Nevada, which calls itself the “Battle Born State,” actually was born prematurely because of Republicans’ anxiety. Now, 152 years later, it again is a subject of their anxiety. Entering 1864, Abraham Lincoln and his party were intensely, and reasonably, in doubt about his re-election. So, scrambling for every electorate vote, Republicans decided to conjure three from thin air — …

  As long as there are eager buyers of bridges, there will be willing sellers. Oil has rallied 8 percent over the past week or so on the pleasingly oxymoronic notion of a rekindled freeze. The big move came on Thursday when Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Khalid Al-Falih, indicated the OPEC kingpin was open to taking action to stabilize prices. …

  China’s Anbang Insurance Group is stretching the definition of time with its planned acquisition of U.S. insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life. It’s been more than 10 weeks since the Beijing-based company withdrew its approval request with the New York Department of Financial Services for its $1.6 billion acquisition of the life insurer, saying it planned to refile “in the …