The Market In 5 Minutes: Oil, Amazon, GW Pharma And More

IN THE NEWS

The big news on Thursday was that Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN had reached 100 million Prime subscribers. It’s a major milestone for Amazon, and it took the company just 13 years to reach: Link

Shares of GW Pharmaceuticals PLC- ADR GWPH were halted Thursday, ahead of a Food and Drug Administration vote on the company's cannabis-derived drug Epidiolex. Trading resumed after the FDA advisory panel voted unanimously in favor of approving the medicine for the treatment of two rare childhood-onset forms of epilepsy that are commonly treatment-resistant: Link

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog referred its finding that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had misled investigators to federal prosecutors to determine whether he should be charged with a crime, according to people familiar with the matter: Link $

As oil prices have soared, hedge funds and other big investors have amassed a record number of bullish bets on crude, putting the market at risk of a swift fall if the outlook sours, analysts say: Link $

Facebook Inc’s FB privacy practices were cleared by auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in an assessment completed last year of the period in which data analytics consultancy Cambridge Analytica gained access to the personal data of millions of Facebook users: Link

The world’s most widely traded currency pair is stuck in its deepest rut since 2014. With few signs it’s poised to shake the malaise anytime soon, traders are being forced to get creative: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Chicago at 9:40 a.m. ET.
• San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in Pebble Beach, California at 11:15 a.m. ET.
• The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• MKM upgraded Twitter TWTR from Neutral to Buy
• Wells Fargo upgraded Syntel SYNT from Underperform to Market Perform
• JPMorgan downgraded DHT Holdings DHT from Overweight to Neutral
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Procter & Gamble PG 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.