BETWEEN THE HEDGES: Today's Headlines

Friday, September 12, 2014

Today's Headlines

Posted by Gary .....at 2:49 PM

Bloomberg:

Russia Weighs Response as U.S. and EU Add More Sanctions. Russia threatened retaliation against a U.S. and European Union decision to stiffen sanctions, saying the move to expand penalties undermines the peace process in Ukraine. Russia will react “calmly, appropriately” to the EU sanctions, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state TV in an interview. The EU added 15 companies, including OAO Gazprom Neft, OAO Rosneft and OAO Transneft, and 24 people to the list of those affected by its sanctions against Russia. The U.S. will also “deepen and broaden” its measures against Russia’s financial, energy and defense industries, President Barack Obama said yesterday.
Scottish Independence Race Tightens Again in ICM Poll. Scotland’s nationalists were narrowly behind the Better Together campaign in an ICM poll six days before the independence ballot, with the Yes vote on 49 percent and No on 51 percent after excluding undecided voters. The monthly poll of 1,000 people for the Guardian newspaper today has an error margin of about 3 percentage points, meaning the race for the Sept. 18 referendum is too close to call.
U.S. Widens Sanctions on Russia Banks, Energy, Defense. (video) The U.S. expanded sanctions against Russia to include the country’s largest bank, OAO Sberbank, energy companies as well as five state-owned defense and technology companies. “Russia’s economic and diplomatic isolation will continue to grow as long as its actions do not live up to its words,” Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said in a statement. “Russia’s economy is already paying a heavy price for its unlawful behavior.”
Congressional Leaders Back Syria Action Amid Calls for More. U.S. House and Senate leaders are backing President Barack Obama’s call to train and equip Syrian rebels even as Republicans’ demand for a broader offensive to defeat Islamic State extremists may delay congressional action.
Ukraine Rebels Need NATO Veto to End War: Ex-Putin Envoy. Ukraine needs to give its regions veto power over future membership in NATO and the European Union to finally end the uprising by pro-Russian separatists in the east, a former envoy of President Vladimir Putin said. The easternmost Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where Russian is the main language, should also be granted greater control over their security forces, similar to the devolution of power in the Balkans after the breakup of Yugoslavia, as well as their finances, Vladimir Lukin said in an interview in Moscow.
Ibovespa Falls Most in World as Silva Tied With Rousseff in Poll. The Ibovespa (IBOV) led world losses after a voter poll showed opposition candidate Marina Silva tied with President Dilma Rousseff in a second round of October’s election in Brazil. State-run oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA slid amid reduced prospects for a change in government. Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA fell to a two-month low as Citigroup Inc. cut its earnings estimates for the steelmaker. The Ibovespa slumped 1.4 percent to 57,499.70 at 10:09 a.m. in Sao Paulo, extending its weekly drop to 5.3 percent.
Europe Stocks Post First Weekly Loss in More Than a Month. European stocks were unchanged, after swinging between gains and losses, as a jump in U.S. retail sales and consumer confidence boosted optimism about the world’s largest economy while raising concern interest rates may go up soon. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was unchanged at 344.27 at the close of trading, after earlier rising as much as 0.3 percent and falling as much as 0.2 percent.
Junk-Bond Offerings Struggle as Buyers Return to Fleeing. Junk-bond buyers have indigestion again. Speculative-grade borrowers from Jupiter Resources Ltd., an energy firm backed by Apollo Global Management LLC, to AK Steel Holding Corp. had to sweeten terms yesterday to sell at least $8.7 billion of debt. The offerings struggled as investors pulled $766 million from funds that buy the bonds in the past week.