Be in the know. 15 key reads for Friday…

  1. Fed lifts curbs on US banks’ share buybacks and dividends (Financial Times)
  2. Aston Martin bets on a Formula One comeback to revive the brand (Financial Times)
  3. Earnings Forecasts Are Low. What That Means for Stocks (Barron’s)
  4. Merck’s Little Brown Pill Could Transform the Fight Against Covid (Bloomberg)
    Jefferies Upgrades Altria (MO) to Buy; ‘Underappreciated RRP, Cannabis and ESG Optionality’ (Street Insider)
  5. 5 High-Yielding Dividend Aristocrat Stocks Are Perfect Now for Worried Investors (24/7 Wall Street)
  6. Race to dislodge Suez blockage as shipping rates surge, tankers diverted away (Reuters)
  7. Global money market funds get highest inflows in 13 weeks, Lipper data show (Reuters)
  8. The Pandemic Has Hurt Rite Aid and Walgreens. Here’s Why That Might Change. (Barron’s)
  9. Yes, You Can Retire on Dividends. 10 Stocks to Build an Income Stream for the Long Haul. (Barron’s)
  10. Andrew Left Channels GameStop, Naming Heavily-Shorted Root as Best Stock Pick of 2021 (Institutional Investor)
  11. Companies raise record $140bn in US junk bond market in first quarter (Financial Times)
  12. Powell Says Now Is Not the Time to Focus on Reducing Federal Debt (Wall Street Journal)
  13. Berkshire Hathaway Offers to Spend $8.3 Billion on Emergency Power Plants in Texas Wall Street Journal)
  14. With Negative Rates, Homeowners in Europe Are Paid to Borrow (Wall Street Journal)
  15. Powell says Fed will ‘gradually’ cut its bond-market footprint — some think this year (MarketWatch)