Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Russia’s Aggression Challenges Obama’s Foreign Policy. U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans to forge a foreign policy for a globalized 21st Century have collided in Ukraine with what Secretary of State John Kerry has called 19th-century behavior. The “bitter divides of the Cold War have been replaced by unity, partnership and peace,” said then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, outlining that 21st-century vision in a speech in Paris in 2010, a year after the administration sought to “reset” relations with Russia. “Russia is no longer our adversary, but often a partner.” In the last month, Obama and Clinton’s vision has been disrupted by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its troop buildup along the Ukrainian border. Europe’s new -- or renewed -- instability reveals longstanding weaknesses in the president’s vision of a partnership with Russia and global cooperation with the European Union and NATO democracies as far afield as Libya, Syria and Afghanistan, analysts, former government officials and diplomats say. “The Obama vision for European security was hinged on a couple of factors, all of which are now out the window,” said Samuel Charap, a senior fellow at the Washington office of the Institute of International Security Studies, a London-based policy group. 

• Europe Stocks Rise for a Second Day as Carmakers Advance. European stocks rose for a second day, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posting its biggest two-day gain in three weeks, as auto companies climbed. PSA Peugeot Citroen increased 2.8 percent, leading a gauge of auto-related stocks higher, as La Tribune newspaper reported the carmaker got more than 120,000 orders in a year for its 2008 crossover model. Standard Life Plc jumped 7 percent after saying a unit is buying Ignis Asset Management Ltd. from Phoenix Group Holdings. Lloyds Banking Group Plc slid the most since May 2012 as the U.K. government sold a stake in the lender. The Stoxx 600 added 0.7 percent to 330.93 at the close of trading.

• WTI Crude Advances as Cushing Inventories Decline. WTI for May delivery gained 64 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $99.83 a barrel at 1:05 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume was 16 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day. The price was $100.08 before the EIA report.

• Obamacare Spurs Merck, Glaxo to End Co-Pay Aid; Boost to Middle Class a Kickback? Abandoning a long-held industry tradition, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Merck & Co. won’t help low-income Obamacare patients pay for their high-priced drugs. The drugmakers say they won’t provide the assistance until the government decides whether programs overseen by the U.S. health-care act are subject to federal laws banning kickbacks that steer business to companies. So far, U.S. agencies have sent mixed messages on the issue, industry officials said. 

• GM(GM) Down 14% Shows Barra Challenges From Recalls to China. Less than three months into her tenure as General Motors Co. chief executive officer, Mary Barra has more than recalls to worry about.

• Dish’s(DISH) Ergen Said to Approach DirecTV CEO White About Merger. Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen recently contacted DirecTV Chief Executive Officer Mike White to discuss a merger of the two satellite television companies, according to several people with knowledge of the matter. Shares of both companies rose.

Wall Street Journal: 

• Debris Field 'Most Credible Lead' in Malaysia Airlines Plane Search. Satellite Images Appear to Show 122 Objects in Area Where Search Is Under Way.

• China's Economy Under Mounting Stress.

Fox News:

• China waging ‘Three Warfares’ against United States in Asia, Pentagon says. China is waging political warfare against the United States as part of a strategy to drive the U.S. military out of Asia and control seas near its coasts, according to a Pentagon-sponsored study.

MarketWatch:

• A case of mistaken identity sends another Oculus soaring. Investors jumped on the news that Facebook Inc. is buying Oculus VR Inc. Problem is, they jumped to the wrong Oculus. Oculus VR makes virtual-reality glasses. Its virtual-reality headset is called Oculus Rift. Facebook FB -6.13% announced late Tuesday that it would buy the whole shebang for $2 billion. Oculus VisionTech Inc., OVTZ despite the similar nomenclature, is unrelated. It is involved with watermarking digital media, like videos, to protect against piracy. But a lot of people, apparently, didn’t know that, because its stock more than doubled on Wednesday morning.

• Dr. Copper is waving a red flag.

• Facebook(FB) makes risky bets to stay relevant. Opinion: Investors may start to worry about big-spending ways.

• The bill for home-equity lines is coming due. Borrowers might get a ‘payment shock’; regulators warn banks of a brewing problem. 

CNBC:

• JPM, AQR win as hedge funds suck in assets. The fat funds are getting fatter—the largest hedge funds now control more cash than ever before. Americas-based firms that each invest at least $1 billion managed a record high of $1.71 trillion as of Jan. 1, according to a report by hedge fund data and news service Absolute Return.

ZeroHedge:

• The Real Inflation Fear - US Food Prices Are Up 19% In 2014. (graph)

• Two Years Later, Larry Fink Confirms Zero Hedge Was Right.

• Will The Backlash Against Facebook Be The Doom Of Its Acquisition Spree?

• The Anatomy Of Panic: How A Rumor Mutated Into A Three-Day Chinese Bank Run.

• The "Recovery" Is Said To Be Hiding Somewhere In These Non-Recovering Charts. (graph)

• Candy Crushed - IPO Drops 15%.

• Dear Ukrainians, Your Gas Bill Goes Up By 50% On May 1, Have A Nice Day.

Business Insider: 

• Boehner Blasts Obamacare Delay: 'What The Hell Is This? A Joke?'.

• This Dramatic Chart Shows How Many People Have Lost Faith In Obama's Foreign Policy.

• 5 Things That Could Go Wrong For Markets In The Coming Weeks.

• China Is Attacking Alibaba And The Rest Of Its Trillion Dollar Mobile Payments Industry.

• 3 Secret Service Agents Sent Home From Netherlands After Drunken Escapade.

Washington Times:

• IRS: It will take ‘years’ to produce tea party targeting emails. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Wednesday that he won’t be able to produce all of former employee Lois G. Lerner’s emails and those of other key employees by the end of this year, pushing it beyond this year’s congressional elections.

@Interpreter_Mag:

• Ukraine Liveblog: Ukraine Defence Ministry calls reports of Russian troop movements "worrying".

• "400 troops in BMP/BTR vehicles & 10 tanks" less than 10km from Ukr border. 1,100 troops 120 vehicles 25 Hinds near Belgorod.

• More reports of Elite Russian armor divisions on the move, as well as attack helicopters.