• As Brexit vote looms, U.S. banks review their European commitments (Reuters)
  • Oil’s Strength Continues to Boost Global Stocks (WSJ)
  • Trump closing gap with Clinton, poll shows (Hill)
  • In Adjacent Pennsylvania Counties, Republicans Are Split on Donald Trump (WSJ)
  • Make America Gold Again: Calls for Everyone’s Favorite Standard Are Back (BBG)
  • SEC, Treasury Push for Centralized Reporting of Treasurys Trades (WSJ)
  • Venezuela protesters fear Maduro will cling on at all costs (FT)
  • Alphabet Unveils Program for Carpooling Via App Waze, Fraying Ties With Uber (WSJ)
  • EU’s Tusk calls Brexit advocate Boris Johnson’s Hitler comments ‘absurd’ (Reuters)
  • Placid VIX Tells Little of Volatility Story as Futures Take Off (BBG)
  • Greece wants Eurogroup to focus on short-term, medium term debt relief on May 24 (Reuters)
  • New From Credit Suisse: Bonds for Self-Inflicted Catastrophes (WSJ)
  • Middle East Luxury Sales Fading as Oil Falls and Tourism Slows (BBG)
  • Hedge Funds Abandon Ex-Darling Valeant and Other 13F Highlights (BBG)
  • New police force finds old habits die hard in Ukraine (Reuters)
  • Apple CEO Tim Cook Visiting India, an Important Growth Market (BBG)
  • Russian Finance Minister sees 2016 budget deficit at 3 percent with oil at $40 per barrel (Reuters)
  • New York’s LaGuardia, Long in Tatters, Borrows Big for Facelift (BBG)
  • Shadow Banks Make Diciest Loans While Wall Street Retains Risk (BBG)

 

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

– Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc disclosed Monday that it had made a $1 billion bet on Apple Inc stock earlier this year, boosting the iPhone maker’s market value by more than $18 billion.(http://on.wsj.com/1TWLAMh)

– The Supreme Court, unable to resolve the dispute between religious employers and the Obama administration over contraception coverage in the government’s health-care law, sent the matter back to lower courts to seek a compromise between the parties.(http://on.wsj.com/1TWLyUK)

– Facebook Inc is now selling video ads on behalf of other companies, a move that could prove lucrative for the technology giant and intensify its competition with Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Google and other online ad specialists. (http://on.wsj.com/1TWLEff)

– Phone book publisher Dex Media Inc filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday evening after reaching a restructuring deal with creditors. (http://on.wsj.com/1TWLJPW)

 

FT

* World powers including the United States are ready to consider demands from Libya’s new unity government for exemptions from a U.N. arms embargo to help take control of the lawless country, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday.

* Deutsche Bank AG has hired Thomas Piquemal, former senior executive vice president for finance at French utility company EDF Group , to head its global mergers and acquisitions practice.

* Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc revealed a more than $1 billion stake in Apple Inc in a rare foray into the technology sector.

 

NYT

– Chinese authorities are quietly scrutinizing technology products sold in China by Apple Inc and other big foreign companies, focusing on whether they pose potential security threats to the country and its consumers and opening up a new front in an already tense relationship with Washington over digital security. (http://nyti.ms/1TFHHsF)

– Lending Club, which serves as an online matchmaker between small-business borrowers and individual and institutional lenders, said it had received a subpoena from the Justice Department. (http://nyti.ms/1TFHEgn)

– Twitter Inc announced that Debra Lee, chairman and chief executive of BET Networks, was joining its board. As part of the announcement, Twitter also said a board member, Marjorie Scardino, would become the company’s lead independent director. (http://nyti.ms/1TFIBp1)

 

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Alberta has put major oil sands facilities and camps under a mandatory evacuation order as the wildfire that consumed part of Fort McMurray remains out of control. All work camps and facilities north of Fort McMurray and south of Fort McKay are affected by the order issued late Monday.(http://bit.ly/1qqaVE0)

** Ontario’s energy and auto industries have expressed surprise over the province’s ambitious plan to slash greenhouse gases. They warned that the plan, if imposed, would drive up home heating costs for homeowners, and that automakers would not make enough electric cars to meet its targets.(http://bit.ly/1TdHjHq)

** Toronto housing developer Urbancorp is pushing ahead with a restructuring under creditor protection, saying it owes millions to major banks, home buyers and investors in Israel even as its projects require “tens of millions” more to complete. (http://bit.ly/1TX1Xsk)

NATIONAL POST

** Telecommunications behemoth AT&T Inc announced that it plans to buy Toronto-based video streaming platform Quickplay Media Inc, a company that enables consumers to watch TV and video on any mobile device.(http://bit.ly/1TdHXoz)

** The Ontario government is once again drafting major policies in “back rooms”, the opposition is charging after the reported leak of a C$7 billion($5.4 billion) climate-change plan to be released later this spring. (http://bit.ly/1Tkjgoq)

 

Britain

The Times

Six weeks after the collapse of a $160 billion merger with Allergan, Pfizer has made a recommended bid for Anacor Pharmaceuticals worth $99.25 a share, saying that it would be a “strong fit” with its inflammation and immunology portfolio. (http://bit.ly/22e7vCh)

The Guardian

The global community is badly prepared for a rapid increase in climate change-related natural disasters that by 2050 will put 1.3 billion people at risk, according to the World Bank. (http://bit.ly/1Thb4lB)

Stephen Bubb has announced he will be stepping down as chief executive of Acevo (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) after 15 years in June to head up the Charity Futures Programme. (http://bit.ly/1st6zxS)

The Telegraph

House prices could crash by 25 percent and the pound could drop by a third if the UK leaves the EU, according to Fitch, which warned that social tensions risked boiling over even if Britain stays in the bloc. (http://bit.ly/1TjeEPn)

Warren Buffett has bought more than $1 billion (700 million euros) of Apple Inc stock with shares in the company falling to their lowest level for two years. (http://bit.ly/1XvEul0)

Sky News

South Korea’s Environment Ministry has said that it will fine Nissan’s South Korean operation for allegedly manipulating emissions tests on its Qashqai cars, which were made in Sunderland. (http://bit.ly/1TktLHe)

HSBC is to move 840 UK jobs abroad as part of a major cost-cutting plan and has told staff that it is moving the IT roles to sites in India, China and Poland by the end of March next year. (http://bit.ly/1WB2t3w)

The Independent

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc disclosed a stake in Apple Inc, betting that the technology company will rebound after a slump driven by a slowdown in iPhone sales. (http://ind.pn/1VZbq5Q)

Google could be hit with a fine as high as 3 billion euros from the European Commission in the coming weeks related to an investigation of the company’s alleged abuse of its dominance in the online search market, according to reports. (http://ind.pn/1OydsYf)

 

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