Frontrunning: February 9

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Tyler Durden
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• Airlines, Airports to Meet President Amid Travel-Ban Uncertainty (WSJ)
• Legal battle pits Trump's powers against his words (Reuters)
• Trump’s Oval Office Tweets Force CEOs to Choose Fight or Flight (BBG)
• Companies Plow Ahead With Moves to Mexico, Despite Trump’s Pressure (WSJ)
• Trump’s Labor Pick Loves Burgers, Bikinis, and Free Markets (BBG)
• NATO allies lock in U.S. support for stand-off with Russia (Reuters)
• Sessions Takes Reins at Justice Ready to Walk the Line for Trump (BBG)
• Washington Turns Attention to Yemen, Pleasing Gulf States (WSJ)
• Tesla pausing factory for Model 3 preparation this month (Reuters)
• Twitter reports slowest quarterly revenue growth, shares slide (Reuters)
• Goldman hedge fund folding London operations, shifting staff to U.S.: sources (Reuters)
• Big Meat Braces for a Refugee Shortage (BBG)
• Islamic State-linked group claims rocket attack on Israeli resort (Reuters)
• Manhattan landlords can't stop setting new records for giveaways  (BBG)
• Zurich Insurance Falls as Greco Fails to Convince on Growth (BBG)
• China's changing debt risks drive up bond futures volumes (Reuters)
• Northeast U.S. Bracing for Powerful, Fast-Moving Snowstorm (BBG)
• Singapore Airlines places $13.8 billion wide-body Boeing order (Reuters)
• Puma Predicts Profit Jump as Bolt, Rihanna Assist Resurgence (BBG)

Overnight Media Wrap

WSJ

- The Senate confirmed Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general largely along party lines Wednesday evening, ushering in a dramatic shift in the Justice Department's approach to issues ranging from relations with local police to immigration enforcement to voter fraud. http://on.wsj.com/2kQN3Ls

- A federal judge, in a Wednesday evening decision, blocked health insurer Anthem Inc from acquiring rival Cigna Corp, the second court ruling in recent weeks to deal a decisive rebuke to efforts to reshape the industry through megamergers. http://on.wsj.com/2kR1TkZ

- U.S. companies refinanced $100 billion of loans in January, the largest monthly total in at least a decade, as expectations for interest-rate increases fuel the biggest corporate-refinancing boom in years. http://on.wsj.com/2kR213X

- A public shaming by Donald Trump last year hasn't deterred Rexnord from moving jobs to Mexico. And it isn't alone in making such a shift. http://on.wsj.com/2kQKDg0

- Viacom, long the poster child of the supersize cable TV bundle, is planning to narrow its strategic focus to six key channel brands as it seeks to reset its frayed relationships with distribution partners. http://on.wsj.com/2kQVEOc

- Whole Foods said it would close nine of its stores and lowered its financial projections for the year, moves made as the natural-foods company struggles with increased competition and slowing sales growth. http://on.wsj.com/2kQUClc

- Hollywood will soon have its first chance in five years to change the terms of doing business in China, a politically fraught opportunity for studios to reap billions more from their most important foreign market. http://on.wsj.com/2kQNp4S

- President Donald Trump and Intel Corp Chief Executive Brian Krzanich announced plans for a $7 billion investment in a major manufacturing facility in Arizona. http://on.wsj.com/2kQMj9e

- Theranos's lab in Arizona failed to ensure some patients who got potentially inaccurate diabetes test results were notified, according to a federal inspection report. http://on.wsj.com/2kQVQgs

- Wells Fargo's board is likely to eliminate annual bonuses for 2016 for some top executives following the bank's sales-practices scandal. http://on.wsj.com/2kR4YBB

FT

Volkswagen said it was weighing steps against ex-Chairman Ferdinand Piech after media reports said he had informed key supervisory board members about potential diesel cheating six months before the scandal became public.

Intel Corp chose the White House Oval Office as its backdrop to announce a $7 billion investment in a previously shelved Arizona factory, which it said would create 3,000 jobs when it is up and running.

French cosmetics giant L'Oreal is exploring the sale of its retail unit The Body Shop for 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion). L'Oreal is working with Lazard bankers on a review of its options for the British cosmetics and skincare business.

NYT

- Ivanka Trump served for several years as a trustee for a fortune set aside for the daughters of Rupert Murdoch, but she stepped down in from the role December. The trust for the Murdoch daughters holds some $300 million in stock in News Corp and 21st Century Fox, companies that Murdoch leads, and in which he and his family hold controlling interests. http://nyti.ms/2k5tJKY

- President Trump lashed out on Wednesday at the Nordstrom department store chain for dropping his daughter Ivanka's accessories and clothing line, once again raising ethical questions about the relationship between his presidency and his family's sprawling business interests. http://nyti.ms/2k5uIL0

- A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a proposed $48 billion merger of Anthem and Cigna, derailing another effort by top health insurers to reshape the industry by combining. The ruling, by Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, came two weeks after another federal judge blocked a proposed $37 billion merger between Aetna and Humana on antitrust grounds. http://nyti.ms/2k5LGc7

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has warned the Trump administration that Ottawa is ready to retaliate if the he imposes tariffs at the border, potentially sparking a trade war between Canada and its largest trading partner. https://tgam.ca/2k68Zm2

** Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is "very concerned" about a recent influx of refugee claimants in a small southern Manitoba border town, emphasizing the need to protect both the incoming asylum seekers and Canada's border. https://tgam.ca/2lu7dse

** London Stock Exchange Group Plc has added three new issuers with ties to Canada so far in 2017, bringing its total to 22 such companies. https://tgam.ca/2k6aT6s

NATIONAL POST

** TransCanada Corp is back in negotiations with natural gas producers to ship more Western Canadian gas to Ontario and thwart plans for a competing pipeline from Pennsylvania approved by the U.S. government last week. http://bit.ly/2kW9O0b

** Canada will provide long-range sniper rifles and anti-tank weapons to the Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State (ISIL) in northern Iraq, the Department of National Defence said Wednesday. http://bit.ly/2k4TNB4

** Bombardier Inc's ability to win a major CSeries order last year, and not the federal government's latest cash infusion, was the real impetus for Brazil's complaint against Canada at the World Trade Organization, according to a senior Brazilian official. http://bit.ly/2k6eLV1

Britain

The Times

Energy suppliers to face tough new finance tests

New energy suppliers could face strict financial checks and existing companies could be subjected to stress tests, under a regulatory shake-up being considered by Ofgem. http://bit.ly/2llPSVs

McLaren races into Sheffield

McLaren Automotive, the Surrey-based supercar maker and sister company to the Formula One team, is opening a factory in the industrial north. http://bit.ly/2lm6bBF

The Guardian

Trump envoy says Greece is now more likely to leave the euro

Donald Trump's administration has put itself on a fresh collision course with the European Union after the president's candidate to be ambassador in Brussels said Greece should leave the euro and predicted the single currency would not survive more than 18 months in its present form. http://bit.ly/2llQ9aW

Hundreds of Waitrose jobs may go as retailer plans six store closures

Waitrose is planning to close six stores and remove a level of management in its supermarkets, putting 600 jobs at risk. http://bit.ly/2lm5w3i

The Telegraph

Property developer brothers accused of threatening business partner with selling debt to Russian gangsters

Property developers Nick and Christian Candy have been accused of threatening the pregnant wife of a former university friend and warning they would sell his debt to Russian gangsters, a court in London heard on Wednesday. http://bit.ly/2lm7eBH

Mervyn King: MPs' attitude made Brexit inevitable

British politicians have "lost touch" with voters and elitist bids to suppress the EU debate made the referendum on membership that led to the Brexit vote "inevitable", Mervyn King said. http://bit.ly/2lm4dkC

Sky News

Walmart to help Asda mount market share fightback

A top executive at Asda's parent company has pledged greater support to the chain's recovery efforts after admitting it was slow to respond to the challenge posed by discounters in the UK. http://bit.ly/2lmb1P8

GSK boss seeks 'sensible' Brexit deal on migrant workers

The chief executive of the UK's biggest pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, has told Sky News that Britain needs to be "open minded and sensible" about allowing skilled workers to come from abroad.

The Independent

Government accused of trying to kill off UK solar industry before it can become cheapest form of electricity

The Government has been accused of trying to kill off Britain's solar energy industry just as it is about to become one of the cheapest suppliers of electricity - with no need for any kind of state subsidy. http://ind.pn/2lm570u