TheChek News Flow

* Admiral Upgraded to Overweight at Barclays; PT 23 Pounds

* BAKKAVOR RAISED TO EQUAL-WEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY, PT 145P

* Boliden Upgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank

* Deere Upgraded to Buy at Jefferies; PT $190

* Julius Baer Upgraded to Outperform at RBC; PT 57 Francs

* Metro AG Raised to Market Perform at Bernstein; PT 16 Euros

* Takeaway Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; PT 73 Euros

>>> Down

* Nanoco Downgraded to Hold at Jefferies; PT 9 Pence

* Natixis Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 3.90 Euros

* RWE Downgraded to Reduce at HSBC; Price Target 21 Euros

* Sipef NV Rated New Reduce at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 43 Euros

* SLM Solutions Downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank

* Tod's Downgraded to Underperform at Credit Suisse; PT 32 Euros

>>> Initiation

* Delivery Hero Reinstated Overweight at Morgan Stanley

* Entertainment One Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT 4.75 Pounds

* Melrose Industries Rated New Buy at Citi; PT 2.20 Pounds

* Recipharm Rated New Hold at Jefferies; PT 117 Kronor

* Urban Exposure Rated New Buy at Jefferies; PT 90 Pence

>>> Call

* Melrose Initiated Buy, Has Self-Help Opportunity Upside: Citi

* Admiral Upgraded to Overweight at Barclays; PT 23 Pounds

* BAKKAVOR RAISED TO EQUAL-WEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY, PT 145P

* Deere Upgraded to Buy at Jefferies; PT $190

* Julius Baer Upgraded to Outperform at RBC; PT 57 Francs

* Metro AG Raised to Market Perform at Bernstein; PT 16 Euros

>>> Down

* Nanoco Downgraded to Hold at Jefferies; PT 9 Pence

* Natixis Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 3.90 Euros

* RWE Downgraded to Reduce at HSBC; Price Target 21 Euros

* Tod's Downgraded to Underperform at Credit Suisse; PT 32 Euros

>>> Initiation

* Entertainment One Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT 4.75 Pounds

* Melrose Industries Rated New Buy at Citi; PT 2.20 Pounds

* Recipharm Rated New Hold at Jefferies; PT 117 Kronor

* Urban Exposure Rated New Buy at Jefferies; PT 90 Pence

>>> Call

* Melrose Initiated Buy, Has Self-Help Opportunity Upside: Citi

Stocks in Asia were mixed, while U.S. futures edged higher, as investors monitored geopolitical risks and prepared for the high-stakes meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Oil climbed as the U.S. said it was planning sanctions on Iran.

Shares slipped in Sydney, were little changed in Tokyo and Shanghai, and edged up in Hong Kong. European equity futures were flat. S&P 500 futures rose after the gauge Friday slipped from an all-time high. The yen and the offshore yuan were steady. The yield on 10-year Treasuries was flat at 2.05%. The Turkish lira jumped after the opposition candidate won the redo of Istanbul’s mayoral race. The Aussie rose after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said there are limits to what monetary easing can achieve.

Nikkei +0.11% Hang Seng +0.06% CSI +0.00% Shanghai -0.01% Shenzen -0.25%

Eur$ 1.1378 CNH 6.8723 CNY 6.8735 JPY 107.44 GBP 1.2750 VHF 0.9777 RUB 63.0603 TRY 5.7419 WTI$ 57.81 +00.68%

S&P +0.29% EuroStoxx +0.06% FTSE +0.09% Dax -0.15% SMI -0.08%

- RNO FP : France to Review Ghosn’s Income Tax Declarations: Liberation

- SGSN SW : SGS Sells Petroleum Services Corp to Aurora Capital for $335m

- CAF SM : Polish Fund PFR Seeks New Terms to Buy Stake in Solaris: Puls

- STM FP : Chip Stocks in Focus After U.S. Blacklists More China Tech Cos.

- VLTSA FP : Voltalia Announces Capital Increase of Around EU376m

* NYT (Saturday): Donald Trump said the U.S. military had been “cocked and loaded” for a strike against Iran on Thursday night, but that he called it off with 10 minutes to spare when a general told him that 150 people would probably die in the attack; related story says that Fox News host Tucker Carlson told Trump that responding to Tehran’s provocations with force would be a mistake that could hurt his re-election chances; Several international airlines diverted planes from flying over the Strait of Hormuz and parts of Iran Friday amid concerns about the U.S. launching a retaliatory strike for the downing of an American drone; As partisanship grows more pronounced in the U.S., individual states are pursuing vastly different policies on climate change with the potential to cement an economic and social divide for years to come; Trump nominated Mark Esper, the secretary of the Army and former West Point classmate of secretary of state Mike Pompeo, to be the next defense secretary; The Trump administration added five Chinese entities—Sugon, Higon, Chengdu Haiguang Integreated Circuit, Chengdu Haiguang Microelectronics Technology, and Wuxi Jiangnam Institute of Computing Technology—to a U.S. blacklist, further restricting China’s access to American technology and stoking already high tensions with Beijing; The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has opened a review of the decade-old federal “overdraft rule,” which regulates how banks charge fees when their customers spend more than what is in their checking accounts; (Sunday): Trump’s last-minute decision to cancel a retaliatory strike on Iran underscored the absence of appealing options available to him as Tehran races toward building up and further enriching its stockpile of nuclear fuel, posing a challenge to the U.S.; The Trump administration released an economic plan titled “Peace to Prosperity” that involves raising more than $50B to improve the lot of the Palestinians and their Arab neighbors, part of a peacemaking effort in the Middle East; Trump delayed plans for nationwide raids to deport undocumented families, but threatened to unleash immigration agents in two weeks if Democrats do not submit to changes in asylum law they have long opposed; Sunday Business: For decades, antitrust regulation has been overwhelmingly focused on the welfare of the consumer. No cost to the consumer, no problem, paving the way for GOOGL, FB, AAPL, and AMZN, but a backlash is mounting as renegade scholars try to reverse years of established doctrine that they say does not appropriately take the clout of those companies into account.

* WJS (Weekend): Front page story reports “The Commerce Department is taking aim at China’s supercomputing push with new export restrictions that effectively cut five major Chinese developers of next-generation, high-performance computing off from U.S. technology”; The proliferation of guns sold legally that operate nearly identically to banned models shows how difficult it can be to make firearm restrictions effective—California has updated assault weapon restrictions twice since a ban took effect in 1989; Today, younger married couples are less likely to split up than they once were, but, at the same time, the rate of divorce for older generations has increased in a phenomenon known as “gray” divorce; “Factory output is slowing in a number of key economies, darkening the outlook for the global economy and increasing the likelihood that leading central banks will respond with fresh stimulus”; Current and former U.S. officials says that as tensions with Iran mount, Tehran may attempt to retaliate against the U.S. with disruptive cyberattacks—security firms have seen multiple hacking attempts in recent days; As a tougher new carbon-emissions target looms, European Union car makers have few options other than to sell more fully-electric and hybrid cars, despite low market demand; + KO, PEP: As the soda giants soda giants plan for a future where single-use plastic bottles may be banned, they are offering high-tech water fountains that can add bubbles and flavors on demand; + Thales: Company is among those set to benefit as Europe’s aviation industry and regulators prepare to expand commercial drone operations in coming years, including harnessing artificial intelligence for air-traffic control; + Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, NEC: Japanese suppliers of facial-recognition technology and other security equipment are getting a leg up from a U.S. campaign to reduce reliance on China, with many companies seeing it as a major opportunity; H.O.T.S.: Presidents have long criticized the Fed, but for all its missteps, the country is better off with it than it would be without it; China Evergrande Group has paid nearly a 40% premium to raise its stake in undercapitalized Chinese bank Shengjing; CCL is known to guide conservatively, but investors would be wise to be cautious until it becomes clear when European demand will rebound

* FT (Weekend): Former BCS chief John Varley has been cleared after a high profile fraud trial over payments made by the bank to secure investment from Qatar during the financial crisis; Big Read story says that while the Trump administration has been confounded by Tehran’s tactics after pulling out of the nuclear accord, many observers believe talks could defuse a crisis that has an increasingly regional dimension; Lex Column: If numbers of tech companies joining the market were all that mattered, Europe would pose a serious challenge to Silicon Valley; Under founder Terry Gou, Foxconn has tried to reduce its reliance on AAPL for years without much success; Switzerland refuses to accept closer trading arrangements with the EU, and retaliation against if would set a worrying precedent for the UK; Comment: FB co-founder Chris Hughes raises questions about the social site’s planned cryptocurrency, saying that it could weaken central banks’ control of monetary policy and that regulators can’t take a “wait and see” approach.

* NY POST (Saturday): + BID: Though the company agreed to sell itself for $2.66B to French telecom tycoon Patrick Drahi, it could soon get rival counter-offers, including a New York-based bloc of deep-pocketed art aficionados; + MCD: Fast-food chain is designing voice-activated drive-thrus and robotic deep fryers in a bid to streamline its menu and operations and speed up service; (Sunday): As many as 6,000 dogs roam the Seattle-based headquarters at AMZN, which pampers the pets with dog parks, a doggie deck, and special treats at the reception desk, but Wall Street generally frowns on the pet-friendly policies there and at other companies.

- The nation's largest and most complex banks have strong capital levels that would allow them to stay well above their minimum requirements after being tested against a severe hypothetical recession