Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Trump Prohibits U.S. Purchases of Venezuelan Cryptocurrency. President Donald Trump banned U.S. purchases of a cryptocurrency the Venezuelan government is rolling out, as part of a campaign to pressure the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Trump issued an order on Monday prohibiting U.S. citizens from engaging in transactions using the oil-backed currency, called the Petro. He authorized Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to issue any necessary regulations to enforce his order. Maduro created the currency to try to salvage his country’s failing economy, where inflation is estimated to spiral to 13,000 percent this year.

• Bitcoin Bust Reminds Morgan Stanley of Nasdaq Crash, But Faster. (video) There have been three waves of weakness since Bitcoin peaked in December, with prices falling between 45 percent and 50 percent each time, before rebounding. The Nasdaq’s bear market from 2000 had five price declines, averaging a similar 44 percent. The bear market also looks similar on the way up. There have been two Bitcoin bear market rallies of 43 percent on average, while the Nasdaq bear market rallies averaged 40 percent.

• G-20 Draft Says Crypto Assets Lack Sovereign Currency Traits.

• China’s ‘Epic’ Debt Load Means Big Task for New Governor: Chart. (graph)

• Saudis Ease Sacrifice of OPEC Oil Cut With Record Fuel Exports. While the kingdom kept crude output below an OPEC-agreed cap, its shipments of diesel, gasoline and other fuels surged by 27 percent to a record 1.912 million barrels a day in January, according to data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative in Riyadh. It means the country’s total oil shipments overseas exceeded those in October 2016, the reference month for a deal with OPEC and other producers to curb pumping.

• John Paulson’s Merger Arbitrage Fund Plunged at the Start of the Year. (video) Paulson is now re-focusing his firm on his founding strategy -- merger arbitrage -- despite some disastrous returns in recent years. The Paulson Partners Enhanced fund, which uses borrowed money to double down, sunk 23 percent in the first two months of 2018, according to a person familiar with the matter, after plunging about 70 percent over the past four years.

• Merrill Insiders Get $83 Million in SEC Whistle-Blower Awards. Three Merrill Lynch insiders will get more than $83 million from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission -- the biggest-ever payouts -- for providing information that helped the agency bring a 2016 case against Bank of America Corp., their attorney said Monday.

• ‘Netflix(NFLX) for Oil’ Setting Stage for $1 Trillion Battle Over Data. A battle for big data is brewing in the oil patch. The service companies that map underground pockets of oil, drill the wells and lift crude from miles below are generating vast new amounts of data they never before realized could be valuable. But their exploration customers are essentially saying hands off to anything coming out of their wells, including the streams of zeros and 1s.

Wall Street Journal:

• Trump Steps Up Attacks on Mueller Investigation. President also jabs at former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.

• The Last Americans in North Korea: Christian Missionaries. Their presence has sharpened debate over whether gifts of food and medicine promote goodwill or allow Kim Jong Un’s regime to divert spending to its nuclear arms program.

• European Union Pledges to Probe Facebook’s Handling of User Data. EU’s justice chief to discuss concerns that data was misused for political purposes with U.S. officials this week.

• VW Plans $340 Million Expansion at Tennessee Plant. Auto maker plans to manufacture a new sport-utility vehicle at the plant, as part of an increased bet on SUVs.

• Death of the Mall? Greatly Exaggerated, Says Big Money. Simon Property has joined the real-estate industry titans betting that mall stocks have gotten too cheap.

• Cronyism Allegations Chip Away at Support for Japan’s Abe. Japanese prime minister has been accused of helping a school operator secure a cut-price land deal.

MarketWatch.com:

• 5 things to watch from the Fed decision.

• KLA-Tencor(KLAC) to acquire Orbotech in deal with equity value of about $3.4 billion.

• Why the case for betting against Facebook(FB) is ‘building fast’.

Fox News:

• Cops: 4 Austin bombings show 'similarities,' work of 'serial bomber'. (video)

CNBC:

• Goldman Sachs: Stick with growth stocks like Netflix(NFLX), Amazon(AMZN) and Micron(MU).

• Coming soon to 2,000 Walmart(WMT) stores: Handy's workers to install that TV you bought.

• Crisis manager questions why Trump's use of social media data is 'sleazy' and Obama's 'innovative'.

• Macy's(M) to add mobile checkout to all stores by year's end.

• Data leak 'another indication of systemic problems at Facebook' so sell the stock, analyst says.

• People with massive student debt hope Trump will let them declare bankrupty.

Zero Hedge:

• 74% Of Americans Believe The "Deep State" Is Running The Country.

• Government Shutdown Odds Hit 25% As GOP Unveils $1.2 Trillion Spending Bill.

• Market Breaks As Tech Tumbles After G-20 Comments.

• Hedge Fund Suffer Worst Month Since January 2016, Greenlight Dead Last. (graph)

• "Total Witch Hunt" - Trump Slams Mueller's Bias As Probe Pivots To Obstruction.

• 'Death Cross' Strikes European Stocks As Dead-Cat-Bounce Dies. (graph)

• Cable Spikes Above 1.40 On "Brexit Breakthough".

• Goldman Throws Up On Tesla(TSLA), Warns Deliveries Will Decline, Miss Guidance.

• Facebook(FB) Tumbles Over "Systemic Problems" In Data Breach, Drags Nasdaq Lower.

• Austin Rocked By Fourth Explosion In Less Than Two Weeks, Two Seriously Injured.