Power Lunch

Monday - Friday, 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET

Power Lunch

The Power Brief

Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen (L to R) and former Federal Reserve chairs Ben Bernanke and Paul Volcker appear together for the first time in New York, April 7, 2016. The panel is geared toward millennials and focused on decision-making with international implications.
Kathy Willens | Pool | Reuters

A daily morning look at the financial stories you need to know to start the day

STOCKS/ECONOMY

-Stock futures are higher after yesterday's selloff. A rebound in oil prices is a big reason for that, plus some of what Fed Chair Janet Yellen said yesterday.

-Yellen says we are not in a bubble and a big recession is not looming.

-The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell below 1.7% yesterday and is barely holding above that level now.

-Low expectations for tech earnings reports beginning next week have many investors bearish.

OIL/ENERGY

-Crude is now up more than 3% and trading at the $38/barrel level.

-Gasoline prices fell just one tenth of one percent overnight, holding at a national average of $2.04/gallon.

-A shareholder revolt is underway at BP, where CEO Bob Dudley got a 20% pay raise to $19.6 million despite BP's worst losses ever.

-This, despite an overall shrinking in CEO pay in 2015.

DISNEY WARS

-The NY Times is reporting that former Disney heir-apparent Thomas Staggs did not leave of his own accord; he was purged.

ELECTION

-The Trump campaign is finally hiring some seasoned Republican campaign experts to help run the campaign and the convection effort.

-Bill Clinton slammed the "Black Lives Matter" movement at a campaign event for Hillary Clinton yesterday. He's also slamming Obama's foreign policy record. Is Bill a loose cannon, or is this a new Clinton campaign strategy?

-Donald Trump's frontrunner position is making big donors skittish about paying for the costs of the GOP convention as usual.

PANAMA PAPERS

-Critics inside the Democratic Party say the trade deal Pres. Obama pushed for in 2011 left the door open for Panama to be the haven for off shore tax cheating.

-British PM David Cameron now admits he did personally profit from a stake he had in an offshore account held by his father. The account was made public by the Panama Papers.

BANK NATIONALIZATION

-A federal judge has ruled against the Obama administration's labeling of MetLife as a financial institution that's "too big to fail" --- and thus liable to more government regulation. The Obama team says it's going to appeal.

PHARMA

-AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly are in the final stages of testing a breakthrough Alzheimer's drug.

VENEZUELA MESS

-The Venezuelan government is imposing 3-day weekends in order to save power in the financially faltering country.