Monsanto, Apple and China: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ON WALL STREET

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Former House Speaker John Boehner thinks Wall Street could learn a thing or two from the plastics industry. 

Remember "Plastics Make It Possible"?

Boehner said the plastics PR campaign did a lot to blunt political attacks on the industry. He thinks Wall Street should take a similar approach, bypassing Washington and taking a Banking Is Good message directly to the voters.

Here's a quick run down of the top stories this morning: 

• The chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer is considering making a bid for the agrochemical company Monsanto.
• Apple no longer the world's most valuable company.
• Brazil's Senate has suspended President Dilma Rousseff.

In other news, the "number one priority" for China is going to be unpopular in the US. Larry Summers just threw epic shade about tax breaks right in a private-equity CEO's face. And Allergan is geared up for a major change after its failed Pfizer merger.

Pershing Square posted a first-quarter letter to shareholders on Wednesday night running through the hedge fund's investments. The letter revealed that William Doyle, a key figure in Bill Ackman's Valeant investment, is leaving. It also included one ugly chart that shows how Ackman's investments were decimated in the first quarter.

Over in the UK, an ex-Deutsche Bank managing director was sentenced to 4.5 years for insider trading.

And check out some of the insanely fancy cars spotted at Goldman Sachs Asia.

Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday:

Billionaire Ken Griffin: 'We are more and more in a winner-take-all world' — Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of Citadel, says that he and everyone else on Wall Street are "more and more in a winner-take-all world."

Inside the Wall Street charity day where celebrities and star athletes pretend to be traders — The trading firm BTIG held its 14th annual Commissions for Charity day on Tuesday, and a slew of celebrities flocked to the trading floors.

The rise, fall, and uncertain future of Theranos — Theranos is at a major turning point. What it does next could be critical to its survival.

Goldman is trying to drum up its leveraged finance business — Goldman Sachs is hosting its first ever leveraged finance conference next week as the Wall Street bank looks to strengthen its position in debt underwriting, where it has traditionally been weak.

This is the scariest chart in the Chinese debt market right now — Chinese debt is back on the financial risks radar screen.

Nissan is taking a $2.2 billion controlling stake in scandal-hit Mitsubishi — The deal is a lifeline for Mitsubishi Motors, which is mired in its third scandal in two decades.

The earnings recession is over — For the last year the US corporate sector has been mired in an earnings recession. But in a note to clients out Thursday, Deutsche Bank's Binky Chadha argues that the worst is over and earnings growth is coming back. Like, right now. 

One market looks like a 'fertile hunting ground' — When you're looking for a good deal in the markets, it's all about hitting a sweet spot.

I recently flew on an all-business-class airline I had never heard of, and it was one of the best travel experiences I've ever had — I'll admit, I had never heard of La Compagnie before, and I was a bit hesitant to book a flight on a newer airline I knew nothing about. But I did some research, and decided it was worth a try.