The daily business briefing: May 10, 2018

1. Oil prices hit new 3-1/2-year highs as Iran tensions rise

Oil prices rose to fresh multi-year highs on Thursday as the U.S. prepared to impose new sanctions on Iran after President Trump announced he was pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. The sanctions are expected to hurt output in Iran, which produces about 4 percent of the world's oil, and further tighten global supplies of crude. Brent crude futures rose by 0.9 percent from their last close to $77.89 a barrel, the highest since November 2014. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose by 0.9 percent to $71.84 a barrel, also the highest since November 2014. Military strikes traded by Israel and Iranian forces in Syria deepened concerns about potential supply disruptions.

Reuters MarketWatch

2. Ford suspends F-150 production after plant fire

Ford on Wednesday suspended production of its F-150 pickup, a key source of profit, due to a parts shortage. The problem stemmed from a May 2 fire at a parts factory in Michigan. The setback affected production for General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, and Mercedes, too, but the impact is expected to be more severe at Ford. The F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 35 years. The company sold nearly 900,000 F-150s in 2017, at a $46,000 average cost. "The impact on everybody else is going to pale compared to Ford," said Abhay Vadhavkar, director of manufacturing, engineering and technology at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. "For Ford, this is potentially enormous."

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Detroit Free Press

3. Cohen got $1.2 million from Novartis after promising White House access

President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, signed a $1.2 million contract with drugmaker Novartis in February 2017 on the promise that he could help the company gain access to the president and administration insiders, Stat reports. "He reached out to us," a Novartis employee told Stat. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has spoken to the Swiss pharmaceutical giant about the payments. On Tuesday, The New York Times initially reported that Cohen's Essential Consultants LLC had at least $4.4 million pass through it, including $500,000 from Columbus Nova, a New York investment firm with deep ties to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Cohen is under federal investigation for financial crimes.

Stat The New York Times

4. China sentences Anbang founder Wu Xiaohui to 18 years

A court in Shanghai on Thursday sentenced Anbang Insurance Group founder Wu Xiaohui to 18 years in prison for defrauding investors. Wu, who gained international prominence with the $1.95 billion purchase of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 2014, was facing a possible life sentence for cheating investors out of more than $10 billion. The Chinese government seized Anbang in February under a crackdown on companies piling up debt with overseas asset purchases. Wu initially contested the charges, but pleaded guilty and asked for a lighter sentence.

The New York Times

5. 28 more fall ill in E. coli outbreak from romaine lettuce

Twenty-eight more people in four states have been sickened in a multi-state E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, the Centers for Disease Control said Wednesday. A total of 149 people ranging in age from 1 to 88 now have fallen ill in 29 states, and one has died. Sixty-four of the victims have been hospitalized, 17 of them with kidney failure. Investigators have traced the problem to lettuce tainted with bacteria that was grown in the Yuma, Arizona, area. Officials said last month that "dozens" of farms were possible sources. "You're looking at more of a web," Dr. Stic Harris, director of the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration's Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network, said at the time.

USA Today