- Euro left reeling after ECB's liquidity splurge (Reuters)
- Coalition Emerges to Battle Islamic State Militants (WSJ)
- Ukraine Gas Chief Takes on Gazprom in Race With Winter (BBG)
- Nato leaders fail to agree spending targets (FT)
- JPMorgan Had Exodus of Tech Talent Before Hacker Breach (BBG)
- Mercedes-Benz Sales Rise Despite Weak German Demand (WSJ)
- Secret Network Connects Harvard Money to Payday Loans (BBG)
- ICE looks to crack financial data market (FT)
- Pakistan opposition in talks with government to end political crisis (Reuters)
- Kids Slapped With 192-Pound Weight Tilt Qantas Plane Nose (BBG)
- Barclays, BofA, Citigroup Sued for ISDAfix Manipulation (BBG)
- Al-Qaeda in India Tests Modi’s Bid to Unite Muslims, Hindus (BBG)
- Uber’s ’Small Change’ Ban Reply May Anger German Judges (BBG)
- Virginia ex-governor, wife found guilty in corruption trial (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* American allies including the UK and France said they would help form an international military coalition to fight a growing threat from Islamic State militants. (http://on.wsj.com/1t6Kyi7)
* A hacker broke into part of the HealthCare.gov insurance enrollment website in July and uploaded malicious software, according to federal officials. Investigators found no evidence that consumers' personal data were taken or viewed during the breach, federal officials said. The hacker appears only to have gained access to a server used to test code for HealthCare.gov, the officials said. (http://on.wsj.com/Z8RXoB)
* Apple Inc said it plans additional steps to keep hackers out of user accounts. In his first interview on the subject, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said celebrities' iCloud accounts were compromised when hackers correctly answered security questions to obtain their passwords or when they were victimized by a phishing scam to obtain user IDs and passwords. He said none of the Apple IDs and passwords leaked from the company's servers. (http://on.wsj.com/1puYPl3)
* Nvidia Corp opened a new front in the recent legal wars over mobile technology, filing suits accusing Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Qualcomm Inc of infringing patents that cover graphics chips. (http://on.wsj.com/1BfcsxB)
* The dollar hit its highest level in nearly six years against the yen Friday following the European Central Bank's surprise rate move overnight and as monetary policy in the United States and Japan hits a fork in the road. (http://on.wsj.com/WiV5MC)
* BP Plc was grossly negligent in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, a federal judge ruled, handing down a decision that could cost the company as much as $18 billion in pollution fines for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. (http://on.wsj.com/1pQrgzX)
* The credit-card industry is accelerating efforts to keep sensitive customer information out of the hands of merchants, as a rash of data breaches at major U.S. retailers erodes confidence in electronic payment systems. Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc are rolling out technology that replaces cardholder information such as account numbers and expiration dates with a unique series of numbers that validates the customer's identity. (http://on.wsj.com/1Bf9Vn3)
* Google Inc has agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint that it allowed children to rack up millions of dollars in charges in its mobile app store without their parents' knowledge or consent. Google will refund a minimum of $19 million to consumers whose children made purchases inside applications downloaded from the Google Play app store. Google will also modify its billing practices to ensure it obtains express consent before charging consumers for items sold in mobile apps. (http://on.wsj.com/Z9z6JZ)
* New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg finds himself in a very different situation as he comes back to run Bloomberg LP. The media company is hardly in crisis. It has solidified its position as a dominant provider of financial information, and its revenue and subscribers have jumped sharply in recent years. There are threats looming, however. Bloomberg is returning to a more competitive marketplace than the one he left in 2002 and to increasingly strained relations with the financial institutions that make up the company's core customer base. (http://on.wsj.com/1AcQtow)
* Caterpillar Inc's Progress Rail subsidiary, the subject of a federal criminal investigation, has lost railcar-repair contracts at some of the nation's busiest railroad terminals, including the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. (http://on.wsj.com/1qB6P8b)
* A panel of top regulators Thursday proposed giving MetLife Inc tougher government oversight, bringing the insurer and regulators a step closer to a possible legal showdown. The Financial Stability Oversight Council, led by the Treasury secretary, voted to propose labeling a nonbank financial company as "systemically important," the panel said in a statement released after a closed-door meeting. MetLife acknowledged it was the unnamed firm. (http://on.wsj.com/YgjZhy)
* U.S. regulators on Thursday approved a new kind of cancer drug from Merck & Co Inc that is designed to unleash the body's immune system against tumors. The drug is part of a long-anticipated wave of medicines that could transform cancer treatment and forge a large new market for pharmaceutical companies. (http://on.wsj.com/1ptUM8z)
* Walgreen Co scrambled to notify thousands of customers who had their prescriptions filled during a recent system crash, because errors might have left their labels unreadable. The drugstore chain found that its systems were printing labels with random characters in the instructions, making some hard to understand, said Chuck Greener, a spokesman for the company. (http://on.wsj.com/1oKFaNS)
* Steven Spielberg has hired Michael Wright, a cable-television veteran with no film-business experience to run his struggling studio DreamWorks SKG. Wright, who recently left his post as head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies amid strategy changes at Time Warner Inc's cable-TV unit, was named chief executive of DreamWorks on Thursday. (http://on.wsj.com/1o4eDMn)
FT
A U.S. court has ruled against BP Plc accusing it of gross negligence and wilful misconduct in the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 that killed 11 people and caused the world's largest offshore oil spill, exposing it to fines of up to $18 billion.
Barclays Plc has become the first bank in the United Kingdom to launch a scanner that identifies customers by the unique vein patterns in their fingers, as the bank seeks to ramp up its fight against cyber crime and fraud.
The United Kingdom is moving to scale up its operations against the ISIL in Iraq after meeting with world leaders and members of NATO at the NATO summit in Wales and efforts in Westminster to begin generating support for more intervention.
Germany's telecom regulator and the European Commission are all set for a "war" over mobile termination fees, which generate millions of euros for some of Europe's largest cellular operators.
Mario Draghi startled markets on Thursday cutting interest rates to a record low and pledging to buy hundreds of billions of euros of private sector bonds in a dramatic move to save the eurozone from economic stagnation.
NYT
* After pitting five potential host states against one another in a quest for hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives, Tesla Motors Inc said Thursday that it had struck a deal with Nevada for construction of its sprawling factory to build batteries for electric cars and the power grid. (http://nyti.ms/1qsjADc)
* A federal judge determined that the BP Plc's conduct made it chiefly responsible for the oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers. United States District Court Judge Carl Barbier opened the possibility of $18 billion in new civil penalties for BP, nearly quadruple the maximum Clean Water Act penalty for simple negligence and far more than the $3.5 billion the company has set aside. (http://nyti.ms/1u4g3Mz)
* On Tuesday, Apple Inc will unveil a set of long-anticipated products: two iPhones with larger screens and a wearable computer that the media has nicknamed the iWatch. The so-called smartwatch, which is expected to include fitness tracking and wireless payment, will be the first new product unveiled under Chief Executive Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs in 2011. (http://nyti.ms/1qiKJZo)
* The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first of an eagerly awaited new class of cancer drugs that unleashes the body's immune system to fight tumors. The drug, which Merck & Co Inc will sell under the name Keytruda, was approved for patients with advanced melanoma who have exhausted other therapies. (http://nyti.ms/1vUL9s3)
* Puerto Rico's electric power authority, which has been in negotiations with lenders over its debt burden, said on Thursday that it had hired the consulting firm AlixPartners to supervise its restructuring. (http://nyti.ms/1txvYEw)
* A federal panel is proposing to assign MetLife Inc to a club it does not want to join, by initially voting on Thursday to deem it a "systemically important financial institution" and thus subjecting it to more intensive regulation than most other life insurers. (http://nyti.ms/1Cw7XQD)
* Hackers breached security at the website of the government's health insurance marketplace, HealthCare.gov, but did not steal any personal information on consumers, Obama administration officials said Thursday. (http://nyti.ms/1o3Ylms)
* Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, said on Thursday that the bank would soon start to buy bonds that are backed by loans made to consumers and companies. He did not say how much the central bank would be willing to spend on these loan-backed bonds. But the purchases could make up a substantial share of the roughly 1 trillion euros, or $1.3 trillion, that Draghi implied that the bank was prepared to spend. (http://nyti.ms/1Cw9pm4)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The long-held dream of boosting exports of Alberta crude to Asia by the decade's end is fading, as multibillion-dollar pipelines get bogged down by local opposition and regulatory wrangling. Enbridge Inc signaled Thursday that its contentious Northern Gateway pipeline to the west coast is unlikely to start up by 2018 as planned. (bit.ly/1ty0bDo)
** Regulators in the United States have officially granted permission for the first human clinical trial of Canada's experimental Ebola vaccine. NewLink Genetics Corp, the Iowa-based drug company the public health agency of Canada licensed to produce the vaccine, announced Thursday that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start Phase 1 safety trials. (bit.ly/1wbmqwZ)
NATIONAL POST
** Canadian liquefied natural gas may soon be lighting up Hawaii, if plans to ship the super-chilled gas to the Pacific island state come to fruition. As 16 LNG consortiums consider investments on the West Coast, Kelowna, British Columbia-based FortisBC Energy Inc is expected to beat the traffic and start supplying LNG to Hawaiian Electric Company under a 15-year agreement starting mid-2017, subject to regulatory approvals. (bit.ly/1rcydH4)
** Canadian exports to the European Union have climbed a whopping 40 percent in the past year, more than double the increase in the value of shipments to the United States during the same period - although far behind our largest trading partner in total money terms. As impressive as the latest export numbers are, they do mask recent troubling developments in the EU economy. (bit.ly/1qjG21t)
** Mayor Rob Ford's campaign team accidentally released the mayor's wildly quixotic C$9 billion ($8.28 billion) transit plan online Tuesday night, hours before the mayor was due to make a rare policy announcement. The document was unavailable on the mayor's campaign website Wednesday morning, just minutes before the mayor was due to speak at his campaign headquarters. (bit.ly/1uCPzA0)
** Rob Ford has been subpoenaed to testify in an upcoming extortion trial linked to his use of crack cocaine. The mayor confirmed Thursday that a homicide detective personally served him with the subpoena at his home some time in the past several weeks. Ford said he could not remember exactly when the summons arrived, nor could he say when he was expected to appear in court. (bit.ly/YgIds3)
China
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
- China's anti-monopoly drive is continuing to gain pace, the official paper said on Friday, after the country's anti-trust agencies have shone the spotlight recently on sectors including medical devices, computer software and automotive.
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- China's National Energy Administration (NEA) released another measure on Thursday to subsidize the country's hard-hit solar companies.
21st CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD
- China's far-western Xinjiang region will focus on developing its transportation industry in its thirteenth five-year plan, the local branch of the National Development Regulatory Commission (NDRC) said on Thursday.
CHINA DAILY
- The number of tourists visiting China is dropping, with the capital Beijing seeing a 6 percent fall in the first seven months of 2014, the China National Tourism Administration said.
- Chinese tourists spent $47 billion more overseas than the amount spent by foreign visitors in China in the first half of this year, according to a report by the Chinese Tourism Academy.
SHANGHAI DAILY
- China plans to overhaul its strict examination system in schools and universities by 2020, according to a notice from the country's State Council on Thursday. The reforms are aimed at easing the pressure on Chinese students.
- A traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctor has been detained after scamming patients out of 6 million yuan($977,469), a local Shanghai procuratorate said on Thursday.
Britain
The Times
PENNYCOOK TO LEAD CO-OP AFTER WINNING 'HEARTS AND MINDS'
The Co-operative Group has named Richard Pennycook, the interim boss who had previously counted himself out of the running for the top job, as new Chief Executive as it attempts to rebuild its reputation after a series of damaging financial crises. (http://thetim.es/1r9ULrO)
LET US COME HOME, SAY BRITISH JIHADISTS
Dozens of British jihadists have become so disillusioned with fighting in Syria that they have contacted the UK begging to come home. One jihadist, claiming to represent 30 Britons, approached an intermediary to complain of growing despondency among the men in his group. (http://thetim.es/1xhiW0p)
The Guardian
CBI FORECASTS SLOWING GROWTH FOR UK ECONOMY
Economic growth will slow in the second half of the year as the effect of improved confidence and better credit conditions starts to wear off, the CBI has predicted. (http://bit.ly/1prHIRl)
INVESTORS FIRE WARNING SHOT AT BETFAIR EXECUTIVE BONUSES
Nearly a third of shareholders in online betting exchange Betfair on Thursday voted against pay and bonus deals for Chief Executive Breon Corcoran. (http://bit.ly/1r9WygG)
The Telegraph
ROGUE TRADER JEROME KERVIEL TO LEAVE PRISON JUST 110 DAY INTO THREE-YEAR SENTENCE
Convicted rogue trader Jerome Kerviel has been told he can walk free from prison just 110 days into a three-year sentence. The former Societe Generale banker, who took the French lender to the brink of collapse with a series of risky bets, will be released from Fleury Merogis prison, just south of Paris, next week, an appeals court said yesterday. (http://bit.ly/Z93rZ9)
PHONES4U DEBTS UNDER REVIEW FOR DOWNGRADE AFTER SPLIT WITH VODAFONE
Phones4U suffered a new blow on Thursday as the ratings agency Moody's warned clients the mobile phone retailer was under review for a downgrade, a measure that could make more difficult for the heavily-indebted company to raise funds. (http://bit.ly/1AbW2Ud)
Sky News
NUCLEAR REACTORS MAY BE OFFLINE UNTIL 2015
Four nuclear reactors, which each provide 1 percent of Britain electricity, could be out of action until the end of the year due to safety fears. The announcement by EDF Energy, which owns the Heysham 1 and Hartlepool power stations, raised further concerns about the chances of blackouts during the winter following confirmation of actions to secure supplies by the National Grid. (http://bit.ly/1oIf6mz)
EUROZONE TEETERS AS ECB'S BAZOOKA IS HELD BACK
The European Central Bank's shock interest cut on Thursday, taking its benchmark policy rate from 0.15 percent to 0.05 percent, created drama on currency markets, sending the euro down against the US dollar by almost a full percentage point - a move seldom seen - to its lowest level for 14 months. (http://bit.ly/1r8QipB)
The Independent
CO-OP REVIVAL COULD TAKE FIVE YEARS, SAYS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Repairing the beleaguered Co-operative Group after two years of turmoil could take up to five years, the company's new head Richard Pennycook warned on Thursday. (http://ind.pn/1qg4WiC)
BRITISH OIL GIANT ACCUSED OF BRIBERY IN TUSSLE OVER AFRICA'S OLDEST NATIONAL PARK
Contractors and agents working on behalf of London-based oil company Soco International paid bribes to officials and rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo in their bid to explore for oil in Africa's oldest national park, according to anti-corruption activists. (http://ind.pn/1tvlAgn)
Fly On The Wall Pre-Market Buzz
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include:
Nonfarm payrolls for August at 8:30--consensus up 230K
Unemployment rate for August at 8:30--consensus 6.1%
ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
AllianceBernstein (AB) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill
BP (BP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
Banco de Chile (BCH) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan
Ciena (CIEN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman
Intralinks (IL) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel
Matrix Service (MTRX) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at First Analysis
SanDisk (SNDK) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
Southern Company (SO) upgraded to Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC
Statoil (STO) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at HSBC
Vertex (VRTX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman
Downgrades
Alaska Air (ALK) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James
Coca-Cola HBC (CCHGY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman
Finisar (FNSR) downgraded to Buy from Strong Buy at Needham
LMI Aerospace (LMIA) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank
Take-Two (TTWO) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sterne Agee
VeriFone (PAY) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James
Initiations
Actavis (ACT) initiated with a Buy at ISI Group
Air Canada (AIDIF) initiated with an Outperform at Imperial Capital
Akamai (AKAM) initiated with a Buy at UBS
Alexion (ALXN) initiated with a Buy at SunTrust
Allegion (ALLE) initiated with a Buy at Buckingham
Allergan (AGN) initiated with a Buy at ISI Group
America's Car-Mart (CRMT) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies
Astronics (ATRO) initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson
Bonanza Creek (BCEI) initiated with an Outperform at Imperial Capital
Celgene (CELG) initiated with a Buy at SunTrust
Consumer Portfolio (CPSS) initiated with a Buy at Jefferies
Credit Acceptance (cacc) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies
EZCORP (EZPW) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies
Eaton (ETN) initiated with a Neutral at Buckingham
First Cash Financial (FCFS) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies
GSV Capital (GSVC) initiated with an Outperform at JMP Securities
Incyte (INCY) initiated with a Buy at SunTrust
Ingersoll-Rand (IR) initiated with a Neutral at Buckingham
Insmed (INSM) initiated with an Outperform at Cowen
Intercept (ICPT) initiated with an Outperform at Cowen
JGWPT Holdings (JGW) initiated with a Buy at Jefferies
Lennox (LII) initiated with a Neutral at Buckingham
Mylan (MYL) initiated with a Hold at ISI Group
NBT Bancorp (NBTB) initiated with a Neutral at Sterne Agee
Parker-Hannifin (PH) initiated with a Buy at Buckingham
Pentair (PNR) initiated with a Neutral at Buckingham
Pharmacyclics (PCYC) initiated with a Neutral at SunTrust
Plum Creek Timber (PCL) initiated with an Overweight at JPMorgan
Regional Management (RM) initiated with a Buy at Jefferies
Sabre (SABR) initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer
Santander Consumer (SC) initiated with a Buy at Jefferies
SpartanNash (SPTN) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies
Springleaf (LEAF) initiated with a Buy at Jefferies
Teva (TEVA) initiated with a Buy at ISI Group
Valeant (VRX) initiated with a Buy at ISI Group
Weyerhaeuser (WY) initiated with a Neutral at JPMorgan
World Acceptance (WRLD) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies
bluebird bio (BLUE) initiated with a Buy at SunTrust
COMPANY NEWS
Tesla (TSLA) officially selected Nevada as official site for battery gigafactory
MetLife (MET) said it "strongly disagrees" with the Financial Stability Oversight Council's preliminary designation of MetLife as a SIFI. "MetLife is not systemically important under the Dodd-Frank Act criteria," the company said
SandRidge (SD) announced a $200M share repurchase program
Gap (GPS) said August SSS declined 2%
FDA removed partial clinical hold on OncoMed (OMED) ipafricept
EARNINGS
Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include:
ACETO (ACET), Ambarella (AMBA), Culp (CFI), El Pollo Loco (LOCO), Verint Systems (VRNT), Infoblox (BLOX), SeaChange (SEAC), Zumiez (ZUMZ)
Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include:
bebe stores (BEBE)
Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include:
Cooper Companies (COO), Finisar (FNSR)
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Apple (AAPL) plans to warn users of attempts to hack iCloud, WSJ reports
Warner Bros. (TWX) to eliminate jobs 'at every level' across studio, Deadline Hollywood reports
New Dollar General (DG) offer might not woo Family Dollar (FDO), Reuters reports
Microsoft (MSFT), competitors aim to halt Google (GOOG) EU agreement, Reuters reports
HP (HPQ) considered pulling out of Autonomy deal, FT reports
Joy Global (JOY) current price may be good entry, Barron's says
SYNDICATE
Golar LNG (GLNG) offers 27.83M shares of common stock by World Shipholding
Golden Minerals (AUMN) announces proposed common stock, warrant offering
Harvest Natural (HNR) enters $75M equity distribution agreement
Michael Kors (KORS) offers 11.63M shares for Sportswear Holdings
PennantPark (PNNT) offers 11M shares of common stock
Sempra Energy (SRE) files automatic mixed securities shelf
Sensata (ST) offers 15.05M ordinary shares for holders
Tumi (TUMI) offers 8M shares of common stock for holders
iStar Financial (STAR) files automatic mixed securities shelf