Today's Markets gm all :)
In Asia, Japan -0.1%. Hong Kong -0.1%. China -0.3%. India flat.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.4%. Paris -0.3%. Frankfurt flat.
Futures at 6:20, Dow flat. S&P flat. Nasdaq flat. Crude +0.7% to $42.83. Gold +0.5% to $1251.70.
Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 2.15%
Today's Economic Calendar
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
9:00 FHFA House Price Index
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Leading Indicators
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
11:00 Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Senate Republicans plan to release their version of healthcare reform legislation at 9:30 a.m ET, the first time the public will get to see what they have been working on behind closed doors. The Congressional Budget Office is then expected to release its analysis of the bill early next week, with a Senate vote possible before the July 4 recess. Related tickers: UNH, AET, ANTM, CI, HUM, WCG, CNC, MOH, GTS, HQY, QHC, HCA, THC, UHS, LPNT, CYH, HCP, SEM
Economy
EU leaders are gathering today for a summit in Brussels, where U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to outline her plan for Brexit and set out proposals for EU citizens in the U.K. Ahead of the summit, Valdis Dombrovskis, VP of the European Commission, said Britain cannot hope to retain its financial passporting privileges if it pursues a so-called "hard Brexit."
French President Emmanuel Macron is getting down to business with a crew that includes many political newcomers following a series of high-profile resignations, all for ethical reasons. The re-shuffled cabinet will meet today for the first time since Sunday's legislative election when En Marche! and its allies won a commanding majority.
President Trump's son-in-law and senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner, has returned to the U.S. after a 15-hour visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah to meet with Bibi Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas. He was joined by Jason Greenblatt, the president's top representative on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, to advance U.S. efforts toward reaching a peace deal.
A North Korean diplomat has raised the possibility of the hermit regime holding bilateral talks with the U.S., but it's unclear whether Kim Jong-un shares the views of his Indian envoy. "If our demands is met, we can negotiate in terms of the moratorium of such [programs] as weapons testing," declared Kye Chun Yong, adding that Pyongyang first wants to see the U.S. and South Korea stop joint military exercises.
Stocks
Uber's board of directors is undergoing more changes, a day after the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick. Bill Gurley is handing his board seat to Matt Cohler, his partner at VC firm Benchmark, while TPG Capital's David Trujillo will replace David Bonderman. Any word on a new UBER CEO? According to the NY Post, Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) Sheryl Sandberg and former Disney (NYSE:DIS) COO Tom Staggs are on the short list.
At its annual shareholders meeting, Foxconn (OTC:FXCOF) said it will continue to pursue Toshiba's (OTCPK:TOSYY) chip business, a day after the troubled conglomerate chose a rival suitor as its preferred bidder. Foxconn is also looking at six U.S. states for a display-making plant, which could be valued at more than $7B, and will make a decision on it next month.
The proposed merger between DraftKings (Private:DRAFT) and FanDuel (Private:DUEL) has been temporarily halted by a federal judge, days after the FTC announced it would attempt to block the union. According to the commission, the deal would allow the companies to dominate more than 90% of the daily-fantasy-sports market, thwarting competition and essentially making them a monopoly.
Executives and investors from some 25 companies are heading to the White House today to discuss the potential impact of emerging technologies on industrial workers in the U.S. The meeting was organized by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, now led by Deputy CTO Michael Kratsios, and will feature firms specializing in 5G wireless and drone-related technologies. Related tickers: CTL, GE, HON, MSFT, NDAQ, S, T, VZ
Altice USA has raised $1.9B in its U.S. IPO, making it the second largest American offering of the year. Priced at $30 a share, it will begin trading on the NYSE later today under ticker symbol "ATUS." It's the fourth-largest cable company in America, consisting of Suddenlink Communications (which Altice acquired in 2015) and Cablevision Systems (acquired in 2016).
"We're thinking about building the [border] wall as a solar wall, so it creates energy, and pays for itself. And this way Mexico will have to pay much less money," President Trump said at a campaign rally in Iowa. Despite congressional refusal thus far, Trump has maintained that the wall, mentioned frequently during his electoral campaign last year, will go ahead as planned. Related tickers: ASYS, AXTI, CSIQ, CSUN, CVV, DQ, EMKR, ENPH, FSLR, GEX, GLBL, HQCL, JASO, JKS, RGSE, SEDG, TSLA, SOL, SKYS, SPWR, TAN, TERP, TSL, VSLR, YGE
A U.S. District Court judge has set up a series of hearings through the summer to determine what will happen to the Dakota Access Pipeline while authorities conduct an additional review of the project's environmental impact. Project developer Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE:ETP) is "pleased with the decision" as oil will continue to flow through the pipeline during the hearings.
Facing billions of dollars in liabilities, Takata (OTCPK:TKTDY) will seek bankruptcy protection from creditors on Monday, Reuters reports. SMBC is to provide a bridge loan worth tens of billions of yen after the filing in Tokyo. Takata shares have fallen about 75% since last Friday, as the company seeks to wrap up the biggest recall in automotive history.
The race is on... Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) is considering a bid for Italian rival Ducati in a deal that could be valued at up to €1.5B. Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAY), whose Audi division controls the Italian motorcycle maker, has also drawn interest from Indian firm Bajaj Auto, while several buyout funds are also reportedly eyeing one of the most famous names in the industry.
Elon Musk is already planning the first manned SpaceX (Private:SPACE) flight to Mars in 2023, but he just laid out plans to colonize Mars with a million inhabitants - within 50 years - in the journal New Space. "I think there are really two fundamental paths. One path is we stay on Earth forever, and then there will be some eventual extinction. The alternative is to become a space-bearing civilization and a multi-planetary species."
Novartis +2.2% premarket after its drug designed to reduce inflammation showed surprising efficacy in cutting cardiovascular risk for people who had survived heart attacks. Canakinumab, also called ACZ885, met Novartis' (NYSE:NVS) primary endpoint in a pivotal clinical trial in reducing the danger of further heart attacks or strokes, when used with current standard therapies.
While a new healthcare bill is in sight, Cigna (NYSE:CI) will continue to offer individual coverage under Obamacare for now, while rival Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) announced it was shrinking its participation. Wednesday was the deadline for insurers to submit their 2018 rates for individual plans sold on HealthCare.gov - amid uncertainty over the fate of the government-subsidized program.
Toast to George Clooney! The actor has sold his upscale tequila brand to Diageo (NYSE:DEO) for up to $1B, after founding Casamigos with some friends in 2013. Seeing high potential for growth in Europe, Diageo is paying $700M up front, but bigger payments could follow if performance targets are met.
Sycamore Partners is in advanced talks to acquire Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS), Reuters reports, in a deal for the office supplies retailer that could top $6B. The acquisition would come a year after a U.S. federal judge thwarted a merger between Staples and Office Depot (NYSE:ODP) on antitrust grounds. SPLS +7.4% premarket.
Plagued by price manipulation and a fragile structure, a committee of global banks will vote today on an alternative to Libor for use as a benchmark U.S. interest rate for derivatives contracts. The two alternatives under proposal are the U.S. Overnight Bank Funding Rate and a rate based on overnight lending in the U.S. Treasury collateralized repo market.
U.S. bank regulators have room to "eliminate" or "relax" aspects of the Volcker Rule, Fed Governor Jerome Powell declared in prepared remarks to the Senate Banking Committee. He is due to deliver testimony later today, along with several other regulators, at a hearing discussing how the Trump administration might reform banking rules.
Dividend-focused bank investors will be paying attention today to the first round of the Fed's annual stress tests on 34 of the largest U.S. financial institutions. The quantitative part will show the impact of hypothetical scenarios on banks' capital levels. The second round, which will take place on June 28, will say whether any firm failed because of either insufficient capital or on qualitative grounds.
Wednesday's Key Earnings
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) +10% AH bolstering cloud-based services.
