US futures bounce after another down week; oil surges

IN THE NEWS TODAY

U.S. stock futures were higher this morning, after two straight weeks of losses for the Dow and S&P 500 and three down weeks in a row for the Nasdaq. A sharp rise in oil prices following the replacement of Saudi Arabia's longtime energy minister provided support. (CNBC)

Saudi Arabia is hoping to lure ExxonMobil (XOM), China's Sinopec, and BP into buying stakes of state-run oil company Aramco, when it sells 5 percent of its equity. Saudi Aramco is expected to be valued at more than $2 trillion. (The Telegraph)

Another factor in U.S. crude's roughly 2 percent jump this morning was the huge wildfire in Canada's oil sand region knocking out over a million barrels in daily production capacity, contributing to a significant tightening of markets over the past weeks. (Reuters)

Chinese stocks measured by the Shanghai composite fell 2.76 percent overnight, as investors digested weaker trade figures there. Friday's lighter U.S. jobs report was being mulled for implications for the next possible interest rate by the Fed. (CNBC)

U.S. economic fundamentals are solid and growth this year should pick up to around 2.5 percent, but the central bank's current 'wait and see' approach on rates is appropriate, asserted Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, speaking in London today. (Reuters)

LendingClub (LC), the online lending marketplace, said its CEO Renaud Laplanche resigned after the board of directors determined he violated the company's business practices. The stock was down about 30 percent in premarket trading. (CNBC)

Republican Donald Trump said he expects taxes on the rich to "go up a little bit" if he becomes president. Meanwhile, Trump is set to meet Thursday with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who last week said he was not ready to support the presumptive nominee. (NBC News)

North Carolina's GOP governor, Pat McCrory, is expected to respond today to the Justice Department's warning that a new state law limiting the rights of transgender people is illegal. (NY Times)

Twitter (TWTR) has barred Dataminr, a service that analyzes tweets to inform users about news events, from providing its information to US intelligence agencies. The agencies had reportedly used Dataminr's service for two years. (WSJ)

Facebook (FB) won a trademark battle in China, in a case involving a Chinese firm that owned the trademark "face book" for beverages. Last month, Apple (AAPL) lost its battle there over a domestic company using the "iPhone" trademark on leather goods. (Reuters)

Ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft plan to suspend service indefinitely Monday in Austin after voters in the Texas tech hub failed to adopt a ballot measure that would have allowed them greater self regulation. The dispute could play out in other cities. (USA Today)

A dangerous storm system threatened to spin off tornadoes and dump large hail in its march across the Plains states on Monday, according to forecasters. The same storm system brought severe weather to the region over the weekend. (NBC News)

BY THE NUMBERS

In addition to Evans, there are two more Fed-related speeches today, including Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari at 1 p.m. ET, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams at 6 p.m. ET.

The pace of earnings slows down considerably this week and especially today, with Tyson Foods (TSN) one of the few major companies out this morning. After-the-bell earnings this afternoon include Liberty Global (LBTYA) and Rackspace (RAX).

Walt Disney's (DIS) "Captain America: Civil War" topped the weekend box office with a strong $181.8 million in North American ticket sales. The performance, the fifth-best domestic weekend opening of all time, met lofty analyst expectations.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines. CEO Warren Buffett had warned at last weekend's annual meeting that a slump in shipments at the company's Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad unit would drag down results.

Tribune Publishing (TPUB) has been urged by Oaktree Capital, its second largest shareholder, to negotiate with Gannett (GCI) about a possible takeover. Tribune recently rejected a roughly $400 million overture from Gannett.

Oracle (ORCL) and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google unit are back in court today, in a long-running copyright dispute. Oracle has accused Google of using portions of its Java software without permission.

Depomed (DEPO) may once again be a target of Horizon Pharma (HZNP) if Depomed is forced to put itself up for sale, according to the New York Post. Depomed successfully fought off a takeover bid from Horizon late last year.

WATERCOOLER

There was only one jackpot-winning ticket in Saturday's $429 million Powerball drawing, and it was sold in New Jersey. The ticket with the winning numbers 05-25-26-44-66 and with Powerball number 09 was bought at a 7-Eleven in Trenton. (NBC News)

The smallest planet in our solar system makes a rare trip between Earth and the sun today. Mercury's last pass-by was in 2006. Looking like a small black dot against the sun, the planet's 7.5-hour trek was visible starting around 7 a.m. ET. (USA Today)

A sculpture of Adolf Hitler was sold for a record $17.2 million Sunday at a Christie's auction in New York. "Him," a statue of a kneeling, child-like Hitler, by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. (CNBC)