EU elections, Brexit drama and the usual U.S.-China tensions are sending stocks lower this morning.  A flurry of U.S economic reports are also on tap, including the latest weekly jobless claims data, a flash reading of manufacturing and services PMI figures for May, as well as new home sales for April. In corporate news, Medtronic, Best Buy, Hewlett Packard, Intuit are all set to report their earnings for the first quarter. (SA)

Amazon shareholders have rejected a proposal to stop selling the company’s controversial facial recognition technology to governments.  The proposal, which was voted down at the tech giant’s annual meeting, had called for Amazon to stop selling Rekognition to governments until after a review of whether it posed a threat to certain civil and human rights.  A second proposal that called for the company to commission an independent report into the threats posed by the technology was also rejected.  (FT)

Domestic data continues to be good:  The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength even as the economy slows.  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 211,000 for the week ended May 18, the Labor Department said this morning. Data for the prior week was unrevised. (CNBC)

Panasonic has become the latest electronics company to scale back ties with Huawei in the face of US export restrictions, a day after mobile phone carriers across the world suspended their plans to launch Huawei phones, and UK chip designer Arm said it would stop licensing essential technology to the Chinese group. Meanwhile, US companies are stepping up their response to the Administration’s China ultimatum. (Bloomberg)

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Josh Fenili.