Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Ukraine Says Russia Fuels Terror as NATO Boosts Defense. Ukraine accused Russia of fueling “terrorism” in its eastern regions as NATO bolstered the defense of nearby European nations. Government troops pressed on with an anti-separatist offensive that freed an airfield near Kramatorsk yesterday, sending armored vehicles into the Donetsk region town where pro-Russian forces have clashed with police. NATO pledged to hold more military drills in eastern Europe and step up air and naval policing on its flanks. “Russia has a new commodity for export in addition to oil and gas -- terrorism,” Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a government meeting today in Kiev. “It’s become clear our Russian neighbors have decided to build a new Berlin Wall and want a return to the Cold War.”

• Russia Sees Euro, Dollar Investments at Risk in Ukraine Backlash. Sanctions over Ukraine may threaten Russia’s investments in assets denominated in euros and U.S. dollars, Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said, urging the use of the nation’s wealth funds for domestic projects. “We should now very attentively study the risks of investing into dollar and euro securities, given the geopolitical situation we have right now,” Ulyukayev told lawmakers in Moscow today when questioned on whether returns on foreign securities are too low. 

• China First-Quarter Home Sales Post Decline on Tight Credit. China’s home sales fell and new property construction declined 25 percent in the first quarter, as credit remained tight, adding to signs of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

• ASML(ASML) Revenue Forecast Trails Estimates on Slowing Demand. ASML Holding NV (ASML), Europe’s largest semiconductor-equipment supplier, predicted sales trailing analysts’ estimates on slowing demand from makers of chips that process functions in devices. The stock fell the most in more than two years. Revenue this quarter will be about 1.6 billion euros ($2.2 billion), ASML, which supplies chipmakers including Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (2330), said today. Analysts predict 1.7 billion euros, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. 

• European Stocks Rise on Earnings as Tesco, Syngenta Gain. European stocks rose the most in six weeks as companies from Tesco Plc to Syngenta (SYNN) AG reported financial results and as data showed American housing and industrial activity increased. Tesco advanced 2.6 percent after reporting trading profit that exceeded projections. Syngenta gained 2.3 percent after posting first-quarter revenue that met estimates and confirming its full-year sales target. GEA Group AG rallied 6.2 percent after agreeing to sell its heat-exchanges unit to Triton Advisers Ltd. ASML Holding NV tumbled the most since August 2011 after forecasting second-quarter sales below projections. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.3 percent to 330.82 at the close of trading.

• BofA(BAC) Slides After Posting Loss Tied to Mortgage Accords. Bank of America Corp. fell the most since June in New York after posting a surprise loss driven by $6 billion of costs tied to mortgage disputes. The stock slid 3.2 percent to $15.87 at 10:25 a.m. as investors assessed the latest in a line of legal expenses that have totaled more than $50 billion at the lender since the financial crisis. The drop was the worst in the 24-company KBW Bank Index today.

• Technology Slump Fuels Concern Startup Values May Follow. The decline in publicly traded technology stocks is fueling concern that Silicon Valley startups will follow with plummeting valuations. In the past month, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN:US), Facebook Inc., TripAdvisor Inc. and Netflix Inc. have plunged at least 13 percent each. The trading days of April 10 and 11 marked the Nasdaq Composite Index (CCMP)’s biggest two-day drop since 2011 and the index is off more than 7 percent since early March. If the stock declines continue, young entrepreneurs may have to accept more realistic valuations for their companies, said George Zachary, a partner at Charles River Ventures in Menlo Park, California. 

• GM(GM) Vetoed Better Ignition Part to Save Money, Advocates Say. General Motors Co. chose not to use a more robust ignition-switch part in Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars while they were being designed, a decision that may have led to deaths, safety advocates said. GM engineers in 2001 designed an alternative to the spring used in an ignition switch for the 2003 Saturn Ion before it was rejected, according to a letter sent to Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra today by Joan Claybrook, a former head of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety.

• Stumbling S&P 500 Reaches Worst Stretch of Election Cycle. The political calendar is working against investors. Already hit by concerns valuations are too high just as the Federal Reserve withdraws stimulus, the equity market is entering what has historically been the worst period of the presidential cycle, the stretch before midterm elections. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has lost 2.5 percent and 0.3 percent on average in the second and third quarters of years like this one, according to data compiled by S&P Capital IQ and Bloomberg. Stocks in the benchmark gauge are about one percentage point away from matching such a loss after posting the biggest weekly slide since 2012.

Barron's:

• Hedge Funds’ Worst Start Since 2008: Preqin. Hedge funds are coming off their worst first-quarter performance since the dark days of 2008. That’s the contention this morning from data supplier Preqin, whose all hedge-fund strategies benchmark gained a meager 1.23% for the period. It’s a shift from the last two years, when the early part of the year was strong. The same Preqin index gained 6.07% and 3.76% in the first quarter of 2012 and 2013, respectively.

Wall Street Journal:

• Ukraine's Efforts to Regain Control of East Sputter. Ukraine Defense Ministry Says Armored Vehicles Were Seized by Militants.

• Crisis in Ukraine. Streaming Coverage:

CNBC: 

• Beige Book: Economy sees rebound from weather-related declines.

ZeroHedge:

• Is The Fed Fabricating Loan Creation Data?

• European Investors Rush To Safe-Havens - Italy/Spain Bond Yields At New Record Low. (graph)

• Nigel Farage Blasts "There Is No Consent For A United States Of Europe". (video)

• The "Housing Recovery" Is Complete: Major US Banks' Mortgage Originations Tumble To Record Low. (graph)

• De Blasio Releases Tax Returns; Paid Effective 8.3% Rate.

• Industrial Production Growth Slows As Manufacturing Misses, Capacity Utilization Highest Since 2008. (graph)

• Housing Starts, Permits Miss As Rental Euphoria Fizzles. (graph)

• Tanks Flying Russian Flag Enter East Ukraine City. (video)

Business Insider:

• By Changing This One Word, Janet Yellen Now Sounds A Little More Hawkish.

• Pro-Russia Separatists Take Armored Vehicles, Humiliating Kiev Forces.

• Al Qaeda's Second-In-Command Vows To Strike America In New Video.

• Housing Alone Will Return Inflation To The Fed's Target By Next Year.

• Casual Pot Use Shown To Cause Brain Abnormalities In Youth.

Reuters: 

• Fed's Fisher: U.S. firms still in 'defensive crouch'.

• Fed's Fisher unworried by current low inflation.

Telegraph:

• This is nuts, inflation does not justify zero interest rates. Emergency monetary measures should be dialled back to stop a repeat of past mistakes.

Xinhua:

• Shanghai Won't Ease Property Control Policies. Shanghai will continue its "strict" property control policies, citing Liu Haisheng, head of the city's housing authority. The city will keep increasing housing land supply this year, the report said.