Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Draghi Raises Pressure on Greece as He Keeps Liquidity Tight. Mario Draghi increased pressure on Greece’s government to make progress on structural economic reforms, insisting the ECB is providing the country with as much liquidity as it can within the rules. The European Central Bank has already lent 100 billion euros ($110 billion) to Greece’s banks, or 68 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, Draghi said at a press conference in Nicosia on Thursday. The ECB’s Governing Council increased the available pool of Emergency Liquidity Assistance, which comprises the bulk of that lending, by 500 million euros to 68.8 billion euros, he added. 
• Bundesbank’s Dombret Says Not Clear That ECB Stimulus Will Work. Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret signaled skepticism on whether the European Central Bank’s asset-purchase plan will be successful as it takes the pressure off governments to reform their economies. Speaking just hours after ECB President Mario Draghi presented details of his unprecedented 1.1 trillion euro ($1.2 trillion) stimulus plan, Dombret said in a Bloomberg TV interview that “it’s not easy to answer” whether large-scale bond-buying will work in Europe.
• Brazilian Real Weakens to 3 Per Dollar for First Time Since 2004. Brazil’s real fell past 3 per dollar for the first time in a decade as fiscal turmoil and signs of economic contraction stoked speculation that the nation may lose its investment-grade credit rating. The real slid 0.5 percent to 2.9957 per U.S. dollar at 1:23 p.m. in Sao Paulo after touching 3.0023, the weakest intraday level since 2004. Net overseas holdings of futures contracts betting against the real reached a record $38.1 billion March 2.  
• Europe Stocks Rise as Draghi Says Bond-Buying to Begin Next Week. (video) European stocks advanced for a second day, pushing the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to its highest level since July 2007, as the European Central Bank committed to begin asset purchases on March 9. The Stoxx 600 rose 0.8 percent to 393.78 at the close of trading. 
• Oil Falls as Surging U.S. Crude Supply Seen Boosting Global Glut. Oil fell in New York after U.S. crude supplies increased to the highest level in more than three decades, adding to a global glut. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery dropped 63 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $50.90 a barrel at 9:09 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 43 percent above the 100-day average for the time of day.
• Oil Driller Missing First Bond Payment Marks Junk’s Fast Decline. A Colorado oil producer is giving debt investors a lesson in the risks of lending to companies that staked their future on the U.S. shale boom. Less than seven months after raising $175 million in a junk-bond offering, American Eagle Energy Corp. said Monday that it wouldn’t make its first interest payment on the debt. Instead, it hired two advisers -- Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. and Seaport Global Holdings LLC -- to negotiate with bondholders on a plan to restructure its debt, according to three people with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be named because the matter is private. The holders of the notes are left to consider how to maximize recovery of their investment, either by giving the company more time to try to become profitable or by pushing the company into default.
• Oil Bust Threatens CMBS in Wall Street Funded Shale Towns. The oil glut is threatening to expose cracks in the commercial-mortgage bond market. Nomura Holdings Inc. estimates that $16 billion in property debt that has been sold to investors as securities is vulnerable to default after crude prices plunged, posing risks for the economies of U.S. cities and towns built around the boom.  
• World Food Prices Extend Drop to 4-Year Low on Bigger Harvests. Food prices extended a drop to a four-year low as better crop prospects cut grain and sugar costs, the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization said. An index of 73 food prices from around the world fell 1 percent in February to 179.4 points, staying at the lowest since July 2010, the Rome-based agency said in a report Thursday. The measure slipped 25 percent since reaching a record in 2011 and has fallen in 10 of the past 11 months.

ZeroHedge: 

• Chart Of The Day: Recession Dead Ahead? (graph)
• "Chinese Economic Activity Has Probably Slowed To Less Than 3%". (graph)
• A Day In The Life Of A Falling BRIC.
• EURUSD Hits 1.09 Handle, Lowest Since Sept 2003. (graph)
• Turkey Warns "Speculators Will Be Burned" As Lira Collapses To Record Lows. (graph)
• High Frequency Robber Barrons.
• US Factory Orders Drop For 6th Month In A Row - Worst Since Lehman. (graph)
• Initial Jobless Claims Surge To 10 Month Highs, Worst Start To A Year Since 2009. (graph)
• Challenger Job Cuts Surge 19%; Energy Sector Is 38% Of Total: "Falling Oil Hasn't Resulted In Higher Retail Spending". (graph)

Business Insider:

• INSIDE THE NBC DEBACLE: There's a much bigger story here than the Brian Williams scandal.
• FAA shuts down LaGuardia after Delta plane skids off runway. (pic)
• Wynn Resorts(WYNN) just put out a horrible sign for Macau.
• 3 of the world's most powerful money managers are saying some scary things about the world.
• Hillary Clinton won't take questions at event honoring journalism.
• House investigators: Hillary Clinton engaged in a 'scheme to conceal' her email.
• Credit Suisse thinks oil prices could fall as the market approaches 'super contango'.