The Market In 5 Minutes

IN THE NEWS

BENZINGA

Evidence continues to mount that the subprime auto lending market has a bumpy road ahead. New data suggests U.S. dealers are struggling to sell automobiles so far in 2017, and subprime lenders are taking notice: Link

When combining some of the biggest tech names that reported after the market closed Thursday -- Amazon AMZN, Alphabet GOOGL, Microsoft MSFT, Intel INTC -- the collective value of these four tech giants surpass a remarkable $1.75 trillion in market cap: Link

Earlier this month, Andrew Left released a report denouncing FleetCor Technologies, Inc. FLT's allegedly fraudulent business practices and deceptive fee strategies, and in a Thursday follow-up, he posited whether the company will be charged civilly or criminally: Link

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

In wake of the fallout from the passenger incident on United Airlines UAL, Southwest Airlines Co. LUV is planning to stop overbooking flights by the end of June. But don’t expect other airlines to follow suit or for the practice to go away: Link

Activist investor Third Point is pressuring Honeywell International Inc. HON to spin off its aerospace division, seeking to break off the conglomerate’s biggest business just a few weeks after Honeywell switched leaders: Link

REUTERS

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday a major conflict with North Korea is possible in the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute: Link

U.S. refiners have come out of maintenance season betting that big exports to Mexico and South America will help alleviate high product inventories and boost margins as the critical summer driving season nears: Link

BLOOMBERG

After struggling for years to wring profit from the mobile boom, Google is benefiting from a surge in clicks on ads on smartphones: Link

Adam Savarese was looking to make a splash in his new job as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS's top distressed-debt trader last year, and found it in Peabody Energy Corp: Link

NY POST

Thursday that it had taken a nearly 5 percent stake in Henry Kravis’ KKR & Co. — whose aggressive investment stance was made famous in the 1989 book, “Barbarians at the Gate.”: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• Data on GDP for the first quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• The employment cost index for the first quarter is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• The Chicago PMI for April will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for April is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.
• Federal Reserve Board of Governor Lael Brainard is set to speak in Evanston, Illinois at 1:15 p.m. ET.
• Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak in Washington, D.C. at 2:30 p.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• Barclays upgraded Check Point Software CHKP from Underweight to Equal-weight
• Morgan Stanley Upgrades Western Digital WDC From Equal-Weight To Overweight
• Canaccord Genuity downgraded Columbia Genuity COLM from Buy to Hold
• Credit Suisse downgraded Gigamon GIMO from Outperform to Neutral
• Stifel downgraded Expedia EXPE from Buy to Hold

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here or email minutes@benzinga.com.