Thursday's News Links

[Reuters] Wall Street turns lower as oil stocks drag

[Reuters] Oil prices dip on record U.S. output, but global market tense

[Reuters] U.S. first quarter productivity rise fastest since 2014; labor costs fall

[AP] A Trump dilemma: Finding a dovish GOP ally to serve on Fed

[Reuters] Factories on the mend in April but still struggling

[Reuters] Explainer: Venezuela crisis puts Trump policy to the test

[Bloomberg] Powell Brushes Aside Rate-Cut Pressure With Confidence on Prices

[Bloomberg] Central Banks Are Ditching the Dollar for Gold

[Bloomberg] ECB `Bully' Forces Credit-Risk Scramble, Says JPMorgan's Michele

[Bloomberg] Hedge Funds Resurrect CDO Trade. This Time They Say It Will Work

[Bloomberg] China's Mass Surveillance More Sophisticated Than Thought

[WSJ] U.S. Navy Plans to Extends Its Reach in the Arctic

[FT] Central bank gold buying buoys global demand

Wednesday Evening Links

[Reuters] Wall Street drops after Fed chair dampens rate-cut hopes

[CNBC] Fed holds rates steady

[CNBC] Here’s the one word from Jerome Powell that has people raising their eyebrows

[AP] Fed signals neither a rate hike nor a cut is likely soon

[Reuters] Oil prices fall as U.S. crude stocks climb to highest since September 2017

[CNBC] A US-China trade deal is ‘possible’ by next Friday, sources say

[Reuters] U.S. factory activity at 2-1/2-year low, points to slowing economy

[CNBC] Luxury home sales see biggest slump in nearly a decade

[Reuters] Venezuelan protests peter out as Maduro hangs on; U.S. and Russia squabble

[Bloomberg] Powell Downplays Tepid Inflation, Showing No Bias to Hike or Cut

[Bloomberg] Powell Seeks to Assert Control Over Fed Funds With IOER Tweak

[WSJ] Fed Holds Rates Steady, Signals Concern Over Sluggish Spending, Low Inflation

[WSJ] The Fed’s Inflation Problem

[FT] Chinese techs revel in convertible-bond boom