Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:    

• Putin’s Mideast Gains Trump $27 Billion Loss From Iran Agreement. As Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, he’s willing to take an economic hit to expand his political influence. He’s taking the same approach with Iran. Lifting sanctions and allowing Iranian oil onto global markets would threaten to deepen the plunge in crude prices, curbing revenue from Russia’s biggest export. The cost: about $27 billion, based on estimates from the central bank in Moscow. 
•  G-7 Nations Say Russia Too Early on Iran Air-Defense Sale. Germany and Italy said Russia’s planned sale of air-defense systems to Iran before world powers complete an agreement on the country’s nuclear program is premature. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, hosting a Group of Seven meeting on Tuesday, said Russia’s decision runs counter to the spirit of negotiators who reached a framework nuclear agreement with Iran this month. Such deals should wait until a full agreement, which is envisaged by June 30, he said.
• Gazprom Plans $4 Billion Extra Spending in 2015 to Target China. Russia’s natural gas exporter is planning $4 billion of additional investments this year to prepare for the start of supplies to China as the European Union snubs a proposed pipeline across the Black Sea. Most of the spending increase will go into OAO Gazprom’s eastern gas program, including the development of fields and infrastructure, Chief Executive Officer Alexey Miller said in an interview shown Tuesday on Rossiya 24 state television.
• Greece Is Risk for Euro Area as Contagion Possible, Knot Says. The situation in Greece is of concern and a Greek default may have a contagion effect, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot said. “The already shaky liquidity position of Greek banks will worsen if deposits continue to flow out,” Knot said in the Dutch central bank’s semi-annual Financial Stability Report published on Tuesday. “An unhoped-for bankruptcy of the government would heavily derail the Greek economy” and “the impact of such an event on other countries in the euro-area is still uncertain.”
• Greece Risks Increasing as Negotiations on Aid Drag On, IMF Says. As negotiations for Greek economic reforms drag on, a further “crisis” that would unsettle financial markets can’t be ruled out, according to International Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard. “An exit from the euro would be extremely costly for Greece, would be extremely painful,” Blanchard said at a press briefing in Washington on Tuesday, after stating the IMF is working on and hopes to come to an agreement with Greece. That said, “the rest of the euro zone is in a better position to deal with a Greek exit” than it has been previously.
• Surging Dollar to Boost Europe, Japan as U.S. Slows, IMF Says. The strengthening dollar is boosting growth in the euro area and Japan while taking some steam out of the U.S. recovery, the IMF said in its latest forecast. The International Monetary Fund left its projection for global growth in 2015 unchanged from three months ago at 3.5 percent, according to its World Economic Outlook released Tuesday. Underneath the stable forecast, however, the IMF depicts a global economy being reshaped by swings in currency markets and the drop in oil prices. The Washington-based crisis lender cut its U.S. expansion forecast by 0.5 percentage point to 3.1 percent, still the fastest among major developed economies. The Japan growth outlook increased to 1 percent from 0.6 percent and the euro area is projected to expand 1.5 percent as weakening currencies provide a “welcome boost,” the IMF said. Emerging markets are showing their own mixed forecasts, with growth projected to slow to 4.3 percent from 4.6 percent in 2014, the fifth straight annual decline and the same forecast as in January. 
• European Stocks Decline as Nokia, Banks Lead Stoxx 600 Lower. European stocks retreated from a record, snapping a five-day advance, as Nokia Oyj and banks declined.
  The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.5 percent to 411.7 at the close of trading, paring earlier losses of as much as 0.8 percent. Nokia slid 3.6 percent after confirming talks to buy Alcatel-Lucent SA, which jumped 16 percent. Banco Santander SA and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA dragged bank stocks to the biggest loss on the Stoxx 600.
• Treasuries Rise as Retail-Sales Miss Adds to Signs of Slowdown. Add retail sales to the mix of economic data boosting optimism among Treasury investors. U.S. government debt jumped after a report showed consumer purchases increased less than forecast in March, stoking speculation a harsh U.S. winter isn’t the only thing holding back economic growth. The drop in U.S. 10-year yields was the most since April 3, when a below-forecast payrolls report had traders pushing back bets for when the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates from zero.
• Swelling Distressed Bond Market Crashes U.S. Company Debt Party. The Federal Reserve may be putting off raising interest rates from near zero, but the days of cheap money for everyone in credit markets have already come and gone. The amount of outstanding distressed bonds -- those that investors consider most likely to default -- has more than doubled in the past year to $121 billion, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. Prices on the debt have tumbled 2.6 percent in 2015, the biggest decline for the period since the 2008 credit crisis.
• Your Company's Big Appetite For Debt May Be Dangerous To Your Job. Researchers find link between declining domestic demand and firings at high-debt firms. Employees working for companies with big debt loads were particularly vulnerable to firings when household demand collapsed in the last recession.

ZeroHedge: 

• Vladimir Putin Is World's Most Influential Person Americans Say.
• EIA Forecasts Increased Oil Production For A Decade. (graph)
• Hillary "Has Betrayed All That Was Right About The Baby Boomers" David Stockman Blasts.
• Too Far, Too Fast? You Decide. (graph)
• With Stocks Massively Overvalued, Goldman(GS) Suggests You Short These Stocks. (graph)
• Banks Across Europe Pay Borrowers To Buy Homes.
• The Changing World Of Work 2: Financialization = Insecurity. (graph)
• Stocks Stumble As Business Inventory-to-Sales Ratio Hovers At Lehman Levels. (graph)
• Peripheral EU Bond Risk Surges As Grexit Contagion Spreads. (graph)
• Small Business Optimism Plunges To 9-Month Lows As Hiring Plans Tumble. (graph)
• Retail Sales Miss For 4th Month In A Row: First Time Since Lehman. (graph)

Business Insider:

• FED OFFICIAL: The Detroit and Stockton bankruptcies are signs of widespread problems in America.
• The DEA sex party scandal just got worse.
• Fate of girls kidnapped by Boko Haram remains a mystery but the outlook is grim.
• The Macau bull thesis just died.
• Shake Shack(SHAK) shares are going nuts. There was no immediate news on the company.
• Crude oil is rallying.
• Profit margins are peaking. (graph)

Telegraph:

• IMF fears 'cascade' of woes as Fed crunch nears. Dollar shock looms for emerging markets as Fed poised to raise rates much more sharply than markets expect. 
• Bubble fears rattle fund managers. A quarter of fund managers polled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch said equities are overvalued.