BETWEEN THE HEDGES: Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

Euro Area’s Budding Recovery May Be Almost Ready to Blossom. It’s looking good for the euro area right now and there’s every chance that’s how it will stay. Germany, the region’s largest economy, started the week off with a surge in business confidence, while Tuesday saw French manufacturing sentiment rise to a six-year high. With a damaging outcome in that country’s presidential elections seen as largely out of the way, the region’s top two economies might have just the environment they need to fully blossom.
World’s Biggest Stock Markets Haven’t Been This Split Since 2008. (video)
Betting Worst Is Over, Steelmakers Spending Again After Cuts. After years of losses, plant closings and job cuts, some of the world’s biggest steelmakers are ready to spend more on their businesses. Combined capital expenditure planned this year by top producer ArcelorMittal, South Korea’s Posco and Russia’s Novolipetsk Steel PJSC will be up 29 percent to $6.7 billion in 2017, the first increase since 2014, according to estimates by the companies. Increases also are planned by some American and European companies, including U.S. Steel Corp. and Thyssenkrupp AG. Investments will mostly be targeted at expansions in key markets and new technologies.
Volvo AB Shares Hit 10-Year High on Construction-Equipment Sales. (video) The stock rose as much as 7.6 percent to 144 kronor, the highest intraday price since July 24, 2007, and was up 6 percent at 9:39 a.m. in Stockholm. Adjusted operating profit climbed to 7.03 billion kronor ($798 million). Orders for commercial vehicles and machinery for construction sites and mining also gained, Gothenburg, Sweden-based Volvo said Tuesday in a statement, boding well for future revenue.
Perry Says Trump Should Keep Paris Climate Deal and Renegotiate. (video) U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the U.S. should renegotiate the Paris accord on climate change instead of abandoning it, criticizing Germany for allowing its fossil-fuel emissions to rise. “I’m not going to tell the president of the United States to walk away form Paris accord,” Perry said at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in New York on Tuesday. “I will say that we need to renegotiate it.”
Netflix(NFLX) in Talks to License Shows in China to Baidu's IQiyi.

Wall Street Journal:

Bank of Japan Sends Message: Don’t Expect Higher Rates. Bank officials worry that prices aren’t recovering as quickly as the broader economy.
Where College Seniors Are Falling Short. Expected graduates are ill-prepared for the job hunt and many coveted positions, a survey finds.

Fox News: