Financial Markets and Economy
Dollar slides on Trump concern, but stocks rise (Reuters)
The U.S. dollar fell on Friday and was set to close its worst week in more than a year, with losses steepening after reports an investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign now include a person close to the President.
Stocks End Week on Positive Note (The Wall Street Journal)
U.S. stocks rebounded Friday, gaining back much of their midweek tumble.
The calm climb in recent sessions contrasted sharply with earlier in the week, when the S&P 500 posted its steepest one-day drop since September.
Saudi-U.S. Ties Shift as Kingdom Turns to Trump for Investments (Bloomberg)
Just a few years back, the business relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia was pretty simple: The Americans bought oil, and the Saudis spent much of what they earned on equipment to keep the crude flowing and on planes, tanks, and missiles to protect their borders.
Oil at one-month high, supply-cut extension expected (Reuters)
Brent crude LCOc1 settled up $1.10, or 2.1 percent, at $53.61, the highest settlement for the international benchmark since April 18. U.S. benchmark crude oil CLc1 rose 98 cents to $50.33, the highest close since April 19.
As Allegations Swirl Around SoftBank, It Calls Them ‘Sabotage’ (The Wall Street Journal)
A contentious back-and-forth between SoftBank Group Corp. and attorneys who say they represent anonymous, disgruntled shareholders is riling the Japanese telecommunications titan.
Wall Street's Risky and Complex Loan Deals Are a Hit in Asia (Bloomberg)
Asia’s yield-hungry investors have a lot riding on the financial engineers of Wall Street.
Faced with near record-low interest rates at home, money managers in Korea, Japan and China have been piling into complex and increasingly risky structured loan products in America.
BofA opens debate on lowering mortgage down payments (Reuters)
The head of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), the United State's fourth-biggest mortgage lender, said on Thursday banks would be able to supply a bigger share of funding for home purchases if the standard down payment for buyers was cut to 10 percent from 20 percent.
The Giddy Messages Citi Traders Sent While Lehman Died (Bloomberg)
As U.S. officials and bank executives scrambled to save the global financial system after Lehman Brothers’s bankruptcy in the fall of 2008, Citigroup Inc. traders were doing what traders always try to do.
Stock market set for showdown between bulls and bears (Market Watch)
In a landscape devoid of blockbuster earnings and policy catalysts, the stock market is likely to remain vulnerable to political uncertainty, setting the stage for another round of skirmish between the bulls and the bears.
Full tanks and tankers: a stubborn oil glut despite OPEC cuts (Reuters)
After the first OPEC oil production cut in eight years took effect in January, oil traders from Houston to Singapore started emptying millions of barrels of crude from storage tanks.
OPEC Keeps Focus on Shale Threat as Officials Meet in Vienna (Bloomberg)
OPEC officials gathering in Vienna on Friday to prepare for next week’s ministerial meeting kept their focus on rising U.S. shale oil production, which has been diluting the price impact of their production cuts.
GOLDMAN SACHS: Traders fear these 15 nightmare stocks (Business Insider)
The US stock market may be fresh off its most boring stretch in more than five decades, but there are still stocks that give investors nightmares.
China issues draft rules cleaning up property sales and rental market (Reuters)
China issued a draft of new rules for property sales and leasing on Friday to improve management and operation in a part of the services sector that is often poorly regulated.
Companies
Uber Threatens to Fire Self-Driving Car Executive (The Wall Street Journal)
Uber Technologies Inc. has threatened to fire Anthony Levandowski, the top driverless-car engineer at the center of its legal battle with Google parent Alphabet Inc., if he doesn’t comply with a court order to turn over any files that he might have.
Technology
Drone Users No Longer Have To Register With FAA, But That May Change (Digital Trends)
Drone hobbyists are no longer required to register with the Federal Aviation Administration thanks to a Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals ruling delivered on Friday. The ruling affirms a lower court ruling in 2016 that found the policy in violation of a preexisting law banning regulation of model aircraft.
Mind-Controlled Exoskeletons Could Let Quadriplegic Walk Again (Digital Trends)
A new device could let paralyzed people control exoskeletons with their thoughts. Developed by researchers at the University of Melbourne, the device plugs directly into the brain without doctors having to perform surgery on the skull.
Apple blames third-party batteries for exploding Beats headphones (Engadget)
Apple has refused to compensate an Australian woman who woke up on a flight to the sound of her Beats headphones exploding in her face.
Google has a new way to call out poorly made Android apps (Engadget)
Google's plan to improve the Android experience involves more than just tweaking the operating system. It also requires developers to up the quality of their work, and now Google has a new way to warn app creators whose work isn't up to snuff.
French researchers find way to unlock WannaCry without ransom (Reuters)
French researchers said on Friday they had found a last-chance way for technicians to save Windows files encrypted by WannaCry, racing against a deadline as the ransomware threatens to start locking up victims' computers first infected a week ago.
Ford adds Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to cars using over-the-air updates (Venture Beat)
Ford Motor Co said on Friday it would delve into the growing arena of “over-the-air” software updates, adding Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to its Sync 3-equipped 2016 vehicles for the first time via a wireless software update.
Politics
Russia Probe Heats Up as Trump Tries to Limit Damage (The Wall Street Journal)
President Donald Trump said Thursday that an investigation of his campaign’s possible ties to Russia is a “witch hunt” and should be quickly brought to a close, but the appointment of a special counsel and recent grand jury subpoenas suggest a federal criminal probe is expanding to include other suspicious activity and countries.
Iranians demanding change deliver emphatic victory for Rouhani (Reuters)
Iranians yearning for more freedom at home and less isolation abroad have emphatically re-elected President Hassan Rouhani, throwing down a challenge to the conservative clergy that still holds ultimate sway.
Iran’s Presidential Election Exposes Family Divides (The Wall Street Journal)
When Laila Esmaeili and her brother, Hasan, get together every week at their father’s apartment in southern Tehran, the political discussions can get heated.
Trump Heads Abroad With Unwanted Baggage of Troubles at Home (Bloomberg)
Donald Trump departed Friday for his first foreign trip as president with his White House engulfed in crisis and little prospect for a break from the drama disrupting his agenda.
‘People Here Think Trump Is a Laughingstock’ (Politico)
Those were just a few of the comments I heard in Berlin this week from senior European officials trying to make sense of the meltdown in Washington at just the moment when a politically imploding President Trump embarks on what he called “my big foreign trip” in this morning’s kickoff tweet.
Chaffetz Will Resign, Raising Doubts About Trump Probe (Associated Press)
Rep. Jason Chaffetz announced Thursday he will resign from Congress next month, saying a "mid-life crisis" had compelled him to step away from his chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee just as it is poised to investigate President Donald Trump's firing of the FBI director.
Chaos Engulfing Trump Stirs Anxiety in Russia Over U.S. Ties (Bloomberg)
The Kremlin’s growing increasingly unhappy at being in the center of U.S. political storms that threaten to knock President Donald Trump off course.
Comey agrees to testify in a public session at the Senate Intelligence Committee (Politico)
Former FBI Director James Comey will get to tell his side of the story behind his abrupt firing last week, agreeing to testify in a public session at the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump Travels to Saudi Arabia to Strengthen Ties With Muslim World (The Wall Street Journal)
President Donald Trump, who has frequently aired views hostile to Islam, is traveling to the religion’s cradle in a trip intended to shore up his ties with the Muslim world.
Life on the Home Planet
U.S. air strike in Syria hit 'military point', caused deaths: Syrian military source on state media (Reuters)
A military source on the Syrian government side said on Friday that a U.S. air strike against a Damascus-backed militia the day before hit "one of our military points", without elaborating, state media outlets reported.
New York City to Require Calorie Counts on Prepared Food at Chain Stores (The Wall Street Journal)
Supermarkets and large chain retailers in New York City will soon be required to post calorie counts for prepared foods under an expansion of the city health code.
Americans Die When They Have to Work at Being Healthy (Bloomberg)
All over the world, people are dying from common diseases with well-known treatments.
The newly created Healthcare Access and Quality Index shows how well countries use their healthcare systems to stop preventable deaths.
