Be in the know. 17 key reads for Thursday…

  1. Alibaba has spoken with investment banks about selling bonds that can be converted into US-listed stock, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The aim is to fund share repurchases and growth, the people said. (yahoo)
  2. Alibaba bets on AI to fuel cloud growth as it expands globally to catch up with U.S. tech giants (cnbc)
  3. Washington’s Pivot on Bank Rules Could Free Up Tens of Billions (wsj)
  4. Retail-investor stock appetite has not yet fully recovered (marketwatch)
  5. One of the biggest U.S. lenders is offering 0%-down-payment mortgages for first-time home buyers. Here’s the catch. (marketwatch)
  6. Jobless claims fall again to 215,000. Strong labor market fuels U.S. economy. (marketwatch)
  7. Xi urges hard work to improve people’s well-being (cn)
  8. Ford (F) new Buy at Bernstein amid ‘clear path to significant operating leverage’ (streetinsider)
  9. Fed Minutes Show Officials Were Wary About Inflation at May Meeting (nytimes)
  10. The race for an AI-powered personal assistant (ft)
  11. Nvidia Is Booming. Here’s What Could Slow It Down. (wsj)
  12. Hims & Hers Is Selling Copycat Weight-Loss Drugs. Here’s How. (barrons)
  13. Carmakers Dangle Big Discounts as Inventory Swells (bloomberg)
  14. JPMorgan says China can’t be ignored: ‘You have to do business there’ (cnbc)
  15. Pfizer aims to save $1.5 billion by 2027 in first wave of new cost cuts (cnbc)
  16. Elon Musk predicts smarter-than-humans AI in 2 years. The CEO of China’s Baidu says it’s 10 years away (cnbc)
  17. This Is What Hedge And Mutual Funds Did In Q1: Goldman’s HF and MF Monitors (zerohedge)