The daily business briefing: April 13, 2016

1. 36,000 Verizon workers go on strike

Tens of thousands of East Coast Verizon workers went on strike Wednesday after the company and two labor unions failed to reach a contract deal before a 6 a.m. deadline. The strike involves 36,000 workers, making it one of the largest in recent years. The contracts in question expired eight months ago. The unions are resisting pension benefit cuts and rules making it easier for Verizon to outsource work. The employees — 99 percent of them from Verizon's landline and cable services — are expected to picket outside Verizon facilities.

The New York Times

2. JPMorgan profits fall but beat Wall Street expectations

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported first quarter profits that beat analysts' expectations, thanks to cost cutting and a smaller-than-anticipated drop in trading revenue. The company's net income fell by 6.7 percent compared to a year earlier. Adjusted, earnings were $1.41 per share, compared to an average $1.25 per share estimate by 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. JPMorgan's report — the first in earnings season showing how large U.S. banks are faring — sent its stock up by 2 percent in pre-market trading.

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Bloomberg MarketWatch

3. Uber says it gave regulators data on 12 million users and drivers

Uber on Tuesday released its first transparency report, saying it had provided information on more than 12 million riders and drivers to government regulators between July and December 2015. The ride-sharing company also said it had given state and federal law enforcement agencies information on 469 users. Many of the police cases involved fraud or stolen credit cards. The company said it had not received any requests for information in national security cases.

Reuters

4. Stocks gain as oil prices jump to 2016 high

U.S. stocks rose sharply on Tuesday as oil prices surged to their highest level this year. The S&P 500 index gained 1 percent, putting it up by 0.9 percent on the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9 percent, its best one-day gain in a month. The spike in oil futures came as hopes grew that Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other major oil producers meeting Sunday would agree to an output freeze to ease a global glut.

MarketWatch

5. Regulators reportedly rejecting 'living wills' of 4 too-big-to-fail banks

The Federal Reserve and FDIC plan to reject the "living wills" of at least half of the eight U.S. banks deemed systemically important, or too big to fail, The Wall Street Journal reports. The move, expected as soon as this week, would impose higher capital requirements or other rules, forcing the banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, and Bank of America — to revise their plans for a potential bankruptcy. The banks had to file living wills under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

The Wall Street Journal Business Insider