- Ukraine Conflict Toll Rises as Warring Factions Muster Forces. The death toll of Ukraine’s separatist conflict jumped at end January, the United Nations said, as civilians fled a battle for a crossroad town and the government and rebels moved to pour more weapons and men into the fight. Germany said the European Union may slap new sanctions on Russia if the crisis worsens, while the town of Debaltseve, a key railway and road crossing between the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, remained under fire from separatists, according to Ukrainian military spokesman Leonid Matyukhin. The region of Donetsk, where 3,070 people have fled the most dangerous locations since Jan. 28, is continuing efforts to evacuate people, the regional government said on its website. The “issue of evacuating civilians, including children, needs to become one of the key priorities,” Iryna Herashchenko, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s envoy to eastern Ukraine, said in Kiev on Tuesday, calling for a meeting with the Red Cross and the United Nations.
- Greek Retreat on Writedown May Move Fight to Spending. Greece’s retreat from its call for a debt writedown may shift attention to the second front in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s conflict with euro-area leaders: his desire to increase spending and roll back austerity. Tsipras won election Jan. 25 on promises to raise wages and pensions, end public-sector firings and stop state asset sales - - all policies that would breach the conditions on the bailout aid. He also advocated a writedown, a policy dropped late Monday in favor of a debt exchange amid virtually unanimous opposition in the euro area. “Reality is about to bite: Tsipras will realize that the constraints are very tight,” Kevin Featherstone, professor of contemporary Greek studies at the London School of Economics, said in an e-mail. “It seems certain that the euro zone will insist on Greece committing itself to continued structural reform.”
- Greek Bonds Rally With Italian Peers as Tsipras Said to Retreat. Greece’s three-year notes rallied and credit-default swaps tied to its bonds slid as the government was said to retreat from a demand for a debt writedown, looking to avoid a crisis that may have led to private-investor losses.
- Germany’s Yield Below Japan 1st Time Bodes Ill for Europe. For the first time on record, Germany’s 10-year yields are below Japan’s, an ominous signal for European Central Bank President Mario Draghi as he seeks to revive the euro area’s economy. Tumbling rates on German debt, the euro area’s benchmark sovereign securities, are inviting comparisons with Japan, a nation wracked by decades of zero nominal economic growth and falling consumer prices. Germany’s inflation rate turned negative in January for the first time in more than five years, while the ECB is preparing to pump more cash into the region’s economy via a quantitative-easing program to fend off the risk of deflation. “It doesn’t provide much in the way of reassurance in terms of the market’s take on the ECB’s ability to reflate the economy via its imminent foray into QE,” said Richard McGuire, head of European rates strategy at Rabobank International in London. “Japanification of Europe is quite a familiar theme. The market is of the view that the disinflationary forces currently gripping Europe are by no means transitory.”
- Empty VIP Tables in Macau Means Trouble for $44 Billion Industry. In the heart of Macau stands a 56-story tower with soaring gold-trimmed arches. On the second floor of the L’Arc Macau, there’s a sight that would have been unimaginable a year ago: An abandoned room for high-end gamblers. There are no tables, no dealers and no players. Carpets have been rolled up, leaving a trash-covered concrete floor. A sign on the VIP room reads “Heng Sheng Group,” one of Macau’s top junket operators, which shuttle Chinese high-rollers to exclusive gaming venues and finance their bets.
- LVMH Earnings Miss Estimates as Chinese Spend Less on Luxury. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world’s largest luxury-goods maker, reported full-year earnings that missed analysts’ estimates as Chinese shoppers curbed spending on Vuitton handbags and Hennessy cognac. Profit from recurring operations fell to 5.72 billion euros ($6.6 billion) from 6.02 billion euros in 2013, Paris-based LVMH said today in a statement after markets closed, the first annual decline since 2009. Analysts predicted 5.83 billion euros, according to the average of 25 estimates.
- European Stocks Rise as Greece Backs Down From Writedown Request. European stocks climbed as concern that Greece would defy its creditors eased after the nation retreated from a plan to ask the euro area to write down debt. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.8 percent to 370.28 at the close of trading. The gauge pared gains of as much as 1.3 percent after a person familiar with the matter said Germany expects talks with Greece to drag on until the current round of aid runs out.
- Commodities Head for Biggest 3-Day Rally Since 2012 as Oil Gains. Commodities are showing signs of life after prices fell to a 12-year low. Brent crude is poised for a bull market, climbing 2.6 percent as of 11:42 a.m. in New York on speculation that production will be curbed. The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials advanced 1.3 percent to 102.68, set for the best performance over three days since 2012. Sugar, copper and wheat advanced more than 2 percent.
- Abu Dhabi Cuts Oil Prices to Six-Year Lows in Global Crude Rout. Abu Dhabi, the desert emirate holding about 6 percent of the world’s oil, cut export prices for its crude for the seventh consecutive month and to the lowest since 2009 amid a global price slump. Murban crude, its main grade, sold in January for $46.40 a barrel, or 23 percent below December’s level, according to an e-mailed statement from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. Murban hasn’t sold for less since February 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Staples(SPLS) and Office Depot(ODP) Surge After Discussing Merger. Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. shares soared after the two retailers were said to enter merger talks, bowing to pressure from activist investor Starboard Value to pool their resources.
- January U.S. Auto Sales Held Strong. GM, Ford, Toyota, Chrysler Post Double-Digit Percentage Increases.
- S&P Cuts Ratings on Several European Banks. Credit Rater Sees Government Support As Less Predictable Under New Legislation.
Fox News:
- New ISIS video purportedly shows Jordanian pilot being burned alive. (video) A new video that surfaced on the Internet Tuesday appears to show ISIS burning alive a Jordanian pilot the terror group has held since December -- an act that reportedly has prompted Jordan to ready its own terrorist prisoners for execution.
- 'Currency war' to be 'lose-lose' game: Strategist.
- Why one veteran VC is investing, despite seeing a bubble.
- Gallup CEO: "America's 5.6% Unempoyment Is One Big Lie".
- ISIS Burns Alive Jordanian Hostage Pilot; Offers Gold Reward For Death Of More Coalition Pilots.
- WTI Squeezes Above $52 As Gasoline Prices Start 2015 With Biggest Surge In A Decade. (graph)
- S&P Downgrades Numerous European Banks, Warns Deutsche Bank May Be Next.
- Who Owns Greek Debt And When Is It Due?.
- The Best And Worst Hedge Funds Of January 2015. (table)
- Factory Orders Plunge 5th Month In A Row As ISM New York Crashes Most Since 2007. (graph)
- Oil's Biggest Bounce Since OPEC "But Economy Is Not Strong & Stocks Too High". (video)
- Back To Square One: Germany Throws Up All Over Varoufakis Proposal, Calls Greek Plan "Half-Baked"
- Chris Christie's London trip was a disaster.
- Russia has announced plans for joint military drills with North Korea.
- Russian oligarch: The Kremlin's 'anti-crisis' plan is 'nonsense'.
- Ultra-low interest rates are actually a very bad sign for stocks.
- The latest ISIS rampages send 3 messages.
- Inflation in Russia is so crazy that officials are considering price controls on 'essential food products'.
- Cuba sounds warning ahead of next round of U.S. talks. Cuba warned the United States on Mondaythat it wants American diplomats to scale back aid for Cuban dissidents before the two countries can reopen embassies in each other's capitals. The long-time adversaries are negotiating the restoration of diplomatic relations as a first step toward reversing more than five decades of confrontation. Officials for both governments met in Havana in January and a second round of talks is expected to be held in Washington this month.
- Russia would lose $160 billion a year from $45 oil - central bank. Russia would lose some $160 billion (106 billion pounds) over a year if oil prices averaged $45 per barrel, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Tuesday. "The decrease in oil prices from $100 to $45 per barrel has led to a drop in export revenues of $160 billion in annual terms, according to our estimates," Nabiullina told journalists.
- European Central Bank resists latest Greek bailout plan. The European Central Bank is resisting a key element of the Greek government’s new rescue plan, potentially leaving Athens with no source of outside funding when its international bailout expires at the end of the month. Yanis Varoufakis, Greek finance minister, had proposed to European officials that Athens raise €10bn by issuing short-term Treasury bills as “bridge financing” to tide the country over for the next three months while a new bailout is agreed with its eurozone partners.
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