Opening Bell: 10.1.18

U.S. and Canada Reach Trade Deal to Salvage Nafta [NYT]
The deal came after a weekend of frantic talks to try and preserve a trade agreement that has stitched together the economies of Mexico, Canada and the United States but that was on the verge of collapsing. After more than a year of tense talks and strained relations between President Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, negotiators from both sides came to a resolution just ahead of a midnight deadline set by the White House.
The 11th-hour agreement was punctuated by a frenetic Sunday, with Canada’s leaders teleconferencing throughout the day with top American officials in Washington. Mr. Trudeau convened a 10 p.m. cabinet meeting in Ottawa to brief officials on the deal, as Jared Kushner, one of Mr. Trump’s closest advisers, and Robert E. Lighthizer, the president’s top trade negotiator, hashed out the final details. Mexico’s under secretary of foreign trade, Juan Carlos Baker, was expected to present the texts of the agreement to the Mexican senate just before midnight.

GE CEO John Flannery steps down [Reuters]
Flannery’s departure calls into question his plans to reorganize one of America’s best-known corporations by selling businesses and cutting costs.
Flannery will be replaced by H. Lawrence Culp, who had the unanimous support of the board, the company said.
The company said it will fall short of its previously indicated guidance for free cash flow and earnings per share for 2018 due to weakness in its power business.

Facebook security breach allowed hackers to control the accounts of up to 50 million users [CNBC]
"This is a very serious security issue, and we're taking it very seriously," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg on a call with reporters.
Facebook shares, which were already down about 1.5 percent before the announcement, extended losses after the disclosure and ended down 2.6 percent.
The company said in a blog post that its engineering team found on Tuesday that attackers identified a weakness in Facebook's code regarding its "View As" feature. Facebook became aware of a potential attack after it noticed a spike in user activity on Sept. 16.

Tesla Shares Jump After SEC Settlement Leaves Musk as CEO [Bloomberg]
Under the agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk and the company each will pay a $20 million penalty, and Musk will be removed as chairman for at least three years. In suing Musk, the agency had sought to oust him as both chairman and CEO.
Tesla jumped 16 percent to $306.50 at 6:28 a.m. New York time, clawing back Friday’s 14 percent plunge. The shares closed Thursday at $307.52 before the SEC announced its enforcement action over the tweets, in which Musk said he had “funding secured” to take the company private at $420 a share. He later dropped the plan of pursuing a buyout.

Red Ink Floods IPO Market [WSJ]
More than 80% of U.S.-listed initial public offerings in this year’s first three quarters involve companies that lost money in the 12 months leading up to their debut, according to data compiled by University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter. That is the highest proportion on record, according to Mr. Ritter, an IPO expert whose data goes back to 1980.
Investors’ tolerance for red ink has been rewarded, with stocks of money-losing companies listing in the U.S. this year soaring 36% on average from their IPO price through Thursday. That is better than the 32% return for IPO stocks with earnings and a 9% gain for the S&P 500.

'Distasteful' breast milk pump advert that compares women to cows sparks angry backlash [Mirror]
Now a bizarre advert for a 'silent' breast pump created by Elvie has sparked outrage on social media - with some people slamming it as "strange" and "distasteful".
In the video, women are seen dancing around with cows in the background, carrying pumps used to milk the animals as they're compared with the farm animals.
The advert was posted to Elvie's Facebook page with the caption: "Breast pumping shouldn't make you feel like a dairy cow!