Bloomberg:
- Allies Extend No-Fly Zone as Strikes Halt Libya Attacks. Allied forces are expanding their air campaign over Libya after strikes forced fighters loyal to leader Muammar Qaddafi to halt their attacks against the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. “Our actions today are focused on extending the no-fly zone southward, then westward from Benghazi,” General Carter Ham, the top U.S. general for the attacks on Libya, said speaking from Stuttgart, Germany. U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague today refused to rule out the possibility that special forces will be deployed as the allied mission grows, saying only that there would be no occupation of the country.
- Oil Climbs on Allied Military Strikes in Libya, Mideast Unrest. Oil rose as allied air strikes in Libya threatened to prolong a supply disruption in Africa’s third-biggest producer and on concern that escalating turmoil may curtail Middle East shipments. Futures climbed as much as 2.3 percent after Muammar Qaddafi vowed to repel attacks against military installations. Libya’s crude output has fallen to a quarter of pre-crisis levels and may stop entirely, the chairman of the national oil company said. Some army leaders abandoned Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime after it cracked down on protesters. “Prices are going to go up when there are explosions in a major oil-producing country,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. “Uncertainty in the Middle East is always bad for oil.” Crude oil for April delivery increased $1.45, or 1.4 percent, to $102.52 a barrel at 11:34 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose as much as $2.28 to $103.35. Brent crude oil for May settlement climbed $1.41, or 1.2 percent, to $115.34 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
- U.S. Existing Home Sales Slump in February. Sales of U.S. previously owned homes dropped more than forecast in February and the median purchase price declined to the lowest since the same month in 2002, indicating the housing market is struggling to recover. Purchases decreased 9.6 percent to a 4.88 million annual rate, less than the 5.13 million median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median price declined 5.2 percent from a year earlier, and 39 percent of the sales were distressed properties. Foreclosures are adding to the glut of distressed properties and pressuring prices, leaving some Americans with bigger mortgages than their homes are worth as joblessness hovers near 9 percent. Of all existing-home purchases, cash transactions accounted for 33 percent, the highest since at least August 2008, when the group began tracking the monthly figure. Sales fell in all regions in February, led by a 12 percent drop in the Midwest and a 10 percent decrease in the South. The median sales price dropped to $156,100 last month from $164,600 in February 2010. The number of previously owned homes on the market rose 3.5 percent to 3.49 million from January. At the current sales pace, it would take 8.6 months to sell those houses compared with 7.5 at the end of the prior month.
- ECB Officials Signal They're on Track for April Rate Increase. European Central Bank officials indicated the economic uncertainty caused by Japan’s earthquake may not deter them from raising interest rates next month. ECB Executive Board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell and Governing Council member Yves Mersch both said today that “strong vigilance” is necessary to keep a lid on inflation, a phrase the central bank uses to signal a rate increase is imminent. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet also told the European Parliament he has “nothing to add” to his March 3 remarks, when he said policy makers may raise the benchmark rate from a record low of 1 percent at their next meeting in April. The euro rose above $1.42 for the first time since November and government bonds declined as investors increased bets on higher ECB borrowing costs.
- Schwab(SCHW) to Acquire Options Brokerage OptionsExpress(OXPS) for $1 Billion. Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) agreed to buy OptionsXpress Holdings Inc. (OXPS) for about $1 billion in stock, adding the retail options brokerage founded in 2000 to its equity and mutual fund offerings. Schwab, the largest independent broker by client assets, will exchange 1.02 shares for each share of Chicago-based OptionsXpress, according to a statement today. Based on San Francisco-based Schwab’s closing price on March 18, the transaction values OptionsXpress at $17.91 a share. The stock jumped 15 percent to $17.67 at 11:04 a.m. New York time, while Schwab lost 0.7 percent to $17.44.
- Citigroup(C) to Reinstate 1-Cent Dividend, Plans Reverse Split. Citigroup Inc. (C), the U.S. bank that received the largest taxpayer bailout, said it would reinstate a dividend at 1 cent per share in the second quarter after a planned 1-for-10 reverse split of its common stock. Citigroup, which hasn’t paid a quarterly dividend since 2009 because of the financial crisis, will exchange 1 new share for every 10 of common stock after the close of trading on May 6, the New York-based bank said today in a statement.
- Fed Must Release Loan Data as High Court Rejects Appeal. The Federal Reserve will disclose details of emergency loans it made to banks in 2008, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an industry appeal that aimed to shield the records from public view. The justices today left intact a court order that gives the Fed five days to release the records, sought by Bloomberg News’s parent company, Bloomberg LP. The Clearing House Association LLC, a group of the nation’s largest commercial banks, had asked the Supreme Court to intervene. “The board will fully comply with the court’s decision and is preparing to make the information available,” said David Skidmore, a spokesman for the Fed.
- Production halts at Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.(WFR) because of the Japan earthquake have idled 25% of the global production of silicon wafers used to make chips, according to researcher IHS iSuppli.
Wall Street Journal:
- Egypt Vote Results Shows Islamists' Rising Sway. Egyptians' embrace of a set of proposed constitutional amendments in this weekend's referendum is the clearest sign yet that leadership of the country's revolution may be passing from youthful activists to Islamist religious leaders, according to analysts. The results from Saturday's referendum signal a shift in Egypt's continuing revolution: The protest leaders, once celebrated as heroes and martyrs, are no longer the leading voice in Egypt's transition to democracy. In their place are popular religious leaders, whose strong backing of the amendments held sway. These leaders see approval of the amendments as an avenue to political power and a means of preserving the country's Islamic identity. With their influence in what appeared to be Egypt's first free and fair election, these political playmakers show how they are positioned to help define Egypt's democratic future. The powerful Muslim Brotherhood, a once-illegal Islamist political group, was joined in supporting the amendments by leaders of the Salafi Islamist movement—which follows the ultra-conservative brand of Islam widely practiced in Saudi Arabia—and residual elements of the former ruling National Democratic Party, or NDP. Opponents of the amendments, which included many in the youth movement, said the Muslim Brotherhood allied with the NDP as part of a cynical power grab: The approval of the amendments has set the stage for parliamentary elections this summer, for which only the Brotherhood and the NDP have the organizational structures to compete. Posters and leaflets distributed throughout the country said that voting "yes" on the 10 amendments—not one of which made any mention of religion—was a spiritual obligation. Prominent Salafi clerics openly championed the amendments, telling satellite television audiences that a "no" result would lead to the drafting of a new constitution that might exclude a controversial article in Egypt's existing constitution that embraces Sharia, or Islamic, law as the root of all legislation in the Egyptian parliament. The nature of the campaign led some Egyptians to describe their "yes" votes as a religious obligation. "This is a nightmare for intellectual Egyptians," said Nabil Abdel Fattah, a political analyst for the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a government-funded think tank based in Cairo. "All the youth accepted the results of the referendum as a form of democracy. But at the same time, they felt very deceived by the dangerous role the religious groups played against them," Mr. Abdel Fattah said. "They felt that their revolution is being aborted and there is a huge, huge threat to the unity of the country from using religious campaigns." Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church—whose adherents account for about 10% of the country's 80 million people—came out against the amendments, which they said amounted to an Islamist power-play.
- New Attacks as Allies Remain Divided on Libya. The U.S. and its allies launched new missile strikes against Col. Moammar Gadhafi Monday and said they would expand the no-fly zone over the country, as coalition officials work to ease divisions about the course of the military intervention in Libya. European Union foreign ministers remained at odds over the strikes in Libya even while the 27-nation bloc said it agreed a significant extension of its economic sanctions on Col. Gadhafi's regime, the second time in just over a week that the EU has broadened its sanctions.
- Progress at Nuclear Plant is Slow. Tokyo Electric Power Co. continued to report progress in restoring order at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, but finishing the job is turning out to be a painstaking process plagued by damaged equipment and unexpected incidents. Smoke rose from two of the plant's six reactors Monday, forcing workers to retreat temporarily. The cause of the smoke wasn't immediately clear. Radioactivity returned to previous levels after a brief rise, officials said. "We aren't out of the crisis situation yet, but we are seeing a light at the end," said Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
- US Ex-Im Approves $3 Billion Financing For Brazil's Petrobras(PBR), Infrastructure. The U.S. government's export credit agency has authorized $3 billion in financing for Brazil, including $2 billion for the Brazilian government-run oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras.
CNBC.com:
- Bahrain King Says Forces Have Foiled Foreign Plot.
- Rising Gas Prices Eating Into Shopping Budgets. Shoppers plan to wait until next year and beyond to spend generously again, a survey on Monday showed, in an early sign that rising gasoline prices could make the spring selling season tough for retailers. About three-quarters of Americans surveyed by America's Research Group said they were shopping less due to rising gas prices, with more than 62 percent of the participants planning to spend generously only next year or beyond.
- Treasury's Mortgage Debt Sale Comes at Tough Time for Housing. The Treasury Department’s move to start unloading its portfolio of mortgage debt likely will add one more point of pressure—albeit a small one—to a housing market hardly in a position for additional stress.
- Stalemate: Benghazi is Safe, While Qaddafi Holds Human Shields in Tripoli. Operation Odyssey Dawn may be quickly losing steam in Libya. Qaddafi has surrounded himself with civilian supporters in Tripoli, according to the NYT. His forces are bringing civilians to Misrata to use as human shields, a rebel spokesman told Reuters.
- Paul Singer: If You Think Big Bank CEOs Are Cronies of the Government and Monetary Policy is Extremely Risky, You'll Hate THIS.
- Yemen Nears Coup: 60% of the Army and Dozens of Key Figures Join the Revolution.
- Huge Plunge in Taiwanese Exports Shocks Analysts, And Spells Trouble for the Entire Region. (graph)
- How the iPhone Led to the Sale of T-Mobile USA. Until Apple introduced its highly popular touchscreen device in 2007, which went on to become the world’s leading smartphone, Deutsche Telekom had been generating decent sales from its American operation, with growth in some years surpassing that achieved in Germany. But after the iPhone went on sale, sold exclusively at first by AT&T in the United States, T-Mobile USA began to lose its most lucrative customers, those on fixed monthly plans, who defected to its larger American rivals — AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which began selling the iPhone in February.
Politico:
- Joe Manchin Keeps Hitting Dems Over Budget. Less than two weeks after he delivered his maiden floor speech denouncing President Barack Obama’s “failure to lead” on cutting deficit spending, freshman Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is taking his argument home to his West Virginia constituents. Warning that “we cannot ignore the fiscal Titanic of our national debt and deficit,” the Democrat stressed his unwillingness to simply rubber-stamp his party’s positions in a Monday morning speech at the University of Charleston.
- WHO Warns of "Serious" Food Radiation in Disaster-Hit Japan. The World Health Organization said on Monday that radiation in food after an earthquake damaged a Japanese nuclear plant was more serious than previously thought, eclipsing signs of progress in a battle to avert a catastrophic meltdown in its reactors. News of progress at the nuclear plant was overshadowed by mounting concern that radioactive particles already released into the atmosphere have contaminated food and water supplies. "Quite clearly it's a serious situation," Peter Cordingley, Manila-based spokesman for the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional office for the Western Pacific, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "It's a lot more serious than anybody thought in the early days when we thought that this kind of problem can be limited to 20 to 30 kilometers ... It's safe to suppose that some contaminated produce got out of the contamination zone."
- Tiffany(TIF) Outlook Keeps Luster Despite Japan Quake. Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) expects significant sales growth this year in markets such as China, Brazil and Australia, illustrating the strength of global demand for luxury products despite the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The luxury jeweler forecast higher fiscal-year sales than analysts expected, sending its shares up more than 5 percent.
- Nokia(NOK) Sees Shortages as Some Japan Plants Restart. Nokia faces shortages of some phones due to disruption caused by Japan's devastating earthquake, although the mobile phone maker said the impact on earnings would be limited.
- Portugal Austerity Vote Likely Wednesday, Could Topple Government. Portugal's main opposition Social Democrats (PSD) again refused on Monday to back new government austerity measures, raising the risk the minority administration could fall after a vote later this week.
- French finance minister Christine Lagarde said in an interview that no calendar has been established for any further intervention to limit the appreciation of the yen.
- A survey showed 79% of Mexicans want controls on the country's southern border to impede illegal immigration. Of the 2,400 people surveyed last year by the Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas, a Mexican university known as CIDE, 66% agreed that undocumented immigrants should be deported from Mexico. 86% said it was important for immigrants who reside in Mexico to speak Spanish and 81% said they should have a good level of education.
- Al-Qaida Wants $128-Million Ransom for French Hostages. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is demanding at least $128-million in a ransom for the release of four French hostages held since September, a source close to mediators said Monday.
- Japan to Monitor Seawater Near Nuclear Plant. “There is a possibility that a very small amount of radiation may flow into the sea. But even if it happens, considering the current radiation level in the air, there will not be an impact on human health,” the official said. Abnormal levels of radiation have already been detected in samples of milk and spinach taken from areas near the plant, as well as in tap water in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures including Fukushima.
- Tokyo Electric says radioactivity has been found in sea water. Radio active iodine found in sea water 126.7 times limit. Radioactive cesium found 24.8 times limit. Tokyo electric says can't judge impact on sea products.
- Tokyo Electric Power Co. detected five kinds of radioactive material at the site of the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, confirming fuel rods have been damaged.
- Former Chinese central bank deputy governor Wu Xiaoling said the nation has more room to raise the reserve requirement for banks.
- Turkey is blocking NATO's military involvement in implementing a no-fly zone over Libya, citing diplomats. Ambassadors of NATO members failed to reach an agreement in meetings yesterday after Turkey objected.
- Palestinian extremists were the main agitators behind unrest yesterday in the southern Syrian city of Daraa that left one person dead. About 30 people were also injured in the unrest.
- Thousands of people have marched in the southern Syrian town of Daraa today after the funeral of a protester killed yesterday by security forces during a demonstration, citing a resident. The demonstrators chanted "Revolution, Revolution" and "God, Syria, freedom and that's all."
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