Opening Bell: 9.26.18

Fed Dots to Harden Views for December Move: Decision-Day Guide [Bloomberg]
The Federal Open Market Committee is almost certain to raise rates a quarter point at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday to a target range of 2 percent to 2.25 percent -- the highest level in more than a decade.
The Fed will release its decision, policy statement and projections at 2 p.m. Chairman Jerome Powell holds a press conference 30 minutes later to discuss the outlook and can expect questions about political pressure after criticism from President Donald Trump.

Trump may choose to shut down the government this weekend over his border wall demands [CNBC]
President Donald Trump could decide to shut down parts of the government in the coming days as he pushes for money to build his proposed border wall.
The House is expected to pass a bill as early as Wednesday that would fund the Pentagon and a few other agencies for a year, combined with a stopgap measure to sustain the rest of the government for a short time. It would not, however, fund Trump's proposed barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border. The lack of cash for the project has frustrated Trump, who last week called the bill "ridiculous" and urged Republicans to "GET TOUGH!"

Exclusive: JPMorgan in talks to lead Lyft's IPO - sources [Reuters]
The move illustrates the calculations that often inform the pursuit of such mandates by the world’s biggest investment banks. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have helped ride-sharing company Uber raise money in the past, and are in pole position to secure top roles in its IPO, the sources said.
Reuters first reported last year that Lyft was seeking to hire an IPO adviser that would help it select underwriters and coordinate the process.
Since then, Lyft has hired IPO advisory firm Class V Group LLC, and is eyeing a stock market flotation sometime in 2019, according to the sources. Uber has also said it is aiming for an IPO in 2019, though it is further behind in its preparations and is not yet seeking to hire underwriters.

Nafta’s Fate Hinges on a Four-Letter Word: Milk [NYT]
Canada’s longstanding policy of managing its dairy supply with production quotas and high levies on imports has become an intractable sticking point in negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement, one that risks scuttling a 25-year-old pact that has stitched together the economies of Mexico, Canada and the United States.
President Trump has seized on the practice as unfair and insisted that he is willing to jettison Canada by the end of the week if it does not drop its dairy tariffs of 270 percent. On Tuesday, the chief trade negotiator for the United States, Robert E. Lighthizer, said Canada was “not making concessions in areas we think are essential” including “issues of dairy.”

Top Uber Deal Maker Disciplined After Probe Into Office Conduct [WSJ]
An outside law firm had substantiated some complaints against Cameron Poetzscher, head of corporate development, during a monthslong investigation, according to people familiar with the investigation. The firm found he had a pattern of making sexually suggestive comments about other co-workers, including describing which ones he would like to sleep with, and that he had engaged in a consensual affair with a colleague in violation of company policy because he contributed to her annual review, according to the people.
When the findings of the probe were presented to an internal panel, some panel members argued he should be terminated, according to the people.
Mr. Poetzscher oversaw some of Uber’s biggest deals, including a negotiation to sell a stake in the ride-hailing company to SoftBank Group Corp. for billions of dollars.

Woman, 25, has huge 5ft iPhone headstone over burial plot with picture of her as 'screensaver' [Mirror]
The unusual 5ft tombstone was put up over Rita Shameeva's burial plot in a Russian cemetery earlier this year.
The gravestone features a picture of Rita leaning against railings and surrounded by trees in a park. It even has the Apple logo on the back.
It was erected by her grieving father Rais Shameev long after his daughter's death in January 2016 from an unknown cause, say reports.