Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Goldman Builds China Financial-Stress Index and, Yes, It's Risen. (graph) With corporate bond sales being canceled, stocks sliding and government debt yields climbing in recent months, it’s no surprise that the measure shows an increase in strain. But the financial-stress index, or FSI, has dropped from the recent high in late 2016 and early 2017, and might not necessarily translate to weakness in the economy, Goldman analysis showed.
• Boom Times for Longer in EU's East as GDP Growth Quickens. The European Union’s eastern economies began 2017 with a growth flurry as resumed flows of development funds from the bloc and improving demand in the euro area gave them the edge over the rest of the region. Romania led the way, with first-quarter growth unexpectedly quickening to 5.7 percent from a year earlier, more than the 4.5 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Expansion in Poland, the east’s biggest economy, accelerated to 4 percent. Even at the bottom of the pack, the Czech Republic’s 2.9 percent increase in gross domestic product outpaced the euro area, the region’s main trading partner.
• OPEC Prolonging Cut Would Achieve Mission to Clear Oil Glut. The world’s two biggest oil exporters seem to have finally figured out how to eliminate a global surplus that’s kept crude prices in check for almost three years. Saudi Arabia and Russia said in Beijing on Monday they favor prolonging this year’s oil curbs to the first quarter of 2018. If they convince fellow producers to adopt the strategy when OPEC and its partners meet next week, it will pare near-record inventories in developed nations by 8 percent and erase the glut weighing on the market, according to Bloomberg calculations using U.S. government data.
• Glencore Says Electric Car Boom Is Coming Faster Than Expected. (video)
• Best Earnings Growth Since 2011 Backs S&P 500 at Record: Chart.
• Wall Street Thinks Trump’s All Talk When It Comes to Breaking Up Banks. (video) On the first day of May, Donald Trump sat in the Oval Office and declared that his administration was taking a look at breaking up Wall Street’s biggest banks. If they ever took him seriously, it didn’t last. Instead of cowering, Wall Street executives and lobbyists are crowing, getting more confident about ditching rules that have annoyed them for years. That’s because the Trump administration is appointing friendly regulators and signaling it will make life easier for bankers.
• Senate GOP Won't Back Trump's Deep Spending Cuts, McConnell Says. President Donald Trump’s proposal for $54 billion in domestic spending cuts in the next fiscal year reflects priorities that “aren’t necessarily ours,” and he can expect a Republican-led Senate to make changes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.
• Ford(F) Plans to Cut About 10% of Global Staff. (video)
• Here’s Where Hedge Funds Invested in the First Quarter.

Wall Street Journal:

• Trump Administration Defends Sharing Information With Russia. As controversy escalates, national-security adviser says conversation was ‘wholly appropriate’.

MarketWatch.com:

• Apple(AAPL) stock price target gets a big boost.
• Here's why your're getting so many spam phone calls.

Fox News: 

• White House says Trump info-sharing with Russia ‘wholly appropriate,’ rips leaks. (video)

CNBC:

• Meet the 2017 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies.
• Why many US start-ups are trying to crack the Indian marketplace.
• Hedge fund managers don’t always beat the market, but they still make billions.
• Goldman(GS) just put a $1,000 price target on this red-hot surgical robot maker. Goldman Sachs told investors to buy Intuitive Surgical(ISRG) shares because robot-assisted procedures will double in the next two years. The firm initiated coverage on the surgical robot maker with a buy rating.

Zero Hedge:

• Murdered DNC Staffer Seth Rich Shared 44,053 Democrat Emails With WikiLeaks: Report.
• McMaster: Trump Didn't Even Know Where Intel Came From; His Disclosure Was Appropriate.
• Israel Minister: "The Time Has Come To Assassinate Bashar Assad".
• Clothing Retailer Rue21 Files For Bankruptcy, Many More On Deck.
• Hackers Unleash Second NSA-Developed Cyber-Weapon On Dark Web.
• China Capitulates: Injects $25 Billion Into Liquidity-Starved Banks To "Appease Investors". (graph)
• Industrial Production Surges Most Since Feb 2014 As Auto Assembly Spikes. (graph)
• Goldman(GS) Turns Less Confident On June, September Rate Hikes.
• Housing 'Recovery' Stumbles As Starts, Permits Plunge In April. (graph)

The Economist:

• An index suggests the world is more stable than the news suggests.

AP:

• Clues point to possible North Korean involvement in massive cyberattack.

The Telegraph:

• New poll suggests more than two thirds of people 'now support Brexit'.