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Frontrunning: April 22

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/22/2015 07:34 -0400

Because it just gets funnier: UK speed trader arrested over role in 2010 'flash crash' (Reuters)
... and funnier: Mystery Trader Armed With Algorithms Rewrites Flash Crash Story (BBG)
Presidential hopeful Rubio reaches out to gay Republicans (Reuters)
Varoufakis Sees Differences Narrowing in Creditor Talks (BBG)
China Debt Mess Brings Out the Yin and Yang in Policy Makers (BBG)
Hedge Fund That Made 18% on Dollar Strength Now Bets on Drop (BBG)
Whistleblower Jim Marchese Scores Millions in Payout—Again (WSJ)
Release of Benghazi Report on Hillary Clinton Likely Pushed to Election Season (BBG)
Meredith Corp. Lays Off About 100 Employees (WSJ)
Big Oil’s Latest Fear: A Price Shock After Spending Cuts (BBG)
Tesco Reports Record Loss as Spiraling Debt Adds to Strain (BBG)
How Denmark's unexpected killer slipped through the net (Reuters)
Tesla Wants to Power Wal-Mart (BBG)

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

* NBCUniversal and Fox joined ESPN in attacking Verizon Communications Inc for introducing slimmer, cheaper packages of pay-TV channels that they argue violate existing deals. (http://on.wsj.com/1yMCMBP)

* Google Inc is set to unveil its new U.S. wireless service as early as Wednesday, pushing the Internet giant further into telecom and injecting fresh uncertainty into a wireless industry already locked in a price war. (http://on.wsj.com/1Eq9Ulu)

* An Ohio man accused last week of returning from Syria with plans to launch a terror attack visited a Columbus gun range last year, drawing the suspicions of the facility's owner. (http://on.wsj.com/1cYoaFP)

* Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has proposed to acquire rival Mylan NV for about $40 billion, a tie-up that would create the world's biggest generic drug company by sales. (http://on.wsj.com/1bpaEuC)

* Meredith Corp whose publications include Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens, has laid off about 100 employees across its magazine, digital and broadcast properties. (http://on.wsj.com/1zKc1JE)

* It is unlikely that antitrust enforcers' concerns about the Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc merger could be resolved by promises about how the cable giant would conduct business postmerger. (http://on.wsj.com/1Df5tUH)

Navinder Singh Sarao, a UK futures trader, has been charged by U.S. authorities for allegedly contributing to the 2010 "flash crash", which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge more than 600 points in a matter of minutes.

Goldman Sachs has warned that a Labour-led UK government is likely to spark a sell-off by investors, while a Conservative victory would probably be cheered in the markets.

The quandary for Credit Suisse's incoming Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam is that its investment bank is seen as a problem child, a volatile earner that sucks up so much capital investors fear for their dividends and increasingly worry about impending dilution if the bank needs to raise more cash.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, the largest generic drugmaker in the world, set the stage for the biggest pharma deal of 2015 by launching an unsolicited $40 billion offer to buy its nearest rival Mylan NV. Earlier this month, Mylan made an unsolicited $28.9 billion offer for Perrigo Company Plc, an Ireland-based maker of cough medicines and allergy remedies.

NYT

* A group of six senators on Tuesday sent a letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission, urging them to reject Comcast Corp's proposed $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable. The senators argued that the combination of the country's two largest cable operators would give one company too much power over the future of television and broadband.(http://nyti.ms/1IFAuEY)

* Republican lawmakers and the White House have agreed to subject any trade deal negotiated by President Obama to a monthslong review by Congress and the public, a concession aimed at winning the support of Democrats who view trade agreements as a threat to American workers. (http://nyti.ms/1IFBskJ)

* Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, an Israeli maker of generic drugs, on Tuesday made an unsolicited $40 billion offer for Mylan NV, a rival based in the Netherlands. Just hours later, Perrigo Co Plc, an Irish company that makes store-brand drugs, rejected a $29 billion takeover offer that Mylan made earlier this month. (http://nyti.ms/1QhnGKj)

* With their country running desperately low on cash, Greek officials met on Tuesday with the head of the Russian energy giant Gazprom OAO, spurring speculation about a possible multibillion-dollar pipeline deal between Athens and Moscow. (http://nyti.ms/1IFExRE)

* On Tuesday, a little-known power equipment maker, the Baoding Tianwei Group, became the first state-owned company to default in China's huge domestic bond market, throwing doubt on the long-held notion that such businesses have implicit government backing. (http://nyti.ms/1E9Dfid)

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Air Canada has given Chief Executive Calin Rovinescu an enhanced pension that will almost double his retirement pay to C$791,300 ($647,863) a year by age 65 if he remains at the airline for three more years. Under a new employment agreement negotiated in November, Rovinescu, will receive at least C$9.31 a share for up to one-third of his Air Canada shares when he retires. (bit.ly/1HjPStz)

** The Harper government's pre-election budget offers investment incentives to manufacturers and growing tax breaks to small businesses while promising to return Ottawa to the black. After years of highlighting the importance of Canada's resources sector, the Conservatives shifted the focus to the hard-hit manufacturing sector. (bit.ly/1btLpav)

** Shares of the Mississauga-based Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc are regaining strength after the company recently announced its largest acquisition to date, expanding its footprint in the lucrative U.S. market. (bit.ly/1Jt7mAP)

NATIONAL POST

** The Conservative government's 2015 budget offers up billions of dollars in new financial relief to Canadians. The new measures are on top of the billions of dollars in tax cuts from income-splitting for families and an enhanced Universal Child Care Benefit that were previously announced but rolled out again in the budget. (bit.ly/1DMMVxy)

** Gran Tierra Energy Inc's largest shareholder wants the company's interim CEO replaced for what it believes is the company's "failed high-risk, high-cost exploration strategy in Peru, Argentina, and Brazil" and the "destruction" of the company's market value. Toronto-based hedge fund West Face Capital Inc has accumulated 9.8 percent in the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company. (bit.ly/1EaDxFt)

** Justice Minister Peter MacKay has publicly denounced the Supreme Court's decision to strike down mandatory minimum gun sentences, arguing that the country's highest court was relying on a "far-fetched hypothetical scenario" to mandate how Canada deals with armed criminals. (bit.ly/1Gik9IN)

Hong-Kong

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- The second son of former ATV owner Deacon Chiu is leading a consortium to apply for a domestic free-television licence. David Chiu, chairman of developer Far East Consortium International, said the consortium planned to set up a terrestrial television channel and invest HK$3.2 billion in the first six years. A heavyweight in the consortium is Pansy Ho, co-chairman of MGM China. (bit.ly/1aQeTy5)

-- Home rents in Hong Kong fell for the first time in 12 months in March, with analysts predicting tenants could seek further reductions as private housing completions rise this year. (bit.ly/1aQfqQp)

-- High-net-worth mainlanders are the biggest financial risk-takers in the world, with nearly all of them confident they can manage their investments and reach their financial goals, according to a survey by U.S. asset manager Legg Mason and Citibank. (bit.ly/1Ggozxc)

THE STANDARD

-- Many girls seeking help to stop smoking from the University of Hong Kong's Youth Quitline were aged 13 or 14 when they first lit up. That jarring fact is revealed as Youth Quitline marks its 10th anniversary this year. Since its inception it has answered more than 7,000 calls from smokers under 25 wanting to kick the habit. (bit.ly/1JrUGu8)

-- Three universities are to conduct a territory-wide survey on what the public thinks about the Hong Kong government's political reform proposal. The poll will be conducted daily starting Thursday until the eve of the Legislative Council vote on the reform proposal. (bit.ly/1bhiPsf)

-- China unveiled the plaques of its three free-trade zones in Guangdong, Fujian and Tianjin on Tuesday, following the launch of its first pilot in Shanghai two years ago. Guangdong governor Zhu Xiaodan said the zone will become a model of cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong, and he invited Hong Kong services providers to take part. (bit.ly/1JrVcsa)

HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL

-- Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd said it would buy Guangdong Yueke Software Engineering Co Ltd, a cinema ticketing systems supplier, for 830 million yuan, a deal that can help connect movie theaters with hundreds of millions of users of Alibaba Group and expand the existing customer group to include e-commerce consumers.

Britain

The Times

* Briton 'made $40 mln by crashing market'

A British futures trader was arrested yesterday over allegations that he made more than $40 million from rigging the US stock market, helping to cause the so-called "flash crash" that wiped tens of billions off the value of American companies in minutes five years ago. (http://thetim.es/1aQ36Qb)

* Greek banks 'close to collapse' as debt soars

Greek debt costs leapt yesterday as the French central bank warned that the banking sector in Athens is on the verge of collapse. The euro fell 0.6 per cent to $1.074 after International Monetary Fund and G20 meetings in Washington held out little progress on the prospect of Greece satisfying creditors to unlock 7.2 billion euros ($7.73 billion) in financial aid by the end of the month.(http://thetim.es/1GexUrX)

The Guardian

* Wonga weighs up a name change as it slumps into the red

Wonga, Britain's biggest payday lender, has slumped deep into the red following a series of scandals that saw it branded "morally wrong" by the Church of England. (http://bit.ly/1EpUWMn)

* Primark unveils 11 percent rise in first-half profits but strong U.S. dollar causes alarm

Primark has posted an 11 percent rise in first-half profits as the discount chain gears up for expansion into the U.S., but warned about rising costs due to the stronger dollar. (http://bit.ly/1DA9OB2)

The Telegraph

* BP sees 'massive' shock for North Sea as oil glut deepens

The North Sea oil industry faces a drastic squeeze as the world's crude glut worsens, BP Plc has warned. "We're going to see massive restructuring," Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said. "The North Sea is a very high cost basin and it is going to be a painful adjustment". (http://bit.ly/1GgcurP)

* Labour government would be bad for business, warns Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs Group has warned that a Labour victory in the general election - and particulary a tie-up with the SNP - would be bad for British business and could damage confidence in the economy and financial markets. The investment bank said a victory for Ed Miliband's party would be viewed as "more problematic by the business community" than a victory by Conservative leader David Cameron. (http://bit.ly/1K39Abc)

Sky News

* Tesco loss to be among biggest In UK history

Tesco Plc will guarantee itself an unwanted place in UK corporate history when it unveils an annual loss of well over 5 billion pounds ($7.46 billion), one of the biggest ever reported by a British company. (http://bit.ly/1zI9rUj)

* Bank Of America braced for 10 mln pounds fine

Bank of America Merrill Lynch will on Wednesday become the latest Wall Street institution to be fined by the City watchdog for failing to properly report transactions. (http://bit.ly/1Gfp0Yu)

The Independent

* Petrofac profit warning on more North Sea pain

The financial hazards of working in the North Sea were underlined yesterday as the oil and gas services company Petrofac Ltd issued its third profit warning in a year and said the group faced unprecedented challenges. (http://ind.pn/1DbpIS3)