A mix of corporate tax cuts and a strong economy helped propel US corporate profits to a 16.1% year-over-year gain, the best figure in 6 years – WSJ
The CFTC has fined France’s BNP Paribas $90 million as part of a deal to resolve allegations that the bank “attempted to manipulate the ISDAfix benchmark over a roughly five-year period to benefit its derivatives positions.” BNP agreed to pay the fine “without admitting or denying the findings” – Law360
Campbell Soup is getting leaner in an attempt to revive its struggling North American sales. It announced today that it will sell its international operations and refrigerated-foods business, a combined $2.1 billion arm of the company that includes Bolthouse Farms, Arnott’s, and Kelsen brands – WSJ and Bloomberg
Aston Martin, the British automaker and favorite of James Bond for decades, has announced plans for an IPO—a “turnaround for the once-troubled company, which has filed for bankruptcy seven times over its century-long history” – NYTimes and WSJ
SurveyMonkey’s parent company, SVMK Inc., is doing the same, and it gave potential investors “a first look into the company’s financials” yesterday – WSJ
A quick check-in with those US/Canada trade talks that kicked into high gear this week – WSJ and Bloomberg
The California state assembly has passed a bill (now headed to the state Senate, which approved an earlier version of the bill, before heading to Governor Jerry Brown) that would require publicly traded companies based in the state to have at least one female director on their boards of directors by the end of 2019, and, “on boards of five or more directors, two or three women by the end of 2021, depending on the board’s size.” Noncompliant companies (currently ¼ of California’s publicly traded companies have all-male boards) would “face financial penalties” – WSJ and Law360
Prosecutors are targeting ex-Goldman Sachs analyst Mychal Kendricks [who is, by the way, a current linebacker for the Cleveland Browns] and an accomplice on insider trading-related charges related to a scheme that allegedly netted Kendricks about $1.2 million in profits – MarketWatch and Law360
Moody’s Investors Service has cut Ford Motor’s credit rating to just one notch above junk status, saying that erosion in the automaker’s “global business position and the challenges it will face implementing” its restructuring plan could mean $11 billion in costs in coming years – Bloomberg
SDNY Judge Edgardo Ramos has dismissed a proposed consolidated class action against major banks (including Barclays and Citigroup) for alleged conspiracy “to rig the SSA bond market.” The order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss cited the plaintiffs’ lack of plausibly showing that they were injured by the alleged collusion as the fatal flaw in their complaint – Law360
As we continue State Fair week here at the Daily Dose, why not some on-the-ground perspective from farmers and steelworkers alike on White House-led trade wars – Marketplace
Because Crystal Pepsi was such a runaway success, right? Riiiiight – WSJ