Bloomberg:
- Poroshenko Defies Russia With Vow on Anti-Rebel Operation. President-elect Petro Poroshenko set Ukraine on a collision course with Russia even before the last vote had been counted, vowing to step up operations to rein in separatists in the east of the country. “There will be a sharp increase in the efficiency of anti-terrorist operations,” Poroshenko said in Kiev today. “They won’t last two or three months; they’ll last a few hours.” In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that any escalation would be a “colossal mistake.”
- A Europe Hooked on Russian Gas Debates Imposing Sanctions.
- Chinese Boat Attacks, Sinks Vietnam Fishing Vessel, Vietnam Says. A Chinese vessel attacked and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat in disputed waters off Vietnam’s coast, Vietnam’s foreign ministry said. “It sank,” ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said of the Vietnamese vessel. “It was rammed by a Chinese boat.” The 10 fishermen on board were rescued by other Vietnamese boats after the sinking yesterday around 17 nautical miles (19.5 miles) from a Chinese oil rig located near the contested Paracel Islands, Vietnam News reported.
- China Middle-Class Protests Turn Violent After Petitions Ignored.
- Japan’s Risk of Inflation With Low Growth Raises Stakes for Abe. Japan’s risk of spurring inflation without boosting the nation’s growth potential is raising the stakes for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s next round of economic restructuring measures, due in June. An economy “with low real growth rates under mild inflation” is possible, should the government fail to deliver, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said in a speech in Tokyo yesterday.
- Italian Bonds Rally With Spain’s on European Polls, ECB Stimulus. Italy’s government bonds rose for a second day as Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s party defeated a populist challenge in the European Parliament elections, boosting demand for the euro area’s higher-yielding assets. Spanish bonds advanced on speculation the European Central Bank will increase economic stimulus and as European stocks climbed. Greek, Irish and Portuguese bonds also gained even as parties opposed to closer European Union surged in the polls. German bunds were little changed as a gauge of consumer confidence held at the highest since 2007. ECB President Mario Draghi said in Portugal today that policy makers need to be “particularly watchful” of low inflation.
- Asian Stocks Extend Rally While Copper Climbs With Aussie. Asian stocks rose, with the regional index climbing a fourth day to the highest level in almost six months. Most industrial metals advanced on prospects policy makers will act to support global economic growth, while the Australian dollar strengthened and crop futures slumped. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.3 percent by 10:04 a.m. in Tokyo, set for the highest close since Nov. 29 as Japan’s Topix (TPX) gauge rose 0.6 percent to the highest level since April 4.
- Europe Stocks Rise as Italy Banks Surge on Renzi Victory. European stocks rose to their highest level since January 2008 as Italian banks surged after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s party beat a populist challenger in European Parliament elections. A gauge of European banks posted the second-best performance on the Stoxx 600, with Italian lenders including UniCredit SpA leading gains. Atos climbed the most since November 2011 after the French computer-services supplier offered to buy rival Bull for about 620 million euros ($845 million). Getinge AB sank 10 percent as the Swedish maker of hospital equipment postponed its investor day because of talks with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.6 percent to 343.69 at the close of trading, for a fourth day of gains.
- Draghi’s Drive for Asset-Backed Action Rouses Academic Skeptics. Mario Draghi’s plans for credit easing may not turn out to be all that easy. In seeking to unblock the supply of loans to the economy by reviving the European market for asset-backed securities, the European Central Bank president risks an unprecedented reach into the functioning of the financial system that could backfire, according to academics including former Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker.
- Bad Credit No Problem as Shares of Balance Sheet Bombs Rise 94%. In the U.S. equity market, the worse a company’s finances, the better it’s doing. Stocks with the weakest balance sheets have climbed more than 8 percent in 2014 and 94 percent since the end of 2011, generating almost twice the gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) over that period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Shares in the category this year are beating those that most investors consider the bull market’s leaders, such as small caps and biotechnology, which tumbled in March.
- Ukraine Chooses the West. But Russia won't stop trying to destabilize the new Kiev government.
Ukrainians gave Europe a democracy lesson on Sunday. Now the daunting
task falls to President-elect Petro Poroshenko to safeguard this
hard-won freedom and Ukraine's independence against Russian assault. Mr.
Poroshenko secured an unprecedented majority in the first round by
winning across the country, including parts of the Russian-speaking east
that were able to vote. He and the next three leading candidates ran on
a pro-European platform. The two pro-Russia candidates won a mere 6%
between them. Ukraine also shunned...
- Crisis in Ukraine: Streaming Coverage.
- Real Estate Tycoon Sees Titanic Moment for China’s Housing Market. China’s once buoyant property market is facing some rough sailing. In fact, according to one tycoon – Soho China Ltd’s chief Pan Shiyi — the real estate market is looking more like the Titanic headed in the direction of an iceberg. Mr. Pan, the co-founder and chairman of Soho China Ltd., is taking a very bearish view on the housing market, which has struggled this year. In the first four months of the year, home sales were down 9.9% from the same period a year ago in value terms, official data shows. New construction starts — as calculated by area — were down almost 25% year over year in the same period.
- Loan Scheme Delivers Blow to Small Businesses. Tisto Chapman, an owner of a Powerhouse Gym in Burbank, Calif., said that in August he paid a St. Louis broker thousands of dollars to help him obtain a bank loan to upgrade his facilities and refinance debt. It seemed like a no-lose proposition, in part because the broker, Richard Saddler, promised to refund him the $12,500 fee if the loan didn't materialize, Mr. Chapman said. In the next month and a half, Mr. Saddler repeatedly reassured Mr. Chapman that the loan was being processed, according to the gym owner. But in...
- The Myth of the Climate Change '97%'. What is the origin of the false belief—constantly repeated—that almost all scientists agree about global warming? Last week Secretary of State John Kerry warned graduating students at
Boston College of the "crippling consequences" of climate change.
"Ninety-seven percent of the world's scientists," he added, "tell us
this is urgent." Where did Mr. Kerry get the 97% figure? Perhaps
from his boss, President Obama, who tweeted on May 16 that "Ninety-seven
percent of scientists agree: #climate change is real, man-made and
dangerous." Or maybe from NASA, which posted (in more measured language)
on...
Fox News:
- Medicaid surge triggers cost concerns for states. From California to Rhode Island, states are confronting new concerns that their Medicaid costs will rise as a result of the federal health care law. That's likely to revive the debate about how federal decisions can saddle states with unanticipated expenses.
- Meet George Jetson: Apple(AAPL) preps iPhone 'big play'. Apple is readying a new software platform that would turn the iPhone into a remote control for lights, security systems and other household appliances, as part of a move into the "internet of things".
- As the US honors its veterans, problems pile up at the VA. (video) Questions surrounding the Department of Veterans Affair's leadership have swirled amid growing controversy about the agency's handling and oversight of hospitals dedicated to caring for America's veterans.
- Exclusive hedge funds crack open door to Main Street.
Zero Hedge:
- Gotta Keep Dancing – Trading Of Penny Stocks Soars To Record.
- China Has A Housing Bubble In "Some Cities", PBOC Admits.
- Financial Storm Chasing With Blinders On: How The Fed Is Driving The Next Bust.
- Daniel Hannan Explains Why Socialism Does Not Work.
- Japan Begins Purposely Dumping 100s Of Tons Of Radioactive Water From Fukushima Into The Pacific.
- China's Anti-Terrorism Challenge.
- China And Russia Hold "Massive" Joint Naval Drill: This Is What It Looked Like.
- Federal Reserve Admits Truth In Internal Memo: "Prices Continue To Rise Between 3% And 33%".
- Recovery Watch: Global Trade Tumbles Most In 5 Years. (graph)
- Piketty Fudged His Wealth Data But Progressives Still Support His 'Compelling Theoretical Predictions'.
- Edge of a knife! Eurozone: Countdown to Crisis? Yes or No? (graph)
- China Scrambles Fighter Jet, Flies Within 50 Meters Of Japanese Airplanes.
- When Does the Story Break?
- And The Worst Performing Strategy In 2014 Is... (graph)
- Europe Voted: Anti-EU And Protest Parties Take Nearly A Third Of All Europarliament Seats.
- The Retail Death Rattle Grows Louder.
- How To Fix High-Frequency Trading.
- The Top 100 Hedge Funds Ranked By Equity Holdings.
Business Insider:
- There's No Fear On Wall Street.
- Europe's Most Peace-Loving Countries Export A Huge Amount Of The World's Weapons.
- Former President Of Poland Says The US Is No Longer A World Leader.
- Deadly Bacteria Can Live On Airplane Seats For A Week.
- Armed Pro-Russian Separatists Have Gathered Outside The Home Of Ukraine's Richest Man.
- White House Accidentally Reveals The Identity Of The CIA's Afghanistan Chief.
- FT: China Accuses Major US Consulting Firms Of Spying.
- The EU Is Safe For Now, But Its Future Looks Terrible.
- More And More Once-Exclusive Hedge Funds Are Tapping Mom And Pop.
- KYLE BASS: China Isn't Just Slowing Down — It's Contracting.
- Key Chinese Industrial Commodity Prices Keep Tumbling.
- Bank of Japan, more confident about recovery, quietly eyes stimulus exit. The Bank of Japan has begun shifting its focus from supporting growth to ways of phasing out its massive stimulus, taking first tentative steps towards a potentially momentous move for the world economy. Current and former central bankers familiar with internal discussions say an informal debate is under way on how to prepare for an exit from the BOJ's 13-month-old "quantitative and qualitative monetary easing."
- Russia urges Kiev to halt "military operation against own people". Russia urged the Ukraine government to halt what it called a military operation against its own people on Monday and called on the OSCE international monitoring mission to investigate clashes with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern city of Donetsk. Ukraine launched air strikes and a paratrooper assault against pro-Russian rebels who seized an airport on Monday, as its newly elected leader rejected any talks with "terrorists".
- Pfizer(PFE) walks away from $118 bln AstraZeneca takeover fight.
- Russia's secret spending on rise, budget risks not properly assessed - IMF. Russian public spending that is classified as secret will nearly double by 2016 to reach a quarter of all expenditures, the IMF said on Monday, urging more disclosure and analysis of budget risks. The International Monetary Fund also said financial reporting on the public sector - which accounts for more than two-thirds of Russia's $2-trillion economy - was not comprehensive enough. The category includes government entities and state-controlled firms.
- Brazil's 2014 inflation view rises to 6.47 pct.
- Hedge funds in worst start to year since financial crisis. Lansdowne Partners, Odey Asset Management and Brevan Howard are among the stellar hedge funds to have had a poor start to the year.
- German Economy May Grow .5% in 2Q, IWH Institute Tells WiWo. German GDP growth may slow to .3% in 3Q, citing forecast by the Institute for Economic Research in Halle.
- China Cuts Central SOE Profit Growth Target to 5%. China cuts profit growth target for central government-controlled companies to 5% this year from 10% year earlier, citing people from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
Weekend Recommendations
Barron's:- Bullish commentary on (TSN), (BRSS), (TWX) and (BKS).
- Bearish commentary on (SHLD).
- Asian indices are -.25% to +.25% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 112.0 -6.0 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 82.25 -2.75 basis points.
- FTSE-100 futures +.41%.
- S&P 500 futures +.33%.
- NASDAQ 100 futures +.36%.
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (AZO)/8.44
- (CRMT)/.78
- (WDAY)/-.15
8:30 am EST
- Durable Goods Orders for April are estimated to fall -.7% versus a +2.6% gain in March.
- Durables Ex Transports for April are estimated unch. versus a +2.0% gain in March.
- Cap Goods Orders Non-Defense Ex Air for April are estimated to fall -.3% versus a +2.2% gain in March.
- The FHFA House Price Index for March is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.6% gain in February.
- The S&P/CS 20 City MoM SA for March is estimated to rise +.7% versus a +.76% gain in February.
- The Preliminary Markit US Services PMI for May is estimated to fall to 54.5 versus 55.0 in April.
- Consumer Confidence for May is estimated to rise to 83.0 versus 82.3 in April.
- Richmond Fed Manufacturing for May is estimated to fall to 5.0 versus 7.0 in April.
- Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity for May is estimated to fall to 9.2 versus 11.7 in April.
- None of note
- The Fed's Lockhart speaking, ECB's Draghi speaking, $31B 2Y T-Note auction, KeyBanc Industrial Automotive/Transportation Conference and the Deutsche Bank Financial Services Conference could also impact trading today.
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