* NYT (Saturday): Though the economy is humming, the current expansion doesn’t resemble past booms—the Great Recession continues to resonate, and even after 10 years of growth, the euphoria of the tech sector of the late 1990s or of the real estate market in the 2000s is conspicuously absent; Donald Trump telephoned Russian president Vladimir Putin Friday for what both men described as a lengthy, positive conversation, in which they dismissed two years of investigations into Russia’s intervention in the 2016 presidential campaign as a hoax; Democrats, hungry for a sweep of power in Washington, are confronting a harsh reality: Top-tier candidates such as Stacey Abrams of Georgia, Cindy Axne of Iowa, and Joaquin Castro of Texas are refusing to run for the Senate, likely because they would rather run for president; A growing body of research suggests that warming temperatures linked to climate change may significantly shrink the range where it’s possible to make maple syrup; Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro will cancel a trip to New York this month following weeks of controversy over the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce’s decision to honor the far-right leader at its gala this year; A team of international investigators shut down an online marketplace for illegal drugs, weapons, stolen data and other contraband with more than one million customer accounts, illustrating how crime fighting has increasingly become a battle in cyberspace; All across Hungary, which has near-record low unemployment and one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe, there are not enough workers, and companies seeking immigrants to fill spots are being hampered by nationalist policies of prime minister Viktor Orban; (Sunday): The FTC agreed months ago it wanted to pursue a historic penalty against FB that would show the agency’s teeth, but the members are split on the size and scope of the tech company’s punishment, according to insiders, and whether chief Mark Zuckerberg should also be penalized; Two of China’s 34 regions are quietly leading a boom in cultivating cannabis to produce cannabidiol, or CBD, the nonintoxicating compound that has become a consumer health and beauty craze in the United States and beyond, even though cannabidiol has not been authorized for consumption in China because of its tough drug laws; A survey by Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community and Justice indicated that 45 percent of student respondents from over 100 institutions said they had been food insecure—which means having limited or uncertain access to food—in the past 30 days; Sunday Business: Lead story reports that former Uber chief Travis Kalanick wanted to be part of the group ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange when they company goes public, but current CEO Dara Khoshrowshahi denied the request, as many people in the company still see Kalanick as a toxic liability.
* WSJ (Weekend): The Trump administration is ramping up its feud with the Fed over interest rates and how to manage the economy at a time of strong growth and historically low unemployment; +/- BA: Aerospace giant limited the role of its own pilots in the final stages of developing the 737 MAX flight-control system implicated in two fatal crashes, departing from a longstanding practice of seeking their detailed input; Students who apply to college with the help of an online platform that shows where their peers were accepted or rejected are more likely to get into their own choices—but they also may be deterred from applying to highly selective schools; Florida lawmakers passed a divisive bill to implement a voter-approved constitutional amendment that restored voting rights to an estimated 1.4M people with felony convictions; The National Institutes of Health has reversed course and will permit two senior doctors to speak with investigators regarding patient-safety issues in a nationwide sepsis trial; +/- Uber: As the ride-hailing startup prepares to go public in one of the largest tech IPOs ever, chief Dara Khosrowshahi is trying to sell Wall Street on his vision that Uber will become the dominant force in all forms of transportation—but it’s unclear whether the rhetoric matches reality; The government-backed Ginnie Mae is taking steps to curb repeated mortgage refinancings it says are hurting both borrowers and investors, and may bar some loans backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs from inclusion in its flagship bonds; A decade after Uber was founded, it and other gig economy companies “find themselves between the rock of ongoing losses and the hard place of a tight labor market”; Dark pools, private trading platforms, typically geared toward big investors, have enjoyed growing market share this year—the share of U.S. stock trades executed on such off-exchange venues rose to 38.6% in April, the highest level in more than a year; H.O.T.S.: JBLU’s move to fly daily to London from New York City and Boston could set the stage for a new air revolution—or so many in the aviation industry are betting; The April jobs report makes it plenty clear the Federal Reserve isn’t likely to cut rates anytime soon—but it’s always possible it could raise them; Huge declines in Chinese pork production due to swine fever will boost demand for other proteins from othe places.
* FT (Weekend): Front page story reports that investors are flocking to synthetic collateralized debt obligations, a complex debt derivative produce blamed for amplifying losses during the financial crisis, but which investors now say are safer because they aren’t backed by subprime mortgages; Model aircraft enthusiasts have become an unexpectedly powerful opponent of rules that would allow widespread commercial drone flying, which would likely add onerous rules to their hobby; Lex Column: Until last year, company voluntary arrangements use was falling in England and Wales, but for landlords like Intu, the pain from CVAs will rise in line with their growing use; For Adidas, marketing savvy such as adding pop star Beyoncé to the brand is increasingly important for its battle with rival NKE; “Bernie Sanders is not U.S. president yet, but he is forcing a confrontation with corporate America” with his plan for a single payer health system; Comment: “The window of opportunity for flogging lossmaking growth companies with minimal future visibility to retail investors isn’t shut yet,” says Merryn Somerset Webb. “But everyone knows it can’t open wider, however good some of the companies may be.”
* NY POST (Saturday): +/- CBS: Network “is in chaos amid a massive shake-up at the network’s news division that will have Gayle King crowned queen of the morning show as soon as Monday”; Super Bowl LIV, which will take place on February 2, will run longer commercial breaks than in previous years, but less often; (Sunday): UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is prepping for life outside the ring by launching an Irish whiskey called Proper No. Twelve, which will take on Jameson’s, the category leader, owned by Pernod-Ricard