Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:   

• Brevan Said to Shut Emerging Markets Fund After Losses. Geraldine Sundstrom is leaving Brevan Howard Capital Management LP and the firm is shutting her hedge fund after it lost money amid a rout in emerging markets, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision. Sundstrom’s Brevan Howard Emerging Markets Strategies Master Fund declined 15 percent last year after a sell off for bonds and currencies, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Her fund, which had $2.7 billion in assets as of last June, fell another 1.6 percent in January after investor concerns that emerging markets would continue to decline, the person said.

• Barclays Cuts Up to 12,000 Jobs as Quarterly Profit Falls. Barclays Plc (BARC), the U.K.’s second-biggest bank by assets, will eliminate as many as 12,000 jobs this year, including more than 800 senior bankers, after fourth-quarter profit tumbled. 

• Europe Stocks Rise as Yellen Says Jobs Recovery Not Over. European stocks rose for a fifth day as Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen pledged to continue reducing stimulus as the economy strengthens. Carmakers posted the biggest gain among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600 after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its growth forecasts for auto sales in western Europe. Michelin & Cie. gained 3.3 percent after maintaining its 2015 earnings projection. Barclays Plc sank 3.8 percent after saying its investment-bank division swung to a loss in the fourth quarter. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 1.3 percent to 329.52 at the close of trading, taking its five-day gain to 3.8 percent.

• Farm Profits Seen Falling as Five-Year Crop Boom Ends. A waning boom in U.S. crop prices will cut annual farm profits 27 percent this year from a record, potentially denting demand for Deere & Co. (DE:US) tractors and Monsanto Co. (MON:US) chemicals, the government said. Agricultural net income will be $95.8 billion, down from a revised $130.5 billion last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today in its first 2014 forecast. Income for major crops including corn, soybeans and wheat will be $189.4 billion, down 12 percent, while all expenses for feed, chemicals and other items will be $348.2 billion, down 11 percent. Flat demand for corn to make ethanol and fewer exports to China may halt gains in farmland values after a 37 percent jump since 2009, leaving farmers with less to invest.

• Job Openings in U.S. Decrease in December as Hiring Slows. Job openings in the U.S. fell in December from an almost six-year high and hiring slowed, a sign the labor market cooled at the end of the year. The number of positions waiting to be filled declined by 43,000 to 3.99 million, from a revised 4.03 million the prior month, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Fewer Americans quit their jobs.

• Home Prices Rose in Fewer U.S. Markets in Fourth Quarter. Prices for single-family homes rose in 73 percent of U.S. cities in the fourth quarter, fewer than in the previous three months, as surging values in the past two years started to reduce affordability.

• Hillary Clinton Emerged as Top Obama Ally on Health: Book. Hillary Clinton, once President Barack Obama’s political foe, emerged as his top ally on what would become his signature policy achievement: revamping the U.S. health-care system. She quietly advised administration officials and lawmakers uneasy after a summer of attacks by the small-government Tea Party movement, according to the book “HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton.” (Crown, 440 pages, $26.). 

• Felons Should Regain Voting Rights After Serving: Holder. Felons who have served their sentences shouldn’t be blocked from voting by state laws that disproportionately affect minorities, Attorney General Eric Holder said.

Wall Street Journal:  

• Fed's Yellen Sets a Steady Policy Course. Change in Pace of Bond-Buying Reduction Would Require Sharp Turn in Economy; Labor Market, Inflation Bear Watching.

• EU Pushes to Globalize Internet Governance. European Commission to Propose Steps to Reduce U.S. Influence on Essential Web Functions.

• Foxconn Working With Google(GOOG) on Robotics. Foxconn has long been associated as the partner for Apple, assembling the majority of the U.S. company’s iPhones and iPads.

Fox News:

• Boehner backs down, says House to vote on 'clean' debt-limit hike. House Speaker John Boehner, in an abrupt shift, announced Tuesday that the House would vote on an increase in the nation's borrowing cap without any strings attached. A senior House GOP leadership source told Fox News that the vote is expected Tuesday night, with lawmakers trying to beat the impending snowstorm.

MarketWatch: 

• Dean Foods warns milk prices are headed even higher.

CNBC:

• Fed's Plosser 'worried' about not raising rates. Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, said Tuesday history is not on the side of the central bank when it comes to raising interest rates in a timely manner, and the risk is financial markets will force its hand.

• 'This isn't your father's Fed': GOP congressman. (video) The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee questioned on Tuesday the usefulness of the Federal Reserve's forward guidance tool—ahead of new Fed Chair Janet Yellen's testimony to the panel.

ZeroHedge:

• John Taylor's Rebuttal Of Yellen: "There Is Little Evidence Monetary Policy Has Helped Economic Or Job Growth".

• Boehner Keeps On Folding: Now Proposes Clean Debt Ceiling Bill.

• 2013 Wholesale Inventories Rise At Slowest Pace In 4 Years. (graph)

• S&P 500 Jumps To Best 4-Day Run In 13 Months. (graph)

Business Insider:

• Lots Of Major Bitcoin Exchanges Are Under A 'Concerted And Massive Attack' Right Now.

• National Weather Service Calls Storm Headed For Atlanta A 'Catastrophic' Event Of 'Historical Proportions'.

• This Is How The Chinese Economic Disaster Scenario Could Unfold.

• Here's What The 'Severe Shock' Of A Chinese Hard Landing Would Mean For The World.

• KRAUTHAMMER: New Obamacare Delay Is 'The Kind Of Stuff You Do In A Banana Republic'.

Reuters:

• European regulators to exempt some banks from harshest stress tests. Regulators will exempt banks that had mandatory European Commission-approved restructuring plans in place last year - such as Monte dei Paschi di Siena - from the harshest of stress tests in 2014, Italian government officials say. The European Banking Authority (EBA) is due to conduct stress tests of euro zone lenders as part of a sector-wide check up by the European Central Bank before taking it takes on supervision from national regulators in November.

• France's SocGen, BNP prepare retail banking cuts - sources. Paribas and Societe Generale, are preparing to make cuts to their domestic retail operations to help contend with the sluggish economy, union sources told Reuters. Retail banking in France has long been a cash cow for the country's top lenders but over the past two years there has been a slowdown in revenue growth as a stalled economy hit household budgets, triggering a drive to cut costs.

Telegraph: 

• Want a scary view of where the economy is heading? Well here it is.

Bild:

• German Economic Adviser Warns of Further ECB Rate Cut. Another interest rate cut wouldn't have direct economic impact, citing an interview with Christoph Schmidt, head of council of economic advisers.