What I Am Reading

Oct 05 (Thursday) Markets Puerto Rico Bonds Sag After Trump Hints at Erasing Debt (W) Trump Speaks and a $3.8 Trillion [Muni-Bond] Market Hears an Existential Threat (B) Central banks Fed has no reliable inflation theory, says Tarullo (FT) Yellen: Fed Should Make Sure Bank Rules Aren’t Too Burdensome (W) | Speech Digital Innovations, Finance and Central Banking (BOJ) US U.S. Service-Sector Activity Accelerated in September (W) ADP: U.S. Private Sector Adds 135,000 Jobs in September (W) Europe Eurozone Retail Sales Fall Again, Posing Quandary for ECB (W) Spain Tense as Catalonia Moves Toward Secession (W) US politics Talking Taxes: The Sacred Cows of the Tax Code (W) Republicans Hammer Out Child Tax Credit Details (W) Rex Tillerson says he ‘never considered’ resigning; does not deny calling Trump ‘moron’ (C) Senators to Pitch Bill Regulating Political Ads on Social Media (W) Cybersecurity Senators Rip Credit-Reporting Model in Wake of Equifax (W) Failure Has a Name at Equifax. Al Franken Says It’s ‘Gus’ (B) Russian Spy Tactic: Hack Smartphones of NATO Soldiers (W) Key Lawmaker Calls for SEC to Delay Trading Database (W) Industries & companies FANGs: Google Doubles Down on Hardware With New Phones and Speakers (W) FANGs: Google Releases Small Camera That Echoes Google Glass (B) FANGs: Amazon and Apple hit by EU tax crackdown (FT) FANGs: Amazon Must Pay $300 Million in Back Taxes, EU Says (W) FANGs: Another Thing Amazon Is Disrupting: M.B.A. Recruiting (W) Media: UBS: Netflix will remain the ‘clear global leader’ in video streaming (BI) Las Vegas tragedy Las Vegas Gunman Rapidly Amassed an Arsenal of Weapons (W) Vegas Killer’s Girlfriend Says He Left Her in the Dark (B) Offbeat Trio Win Nobel in Chemistry for 3-D Molecular Imaging (W)

Oct 04 (Wednesday) Markets U.S. Stocks Extend Gains on Strong Car Sales (W) Tax Cuts Are the Dream Pushing a Market That Won’t Stop Climbing (B) US Auto sales spike is the start of ‘a big cycle turn,’ strategist says (C) Europe Spanish King Says Catalan Leaders Have ‘Undermined Harmony’ (W) Emerging markets Why Emerging Markets Are Popping Despite the Risks (W) Investors Pile Into Emerging-Market Real Estate (W) US politics Why the GOP tax plan could implode (C) House tax plan ‘highly likely’ to include fourth rate on wealthy, likely not higher than 39.6%: Source (C) Trump Points to Storm Budget Effect in Puerto Rico Visit (W) Mark Cuban ‘actively considering’ run for president; 90% chance he won’t run (C) Cybersecurity Regulators Fret About Cyber Risk After SEC Hack (W) The White House and Equifax Agree: Social Security Numbers Should Go (B) Yahoo Estimate of Breached Accounts Triples to 3 Billion (W) Lawmakers Slam Equifax Ex-CEO Over Hack (W) Industries & companies Autos: Ford to Slash $14 Billion in Costs Under New CEO (B) Autos: Toyota’s U.S. Sales Beat Ford Every Month in Third Quarter (B) FANGs: How Apple and Amazon built ‘moats’ to stave off the competition (C) FANGs: After Apple, Europe Goes After Amazon For Alleged Unpaid Taxes (W) Financials: Wells Fargo boss should go, says Elizabeth Warren (FT) Tech: Samsung to Build Odyssey VR Headset for Windows (W) Technology How 3-D Printers Could Erase a Quarter of Global Trade by 2060 (B) Las Vegas tragedy Las Vegas Gunman Planned ‘Extensively’ (W) Gunman Had ‘Bump-stock’ Device That Could Speed Fire (B) Offbeat Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to Trio for Work on Gravitational Waves (W)

Oct 03 (Tuesday) Markets Stocks are flashing a major sell signal (BI) As Japan’s Stocks Rally, Is the Recovery Finally Here? (W) Central banks ECB’s Praet: Deflation Has Disappeared (W) Fed’s QE unwind set to unleash US bank competition (FT) US Manufacturing in U.S. Expands at Fastest Pace in 13 Years (B) ISM Manufacturing Index Rises to 60.8 in September (W) Debt Keeps Rising and Nothing Bad Happens (B) Europe Euro Factories Add Jobs in Struggle to Keep Up With Orders (B) Spain Vows to Double Down on Catalonia Opposition (B) Japan Abe’s Support Falls in Two Polls Ahead of Snap Election (B) Japan Tankan Survey (BOJ) China China Methodically Takes Global Lead in Electric Cars (W) US politics GOP Tax Blueprint: Not Every Corporation Will Benefit (W) One Sentence in the GOP Tax Plan Has Multibillion-Dollar Implications (B) Buckeyes Offer Blueprint for Infrastructure Billions (B) Trump’s Puerto Rico Feud May Cause Lasting Damage to the GOP (B) Geopolitics & terrorism Las Vegas Shooting Leaves at Least 58 Dead, More Than 500 Injured (W) Islamic State Claims Las Vegas Mass Shooting [Without Evidence] (B) Five Things to Know About Mass Shootings (W) Between War and Acceptance, a Third Way on North Korea (W) Trump had an unusual plan for trade negotiations with South Korea (BI) Cybersecurity SEC Says Hackers Accessed Personal Information (W) Equifax Has Amassed Salary Details for People at 7,100 Companies (B) Equifax Made Major Errors That Led to Hack, Smith Concedes (B) Industries & companies Autos: Automakers Plan Electric Car Blitz as Tesla Burns Billions (B) Autos: GM could release a self driving car ‘within quarters, not years’ (BI) Financials: Hurricanes, Earthquakes Rack Up Huge Bill for Insurers (W) Pharma: Shire Alleges Allergan Blocked Drug From Medicare (W) Pharma: FDA Chief: High Drug Prices ‘Public Health Concern’ (W) Retail: Nordstrom Drops on Report Its Buyout Deal Is Losing Support (B) Tech: Why Apple Rival Samsung Also Wins If iPhone X Is a Hit (W) Offbeat Goldman Explores a New World: Trading Bitcoin (W) Manhattan Condos Are Barely Yielding More Than Government Treasuries (B)

Oct 02 (Monday) Markets Bears, Return to Your Caves—at Least for Now (BR) Will Index Funds Share the Nifty 50’s Fate? (BR) Carry Phase in Emerging Markets Is Coming to an End, BofA Says (B) Credit & currencies Inflation Hopes Spur Bond Yield Gain (W) Beaten-Down Dollar Bounced Back in September (W) Central banks China’s Central Bank Unveils Targeted Lending Plan to Aid Growth (B) China Steers Credit to Small Business With Targeted Reserve Cut (B) Trump Ramps Up Fed Chair Search With Decision Due Within Weeks (B) US Personal Saving Is Much Stronger Than It Looks (BR) Europe The spotlight shifts from Germany to France (E) Catalans Support Secession in Vote Boycotted by Some (W) Catalan secessionism is bad for Spain and Europe (FT) Rajoy faces huge task after Catalonia referendum (FT) Japan Japan’s early election puts its economic recovery at risk (E) Japanese Megabanks’ Tight Spot (B) US tax reform Wall Street Counting Its Tax-Cut Chickens Early (BR) Cohn Says Repatriation Tax Rate Will Be in ’10-Percent Range’ (B) Trump Team Pushes Back Against `Tax Cuts for Wealthy’ Critics (B) The Link Between Economic Growth and Tax Cuts Is Tenuous (W) Tax Reform’s Winners and Losers (BR) US politics Trump’s Change of Heart Puts $1 Trillion Building Plan in Limbo (B) No, Trump Didn’t Botch the Puerto Rico Crisis (B) Geopolitics Trump Tells Tillerson Talking to North Korea Is Waste of Time (W) North Korea has brought America and China closer (E) Industries & companies Financials: J.P. Morgan’s Record High Crowns Bank-Stock Rebound (W) Financials: AIG sheds $150m in costs along with Sifi label (FT) Corporate finance New App Gives Small Investors a Shot at IPOs (BR)

Sep 30 (Saturday) Markets The Kindest Quarter Arrives for a Stock Market That Nothing Can Rattle (B) Central banks Fed Faces Mixed Signals on Economy (W) Trump Talks to Cohn, Yellen, Warsh and Powell for Fed Chair (B) Trump Met With Two Possible Candidates for Fed Chairman (W) Fed’s Balance-Sheet Unwind Could Expose Global Funding Strains (B) Lower than expected inflation poses challenge for ECB (FT) US U.S. Manufacturers Upbeat Amid Rising Demand, Promise of Tax Overhaul (W) Europe EU Leaders Look for Greater Unity Ahead of Brexit (W) Catalan Separatists Defiant Before Independence Vote (W) France’s Wealth Tax Has Driven 10,000 People Abroad, PM Says (B) US politics GOP Challenge With Tax Plan: How Far to Cut Rates for the Rich (W) A Big Tax Question: What Happens to the Medical-Expense Deduction? (W) Cohn Says Ending State, Local Tax Break Up for Negotiation (B) Gerrymandering, a Tradition as Old as the Republic, Faces a Reckoning (W) Geopolitics & cybersecurity NATO Faces Up to North Korea, Russia With Nuclear Sub Visit (W) North Korean companies in China ordered to close (FT) The Equifax Hack Has the Hallmarks of State-Sponsored Attack (B) Google Conducting Broad Internal Investigation on Russian Influence (W) Industries & companies FANGs: Amazon Sells $1.6 Million in Whole Foods’ Products in First Month (W) FANGs: Amazon’s First NFL Game Draws 372,000, a Fraction of TV Audience (B) Financials: AIG Sheds Too-Big-to-Fail Label in Victory for CEO, Icahn (B) Financials: AIG Is No Longer Too Big to Fail, So Now It Wants to Get Bigger (B) Financials: Lehman, Citi Settle $2 Billion Financial Crisis-Era Dispute (B) Technology Elon Musk Aims to Land Humans on Mars by Middle of Next Decade (W) How Crazy Is Elon Musk’s Hypersonic Space Rocket Airline? (B) Offbeat South Korea Joins Cryptocurrency Crackdown (W) US warns against visiting Cuba after sonic attacks (FT)

Sep 29 (Friday) Markets Investors Expect a Stock Market Plunge—and They’re Ready to Buy (B) Commodities Commodities markets swell in size despite price slide (FT) It’ll Take Oil Above $50 for Shale Boom, Oil Sands to Pay Off (B) Funds Caltech Gains 17.8%, Among Highest Endowment Returns (B) Penn’s 14.3% Return Was Boosted by ‘Notable’ Stock Performance (B) Citadel Returns Money to Some Clients (B) Central banks Take the Fed’s Long-Run Forecasts With a Big Pinch of Salt (W) US U.S. Second-Quarter GDP Rose 3.1% (W) Retiring (Again and Again) in America (B) Europe Eurozone Business, Consumer Confidence Surges Despite ECB Signals (W) Japan Abe’s Opponents Unite, Threatening His Hold on Power in Japan (W) China China Sets Tough Electric-Car Production Target (W) US tax reform GOP Tax Proposal Expected to Benefit Wall Street Firms (W) Treasury Secretary Mnuchin: GOP Tax Plan Would More Than Pay for Itself (W) Cohn Says Trump Is Committed to Ending Carried Interest ‘Loophole’ (B) Gary Cohn Says He Stayed at White House to Work on Tax Overhaul (B) These Are No Reagan Tax Cuts (B) US politics Senators close to bipartisan deal on health exchanges: Schumer (R) Beyond the daily drama and Twitter battles, Trump begins to alter American life (R) Twitter Offers Details of Suspicious Activity in U.S. Election (B) Geopolitics China to Shut Down North Korea-Connected Businesses (W) South Korea expects more provocative acts by North Korea in mid-October (R) How the Trump Administration Is Doing Renegotiating Nafta (N) Industries & companies Airlines: JetBlue Wants You to Be Happy With Less Space (B) Airlines: American Airlines CEO: We’ll Never Lose Money Again (B) Consumer: Kellogg CEO Bryant to Step Down (W) Energy: Chevron Names Wirth CEO (W) Energy: World’s Biggest Oil Company Promised Expats Idyllic Lifestyle—Then Fire Erupted (W) Pharma: An Easy Way to Cut Drug Costs (B) Pharma: Washington state sues OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma (R) Retail: ‘Amazon Effect’ Leads Investors to Sour on Global Retail (W) Retail: How Adidas’s American Revival Turned Into Scandal (B) Corporate finance Corporate America’s patchy disclosure on cash piles (FT) Toshiba Signs $17.7 Billion Deal With Bain-Apple Group to Sell Chip Unit (W) Roku Shares Surge in Trading Debut (W) Technology Musk Heads to Australia to Unveil Progress on Giant Battery, Mars Mission (B) Amazon’s Alexa Recruited by Perry Ellis to Give Men Fashion Tips (B) Offbeat Michael R. Bloomberg: Jeff Sessions Has a Point About Free Speech (B) Food, Fuel and Medicine Distributed at a Crawl Across Puerto Rico (W) Tesla Is Sending Battery Packs to Storm-Ravaged Puerto Rico (B)

Sep 28 (Thursday) Markets Trump’s tax plan is here — here’s how Wall Street says to trade it (BI) The Trump Trade Is Back (B) Stocks Catch Tax Cut Fever (B) Winners and Losers Under the GOP Tax Plan (W) Trump’s tax plan could bring $250 billion into the US — here are the companies set to benefit most (BI) Central banks Three Questions for U.S. Monetary Policy (Bullard, FRB-SL) Labor Market Disparities and Economic Performance (Brainard, FRB) Trends and Transitory Shocks (Rosengren, FRB-BOS) IMF to World’s Central Banks: Don’t Ignore Your Economies’ Weak Wage Growth (W) US Family Wealth, Incomes Rose, Fed Survey Says (W) | Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) U.S. Growth Starts to Help More People, But Wealthiest Win Most (B) U.S. Durable-Goods Orders Rose 1.7% in August (W) Europe Germany’s Schäuble Set to Step Aside as Finance Minister (W) Among Supporters of AfD, Angst Over Immigration and Democracy (W) Macron Unveils Budget Meant to Bolster Influence in EU (W) US tax reform Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code (White House) GOP Tax Overhaul Aims for Corporate Cuts, Simpler Code (W) Trump Calls 20% Corporate Tax Rate in Plan a ‘Perfect Number’ (B) Trump puts big companies first with low tax plan (FT) GOP Plan Has Large Tax Breaks for the Highest Earners (B) Here’s How Tax Reform Could Squeeze the Middle Class (B) There are still huge parts missing from the newest Trump tax plan (BI) Trump Seeks Democrats’ Help on Tax Overhaul (W) This tax plan is a looming political disaster for Republicans (BI) US politics Health Insurers Make Final Call on ACA Plans (W) Donald Trump Accuses Facebook of Being ‘Anti-Trump’ (W) Alabama loss for Trump candidate bolsters insurgents (FT) Cybersecurity The Government Needs More Cyber Talent—But So Does Everyone Else (W) Equifax to Offer Free Credit Freezes for Life, New CEO Says (B) Industries & companies FANGs: Amazon Prepares for Apple and Google Competition With Home Devices Push (B) Financials: U.S. Bank Regulators Propose Changes to Capital Rules (W) | Press Release Corporate finance Overhaul May Not Boost Buybacks as Much as You Think (W) Offbeat Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman says bitcoin is ‘more than just a fad’ (BI)

Sep 27 (Wednesday) Markets You Just Doubled Your Money If You Invested at the 2007 Market Peak (B) Why Cheap Stocks Rallied While FANG Tumbled (B) Why Emerging Markets Aren’t Too Hot to Handle (W) Here’s How to Profit When the Fed Begins to Unwind (B) Central banks Yellen Defends Fed Rate-Rise Plan Despite ‘Mystery’ of Low Inflation (W) | Speech Yellen Gradualism Doesn’t Mean Policy Halt as Fed Presses Ahead (B) Yellen warns against tightening ‘too gradually’ (FT) Atlanta Fed’s Bostic Says He’s Comfortable With a December Rate Increase (B) Senator Shelby Says He Doesn’t Think Trump Will Reappoint Yellen to Fed (B) US U.S. New-Home Sales Declined in August (W) Declining Male Workforce Participation Reflects Supply, Not Demand, Says New Paper (W) Europe Merkel’s Top Challenge Isn’t German Nationalists (B) Macron Pushes a More Integrated Europe, With Eye on Germany (W) China China Clamps Down on Ironman, WhatsApp and Tibet (W) US politics Republican Tax Plan to Allow for Top Individual Rate Above 35% (W) Top Individual Tax Rate Remains Under Discussion in GOP Tax Plan (B) Senate Scraps Vote on GOP Measure to Repeal Health Law (W) White House Plans to Set Refugee Cap at 45,000 for Next Fiscal Year (W) Geopolitics Trump Says U.S. Is Ready to Use ‘Devastating’ Force on North Korea (B) Trump, Pressing Campaign to Isolate Pyongyang, Calls North Korea ‘Outlaw’ Regime (W) Could North Korea Actually Shoot Down U.S. Bombers Off Its Coast? [Maybe.] (W) U.S. Treasury Adds Eight North Korean Banks to Sanctions List (W) Tillerson Heads to China Amid U.S.-North Korea Hostilities (W) Industries & companies FANGs: Google to Create Shopping Service Unit to Satisfy EU (B) Retail: Nike Declines After Athletic Giant Gives Bleak Outlook for U.S. (B) Tech: Twitter Tests Doubling Length Limit to 280 Characters (W) Cybersecurity Equifax Security Showed Signs of Trouble Months Before Hack (W) Corporate finance Europe’s Banks Finally Start Thinking About Mergers (W) Alstom, Siemens Announce Merger to Create European Train Business (W) Technology Amazon Hopes Alexa Will Boost Music App (W) Dyson to Spend £1 Billion Making ‘Radical’ Electric Car (B) Virtual Reality Installations to Start Arriving at AMC Theaters Next Year (W) Offbeat Big Investors Want Directors to Stop Sitting On So Many Boards (W) DirecTV Allows Some NFL Refunds After Anthem Controversy (W)

Sep 26 (Tuesday) Markets Global Markets on Edge After Politics Back in Spotlight (B) Tech Shares Slide, Pressuring Major Indexes (W) Japanese stocks ready for Snap! Crackle! Pop! (FT) The return of the stock picker (FT) World’s Largest Money-Market Fund Will Lower Returns (W) Oil OPEC’s Efforts Pay Off: Oil Is Back in Bull Market (W) Brent oil hits highest level since July 2015 (FT) Citi Says Get Ready for an Oil Squeeze (B) Central banks Draghi Pledges Euro Area Will Get All the ECB Support It Needs (B) ECB’s Draghi Brushes Off Lucke’s Criticism of Policies (W) Draghi says eurozone can withstand external shocks (FT) Dudley Says Fed to Maintain Gradual Tightening; Evans Is Wary (B) Evans Says Risks to Fed Inflation Outlook Still on Downside (B) Forget the Fed Taper, Here’s Why the Global Liquidity Party Is Set to Intensify (B) US Target’s Pay Raise Is Proof: ‘Fight For $15’ is Unnecessary (F) Hurricane Maria Damage Estimate: As Much as $85 Billion in Insured Losses (W) US violent crime jumps by most in 25 years (FT) Europe Merkel Faces Challenges in Three-Way Coalition (W) Merkel admits she has ‘polarised’ Germany (FT) The end of German exceptionalism (FT) Angela Merkel has passed the zenith of her power (FT) Drift of banking jobs to EU27 is already under way (FT) Japan Investors should wake up to Japan’s robotic future (FT) China China Fines Social-Media Giants for Hosting Banned Content (W) China takes WhatsApp messaging service offline (FT) US politics Steven Mnuchin, a Washington Newcomer, Tilts at Its Hardest Target: The Tax Code (W) Trump Maps Lobbying Trip for Tax Plan Likely to Whack N.Y., N.J. (B) Latest GOP Health Bill Dies as Collins Says She Will Vote ‘No’ (B) White House Unveils Coding Education Initiative (W) Geopolitics North Korea says Trump issued declaration of war (FT) U.S. Sees ‘Four or Five’ Ways to Resolve North Korean Crisis (B) Industries & companies Autos: Shares of US car dealers stage a rally (FT) Autos: China Considers Rule Change That Could Aid Tesla (W) FANGs: Welcome to Corporate Adulthood, Facebook. It’s Awful. (B) FANGs: Apple’s Price Trails Analysts’ Target by Most This Year (B) Pharma: Pfizer tests new way to trial more drugs (FT) Retail: Target to Boost Minimum Wages in Battle for Workers (W) Retail: Target Adding Pinterest Search Tool to Its App (W) Corporate finance GE Agrees to Sell Industrial Unit to ABB for $2.6 Billion (W) The Modern IPO is Useless. Let’s Reinvent It (W) Offbeat A Rare Joint Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Bill Gates (W) Driverless Cars Could Be Used Against Us (WP)

Sep 25 (Monday) Markets Dow 1,000,000 [Buffett says] (BR) Can a Macron-Merkel axis reignite European equities? (FT) Euro Falls as Merkel Faces German Coalition Test After Win (B) Bitcoin ETFs on the Horizon (BR) Central banks Ignore the Fed’s Yield Sign at Your Peril (W) US Leveraged Loans on Pace to Top Pre-Financial Crisis Levels (W) Real Wages Keep Powering Ahead, but Can the Trend Last? (W) Europe Merkel set for fourth term but support weakens (FT) Germany’s Election Results Reflect European Unease (W) Nationalist AfD make historic German poll breakthrough (FT) Europe’s Going the Wrong Way on Taxing Tech (B) China How China is battling ever more intensely in world markets (E) China sets its sights on dominating sunrise industries (E) China’s Banks Don’t Share Investors’ Enthusiasm for Steel (W) US politics Trump Says He Wants 15% Corporate Tax Rate Despite Plan for 20% (B) Why GOP’s Tax Plan Could Leave High-Wage Earners With Little to Gain (W) Obamacare Repeal on Life Support as Key GOP Senators Waver (B) Geopolitics Tensions Rise After U.S. Planes Skirt North Korea (W) North Korean Minister Says Trump the One on Suicide Mission (B) North Korea’s A-Bomb Is Deterring U.S. First Strike, Russia Says (B) World Leaders Link U.S. Support for Iran Deal to North Korea Crisis (W) Cybersecurity Should U.S. Companies Be Required to Report Breaches? (W) German Manufacturers Play Defense Against Chinese Hackers (W) Industries & companies Aerospace: Aircraft Makers and Suppliers Face Off (BR) Biotech: Gene Therapy Is Nearing a Major Breakthrough (BR) Consumer: The Drawbacks of Consumer-Discretionary Stocks (BR) Media: Disney and Altice spar over cost of carrying ESPN and ABC (FT) Tech: Oracle Turns Its Sights on the Cloud–at Last (BR) Technology The Natural Evolution of Artificial Intelligence (BR) Offbeat Tech: Uber Tries Compromise With London Regulators (W)