A daily morning look at the financial stories you need to know to start the day
STOCKS/ECONOMY
-Stock futures are flat. We get weekly jobless claims today just before tomorrow's March jobs report.
-S&P is cutting its ratings on China and Hong Kong to negative.
-Even adjusted for inflation, household spending has gone up 25% over the past 20 years. The biggest culprits are housing and transportation costs. Income has not mirrored that rise.
-Gold is back up this morning and is closing out its best quarter since 1990.
OIL/ENERGY
-Oil prices are a bit up. But US supply is at record levels.
-Gasoline prices rose another penny overnight to $2.05/gallon, national avg.
APPLE
-A new book says Jack Welch could have bought Apple for GE for just $2 billion back in 1996. But he passed.
-This may be the machine created by Cellebrite to crack the iPhone.
-And now the FBI has agreed to help an Arkansas prosecutor unlock an iPhone in a murder case.
-Records show Google has been repeatedly ordered by the government to unlock phones too.
-The new head of Google made $100.5 million last year.
ELECTION
-The Trump campaign is already walking back Trump's statement yesterday saying women who have abortions should get some jail time.
-A Marquette U. poll shows that Trump and Clinton could lose their party primaries in Wisconsin next week.
-Al Jazeera America is reporting that FBI Director James Comey will personally interview Hillary Clinton in her email case. This will reportedly happen in a few days.
-The new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Trump has a massive 67% unfavorable rating.
-If Trump is the GOP nominee, Democrats believe they can win the White House and Congress.
-A record number of voters are registering Republican in Pennsylvania ahead of that state's April 28th primary.
-Bernie Sanders has been booted off the DC primary ballot.
TERROR/DEFENSE
-There are growing military concerns that North Korea may lash out militarily now that the country is warning its people of a famine on the way.
-The Pentagon worries that foreign nations may give Artificial Intelligence-laden weapon systems the authority to kill.
-The Air Force wants to convert older F-16's and convert them into unmanned drones to fly in support of the new F-35's.
CHIPOTLE MOVES
-Chipotle may be looking to also start a burger chain.
MOVING AMERICA
-The much-awaited Tesla Model 3 will be unveiled today.
-DC may have to shut down entire lines on its Metro subway system for as long as 6 months.