Bloomberg:
- U.S. Signals Putin Not to Move Against New NATO Members. Unsure of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions, the Obama administration is attempting to warn the Kremlin not to test the U.S. commitment to defend its allies in eastern and central Europe. Jet fighters from the U.K., Denmark, France and Poland will begin flying air patrols over the Baltic states tomorrow “as part of collective defense measures,” the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said in a statement today. Canadian jets are deploying to Romania “as part of NATO efforts to reassure allies” in Central and Eastern Europe, the alliance said. Those measures and others, including deployments of U.S. troops for military exercises, are part of an effort to discourage any thoughts Putin may have about extending Russia’s reach beyond Ukraine.
- BOJ Inflation Confidence Seen Cutting Chance of Stimulus. The confidence Bank of Japan officials are demonstrating in achieving their inflation target is lowering the chances of additional monetary easing this year even as the economy weakens. Consumer prices, excluding fresh food, will increase 1.9 percent in the fiscal year starting April 1, 2015, and 2.1 percent the next year, according to the median estimates of BOJ board members in a quarterly outlook released yesterday. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the timing on hitting the BOJ’s 2 percent goal hasn’t been pushed back at all.
- China Steel Industry Facing Harshest Ever Operating Environment. China’s steel industry, the world’s biggest, is facing the harshest operating environment ever, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. (600019) said, as a credit squeeze and overcapacity weighs on the sector and economic growth slows. “Some less-competitive mills will find it hard to continue,” He Wenbo, chairman of China’s biggest publicly-traded steelmaker, said today in a web cast. The environment is “harsher than any years in the past,” he said.
- Japan Stocks Climb as Fed Sinks Gold; Crude Below $100. Japanese stocks climbed and precious metals fell amid optimism the U.S. economy is gaining momentum and as investors weighed company earnings. Crude held below $100 barrel after a gauge of Chinese manufacturing expanded less than predicted and U.S. stockpiles rose to a record. The Topix Index rose 1.3 percent by 12:30 p.m. in Tokyo, after a fourth straight monthly drop, with markets from China to South Korea closed for the May Day holiday.
- Pro-Russian Separatists in Eastern Ukraine Seek Legitimacy Through Referendum. Strategy Appears to Be to Hold Vote, Claim Victory Regardless of Turnout. Apart from the sandbagged battle positions held by masked, pro-Russian gunmen wearing camouflage in cities across eastern Ukraine, an equally grave challenge for the country can be found here in a lightly guarded mansion, known in Soviet days as the House of Political Enlightenment.
- Military Allies Caution U.S. Against Rupturing Putin’s Ties With West. Some of Washington’s closest military allies, including Japan, Egypt and Israel, are cautioning the Obama administration against taking steps that could permanently rupture Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s ties to the West, according to Asian and Middle East officials.
- Dozens Injured in Capital of China's Xinjiang Region. Three Killed in Explosion at Urumqi Train Station. Three people were killed and dozens injured in what state media say was a terrorist attack involving knives and explosives at a railway station in the capital of western China's Xinjiang region on Wednesday, hours after President Xi Jinping used a rare tour there to demonstrate his government's commitment to combating terrorism. Assailants attacked people with knives at the station exit, according to a report on the...
- AT&T(T) Has Approached DirecTV About Possible Acquisition.
- Airstrike on Syrian School Leaves at Least 47 Dead. Children Are the Main Victims of Strike in Aleppo That Activists Attribute to a Government Jet. A Syrian government fighter jet fired a missile at a school in the northern city of Aleppo that killed as many as 47 people, mainly children, as students were preparing an art exhibition to depict the horrors of Syria's civil war, activists said.
- The Coming Two-Tier Health System. ObamaCare is already creating one class of care for the poor and middle class and another for the affluent. With the unveiling of the Affordable Care Act's website, the public experienced a painful reminder of the consequences of the government's new authority over health care. While millions signed up for insurance, millions of others abruptly lost their existing coverage and access to their doctors because that coverage didn't fit new ObamaCare definitions.
- The Missing Benghazi Email. New evidence that Ben Rhodes told Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton to blame the video. Most of the media refuses to cover what happened in Benghazi in 2012, and Congressional Republicans have been less than skillful in their probes. But the story isn't going away despite the best efforts of the Obama Administration and the Hillary for President campaign.
- Taking a Toll: Administration wants to let states charge on interstate highways. Ever driven down I-95 in Maryland, or the New Jersey Turnpike, and parted ways with $10, $20 in tolls? If the Obama administration has its way, highways across the country could someday be that way.
- China plans crackdown on iron ore import loans. China plans to get tougher on loans for iron ore imports as concerns grow that steel mills are using import loans to stay afloat in defiance of policies to reduce overcapacity in heavily polluting and lossmaking industries.
- The Refi Boom Is Dead; Applications Drop To Lowest Since Lehman. (graph)
- IMF Approves Loan (To Pay Ukraine's Gazprom Bill): Putin 1 - 0 IMF.
- "Can We Say When It Will End? No. Can We Say That It Will End? Yes". (graph)
- No Bubble At All: IPO For Company That "Doesn't Have Current Operations" 36 Times Oversubscribed.
- AsiaPac Double 'Data' Whammy: China PMI Misses Following Aussie PMI Collapse. (graph)
- 17 Facts To Show To Anyone That Still Believes That The U.S. Economy Is Just Fine.
- The 200 Schoolgirls Abducted In Nigeria Are Being Forced To Marry Their Militant Kidnappers [Report].
- White House Press Briefing Gets Heated After Reporter Presses Jay Carney Over Benghazi. (video)
- Western Digital(WDC) profit slips on lower sales to PC makers. Hard-disk drive maker Western Digital Corp reported a 4 percent fall in quarterly profit due to a decrease in sales to personal computer makers.
- Britain should leave the EU if Europe's judges trample on our basic protections. The ECJ is a force to be reckoned with, or preferably kept at a very safe sovereign distance.
- None of note
- Asian equity indices are -.50% to +.75% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 126.50 +1.0 basis point.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 88.0 -.5 basis point.
- FTSE-100 futures +.09%.
- S&P 500 futures -.05%.
- NASDAQ 100 futures +.03%.
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (BZH)/-.19
- (COP)/1.55
- (CAH)/1.00
- (VIA/B)/1.05
- (ARG)/1.20
- (MA)/.72
- (BDX)/1.50
- (CME)/.83
- (CLX)/1.08
- (MDC)/.22
- (AVP)/.21
- (BWA)/.80
- (HST)/.30
- (PWR)/.40
- (CI)/1.54
- (ITT)/.52
- (AMT)/1.04
- (DPZ)/.67
- (XOM)/1.88
- (K)/.97
- (BG)/1.40
- (KFT)/.76
- (WYNN)/2.07
- (AKAM)/.53
- (LNKD)/.34
- (OPEN)/.42
- (EXPE)/.15
- (FLR)/.97
- (MHK)/1.18
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims are estimated to fall to 320K versus 329K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 2700K versus 2680K prior.
- Personal Income for March is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.3% gain in February.
- Personal Spending for March is estimated to rise +.6% versus a +.3% gain in February.
- PCE Core for March is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.1% gain in February.
- The Final Markit US Manufacturing PMI for April is estimated at 55.4 versus a prior estimate of 55.4.
- ISM Manufacturing for April is estimated to rise to 54.3 versus 53.7 in March.
- ISM Prices Paid for April is estimated to rise to 59.5 versus 59.0 in March.
- Construction Spending for March is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.1% gain in February.
- Total Vehicle Sales for April are estimated to fall to 16.2M versus 16.33M in March.
- None of note
- The Fed's Yellen speaking, UK mortgage data, Challenger Job Cuts report for April, RBC Consumer Outlook Index for May, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index and the (CBRL) investor day could impact trading today.
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