Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. The U.S. Commerce Department sent a report to President Trump that could unleash steep tariffs on imported cars and auto parts, provoking a sharp backlash from the industry even before it is unveiled, the agency confirmed to Reuters' David Lawder and David Shepardson. Trump has 90 days to decide whether to act upon the recommendations, which auto industry officials expect to include at least some tariffs on fully assembled vehicles or on technologies and components related to electric, automated, connected and shared vehicles, the publication noted. In a separate report, Reuters' Sarah Lynch said that the U.S. auto industry has since urged Trump's administration not to saddle imported cars and auto parts with steep tariffs, with some trade organizations blasting the Commerce Department for keeping the details of its "Section 232" national security report shrouded in secrecy. Publicly traded companies in the space include Daimler AG (DDAIF), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY). 2. After 18 months investigating Facebook (FB) and online misinformation, a British parliamentary committee issued a scathing report on Monday, accusing the company of breaking data privacy and competition laws and calling for new regulations to rein in the technology industry, The New York Times' Adam Satariano wrote. Meanwhile, the company said is "open to meaningful regulation," and that it is "not the same company" it was a year ago as it has already made substantial changes to its procedures, according to a Reuters report. 3. Amazon (AMZN) is eating the economy, with its influence continuing to expand, and it seems that no sector is safe from the threat of Amazon disruption, Al Root wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. On Friday alone, XPO Logistics (XPO) shares plummeted nearly 20% after the company reported a customer loss that analysts suspect is Amazon, the publication noted, while Kroger (KR) was previously under pressure after Amazon announced its plans to buy Whole Foods, Root noted. Further, investors fear that the e-commerce giant is willing to accept lower margins and that it could disrupt industrial distribution franchises like Fastenal (FAST) and W.W. Grainger (GWW), the publication added. 4. Fox's (FOXA) "Alita: Battle Angel" won the Presidents Day holiday corridor with just $43M, including $34.3M for the four-day weekend proper after opening on Thursday. The film earned $56M from 86 foreign markets over the weekend for an early offshore total of $94.3M and about $137.3M globally through Monday. The movie earned an A- CinemaScore and sports a 60% Rotten Tomatoes score. With the Disney (DIS)-21st Century Fox merger about to close, Alita is likely the final release from the latter as a stand-alone studio. 5. Exxon Mobil (XOM), Valero Energy (VLO), Chevron (CVX), Murphy Oil (MUR), ConocoPhillips (COP), Marathon Oil (MRO), Equinix (EQIX), CoreSite Realty (COR), Iron Mountain (IRM), InterXion Holding (INXN), Loews (L), and Yeti (YETI) saw positive mentions in Barron's.
