- JPMorgan dips into cookie jar to offset "London Whale" losses: firm has sold $25 billion to offset CIO losses (Reuters [25])
- Storied Law Firm Dewey Files Chapter 11 (WSJ [26])
- The European "Wire Run" - Southern Europeans wire cash to safer north (Reuters [27])
- Bankia Tapping Depositors for Bonds Leaves Spain on Bailout Hook (Bloomberg [28])
- Glitches halt new Goldman trade platform (FT [29]) such as reporting prices and seeing trading spreads collapse?
- Japan, China To Launch Yen-Yuan Direct Trading June 1 (WSJ [30])
- Another fault line? Italy Quake Kills Nine in North of Country (Bloomberg [31]) shortly following another Italian quake
- RIM Writedown Risked With $1 Billion Inventory (Bloomberg [32])
- China’s Wage Costs Threaten Foreign Investment, EU Chamber Says (Bloomberg [33])
- Dollar Scarce as Top-Quality Assets Shrink 42% (Bloomberg [34])
- Cameron in eurozone contingency talks (FT [35])
- Moody’s Fading Relevance Exposed in Nordic Downgrades (Bloomberg [36])
- Greek Democratic Left Demands Euro Pledge to Back Syriza (Bloomberg [37])
Overnight media digest:
WSJ
* The celebrated revival of U.S. manufacturing employment has been accompanied by a less-lauded fact: Wages for many workers aren't keeping up with inflation.
* Former Goldman Sachs Group director Rajat Gupta could make a compelling witness at his own criminal insider-trading trial, legal experts say. Or it could be too big a gamble.
* Facebook's IPO problems have left some small investors even more glum about the overall stock market.
* Oklahoma City leaders are fretting about potential consequences for the city now that Chesapeake Energy has run into financial straits, amid low gas prices and a web of loans that entangled CEO Aubrey McClendon.
* Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair told a public inquiry that News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch wielded "substantial power" in Britain but denied aiding the company's interests in exchange for political support from his newspapers.
* Concerns about Spain's ability to shore up fiscal gaps and overhaul a feeble banking system sent Spanish borrowing costs to new highs Monday, prompting a new call from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for European Union action to help calm markets.
* A steep drop in arabica coffee futures this year is souring prospects for the next harvest of some of the world's most coveted beans.
Coffee producers from verdant highlands of the Andes to Mexico -- where much of the world's gourmet beans are grown --say low prices mean they will have less to invest in their high-maintenance plants. This is poised to lead to smaller, lower-quality crops and higher coffee prices later this year.
* Pakistan may have to return to the International Monetary Fund for financial assistance this year amid an unstable macroeconomic situation, the nation's central bank governor said on Monday.
FT
FRESH CRISIS AT TNK-BP AS CEO QUITS
Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman has resigned as chief executive of BP's Russian joint venture TNK-BP, plunging relations between the UK oil group and its local partners into fresh turmoil.
UK'S CAMERON IN EURO ZONE CONTINGENCY TALKS
British prime minister David Cameron on Monday summoned top policy makers to discuss contingency plans for an implosion of the euro zone, as Spanish bond yields neared the danger zone.
OLYMPUS EXPECTED TO SETTLE WITH WOODFORD
Olympus is expected to reach a 10 million pound settlement with its former chief executive, Michael Woodford, who was summarily fired last year after he raised questions about $1 billion in suspicious payments made by the Japanese optical equipment maker.
PRUDENTIAL APPOINTS MANDUCA AS CHAIRMAN
The City of London veteran who led the hunt to become Prudential's chairman has taken on the job himself after the insurer spurned external candidates in favour of one of its own board directors.
DIAGEO TAPS IN BRAZIL GROWTH WITH CACHACA
Diageo is to pay $450 million for a Brazilian maker of cachaca, the sugarcane-derived liquor, as it continues its drive to source half of all sales from emerging markets by June 2015.
SURVEY SHOWS NO LET-UP IN 'SKILLS GAP'
The global skills shortage shows no signs of improving, with more than one-third of companies around the world reporting difficulties filling open positions because of a lack of talent, according to a new survey by ManpowerGroup, the recruitment company.
NYT
* Agreements in which local television stations share news operations are seen by the stations as a survival strategy, and by critics as a barrier to competition.
* In February, Congress phased in a reduction of the number of weeks of extended aid and made it more difficult for states to qualify for the maximum aid, adding a financial burden to the long-term unemployed.
* The bankruptcy filing marks the final chapter in a turbulent period for Dewey & LeBoeuf, which unraveled after disappointing profits and prodigious debt forced it to slash partners' salaries.
* Skype must be able to give Windows and other Microsoft products an edge for Microsoft to justify the $8.5 billion it paid, analysts said.
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
- The Harper government plans to shut down the only public probe into Ottawa's fumbling of the F-35 fighter jet purchase, a controversy that has marred the Conservatives' reputation for fiscal stewardship.
Reports in the business section:
- Six years after being dumped by Alliance Atlantis Communications, film player Patrice Theroux is eyeing a triumphant return as his new company Entertainment One Ltd seeks a takeover of Alliance Films.
- Postmedia Network Inc is cutting deeply across its operations for the second time this month, slashing newsroom jobs at daily newspapers and halting publication of Sunday editions in several markets.
NATIONAL POST
- Riot police moved in during a Quebec City protest and arrested 84 people, including Philippe Lapointe, a negotiator for student group CLASSE.
FINANCIAL POST
- Canadian corporate bonds have plunged amid heightened eurozone fears, and this could translate into falling mortgage rates that will drive up consumer borrowing.
- The Canadian economy must avoid 'shocks' that can derail its recovery, including those from European banks and domestic household debt, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.
Ireland
THE IRISH TIMES
- The 10 most expensive prescription drugs in Ireland's biggest pharmacy chain Boots Ireland are to fall in price by an average of 25 percent due to an overhaul of its pricing model that could spark a price war.
- Intel is seeking planning permission for a 162,000 square meter new plant in Ireland, confirming it as one of the sites for the production of its next generation of microprocessors. If built, the facility could create at least 1,000 jobs.
- Online retailer and cloud computing giant Amazon is to add 100 software and engineering jobs to its development centre in Dublin.
IRISH INDEPENDENT
- The country's stockbrokers, who manage billions of euro for wealthy clients, are being subjected to an unprecedented investigation by a senior financial watchdog following the collapse of Bloxham Stockbrokers
- Tests conducted by a British forensic scientist found no DNA from the two men accused of Michaela McAreavey's murder, either on her body or in her room, their trial in Mauritius heard on Monday
- A distant cousin of Barack Obama, who welcomed the U.S. President to his ancestral hometown of Moneygall has fallen victim to the recession and lost his job