Stock Trade

U.S. Market:

167 companies in the S&P 500 report earnings this week. We won’t write up all 167, but we will give you the programming highlights down below.

Trade:

Leaders from the U.S. and China are meeting to talk trade this week. It’s the first face-to-face between the world’s two biggest economies since talks hit the skids in May.

London Stock Exchange:

The London Stock Exchange (LSE, but not the one where your econ major friends studied one summer in college) confirmed it’s in advanced talk to buy Refinitiv in a $27 billion deal.

Refinitiv, which is majority-owned by a consortium including U.S. private equity giant Blackstone, provides companies with global financial data analytics. That's a fancy British way of saying it sends 40,000+ traders and investors the pre-crunched numbers they need to do their jobs. 

The LSE knows data wins arguments:

It might have earned its reputation running stock exchanges and clearing derivatives, but the LSE has large-scale data ambitions, too.

Already, it runs Mergent, a private company information service; XTF, an information service for exchange-traded funds; and The Yield Book, a fixed-income indexing service. Adding Refinitiv to the roster gives the LSE firmer data footing while diversifying its revenue streams.

• Refinitiv was valued at $20 billion last year.
• The LSE is penciling in annual combined revenue of more than 6 billion pounds.