation for Reliability at Risk (Bloomberg)

By offering customers unlimited data, Verizon Communications Inc. is putting at risk the one thing that made it America’s wireless king: Its network.

Here is when you can expect the iPhone 8 to be released (Business Insider)

The iPhone 8 is expected to launch this September, assuming Apple fixes its supply chain production delays.

Amazon Alexa now supports Office 365 Calendar (Tech Crunch)

Amazon’s connected speakers and other Alexa-powered devices now work with Office 365 calendars, Amazon announced this morning. The addition is one of several in recent weeks that sees Alexa becoming a device that can help you with work, instead of just music, entertainment and controlling your smart home.

The website giving people with disabilities a strong consumer voice (Mashable Asia)

Sites like Yelp give us options when it comes to the restaurants we visit or the doctors we see, but that choice hasn't been equally shared.

Uber Has Been Evading, Targeting Officials With Fake Version Of The App (Forbes)

Amid a range of recent revelations, it came to light that the world's most famous ride-hail platform has been successfully avoiding undercover regulators with very sophisticated means, also known as "Greyballing."

Robot Enters Record Books For lightning Quick Rubik's Cube Solution (Digital Trends)

The lightning-quick Sub1 Reloaded robot, which was built by engineer Albert Beer using technology from German chipmaker Infineon, completed the Cube in a mere 0.637 seconds at an event toward the end of last year. Guinness World Records has now reviewed all the available evidence and over the weekend officially recognized it as a new record.

Yelp blames Google for its failed international business (Business Insider)

Yelp made the surprising decision last fall to shutter its international operations and focus on North America. Over the course of 12 years, the company had made astonishingly little progress growing its overseas business.

Brave's ad-blocking browser now syncs between computers (Engadget)

Brave's web browser may stand out through its emphasis on blocking and swapping ads, but its team still has a while to go before it nails some of the features you take for granted.

Microsoft and Steelcase envision the perfect Surface office (Engadget)

With the Surface Book, Surface Studio and other products, Microsoft has managed to attract graphics pros, designers and engineers, many used to working with Apple products.

Politics

Russian Hackers Said to Seek Hush Money From Liberal U.S. Groups (Bloomberg)

Russian hackers are targeting U.S. progressive groups in a new wave of attacks, scouring the organizations’ emails for embarrassing details and attempting to extract hush money, according to two people familiar with probes being conducted by the FBI and private security firms.

How Republicans and Democrats Can Both Keep Their Promises on Health Care (TIME)

Republicans who want to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) emphasize the importance of patient choice and market efficiency. Democrats opposing repeal focus on the need to protect the most vulnerable.

FBI director challenges Trump claims over Obama wiretapping – reports (The Guardian)

James Comey, the director of the FBI, has reportedly asked the US justice department to publicly reject claims made by Donald Trump that Barack Obamaordered his phones to be tapped during the 2016 election campaign.

President Trump’s Friend Says ‘I Haven’t Seen Him This Pissed Off in a Long Time’ (Fortune)

A longtime friend of Donald Trump says he hasn't seen the President as angry as he was when he talked to him about Trump's unsubstantiated and widely disputed allegations that former President Barack Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 election.

Prosecutor Pushes for Indictment of South Korean President in Samsung Scandal (NY Times)

A special prosecutor in South Korea asked state prosecutors on Monday to indict President Park Geun-hye on bribery charges, saying that Ms. Park and her secretive confidante conspired to take $38 million in bribes from Samsung, one of the world’s largest technology companies.

Trump to leave Iraq off new travel ban order: White House source (Reuters)

President Donald Trump will remove Iraq from a list of countries targeted in a U.S. travel ban when he is expected to sign a new executive order on Monday after his controversial first attempt was blocked in the courts, a White House source said.

White House spokeswoman: Trump doesn't believe Comey that Obama didn't wiretap (Politico)

President Donald Trump does not accept an assertion from FBI Director James Comey that former President Barack Obama did not order an illegal wiretap of Trump Tower during last year’s presidential campaign, a White House spokeswoman said Monday.

Poll: Majority support special prosecutor to investigate alleged Trump-Russia ties (Politico)

Despite claims from the White House that no such ties exist, 65 percent of respondents to a new CNN/ORC poll released Monday morning said the investigation into connections between President Donald Trump and the Russian government should be handled by a special prosecutor.

David Letterman Says Donald Trump ‘Can Lie About Anything’ (The Huffington Post)

David Letterman may have left late-night television, but he didn’t retire his opinions.

The former host took on President Donald Trump in an interview with Vulture that was posted Sunday.

Congressman Apologizes To Kellyanne Conway For ‘Couchgate’ Joke (The Huffington Post)

ep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) has apologized to Kellyanne Conway for making a joke about her that was criticized for being crude and sexually suggestive.