Hello friends and Fortune readers.
Wall Street stock futures are sharply lower as the rout in European bond markets continues, dragging Treasurys down with them. Another inconclusive meeting on Greece last night is largely responsible. Crude oil futures have recovered from yesterday’s slide to just under the $60/barrel mark.
Today’s must-read story is from Fortune‘s Erin Griffith and it looks at how the rapid growth of Facebook’s (FB) video traffic is giving the social networking giant a major leg up in the race for digital advertising revenue.
Here’s what else you need to know today.
1. Fortune 500 released today!
Today marks the release of the latest iteration of Fortune’s ranking of the largest companies in the U.S. based on annual revenue. Go to Fortune.com to see who grabbed the top spot, as well as which companies moved up and which ones fell on the 2015 Fortune 500 list.
2. Dish and T-Mobile are planning the next media megadeal
Dish Network and T-Mobile are close to a merger agreement that would mark another instance of recent consolidation deals amongst U.S. communications companies as traditional media grapples with changing business dynamics in the Internet era, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
3. Weekly jobless claims
The U.S. Labor Department is expected to report a drop in the number of weekly jobless claims today after last week’s unexpected increase. The total number of claims could fall to 279,000 for last week, while 282,000 were filed during the previous week. The government will also put out a revised look at labor costs for the year’s first quarter, with costs possibly rising to 5.9% from the previous quarter’s 5%.
4. Smucker’s earnings
JM Smucker (SJM), the iconic company behind Smucker’s jams as well as Folgers coffee and Jif peanut butter, will report fourth-quarter sales figures this morning. The food company is expected to top analysts’ forecasts, although overall sales should still be down due to a dip in coffee sales.
5. NBA finals
Tonight brings the first showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, who start a seven-game series to determine the NBA champion. The series means big money for the NBA, which recently signed new television contracts with Time Warner (TWX) and Walt Disney Co. (DIS) that will reportedly pay the league roughly double the $500 million per season it currently receives for broadcast rights. (Disney’s ABC will broadcast the championship series.) The NBA also recently signed a new exclusive food and beverage partnership with PepsiCo (PEP), despite the league previously having a nearly 30-year relationship with Coca-Cola (KO).
[Reuters contributed to this report.]
