News You Can Use From Phil’s Stock World

Financial Markets and Economy

Top Story: On health reform, Donald Trump followed Republican leaders into a ditch (Andrew Prokop, Vox)

The cancellation of the planned House vote on the American Health Care Act Friday is a devastating defeat for President Trump, marking the first major legislative setback of his administration.

Yet in some ways, it might also come as a relief to him — because the Republican health bill, crafted mainly by Speaker Paul Ryan, was hideously unpopular, violated many of Trump’s campaign promises, and would have caused a whole lot of pain to a whole lot of voters if it were ever enacted.

All drill, no frack: U.S. shale leaves thousands of wells unfinished (Reuters)

U.S. shale producers are drilling at the highest rate in 18 months but have left a record number of wells unfinished in the largest oilfield in the country – a sign that output may not rise as swiftly as drilling activity would indicate.

The Daily Prophet: Stock Market Suffers Bout of Bad Breadth (Bloomberg)

After yesterday's white-knuckle ride in stocks, investors spent much of today trying to make sense of what was the biggest drop in U.S. stocks since October.

Pakistan Holds Key Rate as Inflation Surges to Two-Year High (Bloomberg)

Pakistan’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the fifth straight meeting, unfazed as inflation rises at the fastest pace in almost two years.

Misconduct rife in derivatives – ex-CFTC enforcement chief (Reuters)

A "massive amount of misconduct" in futures, options and swaps markets goes undetected because of insufficient data mining, Aitan Goelman, who until last month was enforcement chief for the top U.S. derivatives regulator, said in an interview.

The Controversial Chinese Economist Uncovering Tough Truths (Bloomberg)

Economist Gan Li and his researchers at Chengdu’s Southwestern University of Finance and Economics are gearing up for their national survey of Chinese households, which begins in early July.

History Is No Help When Handicapping the Bond Market (Bloomberg)

Markets are never perfect in their predictive abilities but they tend to be forward-looking in how they trade to anticipate what will happen next. Take last week's interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve, its third since December 2015, and the bond market.

Inside Alabama’s Auto Jobs Boom: Cheap Wages, Little Training, Crushed Limbs (Bloomberg)

Regina Elsea was a year old in 1997 when the first vehicle rolled off the Mercedes-Benz assembly line near Tuscaloosa. That gleaming M-Class SUV was historic. Alabama, the nation’s fifth-poorest state, had wagered a quarter-billion dollars in tax breaks and other public giveaways to land the first major Mercedes factory outside Germany.

Why a healthcare bill failure won't kill the Trump rally (Yahoo Finance)

The House of Representatives is set to vote on the American Health Care Act later Friday afternoon. As of late morning, it appeared that the GOP did not have the votes needed to pass the bill.

Why Big Insurance Adores the American Health Care Act (Moyers & Company)

There’s been a lot of talk about just who was hurt and helped by Obamacare and who will profit or be imperiled by the next phase of health care legislation. Yet health insurance executives have been curiously silent about the House GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The Supreme Court could fundamentally change America's broken patent system (Yahoo Finance)

It was more than a decade ago that The New York Times exposed an anomaly that lawyers had been whispering about for some time. The sleepy, rural East Texas town of Marshall, Texas—“the self-proclaimed Pottery Capital of the World and home to the annual Fire Ant Festival”—had somehow become the nation’s hottest venue for filing high-tech patent suits.

Drucker: Six Rules for Presidents (Ritholtz)

Peter Drucker is considered the founder of modern management; he is one of the best-known and most widely influential thinkers and writers on the subject of its theory and practice.

Scraping By On $500,000 A Year: Why It’s So Hard For High Income Earners To Escape The Rat Race (Financial Samurai)

I’ve highlighted in a previous article how living off $200,000 a year in an expensive city is really just an average lifestyle. In this article, I’ll discuss how one couple is living paycheck to paycheck while making a combined $500,000 a year.

Stock investors will be asking ‘where’s the beef?’ as Trump suffers a setback (Market Watch)

The stock market will face its moment of truth next week as euphoria over President Donald Trump’s lofty agenda to “make America great again” collides with the realities of U.S. politics.

Companies

China's Zhonghong Zhuoye to buy Blackstone's stake in SeaWorld (Reuters)

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (SEAS.N) said China's Zhonghong Zhuoye Group Co Ltd would buy Blackstone Group LP's (BX.N) stake in the embattled U.S.-based marine park operator, sending SeaWorld's shares up 10 percent in morning trading on Friday.

PwC settles with MF Global over Corzine brokerage's collapse (Reuters)

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has settled a $3 billion negligence lawsuit over the October 2011 collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd, the futures and commodities brokerage once run by former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine.

Theranos Offers Shares for Promise Not to Sue (The Wall Street Journal)

Theranos Inc. plans to give additional shares to investors who pledge not to sue the battered blood-testing company or Elizabeth Holmes, its founder and chief executive, people familiar with the matter said.

Credit Suisse Increases Bonus Pool 6%, CEO Thiam Gets $12 Million (Bloomberg)

Credit Suisse Group AG increased its bonus pool 6 percent, defying a trend toward smaller payouts at many of its peers in an effort to prevent an exodus of talent from its investment banking and Asian operations.

Reliance Industries Barred From Trading Futures for a Year (Bloomberg)

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. has been barred from trading futures and options on India’s equity markets for a year after being found guilty of fraudulent activity by the market regulator.

Technology

Microsoft-Probe Blunder Said to Haunt EU as Google Risks Fines (Bloomberg)

The European Union is seeking to draft “future-proof” solutions for how Google might change its shopping search service according to people familiar with the probe into the search-engine giant.

Twitter explores subscription-based option for first time (Reuters)

Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is considering whether to build a premium version of its popular Tweetdeck interface aimed at professionals, the company said on Thursday, raising the possibility that it could collect subscription fees from some users for the first time.

Inside Amazon’s Battle to Break Into the $800 Billion Grocery Market (Bloomberg)

“Very wasteful” isn’t a phrase usually associated with Amazon.com Inc., which is so cost-conscious it once removed the light bulbs from its cafeteria’s vending machines. But after spending several months analyzing the online retailer’s grocery-shipping hubs back in 2014, that’s exactly how a mechanical engineering student described its approach to selling bananas.

Politics

Trump Says If Vote on Health-Care Bill Fails, Obamacare Stays (The Wall Street Journal)

Republicans prepared to take a high-stakes gamble Friday, when they are expected to bring to the House floor—at President Donald Trump’s urging—a GOP bill to replace the Affordable Care Act without knowing whether the vote will produce a victory or an embarrassing defeat.

GOP Leaders Not Confident They Have Votes to Pass Health Bill (Bloomberg)

House GOP leaders aren’t confident they have enough votes to pass their embattled health-care bill, according to a senior congressional aide, and are already considering what to do if the measure is blocked before a do-or-die vote hours away.

The CBO score for the updated version of 'Trumpcare' is out, and it's even worse than the original (Business Insider)

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its revised estimate for the Republican healthcare bill on Thursday, and it could put House GOP leaders on even worse footing than the office's original assessment.

Juncker Puts Price on Brexit as Italy Offers Early Trade Talks (Bloomberg)

The U.K. will have to pay a bill of about 50 billion pounds ($62 billion) when it leaves the European Union, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned as Britain prepares to trigger the start of Brexit negotiations.

President Trump's Interview With TIME on Truth and Falsehoods (TIME)

President Trump spoke with TIME Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer on March 22 for a cover story about the way he has handled truth and falsehood in his career.

Trump tastes failure as U.S. House healthcare bill collapses (Reuters)

President Donald Trump suffered a stunning political setback on Friday in a Congress controlled by his own party when Republican leaders pulled legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, a major 2016 election campaign promise of the president and his allies.

Britain to fire starting gun on Brexit talks (Reuters)

The nine-month Brexit "phoney war" is set to come to an end next week when British Prime Minister Theresa May notifies the European Union of Britain's intention to leave, starting two years of unprecedented negotiations.

House Intelligence Committee Clash Over Nunes Clouds Future of Probe (The Wall Street Journal)

A rift between Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee is casting doubt on the future of the politically sensitive congressional probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, with Democrats pressuring congressional leadership to replace Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R., Calif.).

Greece to support Rome EU declaration, but wants backing on labor reforms (Reuters)

Greece will support a declaration marking the European Union's 60th birthday but needs the bloc's backing against International Monetary Fund demands on labor reforms, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said ahead of an EU Summit in Rome.

Washington talks end without agreement on Israeli settlements (Reuters)

The Trump administration reiterated its concerns about Israeli settlement activity, the two sides said on Thursday, as a round of talks ended without agreement over limiting future construction on land the Palestinians want for a state.

Putin hosts French presidential contender Le Pen in Kremlin (Reuters)

President Vladimir Putin granted an audience to French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen in the Kremlin on Friday, bestowing a level of international recognition that has so far eluded her in the countdown to France's presidential election.

Obamacare repeal could cost the poor a third of their income (CNN)

The poorest American families could lose federal benefits worth a third of their income, on average, if the House Republican health care bill becomes law, according to a new report.

BOJ chief Kuroda says 'no reason' to withdraw stimulus now (Reuters)

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said there is "no reason" to raise the bank's bond yield targets now with inflation so far from its 2 percent target, offering his strongest denial to date of the chance of withdrawing its massive stimulus any time soon.

The Senate just voted to undo landmark rules covering your Internet privacy (The Washington Post)

Senate lawmakers voted Thursday to repeal a historic set of rules aimed at protecting consumers' online data from their own Internet providers, in a move that could make it easier for broadband companies to sell and share their customers' usage information for advertising purposes.

Facebook or health care: Your choice (Mashable)

My therapist used words like "depression" and "anxiety." Maybe some people take comfort in it. I didn't. I met those labels face-to-face, for the first time, and no weight lifted from my shoulders. But it was a start.

Mubarak, Egypt's toppled Pharaoh, is free after final charges dropped (Reuters)

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president overthrown in 2011 and the first leader to face trial after the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the region, was freed on Friday after six years in detention, his lawyer said.

Health and Biotech

New Lung Cancer Drug From AstraZeneca is Approved in China (Bloomberg)

AstraZeneca Plc said it had a key lung cancer drug approved in China, opening up a new market for the therapy and allowing U.K.’s second-biggest drugmaker to reach thousands of new patients in country where the disease is surging.

Life on the Home Planet

FBI Agents Posed As Filmmakers To Interview Armed Militia In A Dramatic Standoff (BuzzFeed News)

FBI agents posed as documentary filmmakers to talk to militia members during an armed standoff in the Nevada desert, then used the recorded interviews against two men now on trial in federal court.

Iraqi forces pause Mosul push over concern for civilian casualties (Reuters)

Iraqi government forces paused in their push to recapture western Mosul from Islamic State militants on Saturday because of the high rate of civilian casualties, a security forces spokesman said.

Scientists Create a New Kind of Liquid That Can Push Itself Along a Flat Surface (Science Alert)

A new kind of material that is in early development requires neither, instead relying on a squirming skeleton of microscopic fibres to move it in a direction, opening the way for a class of fluid capable of worming itself through a channel.