- Israel, U.S. Lawmakers Press Case Against Iran Nuclear Deal (WSJ)
- Rand Paul tries to broaden libertarian appeal (Reuters)
- Fewer Oil Trains Ply America’s Rails (WSJ)
- Chicago voters go to polls in first ever mayoral runoff (Reuters)
- FedEx to buy TNT to expand Europe deliveries (Reuters)
- Mohamed El-Erian Has Most of His Money in Cash (BBG)
- In Surprise Move, Australia Holds Rates (WSJ)
- Oil falls as Iran, China discuss more supply (Reuters)
- China peeved as Hillary Clinton denounces women's detention (Reuters)
- BlackRock chief Larry Fink warns on strong US dollar (FT)
- Xiaomi: The Secret to the World’s Most Valuable Startup (WSJ)
- In Federal Courts, the Civil Cases Pile Up (WSJ)
- Eurozone confidence highest since '07 – survey (FT)
- The U.S. Job Market Is Losing Its Dynamism (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Israeli officials and congressional Republicans on Monday set high bars with exacting conditions for a nuclear accord with Iran. (http://on.wsj.com/1DeqKBs)
* Viacom Inc said it would take a $785 million pretax charge to second-quarter earnings to cover staff layoffs and to write down the value of underperforming programming. (http://on.wsj.com/1FwMN5W)
* New technologies that promise to change how food is grown, transported and sold are attracting increased interest from the kinds of investors that have fueled Silicon Valley powerhouses. (http://on.wsj.com/1CtrM7z)
* The backlog of pending civil cases in the nation's federal courts is at a record, delaying some lawsuits for years. (http://on.wsj.com/1DeqZMV)
* One of Kleiner Perkins' veteran investors, Matt Murphy, said he is leaving the venture-capital firm. (http://on.wsj.com/1CtrPjK0
* Federal agencies eager to sharpen their enforcement chops are turning to former U.S. prosecutors to help bring-and win-big cases. (http://on.wsj.com/1Der9Un)
* BlackRock Inc said it will close or consolidate some money-market funds in response to a recent regulatory overhaul. (http://on.wsj.com/1y9YXlD)
* Xiaomi of China became the world's fifth-largest smartphone maker by making its customers feel part of an exclusive club, such as by throwing parties for them. (http://on.wsj.com/1ImjSoT)
* The growth in oil-train shipments fueled by the U.S. energy boom has stalled in recent months, dampened by safety problems and low crude prices. (http://on.wsj.com/1C8YsEp)
* Starbucks Corp has raised suspicions among European regulators and local governments by reporting losses in big markets for years despite recording hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales. (http://on.wsj.com/1DV2rcv)
* DuPont said activist investment firm Trian Fund Management's proposal to break up the chemical company would cost $4 billion and diminish its research capabilities. (http://on.wsj.com/1COtuUu)
* Proxy-advisory firm ISS says Wynn Resorts Ltd shareholders should protest what it says are governance issues by withholding support for board nominees. (http://on.wsj.com/1aEJqQd)
* A group of large Wall Street law firms have banded together in an unusual bid to clamp down on a popular hedge-fund strategy aimed at squeezing more money from corporate takeovers. (http://on.wsj.com/1aeFEw0)
FT
Prosecutors in Brazil filed charges against Flávio Roberto de Souza, the judge who was presiding over the insider trading trial involving businessman Eike Batista, for making false statements and embezzling money recovered from a Spanish drug trafficker.
Larry Fink, chief executive of the world's largest asset management firm BlackRock Inc. has expressed concerns over the rising dollar, warning that it might undermine business confidence in the U.S. and may send the economy into a slowdown.
Virtu Financial, a U.S. based electronic market maker, filed with regulators on Monday to list itself on the Nasdaq and offer 16.5 million shares at $17-$19 a share. Virtu seeks to raise up to $361 million from the listing.
iPhone-maker Apple Inc has invited select groups of app developers to its Sunnyvale, California-based labs to help them prepare their apps for the forthcoming Apple Watch.
NYT
* The fraternity at the center of a retracted article by Rolling Stone magazine that alleged a gang rape by its members said it planned "to pursue all available legal action against the magazine." (http://nyti.ms/1DWeS7V)
* A rebounding stock market in India is clearing the way for private equity investors to pursue fresh opportunities. (http://nyti.ms/1DWep5A)
* To help their cash flows, food and packaged goods companies are delaying payments to suppliers, a practice that at one time signaled trouble. (http://nyti.ms/1CfuzkV)
* After a tough 2014 for Samsung Electronics, the beleaguered South Korean manufacturer said it expected earnings in the first quarter of 2015 to beat analyst forecasts, in an early sign of a possible turnaround for the company. (http://nyti.ms/1Deof1P)
* Viacom Inc, the media conglomerate that owns Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central, said on Monday that it would take a pretax charge of about $785 million for the quarter just ended in March, reflecting the write-down of underperforming programming and job cuts. (http://nyti.ms/1y9Ye3N)
* The Weinstein Company is on the verge of selling its growing television unit to Britain's ITV Studios for as much as $950 million, following a monthslong search for a buyer, people briefed on the possible sale said. (http://nyti.ms/1COk3o0)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with the heads of pension funds, banks and other financial leaders when he visits Canada next week in an effort to boost investments in his country's infrastructure sector.(http://bit.ly/1a0PiSL)
** The Conservative government has sold all of its remaining shares in General Motors Co, providing a one-time prebudget boost to federal finances and closing the books on Ottawa's unprecedented decision to help bail out two American auto makers during the global financial crisis.(http://bit.ly/1a0QxRN)
** Alberta Premier Jim Prentice will be making an announcement on Tuesday morning in which he is widely expected to call an early election. The Premier has said he will need a new mandate to govern as the province grapples with a plunge in oil prices and declining economic fortunes.(http://bit.ly/1a0R5ao)
NATIONAL POST
** Montreal-based David's Tea has lined up Wall Street titans including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, and Merrill Lynch, as well as BMO Capital Markets and William Blair to underwrite an initial public offering of its shares in the United States with an aim to raise $75 million to fuel its North American expansion plans. (http://bit.ly/1a0Rslc)
** Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is exploring a sale or initial public offering of Alliance Laundry, a commercial laundry-equipment maker, people with knowledge of the matter said. Canada's third-largest pension plan expects to seek about $250 million in a U.S. IPO, and values the business at about $2 billion. (http://bit.ly/1a0ShKI)
China
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- Profits in over half of the 641 A-share listed companies that have forecast a higher first-quarter earnings are expected to rise, according to data from iFinD, a domestic financial information service company, the newspaper said.
CHINA BUSINESS NEWS
- China's Hangzhou Housing Security and Management Bureau said on Friday that it had increased the maximum amount a married couple can borrow to purchase property from the city's public housing fund to 1 million yuan ($161,525) from 800,000 yuan, the newspaper reported.
CHINA DAILY
- Chinese submarines are "good enough" for "regional naval powers" to purchase, despite not being as "technically advanced" as the world's "best" submarines, the editor-in-chief of Modern Ships magazine said, reported the newspaper.
Britain
The Times
WE'LL BLOCK PENSION AGE RISE AS SCOTS DIE YOUNGER, SAYS STURGEON
The Scottish National Party would use its power in the next parliament to oppose any attempt to increase the state pension age, arguing that such a change would put Scots at a disadvantage. (http://thetim.es/1DFuazb)
COINBASE POISED TO OPEN BRITAIN'S FIRST BITCOIN EXCHANGE
One of the world's biggest digital currency markets, Coinbase, is in talks with financial watchdogs about setting up a regulated bitcoin exchange in Britain. (http://thetim.es/1HJhHrS)
The Guardian
DAVID CAMERON URGES CONSERVATIVE DEFECTORS TO UKIP TO VOTE FOR TORIES
David Cameron has pleaded with former Conservative voters who defected to Ukip to "come back home" to the Tories or risk handing the keys of Downing Street to Ed Miliband. (http://bit.ly/1xYOxos)
TEACHERS' UNION BACKS BALLOT ON STRIKE TIED TO SCHOOLS FUNDING
The National Union of Teachers has backed a ballot on industrial action should the next government fail to increase funding for schools in England and Wales. (http://bit.ly/1Giy1CC)
The Telegraph
BRITAIN'S NEW PROPERTY HOTSPOTS WILL SEE HOUSE PRICE HIKES
The number of homes sold in the Bristol postcode encompassing Avonmouth nearly doubled in 2014 from the previous year, fuelling fears that Britain's latest property hotspots could develop into regional house-price bubbles. (http://bit.ly/1IE3fkY)
DAVID CAMERON RIDICULES 'DESPERATE ATTENTION SEEKER' NICK CLEGG
David Cameron has ridiculed Nick Clegg as a "desperate" attention seeker who leads a "minor party", as the gulf between the two Coalition partners widened on the tenth day of the election campaign. (http://bit.ly/1DUXi4b)
Sky News
ENERGY BOSSES' FURY OVER IOD SMART METER CALL
Britain's energy companies have launched an extraordinary attack on one of the country's most respected business groups amid calls for the Government to scrap an 11 bln stg scheme that will see smart meters installed in every UK home. (http://bit.ly/1CN5WPQ)
TORIES 'PLAN SECRET TAX CUT FOR MILLIONAIRES'
Labour has accused the Conservatives of plotting a secret tax cut for millionaires after the General Election, as political parties launched a battle over economic statistics. (http://bit.ly/1F8cVqu)
The Independent
GENERAL ELECTION 2015: TORIES HUNT FOR A MORE POSITIVE MESSAGE IN LAST-MINUTE MANIFESTO REWRITES
The Conservatives have yet to finalise their manifesto less than a week before it is due to be launched, amid concern among some Tory MPs that the party is not putting forward a positive enough message to the electorate. (http://ind.pn/1NPl7eC)
EXIT FROM EU 'WOULD WORSEN INEQUALITY ACROSS BRITAIN' -REPORT
A British exit from the European Union would hurt the poorest regions of the country hardest because they are more dependent on manufacturing exports, a report by the Centre for European Reform, has warned. (http://ind.pn/1NNm3Qq)