Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• BOJ Watchers Push Back Exit Forecasts. Fewer economists see any chance of monetary tightening this year by the Bank of Japan after Haruhiko Kuroda’s renomination as governor and his comments on when the BOJ is likely to start thinking about exit. None forecast any change at this week’s policy meeting. While the vast majority of 49 economists surveyed by Bloomberg think the central bank is inching closer toward the day it will start winding back its monetary stimulus program, less than one-third of them think it will come this year. That’s down from about half in Bloomberg’s last poll in January.

• Keep Calm About U.S. Crisis And Invest in Stocks, Barclays Says. (video) There’s no need to hide your money under the mattress for fear that the next selloff is around the corner, according to Will Hobbs, head of investment strategy at Barclays Plc in London. “The further into the future you are happy to look, the less you need worry about calling the next recession, and the more you need to just put your cash to work and forget about it,” Hobbs told Bloomberg News in an interview. “It could be a long and painful wait for those out of the market, based on the indicators that we look at.”

• Trend-Chasing Quants Post Worst Returns in 17 Years. The strategy, which rides price trends across asset classes, fell 6.4 percent in February, the worst month since 2001, according to a Societe General basket of the 20 largest managers.  

• Shkreli Deserves at Least 15 Years in Jail for Fraud, U.S. Says.

Wall Street Journal:

• North Korea Says It Is Open to Talks With U.S. About Abandoning Nuclear Weapons. Kim Jong Un indicates he is willing to discuss normalizing relations with Washington.

• The New ID Theft: Millions of Credit Applicants Who Don’t Exist.

• Tax Cuts Fuel Biggest Merger Spree Since 2000. With $325 billion in bids to start the year, this M&A party looks likely to get bigger and louder before it ends.

• Big Banks Get a Big Win in Senate Rollback Bill. Nation’s largest banks would gain incentive to buy more municipal bonds in legislation targeting smaller banks.

MarketWatch.com:

• This stat should have Apple longs feeling confident about their investment.

• Forget $100,000 bitcoin, says Kenneth Rogoff — try $100 instead.

Fox News:

• Illegal immigrants with sex, robbery convictions among those who evaded capture after Dem mayor's warning. (video)

CNBC:

• Target(TGT) shares swoon on spending plans, more wage hikes this spring.

• Larry Kudlow: I urged Cohn to stay because Mnuchin and he are the 'twin pillars' of Trump's economic team. (video)

• Uber trucks start shuttling goods across Arizona — by themselves.

• Mnuchin backs tariffs, but says country 'not looking to get into trade wars'. (video)

• BlackBerry is suing Facebook(FB) for patent infringement.

• Global oil sector needs $20 trillion investments over 25 years: Saudi Aramco CEO. (video)

• Fresh beef is coming to a McDonald's(MCD) near you. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• Breakthrough: North Korea Ready To Denuclearize "If Regime Safety Is Guaranteed".

• Federal Judge Says Trump Within His Authority To End DACA.

• Australian Diplomat Whose Tip Launched Russia Probe Has $25 Million Tie To Clintons.

• US Factory Orders Tumble In January. (graph)

• Bitcoin Drops Over $1000 As Cryptos Go Red For Week. (graph)

• "That's Quite A Blip" - Realtors Rattled As Manhattan Apartment Sales Plummet To 6-Year Low.

• Everything You Should Know About The 1994 Assault-Weapons Ban.