Wall Street Breakfast: Fed Minutes In Focus

Economy

British unemployment remained unchanged at 4.9% in the three months to June, marking the last employment measurement before the U.K.’s decision to leave the EU. In the same period, average weekly earnings rose 2.4%, meeting estimates. Analysts in the coming months will continue to watch the unemployment level as one of the key indicators of how the Brexit vote is affecting the U.K. economy.

The new Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect is expected to be operational in around four months’ time and will be similar to the existing Shanghai link, which launched in late 2014. The main difference between the two channels is that Shanghai has a quota on both daily and yearly trade totals, while only a daily quota is planned for Shenzhen. Regulators have also scrapped an existing aggregate limit of 300B yuan ($45.25B) on the Shanghai bourse.

Turkey issued several decrees under emergency rule today in which it dismissed 2,360 police officers, closed the TIB telecoms authority and allowed President Erdogan to appoint the head of the armed forces. Those dismissed were described as having links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the failed putsch on July 15.

“Impeachment without a crime, if consummated, would be a coup,” Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said in a live broadcast on Facebook, calling for early elections to unite a country mired in recession. Rousseff was suspended in May on accusations she doctored government fiscal accounts to get re-elected in 2014. She’s widely expected to be impeached and permanently removed from office later this month.

Authorities in southern California have ordered the mandatory evacuation of 82,000 people after a wildfire broke out in a mountain pass to rapidly engulf 18,000 acres of terrain. The blaze is the latest in a series of wildfires that have blackened nearly 300,000 acres of the drought-parched U.S. West, following a 10-month streak of record-breaking temperatures, beginning in October 2015.

Stocks

Shifting its focus away from hardware, Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) is reportedly laying off upward of 14,000 employees, representing nearly 20% of the networking giant’s global workforce. “They need different skill sets for the software-defined future than they used to have,” sources told CRN. Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks and many early retirement package plans have already been offered to employees.

Univision has won a court-administered auction for Gawker Media, outbidding Ziff Davis for control of the media pioneer that was forced into bankruptcy by a costly lawsuit with Hulk Hogan. The $135M offer comes as Univision (Pending:UVN) makes aggressive moves to become a more digital company with a greater focus on a millennial audience.

Settlement talks between Viacom and Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements have resumed after weeks of stops and starts. Terms being discussed include allowing CEO Philippe Dauman to sell a stake in Paramount Pictures in exchange for his exit and changes that would reshape the company’s board. Dauman would be replaced by Viacom (VIA, VIAB) COO Tom Dooley on an interim basis.

At an Intel event in San Francisco, CEO Brian Krzanich showed off his company’s standalone VR headset prototype, Project Alloy. The device will allow a wearer to see objects surrounding them in the physical world, use hand gestures to execute commands and open-source its hardware for others to create their own branded products. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) also said it was partnering with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to bring a virtual reality platform, Windows Holographic, to mainstream PCs running Windows 10.

The Obama administration will formally shift authority for much of the internet’s governance to a nonprofit multi-stakeholder entity on Oct. 1, despite fierce opposition from some lawmakers and advocacy groups. Many regard the long-planned transfer of the internet’s domain-name system as necessary to maintain international support, but other feel it could endanger national security.

A venture backed by eight major financial institutions has begun beta testing a peer-to-peer network that aims to use blockchain distributed ledger technology to slash billions off the cost of processing foreign exchange transactions. Fronted by ex-Citi (NYSE:C) and Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) currencies supremo Andy Coyne, Cobalt DL’s initiative is the latest to move forward with serious real world use of what promises to simplify banks’ unwieldy computer infrastructure.

Lumber Liquidators climbed 6.6% AH on Tuesday after it won a favorable court ruling against claims that it didn’t warn consumers about a cancer-causing compound in some of its flooring products. Global Community Monitor and Sunshine Park will pay $100K to Lumber Liquidators (NYSE:LL) as reimbursement for lawsuit costs. LL shares have dropped almost 75% since March 2015 when CBS’s 60 Minutes alleged that the company’s laminate products contained toxic levels of formaldehyde.

Analysts say a merger of Praxair (NYSE:PX) and Linde (OTCPK:LNAGF) would likely trigger antitrust reviews as it would cut the number of global industrial gas suppliers to three from four. According to Bloomberg, the two companies have discussed potential divestitures to address the concerns, which could include selling gas production operations in local markets.

Less than a year after starting his job as company head, Ronald Boire has been unceremoniously let go from his CEO gig at Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS). The book store chain made the announcement in a bluntly written press release, noting that its Board of Directors determined he “was not a good fit for the organization.” Executive Chairman Len Riggio is postponing his retirement in response and will pick up Boire’s duties until a new CEO is found.

The Treasury Department issued rules this year that thwarted several tax inversions, but one large deal that managed to get through was the $16B acquisition of Tyco (NYSE:TYC) by Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI). The last hurdle for the transaction is a vote today by both sets of shareholders. Johnson Controls shareholders are set to vote in Dallas, while Tyco’s shareholders will do so in Dublin.

Macau’s most expensive casino is due to open on Monday, as the $4.2B Wynn Palace (OTCPK:WYNMY) launches on China’s southern coast, where growth has been downshifting following years of turbocharged expansion. Casino tycoon Steve Wynn declined to say how long it would take to break even on the investment as he addressed reporters at a pre-opening event, but emphasized that it would be a diversified resort with gambling merely being one attraction.

A major announcement from Ford that it will develop a 100% autonomous vehicle by 2021 could have far-reaching effects in a variety of sectors. “The first application of the fully autonomous vehicle will be commercial applications, whether it’s ride-hailing or parcel delivery,” Ford (NYSE:F) CEO Mark Fields told Recode. Companies that could be eyeing purchasing self-driving car fleets include FedEx (NYSE:FDX), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), UPS (NYSE:UPS), Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ), Papa John’s (NASDAQ:PZZA), Avis (NASDAQ:CAR) and Hertz (NYSE:HTZ).