Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Stocks Are About to Get a $400 Billion Dividend Boost. Here’s a fresh reason to celebrate the end of a lousy quarter in global equities: the new one kicks off with the potential adrenaline boost of as much as $400 billion in dividends. “We think it is no coincidence that spring is also a seasonally strong period for equities," Morgan Stanley strategists including Andrew Sheets wrote in a note to clients Wednesday. Up to $400 billion is set to be paid into investor accounts between March and May, they calculated. “April in particular tends to be a strong month for global equity returns.”

• China's Biggest Stocks Suffer Worst Quarterly Loss in Two Years.

• China Cuts Taxes for Chipmakers to Promote Industry Development.

• Hon Hai's Profit Beats Estimates Thanks to Demand for iPhone X.

• China Plans Merger of Shipbuilders to Create Behemoth. China’s government is working on a plan to combine its two biggest shipbuilders to create an industrial giant that would dwarf its South Korean rivals, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The state council, China’s cabinet, has given its preliminary approval to merge China State Shipbuilding Corp. with China Shipbuilding Industry Corp., the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The two companies have combined revenue of at least 508 billion yuan ($81 billion) making products ranging from aircraft carriers for China’s navy to vessels to carry containers, oil and gas for commercial companies.

• Einhorn's Main Hedge Fund Down 14% This Year After March Drop.

• Telegram Raises $1.7 Billion in Coin Offering, May Seek More.

Wall Street Journal:

• China’s Huawei Is Determined to Lead the Way on 5G Despite U.S. Concerns. Mobile giant inundates standards-setting confabs with its representatives and recommendations.

• Trump Freezes Funds for Syrian Recovery, Signaling Pullback. Order to State Department to hold off on spending jibes with president’s call for an early exit.

• Why Would Walmart Want to Buy an Insurer? The Retail Squeeze. Talks with Humana spurred by search for growth and profits in Age of Amazon(AMZN).

• Why Wall Street’s Love Affair With Tech Hasn’t Cooled. Analysts cite big tech’s solid earnings outlook and its dominance across sectors from retail to social media.

MarketWatch.com:

• Mortgage rates tick down as investors rotate back to the bond market.

Fox News:

• IG report faults ex-FBI official McCabe for lying four separate times, congressman says. (video)

• Respected professor blasts 'once-proud' CNN in scathing op-ed: 'CNN lost its way'.

CNBC:

• ‘Good riddance’ to the first quarter, April should bring better news for stocks: LPL's Detrick.

• Tesla’s(TSLA) ‘day of reckoning’ is near as its plunging stock increases financing risk.

• Facebook exec in 2016 internal memo defends 'ugly' growth tactics, even if people use platform for evil. (video)

• Bitcoin is on track for its worst first quarter ever with over $114 billion wiped off its value.

Zero Hedge:

• Israeli Troops Kill Seven Palestinians, Wound 500 Amid Massive Border Protests.

• Crypto Carnage Continues - Bitcoin Back Below $7,000, Ether Under $400.

• Israeli Stealth Fighters Fly Over Iran Amid Speculation Of Imminent War.

• Judge Rules California Starbucks Must Have Cancer Warnings On Their Coffee.

• Japanic? Industrial Production Slowest In 16 Months, CPI Drops, Unemployment Jumps. (graph)

• ECB Doubles Bond Purchases Just As Market Hits Turbulence. (graph)

• "It's Destroying Jobs And Destroying Value" - Former Walmart US CEO Explains Why Trump Is Right About Amazon(AMZN).

• 'Global Synchronous Recovery' Narrative Crushed As EU, US Data Diverge. (graph)

• Facebook(FB) Hires "Third-Party" Fact-Checkers To Stamp Out "Fake News".

• A Majority Of Americans No Longer Trust Facebook(FB).

• Musk-nado - Tesla(TSLA) Tumbles After-Hours On Massive Model S Recall.

• Meet BunnyToken: A New ICO From A Bunch Of Porn Stars.

• Leaked Texts Suggest Coordination Between Obama White House, CIA, FBI And Dems To Launch Trump-Russia Probe.

• Trump: "We're Coming Out Of Syria Very Soon; Others Can Take Care Of It Now".

• Under Armour(UA) Admits 150 Million Users Affected By Data Security Breach.

• Gold Gains In Q1 As Stocks, Bonds, Cryptos, Dollar Tumble Amid Trade Tantrums, Techlash. (graph).

Business Insider:

• Apple(AAPL) just released iOS 11.3 — here's what's new in the massive iPhone update and how to download it.

• It's just dumb to put more than $250,000 in one bank account if you're rich.

• California will now require coffee to be sold with a cancer warning — here's what the science says.