Earnings season. Netflix, International Business Machines, Capital One, UBS Group, Lonza, Sandvik and easyJet are among companies reporting earnings today.

Earlier than planned. Walt Disney has announced that it has brought forward the launch of its Disney+ online video offer by one week, to March 24, in the main European countries.

Merger on the way in defense. United Technologies and Raytheon are preparing to merge their defense activities, as they have concluded the sale of several activities to the British company BAE Systems for $2.2 billion.

A question of confidence. Boeing is negotiating a $10 billion loan with its banks to meet the costs associated with the B737 MAX's setbacks, Reuters has learned, which tends to confirm earlier rumors. About $6 billion has reportedly already been secured. In addition, Air Lease boss Steven Udvar-Hazy has urged Boeing to abandon the MAX name for its aircraft, which is now too negatively connoted. This could help rebuild customer confidence, which the manufacturer has shown little interest in so far.

Digital truce? French stocks, which are feeling the pinch from fears about US customs taxes, such as LVMH, should benefit from the moratorium between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron on the issue of digital taxation. Trump and Macron agreed to cease hostilities while the OECD works on the taxation of digital giants.

A321neo superstar. Airbus is to set up a new assembly line for the A321 at its site in Toulouse, France, in order to meet strong demand and optimize production. The aircraft becomes a real best-seller, occupying a niche neglected by the competition.

"Airbus of batteries". The Supervisory Board of PSA (Peugeot) has approved the manufacturer's participation in the study of a battery joint venture with Saft (Total), to close the gap with Asia in terms of electricity storage for vehicles. The project, backed by Brussels, also provides for Franco-German cooperation, hence the Airbus nickname for batteries. However, the final investment decision will be taken only after the studies have been completed.

The door is still open. ThyssenKrupp is said to have selected three consortiums made up of investment funds to fight for the purchase of its lift division, which could be worth €15 billion. The teams would be led by Advent / Cinven / RAG Stiftung for the first, Carlyle / Blackstone for the second and Brookfield for the last. Competitor Kone, allied with CVC, would have until 27 January to position itself.

Slimming cure. Uber sells its Indian food delivery subsidiary to Zomato. The contribution of Uber Eats India will give its former parent company 9.99% of Zomato's capital. The exact valuations have not been disclosed. Uber is seeking to improve its financial situation, as it is still under heavy losses.

In other news. Google's boss proposes a moratorium on facial recognition. Taiwan's Pegatron, a major Apple assembler, is working on the construction of a factory in Vietnam, Bloomberg has learned. Tencent's founder, "Pony" Ma, sold $257.4 million worth of shares in his company last week. BHP Group's production in the fourth quarter of 2019 exceeded expectations, but management has not changed its forecast. Facebook wants to hire a thousand people in the UK this year. UBS Group sells Fondcenter to Clearstream (Deutsche Börse).