Frontrunning: May 31

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Tyler Durden
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• Major Bourses on Course to End Month Sharply Higher (WSJ)
• Brent crude lower on strong Middle East oil output (Reuters)
• Treasuries Lose Their Lead Over Shares as Fed Moves Toward Shift (BBG)
• Lost Decade for Value Stocks Tests Faithful Who Say End is Nigh (BBG)
• Iraqi army pause at southern edge of Falluja as IS fights back (Reuters)
• Risky Reprise of Debt Binge Stars U.S. Companies Not Consumers (BBG)
• The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s 41-Year U.S. Debt Secret (BBG)
• Nuns With Guns: The Strange Day-to-Day Struggles Between Bankers and Regulators (WSJ)
• China to 'pressure' U.S. on maritime issues, paper says (Reuters)
• Lost Year in Nigeria Under Buhari Leaves Economy on Knees (BBG)
• HSBC Tightens Hong Kong Safe-Deposit Box Rules to Boost Defenses (BBG)
• When Bigger Isn’t Better: Banks Retreat From Global Ambitions (WSJ)
• Euro-Area Inflation Rate Stays Negative as ECB Mulls Outlook (BBG)
• It's settled then: China Buying Sparks Bitcoin Surge (WSJ)
• Former Zurich Insurance CEO Martin Senn Commits Suicide (WSJ)
• Great Plains Energy to Buy Westar Energy for $8.6 Billion (WSJ)
• Donald Trump Soured on a Deal, and Hong Kong Partners Became Litigants (NYT)
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce hopes to keep the GOP from losing control of the Senate in November (WSJ)
• Dismay in oil Twitterverse upon popular U.S. crude trader's exit (Reuters)

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- Martin Senn, former chief executive of Zurich Insurance Group AG who stepped aside in December, has killed himself, the company said - the second suicide by a one-time top manager at the company in the past few years. (http://on.wsj.com/1O0G7oU)

- Iraqi special forces advanced to the edge of Fallujah on Monday but struggled to enter the city, where Iraqi and U.S. officials said Islamic State extremists were amassing civilians to serve as human shields. (http://on.wsj.com/1O0GdwW)

- Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC is nearing a deal to buy Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc for about $1.5 billion, a large premium for a company with a promising leukemia drug but no revenue. (http://on.wsj.com/1O0Ghww)

- Two unions representing more than 36,000 Verizon workers won concessions from the carrier in a new four-year contract, helping to end a nearly seven-week labor strike. (http://on.wsj.com/1O0Gvnh)

FT

British investment firm Alliance Trust Plc said on Monday it had received an informal merger approach from RIT Capital Partners Plc, which is chaired by financier Jacob Rothschild.

Hedge funds and investment banks are attempting to profit from UK's European Union referendum on June 23 by commissioning private exit polls to find early voting patterns.

Members of the European Round Table of Industrialists warned of the negative consequences of Brexit, saying Europe was at a "fork in the road" and that an "unravelling" of EU's single market and its rules would reduce prosperity, according to a letter sent to the Financial Times.

NYT

- Viacom's directors vowed on Monday to fight any potential moves by the ailing media mogul Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone, to eject them from the company's board. (http://nyti.ms/1XajnWZ)

- Verizon reached a series of tentative agreements with unions representing nearly 40,000 workers on strike, retreating on some of the major points of contention, including pension cuts and greater flexibility to outsource work. (http://nyti.ms/20QWghX)

- Martin Senn, the former chief executive of Zurich Insurance Group, has killed himself, the company said on Monday, citing information from his family. Senn had resigned in December, mentioning business "setbacks in recent months." (http://nyti.ms/1XKWojC)

- After more than 1,100 deaths exposed dangerous labor conditions in Bangladesh in 2013, brands such as Walmart , H&M and Gap pledged to improve the safety of some of the country's poorest workers. But human rights groups say that three years on, those promises are still unfulfilled. (http://nyti.ms/20QXSbp)

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** The glowing outlook for the world's airlines is beginning to dull a little amid data showing that international passenger traffic rose by just 4.6 percent in April, the slowest year-over-year pace since January, 2015. (bit.ly/1OXTlgU)

** A new court ruling on assisted death is raising questions about whether the Liberal government's proposed law is constitutional, as the House of Commons prepares to vote Tuesday on a historic bill to legalize the practice. (bit.ly/1PeZ9rV)

** Ottawa is considering setting up a 'super' Security Intelligence Review Committee that would provide oversight to a number of federal security departments and agencies, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says. (bit.ly/1UeSkT9)

NATIONAL POST

** As oilsands companies send crews back to the Fort McMurray region of Alberta and prepare to restart production following the devastating wildfires, the cumulative hit to the industry's cash flow is expected to be in the billions of dollars. (bit.ly/1WuwhOF)

** Ontario's concussion safety bill, "Rowan's Law", will likely be passed at Queen's Park next week, just days before the provincial legislature ends its spring session. The law, named in honor of Rowan Stringer, a Barrhaven, Ontario, high school student who died after sustaining two closely spaced concussion while playing rugby, would be a first in Canada. (bit.ly/1UeTePq)

Britain

The Times

A third of bosses at Britain's biggest public companies say they have spent up to 1 million pounds ($1.46 million) preparing for the consequences of leaving the European Union, according to a survey of senior board members at FTSE 350 companies. (http://bit.ly/1VrbvOV)

The French economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, one of two favourable economic snapshots released on Monday from eurozone countries. There were also more favourable numbers on German inflation, indicating that the continent's biggest economy is emerging from deflation, after a 0.3 percent decline in inflation in April. (http://bit.ly/1VrbMBm)

The Guardian

UK companies have become gloomier about their trading prospects and the economic outlook as the EU referendum approaches, according to Lloyds Bank's latest barometer of business mood. (http://bit.ly/1Vr91jE)

The property tycoons and advisers who backed Dominic Chappell's takeover of UK retailer BHS are set to face questions from MPs over their involvement with the department store chain. (http://bit.ly/1Vr9anc)

The Telegraph

Britain's booming "gig" economy has caught the eye of private equity house Dunedin, which has bought a 33 million pounds stake in Tewksbury-based broker Kingsbridge. (http://bit.ly/1Vr9XEG)

Deloitte will promote a record number of women to the position of partner this year, as the firm's diversity drive takes hold. The accounting and advisory giant will add 80 employees to its partnership ranks, of which 24 are women. (http://bit.ly/1VrashX)

Sky News

Some of London's top fund managers are to plough tens of millions of pounds into Time Out, the media group, which will this week unveil plans for its own London listing. Neil Woodford, the prominent investor, is expected to acquire a significant stake in Time Out as part of a flotation that would value the company 185 million pounds to 225 million pounds. (http://bit.ly/1VraZ3s)

Former Zurich Insurance Chief Executive Martin Senn has committed suicide, just three years after the company's then chief financial officer also took his own life. (http://bit.ly/1Vrbn1S)

The Independent

The Bank of England has said plastic banknotes set to come into circulation later this year may suffer from a design flaw - they could stick together. (http://ind.pn/1VrbomD)