- NATO Warns Russia Force on Ukraine Border Ready to Act. NATO leaders warned today that Russian forces massed near the country’s border with Ukraine are in a high state of readiness and that any incursion across the frontier would be a “historic mistake.” The presence of as many as 40,000 soldiers along Ukraine’s eastern border is fueling concern that Russia is poised to invade on the pretext of protecting Russian-speaking inhabitants of eastern and southern Ukraine. Backed by state-run media, President Vladimir Putin says the Kiev-based government is influenced by Russophobe extremists and hasn’t done enough to stop them from persecuting Russian-speakers. “We have seen a very massive Russian military buildup along the Ukrainian borders,” North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after a two-day meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Brussels. “We also know that these Russian military armed forces are at very high readiness.”
- China Leverage Seen Rising Through 2016. China’s debt is poised to keep expanding faster than the economy through at least 2016, testing the limits of a credit-driven growth model that’s already exceeded the imbalances in Japan before its lost decade. The combined ratio of government, corporate and household debt to gross domestic product is set to climb to 236.5 percent in 2016 from 225 percent last year, based on median estimates in a Bloomberg News survey of economists and analysts. Asked when the ratio will peak over the next decade, the largest proportion of respondents said 2018 or 2019.
- China Dot-Coms Rush to U.S. as Buyers Shrug Off Murky Structures. Sky-high valuations mixed with murky corporate structures often scare off investors. That’s less so if the companies are from China. From microblogging site Weibo Corp. (0962693D) to real-estate website Leju Holdings Ltd., China-based companies have announced more than $2.5 billion of U.S. initial public offerings in 2014, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the most since the fourth quarter of 2007, when Chinese stocks in the U.S. peaked before losing almost two-thirds of their value. The rush isn’t slowing soon.
- Euro-Area Banks Face Tougher Risk-Model Scrutiny: Barnier. Euro-area banks face tougher scrutiny of how they measure the risk of losses on their assets, the European Union’s financial-services chief said. Michel Barnier said that once the European Central Bank takes on oversight of euro-area lenders in November, its tasks will include tackling potential inconsistencies in the so-called risk-weight models banks use to measure the capital they need to withstand crises.
- Euro-Area Economic Growth Revised Down to 0.2% in Fourth Quarter. The euro-area economy grew at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than initially estimated, providing further evidence for the European Central Bank assessment that the currency bloc’s recovery is still fragile. Gross domestic product expanded 0.2 percent in the three months through December, according to data posted on the website of the European Union’s statistics office today. That’s down from the preliminary measure of 0.3 percent on March 5.
- European Stocks Gain for Seventh Day. European stocks climbed for a seventh day after a U.S. private-payrolls report showed companies in the world’s largest economy added more workers last month and factory orders increased in February. Deutsche Post AG gained 4.6 percent after Europe’s largest mail service predicted operating profit will rise through 2020. Neste Oil Oyj rallied 5.6 percent after a U.S. Senate committee proposed extending a tax credit for biodiesel. Deutsche Boerse AG dropped 2.2 percent after confirming that one of its businesses has become the subject of a criminal investigation. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.2 percent to 336.93 at the close of trading.
- Gold Rises on Speculation Seven-Week Low to Spur Demand. Gold futures for June delivery added 1 percent to $1,292.90 an ounce at 10:31 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices dropped to $1,277.40 yesterday.
- ICE Said Close to Start of Credit-Swap Futures That Mimic Index. IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc. (ICE), owner of the world’s largest credit-default swap clearinghouse, is close to offering futures on the most-active derivative indexes. The new contracts will replicate the lineup of companies included in the investment-grade and high-yield swap indexes owned by Markit Group Ltd., according to a person with knowledge of the plan. ICE, as the company is known, failed in an earlier effort at credit-swaps futures that sought to give investors a way to bet on improving or deteriorating credit markets.
- Ex-State Department Contractor Gets 13 Months for Leak. Former U.S. State Department contractor Stephen Kim was sentenced to 13 months in prison for disclosing intelligence on North Korea to a Fox News reporter in a case that sparked criticism from free-press advocates of the Obama administration’s crackdown on unauthorized leaks.
- Chinese Investors Scramble Into Dubai. After pouring billions of dollars into cities from London to New York to Sydney, Chinese investors are looking to Dubai with a fresh appetite. The influx of money is beginning to reshape post-financial crisis Dubai. As the WSJ’s Rory Jones reports:
- Highlights from the Supreme Court’s Campaign-Finance Ruling. The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down aggregate limits on political contributions, concluding in a 5-4 ruling that the goal of fighting corruption doesn’t justify the burden on First Amendment rights imposed by such restrictions. Here are highlights from the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts.
- IMF's Lagarde: Global Economy May Face Years of Slow, Subpar Growth. Christine Lagarde Says if Central Banks and Lawmakers Don't Help Boost Output, Global Growth Could Remain Sluggish.
- Ex-CIA chief confirms he ignored Benghazi guidance from top officer on ground. The former acting director of the CIA, in his first public testimony on Benghazi, confirmed that he ignored guidance from the top CIA officer on the ground in favor of reporting from analysts far removed from the scene, in shaping the flawed "talking points" which said the attack sprung from a protest.
- Looming debt defaults mark turning point for China. China's ruling party has spoken: The money-lending party is over. In response to an historic lending boom that has saddled China with too much of everything from unsold real estate to underused mines and factories, the government in recent weeks has sent a clear message to lenders and borrowers: The days of easy credit are over. The move comes as China's $9.4 billion economy show signs of a slowdown after a borrowing-and-spending spree that left behind billions of dollars worth of bank write-downs and the restructuring of billions more in failed and troubled loans in money-losing companies.
- De-escalation Off: US Navy Sends Warship To Black Sea "In Direct Response To Ukraine Circumstances".
Foreign Policy:
- The Russians Are Coming. 10 very good reasons not to believe Vladimir Putin when he says he's totally not going to invade eastern Ukraine.
- U.S. senator accuses GM(GM) of 'culture of cover-up' in recalls. General Motors Co came under withering attack for its decade-long failure to notify the public about defective parts linked to fatal crashes, as a U.S. Senate hearing opened on Wednesday with accusations that the company fostered "a culture of cover-up." Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill rebutted some of GM CEO Mary Barra's testimony to a House of Representatives panel on Tuesday that her company had recently cleaned up its act.
- Brazil likely to raise interest rates again, signals more hikes. Brazil will likely raise interest rates for the ninth straight time on Wednesday, aiming to tame a surge in food prices that threatens to push inflation through the official target ceiling in an electoral year. All 62 economists polled by Reuters expect the central bank to raise its benchmark Selic rate by 25 basis points to 11 percent -- what would be the highest level in more than two years.
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