Financial Markets and Economy
S&P 500 Profit Generators Under Threat From Peak Inflation (Bloomberg)
The engine of the U.S. earnings recovery that’s underpinned stock gains this year is starting to sputter.
European Stock Investors Shrug at French Election Risk: Chart (Bloomberg)
In a departure from the selloffs that preceded the U.K. referendum last June and the U.S. election in November, European stocks are showing little investor concern in the run-up to the French presidential election.
Distressed-Debt Titans Take $1 Billion Beating From Texas Rebuff (Bloomberg)
The largest distressed-debt investors were hoping for closure and a big payday from the decade’s biggest U.S. bankruptcy. What they got instead was a $1 billion hole in their pocket.
Traders Are Losing Faith in European Banks as Earnings Loom (Bloomberg)
Riding on a wave of optimism over the economic and earnings outlook, an index of the region’s banks rallied to a 15-month high in March — before posting the second-biggest decline among industry groups this month.
5 charts show what the French presidential election means for financial markets (Market Watch)
Financial markets are jittery ahead of the closely watched first round of the French presidential election on Sunday and for good reason: Polls are still incredibly close, raising fears an euroskeptic candidate could end up in the presidential seat and spark months of market turmoil.
Euro-Area Recovery Broadens With Strongest Growth in Six Years (Bloomberg)
Euro-area economic momentum accelerated to its fastest pace in six years, with France unexpectedly outperforming Germany in a strong start to the the second quarter that suggests the recovery is broadening.
Bonds Slump in India as Hawkish RBI Minutes Fuel Rate-Hike Talk (Bloomberg)
Indian sovereign bonds slumped the most in Asia, with the 10-year yield rising to its highest level since September, as minutes of the central bank’s latest meeting signaled the possibility of an interest-rate hike.
This is what homeowners did with their savings on variable mortgage rates (Market Watch)
Getting an adjustable-rate mortgage can save homeowners money — but whether they actual put those funds to good use is another question.
Pound Falls After Retail Sales Drop, Paring Best Week This Year (Bloomberg)
The pound fell against the dollar, paring its biggest weekly gain this year, after data showed retail sales recorded their largest decline in seven years in the first quarter.
Oil Set for Biggest Weekly Loss Since Early March on U.S. Supply (Bloomberg)
Oil headed for its biggest weekly loss since early March as signals from OPEC that it will persevere with output cuts failed to offset evidence that U.S. supplies are plentiful.
Trouble’s brewing for the S&P 500, warns this arcane market phenomenon (Market Watch)
The stock market is cruising toward a weekly win, looking unfazed by the possibility of another shock-the-world vote over the weekend.
Asia Stocks Head for Best Week in Month, Helped by Commodities (Bloomberg)
Stocks gained across Asia, with a rebound in commodity producers helping send the MSCI Asia Pacific Index toward its best week in a month.
Europe Stocks Steady Before Sunday First-Round Vote in France (Bloomberg)
European shares were little changed, while France’s stock market dropped, in the final trading session before the nation’s presidential election on Sunday.
Dollar gains against euro ahead of French election; sags versus yen (Market Watch)
The dollar gained versus the euro and against most leading rivals on Friday ahead the first round on Sunday of a tight French presidential race that likely holds implications for the eurozone economy.
Goldman Sees China Reviving Metals Bogged Down by Global Angst (Bloomberg)
After a rough ride over the past month, metals could be on the verge of a recovery. And it’s thanks to China, according to Goldman Sachs.
The World's Advanced Economies Should Think Twice About Curbing Migration (Bloomberg)
It may have fallen out of political favor, but a world without migration looks bleak for advanced economies.
Stock market set for small opening gains on revived tax-cut hopes (Market Watch)
U.S. stocks were set for a slightly higher open on Friday, boosted by revived optimism over the timing of President Donald Trump’s plans for a tax overhaul, though investors remained cautious ahead of the closely watched presidential election in France.
U.S. stocks set for small opening gains as French election fears linger (Market Watch)
U.S. stocks were set for a slightly higher open on Friday, boosted by revived optimism over the timing of President Donald Trump’s plans for a tax overhaul, though investors remained cautious ahead of the closely watched presidential election in France.
Desperate Malls Turn to Concerts and Food Trucks (Bloomberg)
With customer traffic sagging, U.S. retail landlords are using their sprawling concrete lots to host events such as carnivals, concerts and food-truck festivals.
U.K. Retail Sales Drop in March as Inflation Hits Consumers (The Wall Street Journal)
Consumer spending has been a key engine of U.K. economic growth and signs that it is starting to stall comes at an awkward time for Prime Minister Theresa May, who this week called a surprise early general election for June 8.
Trump’s Trade War Will Make Y0our Dentist Visits Even Costlier (Bloomberg)
Implants, crowns and bridges made in places like China and Mexico compose as much as 40 percent of the $8.5 billion U.S. market for dental restorations.
Farmers Have a Beef With Trump and Big Meat (Bloomberg)
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it was delaying implementation of an Obama administration rule designed to give America’s farmers more leverage in their dealings with mammoth agriculture companies that control almost every aspect of their livelihoods, so-called Big Meat.
Companies
High-stakes vote on Wells Fargo board also tests proxy adviser ISS (Reuters)
A high-stakes shareholder vote at Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) next week will determine whether the bank has done enough to retain investor confidence after its phony-account scandal, and whether a leading proxy adviser wields enough clout to help oust most of its board.
Kate Spade’s Position Weakens as Handbag Retailer Explores Sale (Bloomberg)
The New York-based handbag maker put itself up for sale in February and has attracted interest from high-end rivals Coach Inc. and Michael Kors Holdings Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.
Technology
Apple probably wants to go all-out for its tenth anniversary iPhone when it arrives this autumn, packing the device with new features and a refreshed design. That might mean charging $1,000 in the US and £1,000 in the UK for a top-of-the-line device.
Instagram is starting to crack down on fake account activity (Business Insider)
Instagram is cracking down on fake account activity with the closing of Instagress, a popular third-party service that advertised itself as an automated way to "get real Instagram followers and become incredibly popular."
Snap buys key patent to secure the future of its geofilters (Engadget)
Mobli, an Israeli company, patented the idea of adding filters to photos based on your location back in 2012, way before Snap started using them. Now TechCrunch says the ephemeral messaging app has purchased that patent for $7.7 million in order to make sure it won't ever have an issue offering geofilters to its users.
Samsung’s Galaxy S8 is now on sale in the U.S., Canada and Korea with more launches to come (Tech Crunch)
If you’ve been holding out patiently for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, Samsung’s newest flagship devices, then your wait may soon be over after the phones went on sale in an initial four markets.
Apple releases a bit of code to let you put Live Photos on your sites (Tech Crunch)
Apple’s Live Photos are fun — they’ve definitely captured a few unexpected magical moments for me that standard stills would’ve missed. But for the most part, they live on your phone and stay within the confines of your apps.
Politics
Le Pen Calls for French Border Controls to Be Restored Now (Bloomberg)
French Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen called on President Francois Hollande to restore border controls immediately and to expel or detain all those suspected of being Islamic radicals.
Trump's Cybersecurity Review Misses Deadline (Associated Press)
After a receiving a U.S. intelligence assessment on Russian's interference in last year's elections, President Donald Trump vowed that he would have a team present him with a review of America's cybersecurity efforts within 90 days of taking office.
Trump To Sign Measures To Review Financial Regulation (Associated Press)
President Donald Trump is continuing to target a law meant to stop banks from growing "too big to fail."
The president will travel to the Treasury Department Friday to sign three measures.
Congressman Ted Lieu Trolls Donald Trump With ‘Bigly’ Crowd: ‘They Don’t Like You’ (The Huffington Post)
A Democratic lawmaker with a history of trolling President Donald Trump is at it again? this time taunting him with a pic of a crowd at a town hall event on Thursday night.
Trump administration may change rules that allow terror victims to immigrate to U.S. (Reuters)
When Raj, a Sri Lankan fisherman, sought refuge in the United States in 2005, he had precisely the kind of fear of returning home that U.S. asylum laws require.
Presidential Approval Ratings Are More Partisan Than Ever (The Huffington Post)
President Trump’s first-quarter approval ratings set a depressing new record. Forty percent of Americans say they doubt anything could change their minds about the president. And support for marijuana legalization is, well, higher than ever. This is HuffPollster for Friday, April 21, 2017.
Health and Biotech
Biotech M&A Falls Off as Trump Dashes Hopes of a New Pharma Boom (Bloomberg)
Pharmaceutical and biotech acquisitions totaled $44 billion last quarter, down 13 percent from a year earlier, and 35 percent below the first quarter of 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Life on the Home Planet
These Are the Best Undiscovered Beaches in the World (Bloomberg)
A certain type of New Yorker has complaints about the beaches in Tulum, Mexico, Saint Barth's, or Mykonos in Greece. “Why escape New York,” they ask,“just to be surrounded by New Yorkers?”
Paris terror suspect turns himself in to police (Business Insider)
The second suspect in the latest Paris terror attack has handed himself into Belgian police, AFP reports.
French authorities hunted the man in relation to the attack on the Champs-Elysees on Thursday night, during which one police officer was killed and two others were injured.
Quickest we could visit another star is 69 years – here’s how (New Scientist)
Of all the stars in the sky, you might assume the closest to the sun would be the easiest to visit. But this may not be the case.
René Heller at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen, Germany, says we could reach and orbit Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky, in just 69 years.
Paris gunman's criminal past in focus as police hunt second suspect (Reuters)
The man who shot dead a French policeman in an Islamist militant attack had served time for armed assaults on law enforcement officers, police sources said on Friday, as authorities sought a second suspect flagged by Belgian security services.
