| Good morning. An attempt to find a compromise on vaccine patents, spreading variants and continued pressure on China. Here's what's moving markets. Patent CompromiseThe battle over waiving rules on vaccine patents has sparked into life this week. The World Trade Organization is now stepping in to try to find a compromise. The Biden administration embraced the plans but Germany's Angela Merkel expressed opposition, warning that it would create "severe complications" for the production of vaccines in the future by removing the profit incentive for drugmakers to aggressively pursue research and development. Pharmaceutical companies, for their part, saw their share prices take a beating this week. And the world is becoming more reliant on Chinese vaccines, even with the U.S. positioning itself as the champion of wider access. Spreading VariantsFinding a compromise over Covid-19 vaccine patents will be essential to facilitating the rollout of vaccines to poorer countries. That's an increasing concern given the soaring case counts in India, the epicenter of the global virus crisis at present, and where forecasters have warned the number of deaths could double in coming weeks. The scale of the outbreak there has already raised concerns about the unchecked spread of variants and evidence of that has shown up in three African countries. Wall Street giants are being ensnared by the surging infections in India too, putting severe strain on their remote workforces. China PressureThe Biden administration is likely to maintain pressure on China by preserving limits on U.S. investments in certain companies that had been imposed under Donald Trump, despite Wall Street protests on the move. On Friday, top diplomats from both countries will offer their diverging views on addressing regional and global crises as the United Nations Security Council event. It follows a week of increasing tensions between China and other governments, which caused Beijing to fire back at criticisms from G-7 nations and urge Western nations to stay out of its affairs. Believers and SkepticsIn what has been a relatively calm week for Bitcoin but a bit more exciting for the rest for the cryptocurrency universe, developments continue from both believers and skeptics. Goldman Sachs, having led an investment round for a crypto and blockchain data provider, is now offering new Bitcoin derivatives to investors as a way to place bigger bets. On the more pessimistic end, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said those investing in cryptocurrencies should do so only if prepared to lose "all your money," while U.S. Security and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said Bitcoin traders lack protections when trading on crypto exchanges. Coming Up…European stock-futures are trending higher following rallies in Asia and the U.S. as the positive economic data keeps coming, with strong China trade numbers showing robust global demand. Adidas will report earnings with focus on business in China after its sales tanked in April following a consumer boycott. Siemens, BMW and Credit Agricole are among the other major European companies reporting. Earnings then take a breather with focus turning to the jobs report, with some economists predicting employers may have added more than 1 million jobs. And results will pour in from the U.K.'s local elections. What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours. And finally, here's what Cormac Mullen is interested in this morningAs the pullback in Federal Reserve monetary support draws inexorably closer, the key question in markets is when will official taper talk commence. Eight years ago this month, global yields jumped and risky assets fell on a hint from then-Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that the central bank might start trimming its bond purchase program, so investors are understandably wary. With economists expecting the central bank to begin paring asset purchases by the end of this year, Fed officials are sticking to the script that it's too early to discuss any shift in pandemic policy setting. But moves by counterparts in the U.K. and Canada to slow the pace of bond buying as their economies improve have reminded traders that the Fed cannot avoid the taper forever, especially as U.S. growth surges. A gauge of implied volatility in Treasuries has retreated after a modest rise at the end of February suggesting investors don't see an immediate risk of a Fed taper announcement. And activity in the options market points to Jackson Hole -- the annual gathering of central bankers in August -- as a likely candidate for taper talk to begin. But keep an eye out for minutes of Federal Open Market Committee meetings where past experience suggests discussions of tapering will appear first, at least according to Win Thin, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s global head of currency strategy. Minutes for the April meeting will be released on May 19.  Cormac Mullen is a cross-asset reporter and editor for Bloomberg News in Tokyo. Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. | 
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