- Russian Aid Convoy Without Consent Deemed Invasion by Ukraine. (video) Trucks carrying what Russia says is humanitarian aid reached the embattled Ukrainian city of Luhansk, the RIA Novosti news service said, after they crossed the border in what the government in Kiev denounced as an “invasion.” Russia was invading under the cover of the convoy, Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, the head of Ukraine’s security council, said on TV5. More than 200 trucks entered the country without a Red Cross escort through a border checkpoint in a rebel-held area and headed for Luhansk, according to a Bloomberg reporter on the scene. “We call this direct invasion,” Nalyvaychenko said. “We are witnessing a clearly planned and dangerous provocation against Ukraine, with the cynical use of the well-respected Red Cross.”
- UN Says Syria Dead Double to 191,000 in Forgotten War. (video) The number of Syrian dead has doubled to at least 191,000 over 12 months with no end in sight to the conflict that fueled the rise of Islamic extremism spreading across the Middle East, the United Nations said. The number of deaths cover the period from March 2011 to April 2014 and are probably underestimated, the UN’s Geneva-based human-rights office said today in a 26-page report that based its estimates on data collected by the Syrian government and rights groups. The last UN report, issued in June 2013, estimated that 93,000 had been killed.
- Shiite Gunmen Kill 73 at Iraq Mosque as Sectarian Tension Spikes. Gunmen from a Shiite militia opened fire in a Sunni mosque in a province of Iraq neighboring Baghdad, killing scores of worshipers and ratcheting up sectarian tension exacerbated by an insurgent offensive and political infighting. The shooting in the village of Bani Wais in Diyala province killed at least 73 people, including the local imam, and wounded dozens, Basem al-Samarraei, deputy provincial governor, said by phone. The casualties also included women and children who were killed as they tried to save relatives from the gunfire, eyewitness Mahmoud al-Shimmary said in a telephone interview.
- European Stocks Drop as Investors Weigh Yellen, Ukraine. European stocks declined, paring their biggest weekly gain in six months, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen underscored the persistence of labor-market slack in the U.S. economy and as investors watched rising tensions in Ukraine. Piraeus Bank SA and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA gained at least 2.8 percent as a gauge of lenders advanced for a second day. Essentra Plc climbed 3.1 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its rating on the U.K. maker of items from toothpaste tubes to packaging tape. CGG SA and Fugro NV lost at least 2.2 percent as oil and gas companies retreated. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2 percent to 336.75 at the close of trading in London.
- Yellen Facing Hard Call on When Labor Market Has Healed. (video) Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said she still isn’t satisfied with the U.S. labor market. Deciding when she is won’t be easy. “The labor market has yet to fully recover,” Yellen said today in a speech at the Kansas City Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While the five-year expansion has put more Americans back to work, “a key challenge is to assess just how far the economy now stands from attainment of its maximum employment goal.”
- Bullard Sees ’Several Hundred Billion’ of Reverse Repos. The Federal Reserve will probably borrow “several hundred billion” dollars from money-market mutual funds and others to anchor the federal funds rate when it begins tightening policy, according to St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. “I don’t think it would have to be that large of a program. Possibly several hundred billion would be enough,” Bullard said, referring to the Fed’s overnight reverse repurchase facility, which it has been testing since September. “If that didn’t work, the committee could revisit that and increase the size of the program if we thought that was necessary,” Bullard said in an interview yesterday with Kathleen Hays on Bloomberg Radio in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
- Too Much Corn With Nowhere to Go as U.S. Sees Record Crop. The ripening corn and soybean fields stretch for miles in every direction from Dennis Wentworth’s farm in Downs, Illinois. As he marveled at his best-yielding crops ever, he wondered aloud where the heck he’ll put it all.
- Fed's Jackson Hole Conference: Streaming Coverage.
- Inhofe: ISIS wants to attack ‘major US city’. Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe warned that the Islamic State is looking to attack a “major U.S. city,” as he urged President Obama to adopt a more aggressive policy.
- Draghi says ECB stands ready to adjust policy further. European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi is confident that stimulus steps announced in June, helped by a weaker euro, will boost demand in the ailing euro zone economy, but stressed on Friday that the central bank stands ready to do more.
- Market bear becomes biggest bull on Wall Street. (video) One of Wall Street's biggest bears just did an about-face with his outlook for stocks. Barry Bannister, chief macro and portfolio strategist at Stifel Nicolaus, raised his year-end target for the S&P 500 by 20 percent, from 1,800 to 2,300.
- High-end house flipping is soaring. (video)
NY Times:
- Russia Moves Artillery Units Into Ukraine, NATO Says. The Russian military has moved artillery units manned by Russian personnel inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and is using them to fire at Ukrainian forces, NATO officials said on Friday. The West has long accused Russia of supporting the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, but this is the first time it has said it had evidence of the direct involvement of the Russian military. The Russian move represents a significant escalation of the Kremlin’s involvement in the fighting there and comes as a convoy of Russian trucks with humanitarian provisions has crossed into Ukrainian territory without Kiev’s permission.
- Allianz Chief Economist Says ECB Should Reject QE. Allianz SE Chief Economist Michael Heise says in op-ed that Japan's experience shows broad-based government-bond purchases wouldn't help euro-area recovery. ECB should reject calls for broad-based purchases of government bonds, he said. "It is harmful if monetary policy permanently overrides market forces" as private-sector balance-sheet adjustments will be delayed and government indebtedness can steadily increase.
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