Bloomberg:
- EU Fires Gazprom Warning Shot as Putin Moves to Tighten Gas Grip. For four decades, through the depths of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Europe has relied on Russian gas to keep its economy moving, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to Moscow in return. Today, that relationship is fraying. The European Union is about to serve OAO Gazprom, Russia’s exporter of the fuel, with an antitrust complaint, just as President Vladimir Putin is wielding gas as a tool in the conflict over Ukraine and inserting pipeline politics into Greece’s financial crisis. None of this is likely to stop the gas from flowing, analysts say, though Gazprom is preparing for the worst.
- Goldman Sachs(GS) Says Insurers With $6 Trillion Mull Mortgage Loans. Global insurers who oversee more than $6 trillion in assets plan to invest capital in commercial mortgage loans and private equity this year to generate higher returns, a Goldman Sachs Asset Management survey showed. Thirty-five percent of insurance executives said they plan to invest in the mortgages, 30 percent in infrastructure debt and 29 percent in private equity and middle market loans, according to the survey published Wednesday. About 66 percent of the 267 chief investment officers and chief financial officers said low yields were the greatest risk to their portfolios. Most respondents said the industry took on an appropriate amount of investment risk, while 21 percent thought peers took too much risk. Sanford C. Bernstein analysts warned in February that the European Central Bank’s bond buying program may accelerate the creation of credit bubbles, driven by insurers who are among the biggest buyers of debt.
- Blackstone(BX) CEO Schwarzman Sees ‘Excess’ in China’s Market. Blackstone Group LP’s Steve Schwarzman said the Chinese stock market shows signs of excess as the population plows savings into it while economic growth slows. “We’re now finding retail investors with multiple brokerage accounts and margin loans and indicia of some excess in their market system,” Schwarzman, Blackstone’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said Tuesday at the China General Chamber of Commerce’s Finance & Real Estate Forum in New York.
- Most Asian Stocks Rise as Japan Gains on Yen, Telecoms Advance. Most Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index trading near its highest since 2008, as a weaker yen buoyed Japanese equities and phone-company shares gained. About two shares climbed for each that retreated on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which added 0.1 percent to 154.07 as of 9:07 a.m. in Tokyo.
- Now Investors Are Worried That a Single Trader Could Take Down the U.S. Stock Market. There are enough reasons to lie awake at night without having to worry that a single trader can take down the U.S. stock market from a London suburb, fund managers said. U.S. authorities accused 36-year-old Navinder Singh Sarao on Tuesday of masterminding a five-year scheme to use phony orders in Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures to manipulate prices and book $40 million in illicit profits. Along the way, he had a hand in erasing $862 billion from the U.S. stock market -- in a matter of minutes, they alleged. That it might have been going on for so long didn’t fill investors with confidence. “It’s incumbent upon regulators not to be asleep at the switches,” said Donald Selkin, who helps manage about $3 billion as chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. in New York. “They have been, time and time again.”
- Debt Piles Up in Asia, Threatening Growth. Countries borrowed a lot during the crisis, and kept doing so afterward. Asian countries borrowed heavily to maintain growth during the financial crisis, but couldn’t break the habit even as the global economy healed. Now they are feeling the hangover. Growth is slowing fast across the continent as consumers and businesses focus on repaying debt. Central banks have cut rates, pushing currencies lower, but...
- On Greece, Europe Bluffs Itself. How different is Greece really from France, Italy and Spain? Greece’s new leader and his ministers are behaving like fools in their debt showdown with the European union. So claims much of the punditry and you won’t find an argument here. They’ve taunted Germany about war reparations, threatened to open their borders to jihadists trying to enter Europe and cozied up to Vladimir Putin.
- State Dept. contractor allegedly paid by Chinese agent to spy on Americans – yet no charges filed. (video) Newly unsealed court documents obtained by Fox News show a State Department contractor allegedly was paid thousands by an individual thought to be a Chinese agent in exchange for information on Americans -- but despite an FBI probe, the Justice Department declined to prosecute.
- From Delinquent To 'Seriously' Delinquent: Another Worrying Trend For Student Debt Revealed. (graph)
- Corporate Profits Vaporizing. (graph)
- Japan Breaks 48-Month Deficit Streak, Manages Marginal Trade Surplus On Collapse In Imports. (graph)
Reuters:
- Broadcom(BRCM) profit beats as demand rises from smartphone makers. Wireless chip maker Broadcom Inc reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit, helped by strong sales of its WiFi and broadband chips to smartphone makers such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Shares of Broadcom, which also forecast current-quarter revenue above analysts' expectations, rose 5.4 percent in extended trading on Tuesday.
Financial Times:
Telegraph:- How futures trading could crash stocks. The US equity market ‘flash crash’ of May 6 2010 has long highlighted the pronounced link between futures exchange contracts and the share prices of companies bought and sold by investors of all stripes.
- BP(BP) sees 'massive' shock for North Sea as oil glut deepens. The world's over-supply of oil is like the deep slump in 1986. BP fears it may get worse as Iran's supply hits market and US shale hold firm.
- None of note
- Asian equity indices are -.50% to +.75% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 106.0 -1.0 basis point.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 59.75 -.75 basis point.
- S&P 500 futures +.11%.
- NASDAQ 100 futures +.12%.
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (ABT)/.42
- (AN)/.89
- (BK)/.59
- (BA)/1.81
- (KO)/.43
- (DHI)/.38
- (EMC)/.36
- (MCD)/1.06
- (OC)/.13
- (R)/1.00
- (STJ)/.91
- (TROW)/1.14
- (TMO)/1.61
- (WERN)/.31
- (T)/.66
- (CAKE)/.48
- (EBAY)/.70
- (FFIV)/1.50
- (FB)/.41
- (IGT)/.50
- (LVS).73
- (OII)/.62
- (ORLY)/1.93
- (QCOM)/1.34
- (RJF)/.82
- (TXN)/.67
- (TSCO)/.41
- (VMI)/1.49
- (WFT)/.01
- (XLNX)/.51
9:00 AM EST
- The FHFA House Price Index for February is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.3% gain in January.
- Existing Home Sales for March are estimated to rise to 5.03M versus 4.88M in February.
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory build of +2,419,090 barrels versus a +1,294,000 barrel increase the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -864,550 barrels versus a -2,072,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate supplies are estimated to rise by +1,000,000 barrels versus a +2,017,000 barrel increase the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise by +.55% versus a +2.2% gain the prior week.
- None of note
- The BoE Minutes, HSBC China Manufacturing PMI, weekly MBA mortgage applications report and (ASML) annual meeting could also impact trading today.
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