“The key to trading success is emotional discipline. If intelligence were the key, there would be a lot more people making money trading… I know this will sound like a cliché, but the single most important reason that people lose money in the financial markets is that they don’t cut their losses short.” – Victor Sperandeo

1. GOP Abandons Healthcare Bill — Republican leaders have given up on their effort to replace Obamacare after the defections of two more GOP senators left the party short of votes needed to pass the American Health Care Act. “Republicans should just REPEAL failing Obamacare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate.
2. Ecuador Breaks Ranks with OPEC by Raising Crude Output — Ecuador has dealt a blow to OPEC unity by announcing it will start raising crude production this month. The country won’t be able to meet its commitment to lower output by 26,000 barrels a day to 522,000, arguing that it needs the money. Its exit is largely immaterial when considering the size of the global oil market, but it could create a dangerous precedent.
3. U.S. Considers Ban on Venezuela crude? — the Trump administration is considering a ban on oil imports from Venezuela, sources told Bloomberg, as part of a spate of sanctions to punish President Maduro. The potential disruptions is Venezuela the third-biggest supplier of oil imports to the U.S., and Gulf refiners like Valero (NYSE:VLO), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) have spent millions tailoring their plants to use its unique brand of heavy, tar-like crude.
4. Facebook to Test Subscription News Product in the Fall — Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will start testing the product in October, head of news partnerships, Campbell Brown, told the Digital Publishing Innovation Summit. Facebook plans to build a paywall that will require readers to become subscribers to the service after accessing 10 free articles. It will also direct readers to news publishers’ home pages.
5. Facebook Explores ‘Modular’ Device — Facebook is looking into developing a “modular electromechanical device,” according to Business Insider, which described a patent for both a phone and smart speaker as potential product categories. Coincidentally, many key members of Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Project Ara team (which had developed a similar project) now work at Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) Building 8, the group responsible for the new patent application.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

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