Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• Putin Warns of Extremist Threat to Russian State Stability. President Vladimir Putin told Russia’s police to guard against extremist threats to the state aimed at provoking civil conflict similar to the revolt in neighboring Ukraine. “Extremists poison society with the venom of their belligerent nationalism, intolerance and aggression,” Putin said at a meeting with Interior Ministry officials in Moscow on Wednesday. “We are well aware what this can lead to, given the example of our neighbor Ukraine.” 
• Euro Drops to 11-Year Low Before ECB Meeting as Growth Diverges. The euro slid to the weakest level since 2003 as reports showed Europe’s economic-growth outlook diverging from the U.S. as the European Central Bank prepares to add more monetary stimulus through bond purchases. The 19-nation currency fell for a fifth day as traders waited for the ECB to provide more details on its quantitative-easing strategy at a meeting Thursday. Services growth in the euro area fell short of analysts’ estimates last month. A gauge of the dollar rose as data showed U.S. service businesses expanded and American companies added more than 200,000 jobs for a 13th straight month. 
• Emerging-Market Stocks Retreat as Oil Decline Saps Energy Shares. Emerging-market stocks fell for a fourth day as OAO Gazprom led energy companies lower. The zloty weakened as Poland’s central bank announced an end to its monetary-easing cycle after cutting its main interest rate to a record low. The dollar-denominated RTS Index of Russian stocks slid the most among 93 primary equity gauges. Gazprom fell 3.1 percent in Moscow. The Ibovespa dropped to a three-week low after the leader of Brazil’s Senate rejected President Dilma Rousseff’s plan to unwind tax breaks. PetroChina Co. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. sank at least 1.6 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 1.7 percent. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 1.1 percent to 975.49 at 11:21 a.m. in New York. 
• European Stocks Advance in Late-Day Jump With Lenders Rebounding. A bank rally helped push European equities higher after a two-day decline. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.8 percent to 390.61 at the close in London, with equities beginning a rally in the last two hours of trading. Standard Chartered Plc led a jump in lenders as it rose to its highest price since October. The broad benchmark gauge earlier slipped as much as 0.2 percent after an index tracking euro-area manufacturing and services increased less than forecast.
• Saudi Arabia to Keep Pumping as Much Oil as Customers Want. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, pledged to supply as much oil as its customers need as recovering demand helps rebalance the global market. The strategy of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to defend its market share against higher-cost producers such as shale drillers will prove to be effective, Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said in Berlin on Wednesday. The kingdom will only cut output if customers refuse to buy its crude, which is unlikely because Saudi supply is the world’s most reliable, he said.  
• The U.S. Is Pumping Even More Oil and Storage Tanks Are Getting Filled to the Brim. The U.S. is pumping oil faster than at any time since 1972, and storage tanks are getting filled to the brim. U.S. oil production rose for the fourth consecutive week, to a rate of 9.3 million barrels a day, even as oil-drilling rigs are being idled at an unprecedented rate. U.S. inventories also rose, for the eighth consecutive week, jumping 2.4 percent to 444 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported today.
• The Fed's 2009 Transcripts Are Out. Read the transcripts from the Federal Open Market Committee's 2009 meetings.
• Will Tesla(TSLA) Ever Make Money? Sure, Elon Musk makes great cars, but investors are wondering when his company will turn a profit.

ZeroHedge:

• The Scariest Spreadheet In Fed Possession Revealed. (graph)
• On February 7, 2009 Bernanke Admitted What It Was All About.
• Ferguson Cop Cleared Of Civil Rights Violations.
• Meet Landlord Loans: You Too Can Be A Real Estate Speculator.
• Biggest Weekly Crude Oil Inventory Build In 14 Years. (graph)
• Despite Hard Data Collapse, US Services Surveys Point To Modest Bounce In February. (graph)
• ADP Employment Drops, Misses; Zandi Admits "Jobs Growth Slowing". (graph)

Business Insider:

• Read the angry emails Hillary Clinton's top aide sent to a bunch of reporters.
• Fed says wage pressures were moderate across the economy.
• Stratfor has 11 alarming predictions for the next decade.
• Report: Russia is practicing attack runs against NATO warships in the Black Sea.

Reuters:

• Euro zone rebuffs Spanish talk of new Greek bailout. Germany and the European Commission slapped down talk of a third financial rescue for Greece as premature, after Spain once again suggested on Wednesday that a new aid package for Athens was almost inevitable. Athens, which says it does not need a new aid program, averted a new crisis on Wednesday by successfully raising over 1 billion euros in short-term debt as planned but its long-term funding outlook appears increasingly uncertain.

El Pais:

• Juncker Says Crisis in Spain Not Over On Unemployment. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Jnuncker comments during interview. "With these unemployment figures and the high rate of youth unemployment in Spain, while things are improving we can't tell the people or ourselves that the crisis is over." "Tsipras still has to tell the Greek people that he won't be able to keep many promises made in his electoral campaign," he said. "France knows it has to improve, and it will," he said. "France has understood that sanctions are a possibility."