Financial Markets and Economy
U.S. Stocks Climb, Led by Banks, Industrial Shares; Bonds Weaken (Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks climbed as investors assessed the latest numbers on fourth-quarter growth and consumer spending, while two policy makers said the Federal Reserve may have to raise rates more than currently forecast.
Dollar Rises to Two-Week High as U.S. Data Buoy Economic Outlook (Bloomberg)
The dollar climbed to a two-week high against the euro after U.S. data showed gains in personal consumption and corporate profits.
Fed's Dudley Says Fiscal Stimulus Outlook Shifts Risks to Upside (Bloomberg)
U.S. government policy may further boost the economy and eventually add fuel an inflation rate that is already approaching the central bank’s official target, said Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley.
Asian markets quietly cap mostly positive first quarter (Market Watch)
Asian stocks began the last day of the quarter Friday little changed, after what has broadly been a strong start to 2017 for equities in the region amid worries over the global effect of issues such as potential U.S. protectionism.
Asia Stocks Climb on Final Day of Stellar Quarter: Markets Wrap (Bloomberg)
Most Asian stocks climbed as a regional index headed toward the biggest quarterly advance in five years amid signs of strength in the global economy. The dollar held gains and oil remained above $50 a barrel.
China Watchers Tone Down Stock Calls After Monetary Tightening (Bloomberg)
China’s stock market will see limited gains in the next three months, with tightening onshore liquidity the main hurdle, according to analysts.
Russia Inc. Finds a Currency to Believe In as Investment Beckons (Bloomberg)
From President Vladimir Putin all the way down to makers of insulation and power generators, Russia believes it may have the antidote to years of slumping investment.
US apartment occupancy slipped to 94.5% in the first quarter from 95.1% last fall, according to the apartment-data provider Axiometrics. Properties completed in late 2016 and 2017 are "scrambling" to find their initial residents, especially in the luxury market, the firm said in a report Thursday.
Japan Inflation Registers First Back-to-Back Rise Since 2015 (Bloomberg)
Japan’s core consumer prices rose slightly for a second month in February, while the jobless rate dropped to the lowest level since 1994.
March Auto Sales On The Rise; Trucks Lead The Way (Forbes)
March U.S. auto sales are expected to approach a record for the month, and account for the first year-over-year increase in monthly sales so far in 2017, forecasters said.
Read this before gifting your home to your kids (Market Watch)
When parents with adult children think about downsizing and take stock of their finances, they sometimes consider gifting their primary home to the children. But passing on the empty nest at the wrong time or for the wrong reasons can have financial consequences for both the parents and the children.
Inequality Isn’t Just Due to Market Forces — It’s Caused by Decisions the Boss Makes, Too (Harvard Business Review)
In 1980, Jim Baron, now a professor at the Yale School of Management, and William Bielby, now a professor at the University of Illinois, published a seminal article on firms and inequality.
China Manufacturing Gauge Climbs to Highest in Almost Five Years (Bloomberg)
China’s official factory gauge climbed to the highest in almost five years, the latest evidence of gathering momentum in the world’s second-largest economy.
In U.S. Restaurants, Bars And Food Trucks, 'Modern Slavery' Persists (NPR)
They come from places like Vietnam, China, Mexico and Guatemala, lured by promises of better-paying jobs and legal immigration. Instead, they're smuggled into the U.S., forced to work around the clock as bussers, wait staff and cooks, and housed in cramped living quarters.
Trump Closely Watching Troubled Nuclear Plants That Obama Funded (Bloomberg)
As Southern Co. opens a review of its troubled nuclear reactors following a bankruptcy filing by contractor Westinghouse Electric Co., the Trump administration has 8.3 billion reasons to be
Foreign Investors Are Dumping Japanese Bonds & Stocks At Almost Record Pace (Zero Hedge)
Foreigners selling Japanese assets has become very seasonal as liquidity needs appear critical at quarter-ends for much of the last three years.
Companies
Lululemon shares plummet after disappointing sales forecast (Reuters)
Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU.O) were set for their biggest one-day percentage loss in more than eight years on Thursday, after the Canadian yogawear apparel maker warned that first-quarter sales would fall.
Chase Had Ads on 400,000 Sites. Then on Just 5,000. Same Results. (NY Times)
As of a few weeks ago, advertisements for JPMorgan Chase were appearing on about 400,000 websites a month. It is the sort of eye-popping number that has become the norm these days for big companies that use automated tools to reach consumers online.
Sears: Why Insider Buying Isn’t All That (Barron's)
Sears is soaring today, and there is, thankfully, an obvious reason (I hate when there isn’t one). In this case, it’s the news that Bruce Berkowitz’s Fairholme Capital Management bought 286,000 shares of the stock from March 23 to March 27, following CEO Eddie Lampert’s purchase of more than 500,000 last week.
McDonald's to switch to fresh beef in its Quarter Pounders (USA Today)
Hoping to bring back diners who left in droves in search of tastier food, McDonald's announced Thursday that it will start making one of its signature hamburgers, the Quarter Pounder, with fresh beef patties.
Google's case against Uber just took an unexpected turn (Business Insider)
In an unexpected twist to the Uber vs Google case, lawyers for Anthony Levandowski, the star engineer at the center of the trade-secret dispute, have advised him to exercise his fifth amendment right to not incriminate himself in a criminal proceeding, according to a court transcript obtained by Business Insider.
Technology
We know more about that crash involving Uber’s self-driving car (The Washington Post)
New details about the collision last weekend involving one of Uber’s self-driving vehicles raise questions about how self-driving technology, which is still under development, will respond to roadway scenarios where human behavior and common driving practices may not always align with the letter of the law.
Tesla gives police motorcycle a little love tap while reportedly in autopilot mode (TNW)
Last week a Phoenix police motorcycle got a little tap from a Tesla while reportedly operating in autopilot, according to reports. The event happened days before Uber’s self-driving Volvo was involved in a rollover crash caused by another driver in Tempe, causing the company to put its self-driving efforts on hold in Arizona.
Verizon Said to Plan Online TV Package for Summer Launch (Bloomberg)
Verizon Communications Inc. has been securing streaming rights from television network owners in preparation for the nationwide launch of a live online TV service, according to people familiar with the matter.
Goodbye internet privacy, we hardly knew you (Mashable)
As President Donald J. Trump’s systematic dismantling of 21st century public policy continues, we pause a moment to mourn the death of a set of broadband interent privacy principals that will never see the light of day.
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Samsung’s biggest challenge now is Google software, not Apple hardware (The Verge)
It’s an occupational hazard among gadget geeks to fixate on new hardware, and yesterday’s introduction of the gorgeous Galaxy S8 by Samsung made that easier than ever. I could write for days about how pretty and pleasant that new handset is.
Get your internet off-contract with Comcast's prepaid Xfinity service (Engadget)
Following hot on the heels of Verizon's new prepaid FiOS plan, Comcast announced on Thursday that the company will offer a prepaid version of its own Xfinity internet.
Politics
Van Jones: Trump may have signed Earth's death warrant (CNN)
As usual, Donald Trump is completely upside down on the facts.
In 2015, President Barack Obama created the Clean Power Plan to slow climate disruption. It was the first action ever taken by the US government to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants.
A federal judge in Hawaii has extended a court order blocking President Trump’s travel ban. (NY Times)
A federal judge in Hawaii decided Wednesday to extend his order blocking President Trump’s travel ban. The judge, Derrick Watson of Federal District Court, issued the longer-lasting hold on the ban just hours after hearing arguments.
Gorsuch battle brings Senate to brink of a new low (Politico)
The Senate is careening toward a historic change to its filibuster rules that takes it one step closer to a version of the majority-rule House of Representatives.
But no one seems to care enough to save the Senate from itself.
After fearmongering about Ebola, Trump proposes slashing the agency working on a vaccine (Think Progress)
President Donald Trump spent the summer of 2014 tweeting obsessively about the deadly Ebola virus that ravaged several West African countries and advocating for a travel ban for people from that region (which scientists and health researchers said would only make the Ebola crisis worse).
An Obamacare replacement Republicans and Democrats can agree on. Really. (CNBC)
Since it will take 60 Senate votes, and the Republicans only have 52 seats, there is no way we can get to a solution to the Obamacare conundrum without a bipartisan compromise.
Trump and the GOP should face it: There's only one option left to fix health care (CNBC)
Now that the American Health Care Act has been yanked, after GOP leadership failed to rustle up enough votes to get it passed, it is clear that an Obamacare fix cannot be negotiated with hard-line Republican conservatives.
AP FACT CHECK: Spicer Says Case Closed On Russia. It's Not (Associated Press)
The question of collusion between Russian interests and Donald Trump's campaign is far from answered, despite repeated assertions by the president's spokesman that it's case closed.
Trump could blow up Obamacare with one move (Pollitico)
President Trump says that Obamacare is going to explode.
But if that happens, it is likely because his administration supplies the spark that detonates the marketplaces.
Health and Biotech
Largest Ever Brain Cancer Study Provides Key Insight Into One of Its Deadliest Forms (Science Alert)
As far as cancers go, one of the worst is a type of brain cancer called glioma – the disease has a five-year survival rate of just 5 percent, and no reliable method for early detection.
Life on the Home Planet
Fire Causes Interstate Overpass to Collapse in Atlanta (Associated Press)
A large fire has caused an overpass on Interstate 85 to collapse in Atlanta.
WSB-TV (http://2wsb.tv/2omVYDp) reports the massive blaze is burning underneath I-85 northbound near Piedmont Road. It has shut down several roads in northeast Atlanta.
Pentagon responds to criticism over civilian deaths in Mosul blast (Reuters)
The Pentagon on Thursday said it would soon release a video showing Islamic State militants herding civilians into a building in the Iraqi city of Mosul and then firing from it, the U.S. military's latest response to an outcry over a separate explosion thought to have killed scores of civilians.
Flying foxes are facing extinction on islands across the world (New Scientist)
The bats face a variety of threats, including deforestation and invasive species, but the main one is hunting by humans, says Christian Vincenot, an ecological modeller at Kyoto University in Japan, who highlights their plight in a perspective article in Science this week.
Terror threats transform China's Uighur heartland into security state (Reuters)
Three times a day, alarms ring out through the streets of China's ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar, and shopkeepers rush out of their stores swinging government-issued wooden clubs.
