Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:  

• Recession Replaces Debt as Top EU Worry Amid Joblessness. European leaders are loosening the economic shackles once demanded by Germany as the recession and mounting unemployment in southern Europe shove aside the debt crisis as the euro area’s biggest headache. A two-day Brussels summit starting today will endorse plans for “structural” assessments of national budgets, according to a draft statement, using code for granting countries such as France, Spain and Portugal extra time to bring down deficits. “We have to restore sound and sustainable public finances, via continued differentiated fiscal consolidation and focused on structural efforts,” European Union President Herman Van Rompuy said at a pre-summit briefing.
• SNB Keeps Up Franc Defense as Euro Crisis Risks Persist. The Swiss central bank pledged to keep up its defense of the franc cap after almost doubling its currency holdings to shield the country from the fallout caused by the euro zone’s crisis. The Swiss National Bank cut its forecasts for inflation and said it will take all necessary measures to keep the “high” franc within the limit of 1.20 per euro. In its quarterly monetary policy assessment today, the Zurich-based central bank also kept the band for its benchmark interest rate at zero percent to 0.25 percent, as forecast by all 22 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
• Merkel’s Reform Crown Slips While Turning Europe German. The political heirs to a decade-old strategy that turned Germany into the economic powerhouse of Europe risk squandering the gains. Ten years to the day since Gerhard Schroeder unveiled a welfare and labor-market overhaul that economists credit with reinvigorating the German economy, his Social Democratic Party is backtracking while his successor as chancellor, Angela Merkel, may not be doing enough to keep the reform flame alive.

Barron's:

• AAPL(AAPL): BTIG Ups to Buy on Low-Cost iPhone Prospects. Shares of Apple (AAPL) are higher by $4.40, or 1%, at $432.75, after the stock got an upgrade from BTIG Research’s Walter Piecyk to Buy from Neutral, with a $540 price target, based mostly on the prospect the company will have a lower-cost iPhone by the end of this year, which could add $11 billion in revenue in fiscal 2014 ending September of that year. Piecyk, who cut the stock to Neutral in April of last year, arguing at the time for a “breather,” now thinks investors need similarly to take a breather from negative sentiment: 

CNBC:

• Emerging Markets Being Left Out of Global Rally. Despite a revival in risk appetite — which has sent global stocks up 6 percent since the start of the year — emerging markets appear to be losing out as investors pile into larger, developed markets on expectations of improving economic conditions. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has slipped 1.1 percent since the start of the year, weighed down by recent losses in Chinese and Indian equities — a stark contrast from developed markets, in particular the U.S. and Japan, which are roaring ahead, up 10 percent and 18 percent, respectively, over the same period.
• China's Colossal Credit Bubble Next Big Risk: Faber. (video)
• Chinese Firm Looks to Tap Booming US Natural Gas Market. ENN Group Co, one of China's largest private companies, is quietly rolling out plans to establish a network of natural gas fueling stations for trucks along U.S. highways. 
• More US States Weigh Gasoline Taxes. 
• Weak Economy to Depress Oil Demand Throughout 2013: IEA. Global oil demand is set to be depressed by weak economic growth throughout 2013 while soaring U.S. oil production gives consumers a perfect cushion to withstand most supply outages, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday. "The oil producing world today is in the midst of a once in a generation transition of farreaching consequences," the IEA, which coordinates energy policies of major consuming nations, said.

Zero Hedge: 

• Initial Claims Lower Than Expected At 332K, PPI In Line With Expectations. (graphs)
• RIP Rotation: Two Weeks Of US Equity Fund Outflows. (graph)
• Why Italy Is More Like Japan Than Spain. 
• What Does China Know (Again) That The Rest Of The World Doesn't? (graphs) 
• Morgan Stanley: The Central-Bank-Inspired "Omnishambles" Is Closer Than Most Think. (graphs)

Business Insider: 

• Military Personnel DO NOT Have 'Lavish' Benefits By Any Means. 
• DEUTSCHE BANK(DB): Only Jesus Can Save The Euro. 
• An Electric Car Company Is On The Verge Of Becoming The Next Solyndra. 
• Italy's Worst-Case Scenario Has Become The Most Likely Scenario. 
• The Housing Market Is Experiencing 'Dangerous Foreclosure Flare-Ups'. 
• Amazon(AMZN) Downgraded Over Margin Fears.

Reuters: 

• Spain debt sale taps keen market, but fervour may wane. Spain saw solid demand at a long-term bond auction on Thursday, riding a wave of enthusiasm for its debt relative to Italy's that might soon ebb as investors look more closely at a gloomy economic backdrop. 
• For China Mobile, 4G and next iPhone are key to unlocking Apple demand. China Mobile Ltd hopes to tap pent-up demand for Apple Inc smartphones by rolling out new 4G technology this year and having an iPhone model that will finally run on it.

Telegraph: 

• Greece is no Ireland, says banking group as bailout stalls. Debt-laden Greece was set unachievable fiscal targets, unlike Ireland, said a leading global banking group, as the island's troika of international lenders delayed its next tranche of bailout cash. 
• Eurozone employment hastens downward spiral. The fall in eurozone employment sped up in the last three months of 2012, dashing hopes that the labour market in the troubled bloc could be stabilising.  
• Investors in China should be wary of revolution. China is heading for a social revolution, according to Fidelity fund manager Anthony Bolton. 

Shanghai Securities News:

• China's property prices will "definitely" decline this year, citing Housing and Urban-Rural Development Minister Jiang Weixin.

China Securities Journal:

• China to 'Firmly' Carry Out Property Curbs. China will "firmly" carry out the property curbs announced recently, citing Housing and Urban-Rural Development Minister Jiang Weixin.