“My attitude is that I always want to be better prepared than someone I’m competing against. The way I prepare myself is by doing my work each night.” — Marty Schwartz

1. President Trump team Considers Nationalizing 5G Network — national security officials in the Trump administration are looking at options where the U.S. government could take over part of the country’s mobile network as a way of guarding against “dominant malicious actor” China. The report from Axios describes two options: The U.S. government pays for and builds the single network – an unprecedented nationalization of private infrastructure – or an alternative where U.S. wireless providers build their own 5G networks, which would be less commercially disruptive to the industry.
2. Amazon, Berkshire, JPMorgan Link Up to Form New Health-Care Company — Amazon (AMZN) rocked the healthcare sector after announcing that it has partnered with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) and Jamie Dimon’s JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) to start a new company to address rising healthcare costs for their U.S. employees, that may potentially be rolled out to all Americans. The new entity will be an independent company that will be “free from profit-making incentives and constraints”. Its initial focus will be on technology solutions that will provide U.S. employees and their families with simplified, high-quality and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost.
3. Boeing Buys Stake in Battery Technology Start-up — Boeing HorizonX Ventures (NYSE:BA) has taken a minority stake in startup Cuberg, which is seeking to develop next-generation battery technology for potential aerospace and industrial applications. “Battery technology is still heavy,” so you can’t make it for a plane of current commercial aircraft size, Cuberg CEO Richard Wang addressed in a recent interview on CNBC.
4. FOMC Stays On Hold, Expects Further Gradual Hikes — the Federal Reserve held its Fed Funds target range at 1.25-1.5% in its recent meeting as Janet Yellen gets ready to depart the central bank. The economy continues to strengthen, and inflation is expected to move up, according to the policy statement, while the FOMC continues to anticipate further gradual increases in short-term rates. Rate markets have about fully priced in March as the next move.
5. Treasury Yields Spike – 10-year yield surpassing 2.8 percent and the 30-year bond yield rising above 3 percent for the first time in eight months — The S&P 500 Index’s slumped nearly 5% last week after the 10-year Treasury yield popped above 2.85 percent for the first time since January 2014.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: