Style Outperformer:
Sector Outperformers:
- 1) Medical Equipment -.85% 2) Telecom -1.05% 3) Utilities -1.06%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
- MAT, ATLS, ALKS, ABMD and UNXL
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
- 1) LLY 2) DNR 3) OCR 4) SWKS 5) CRUS
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
- 1) FTNT 2) MAT 3) NCR 4) ABT 5) NOC
Charts:
Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Europe’s Future Central Bankers Confront Draghi’s Policy Dilemma. Europe’s central bankers of
tomorrow already know how hard Mario Draghi’s job is. High school students from across the euro area spent the
past six months analyzing the state of the 17-nation economy and
preparing proposals on how Draghi’s European Central Bank should
respond to the region’s debt crisis. The winners of the second
annual “Generation Euro Students’ Award” will attend an awards
ceremony hosted by Draghi in Frankfurt today. “There is no clear solution,” Alejandro Goffa Martinez, a
winning student at IES Josep Sureda i Blanes school in Palma de
Mallorca, Spain, said in an interview. “The lack of credit is
decisive because credit is the mechanism that is essential for
growth. Lowering interest rates even more wouldn’t really
help.”
- Cleaning ‘Toxic’ Assets Slovenia’s Primary Concern, Moody’s Says. Quickly cleaning up Slovenian banks
and transferring “toxic” assets to a new institution designed
to deal with them should be the government’s main goal, Moody’s
Investors Service said. Slovenia, the euro-area’s fourth-smallest economy, is
trying to avoid becoming the currency-region’s sixth member to
seek a bailout after international lenders agreed to help
Cyprus. The Cabinet is offering 500 million euros ($657 million)
in 18-month Treasury bills today as it tries to raise confidence
that it can recapitalize banks without seeking outside aid. While Slovenia’s situation isn’t as bad as Cyprus, the
“trends are certainly negative,” Jaime Reusche, a sovereign-
debt analyst at the ratings company, said in an April 15
interview in Prague.
- Monte Paschi Prosecutors Seek Seizure of $2.4 Billion. Prosecutors in Italy are seeking to seize 1.8 billion euros
($2.4 billion) of assets from Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604) as part of an
investigation into Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA’s use of
derivatives to hide losses. Sadeq Sayeed, Nomura’s former
European head, and Raffaele Ricci, a managing director in fixed-income
sales, are also being probed for colluding to obstruct regulators and
making false statements, prosecutors in Siena, where the bank is based,
said in a statement yesterday. They are also sequestering 14.4 million
euros of assets from three former Monte Paschi managers already under
investigation, including Chairman Giuseppe Mussari, General Manager
Antonio Vigni and finance chief Gianluca Baldassarri.
- China Set to Deepen N. Korea Ties as Yalu River Bridge Rises.
Across the Yalu River dividing China and North Korea, towers that will
support a sleek suspension bridge rise south of one that U.S. bombers
targeted during the Korean War to prevent China from supplying its ally.
The bridge into the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong, set to
open next year, is a bet that trade will swell even as the U.S.
pressures Communist Party leaders to exert economic leverage on the
North to abandon its nuclear program. Secretary of State John Kerry said
last week China needs to “put some
teeth” into restraining Kim Jong Un’s regime.
- Bird Flu Fears Mount in China as Herbal Remedies Run Out.
A popular herb called ban lan gen, or blue root, has been flying off
pharmacy shelves across China as local governments encourage people to
consider traditional remedies to ward off the latest bird flu virus. With scientists so far unable to pinpoint the H7N9 influenza virus’ animal
host, locals are preparing for a possible pandemic by stocking up on
popular plant remedies as well as face masks and hand sanitizers and
other over-the- counter remedies.
- China’s Stocks Drop, Led by Banks; Moutai Rises Before Earnings. Chinese stocks fell, led by banks,
on speculation new lending will slump this month. China Minsheng
Banking Corp. (600016), the nation’s first privately owned bank, slid
2.6 percent after the China Securities Journal said new lending may
slide to 800 billion yuan ($129.4 billion) this month. “China’s banks will suffer from falling demand for loans
as the old growth model of relying on investment cannot be
sustained,” said Wang Zheng, Shanghai-based chief investment
officer at Jingxi Investment Management Co., which manages $120
million.
- Asia Stocks Gain First Day in Three.
Asian stocks advanced for the first time in three days as new-home
construction in the U.S. jumped more than forecast, the International
Monetary Fund raised its forecast for Japanese growth and the yen
weakened.
- Hog Glut Gains as U.S. Exports Drop Most in Decade: Commodities. U.S. hog farmers are poised to
produce a record amount of pork at a time when exports are
slumping the most in more than a decade, prolonging a global
glut into a fifth consecutive year. The 10.66 million metric tons produced will be the most
since at least 1970, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
estimates. Exports fell 14 percent in the first two months, the
most for the period in government data since 2000. Futures may
drop 19 percent to 72 cents a pound by the end of the year on
the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, based on the median of nine
trader and analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
- Rebar Near Lowest in Four Months as Iron Ore Price Declines. Steel reinforcement-bar futures
fell to near the lowest level in more than four months as the
price of iron ore, used to make the building material, fell. The contract for delivery in October on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped as much as 0.8 percent to 3,722 yuan ($603) a metric ton and traded at 3,727 yuan at 10:40 a.m. local
time.
- Rubber Heads for Five-Month Low as China Demand Seen Faltering.
Rubber declined for a fourth day,
heading for a five-month low reached yesterday, on concerns that a
slowing economy and rising inventories in China, the biggest buyer, will
reduce demand for the commodity used in tires. The contract for delivery in September lost as much as 1.2
percent to 254.5 yen a kilogram ($2,590 a metric ton) on the
Tokyo Commodity Exchange, before trading at 255.7 yen by 11:28
a.m. local time. Futures, which lost 7 percent in the past three
days, plunged to 247 yen yesterday, the lowest since Nov. 15.
- Reid: Letter to U.S. Senator Containing Ricin Found. Postal officials intercepted a letter sent to a U.S. senator
from Mississippi that contained poisonous ricin, with lawmakers
learning of the incident as they were being briefed on yesterday’s
bombings at the Boston Marathon. Investigators have identified a
suspect in the mailing, a person who “writes to a lot of members,”
Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, told reporters. The
letter was postmarked from Memphis, Tennessee, and tested positive for
ricin, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer said in an e- mail.
Authorities have “no indication” of any other suspicious letters, he
said. Still, the timing of the letter’s discovery following the
Boston bombings evoked memories at the Capitol of anthrax mailings that
targeted lawmakers in 2001.
Wall Street Journal:
- Boston Bomb Clues Surface. Lethal Devices Believed Built From Pressure Cookers; Hotels, Rentals Canvassed. Authorities investigating the Boston Marathon blasts that killed three
and injured more than 175 believe the two bombs were assembled from
household pressure cookers, a crude but effective explosive that has
been thwarted before in U.S. terror plots. Investigators are exploring whether the bombs were assembled not far
from the scene of Monday's horrific explosions since transporting such
improvised devices over any significant distance could trigger a
premature detonation, according to a law-enforcement official with
knowledge of the matter.
- Firms Pinch Payments to Suppliers.
Procter & Gamble Co.(PG) is planning to add weeks to the amount of
time it takes to pay its suppliers, a shift that could free up as much
as $2 billion in cash for the consumer products giant, people familiar
with the matter said. P&G
could use that cash to fund investments in new factories overseas or to
help pay for stock buybacks. That added flexibility, however, will come
at the expense of the companies that supply P&G with materials or
services. The suppliers will have to tie up more of their own cash in
receivables or eat the interest costs charged by banks to bridge the gap
until P&G pays its bills.
- Reinhart-Rogoff Response to Critique. A new paper by Thomas Herndon, Michael Ash and Robert Pollin calls into question
research on public debt and its effects on growth by Harvard University
economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. This is their response:
Fox News:
- FBI, Boston police say range of suspects, motives remains 'wide open'. The FBI and state and local police are intensifying their probe into
Monday's bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, vowing a
"worldwide investigation" and appealing to the public for tips and
cellphone pictures that might yield clues about who was behind the
horrific attack. "At this time there are no claims of responsibility," FBI officials
said in a press conference Tuesday. "The range of suspects and motives
remains wide open."
MarketWatch.com:
CNBC:
- China Local Authority Debt 'Out of Control'. A senior Chinese auditor has warned that local government debt is
"out of control" and could spark a bigger financial crisis than the U.S.
housing market crash. Zhang Ke said his accounting firm,
ShineWing, had all but stopped signing off on bond sales by local
governments as a result of his concerns. "We audited some local
government bond issues and found them very dangerous, so we pulled
out," said Mr. Zhang, who is also vice-chairman of China's accounting
association. "Most don't have strong debt servicing abilities. Things
could become very serious." The International Monetary Fund, rating agencies and investment banks
have all raised concerns about Chinese government debt. But it is rare
for a figure as established in the Chinese financial industry as Mr.
Zhang to issue such a stark warning.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
IBD:
USA Today:
- Bond guru Gundlach calls for investors to get defensive. Jeffrey Gundlach is warning investors against joining the stampede of
euphoria overwhelming the stock market, making him a startling contrast
to the bulls pushing stocks markets higher. During a meeting
with money managers in the Los Angeles, the head of money management
firm DoubleLine Capital cautioned many bets investors are making based
on aggressive actions by central banks around the world may backfire.
Chasing stocks and avoiding relatively safe government bonds, an
increasingly popular trade, will likely not result in a happy ending.
Reuters:
- EU trade chief seeks backing to investigate China's Huawei, ZTE - diplomats. The European
Union's trade chief will seek the backing of EU states to investigate
Chinese telecoms equipment makers Huawei and ZTE, even without a
complaint from European manufacturers, EU diplomats said on Tuesday.
The European Commission, the
EU's executive body, has been collecting evidence to prepare a possible
case against Huawei and ZTE over state subsidies it says allows the
companies to undercut European firms.
- U.S. Republicans press Fed on when regulators can break up a bank. U.S.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday pressed a Federal Reserve official on
how to tell if any banks pose a "grave threat" to the financial system, a
finding that would allow regulators to take drastic steps such as
forcing a bank to sell assets. The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial
oversight law gives the Federal Reserve authority to impose tough
restrictions on individual firms it feels could shatter the financial
system. But this authority could create uncertainty in financial markets if regulators do not explain what types of threats could
trigger the tougher oversight, Republican members of a U.S.
House of Representatives subcommittee said on Tuesday.
- Rate spike may lead to US muni 'Armageddon'-SEC member. Investors in the $3.7
trillion U.S. municipal bond market could soon face an
"Armageddon" if interest rates spike, a member of the Securities
and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday. Commissioner Dan Gallagher told a roundtable of market
participants hosted by the SEC that recent bankruptcies in
California pose the threat of losses to bondholders. "You tack that on to rising interest rates and we've got a
real Armageddon on our hands here," he said.
- CSX(CSX) profit rises despite coal struggles.
CSX Corp, the No. 2 U.S. railroad, said on Tuesday that quarterly
profit rose as it cut expenses and saw shipment volumes of some
merchandise rise, helping the company fight a still-weak coal business.
Telegraph:
Xinhua:
- China
Should Be Vigilant About Financial Overheating. Main challenge for the
Chinese economy is how to convert to sustainable and consumption-driven
growth, citing Jorg Decressin, the deputy director of the IMF's
research department, as saying. Emerging economies should prevent capital inflow risks, he said.
China Securities Journal:
- Foreign investors may continue to short Chinese banks, citing an unidentified person from PE industry in city of Chenzhen.
Evening Recommendations
Night Trading
- Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.75% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 114.50 -2.5 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 90.75 -2.5 basis points.
- NASDAQ 100 futures -.28%.
Morning Preview Links
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Economic Releases
10:30 am EST
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory build of +1,200,000 barrels versus a +250,000 barrel gain the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -800,000 barrels versus a +1,699,000 barrel build the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to fall by -350,000 barrels versus a -169,000 barrel decline the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated unch. versus a +.5% gain the prior week.
2:00 pm EST
Upcoming Splits
Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed's Stein speaking, Fed's Bullard speaking, Fed's Rosengren speaking, China property price data, Bank of Canada rate decision, weekly MBA mortgage applications report and the BoE minutes could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by commodity and automaker shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.
Broad Market Tone:
- Advance/Decline Line: Substantially Higher
- Sector Performance: Almost Every Sector Rising
- Market Leading Stocks: Outperforming
Equity Investor Angst:
- ISE Sentiment Index 85.0 +16.44%
- Total Put/Call .87 -23.01%
Credit Investor Angst:
- North American Investment Grade CDS Index 82.26 -3.62%
- European Financial Sector CDS Index 166.92 -2.40%
- Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 103.01 -.12%
- Emerging Market CDS Index 231.54 +1.97%
- 2-Year Swap Spread 14.0 -.75 bp
- 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -16.50 +.75 bp
Economic Gauges:
- 3-Month T-Bill Yield .06% unch.
- Yield Curve 150.0 +4 basis points
- China Import Iron Ore Spot $139.40/Metric Tonne -1.06%
- Citi US Economic Surprise Index 4.10 -7.1 points
- 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.40 unch.
Overseas Futures:
- Nikkei Futures: Indicating +199 open in Japan
- DAX Futures: Indicating +29 open in Germany
Portfolio:
- Slightly Higher: On gains in my biotech/tech/medical/retail sector longs
- Disclosed Trades: Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
- Market Exposure: Moved to 50% Net Long
Bloomberg:
- SNB’s Danthine Says Economy Vulnerable to Credit Bubble. The Swiss economy is vulnerable to
instability in the banking sector caused by an unsustainable
rise in mortgage debt, the central bank’s vice president said.
- Peugeot Bank Cut to Junk at Moody’s on Europe Car Market. PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG)’s wholly owned bank was cut to one level below investment grade by Moody’s
Investors Service, which said the auto-financing unit can’t
escape the European car-market contraction plaguing its parent. The long-term rating on Banque PSA Finance’s debt was
lowered by one step to Ba1 from Baa3, Moody’s said in a
statement today. The outlook is stable, indicating the rating
won’t be reduced again soon.
- European Stocks Slide as German Confidence Falls. European
stocks fell for a third straight day as German investor confidence
declined more than forecast and the International Monetary Fund cut its
global growth outlook. Michael Page International Plc (MPI) slumped
the most in 11 months after the U.K. recruiter reported lower profit.
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC) retreated to a five-month low
as sales of fashion and leather goods slowed. Danone (BN) rallied to the
highest in five weeks as the food company posted first-quarter sales
growth that beat analysts’ estimates. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index
(SXXP) sank 0.8 percent to 288.16 at the close of trading, extending the
decline over the past three days to 2.3 percent. “The ZEW and other
data shows that Germany is facing a slowdown,” Soeren Steinert, who
helps manage about $24 billion as associate director for equities
trading at Quoniam Asset Management GmbH in Frankfurt, wrote in an
e-mail. “That will affect
Europe for sure.”
- China Cities Fail to Resist Out-of-Control Property: Mortgages. All
real estate markets are local, says the industry axiom, one that
China’s central government is painfully aware of as its efforts to rein
in home prices are undermined by uncooperative municipal authorities.
Former Premier Wen Jiabao, in his final endeavor to make housing
affordable, set an April 1 deadline for higher down payments and
interest rates for second-home loans in cities with “excessively fast”
price gains and ordered stricter
enforcement of taxes on sales. Thirty-five provincial-level cities
responded with measures insufficient to curb prices that climbed 150
percent from 2003 to 2012. “The local governments are just making a
gesture to show they are following the orders,” said Ding Shuang, a
senior China economist with Citigroup Inc. in Hong Kong. “Some of the
targets are almost like jokes. The government’s enforcement of policies
will be compromised.” Local officials lack the resolve to cool
the market because proceeds from land sales contribute about a quarter
of their fiscal income and are needed to fund infrastructure and other
spending. Their reluctance to act decisively poses a challenge to
Premier Li Keqiang, who replaced Wen on March 15 and inherited rising
prices that aggravate
social unrest by putting homes out of the reach of many Chinese.
- LDK Delinquency Flags Chance of Another Solar Bust: China Credit. LDK Solar Ltd. (LDK)’s failure to fully pay notes this week has raised the prospect of China’s second
solar-industry failure this year as the company needs to repay a
loan 10 times larger by June.
- Commodities Seen by IMF Dropping 2% This Year Amid Higher Supply. Commodity prices are set to fall 2
percent this year from 2012 amid increased supplies of raw materials from crude oil to grains, the International Monetary Fund said. Energy prices probably will decline almost 3 percent as supply rebounds from outages last year,
the Washington-based IMF said today in an online report. Food prices
will drop more than 2 percent on increasing world harvests, while metals
may climb more than 3 percent on recovering world economies and
increasing demand in China, the report showed.
An IMF index of commodity prices is down 9 percent from a
peak in April 2011 while still “elevated compared with
historical levels,” according to the report. The GSCI has dropped 6.2 percent this year, compared with a
5.2 percent increase for the MSCI All-Country World Index of
equities and Treasury returns of 0.5 percent, according to a
Bank of America Corp. index.
- Gold Advances as Plunge Seen as Overdone, Central Banks May Buy. Gold rebounded as some investors
deemed a 13 percent plunge over two days to be excessive and an
Asian central banker said that policy makers may take the
opportunity to buy. Silver also advanced.
The two-day drop for gold was the biggest since January
1980, and prices reached the lowest since January 2011 earlier
today.
- Carbon Falls Most Ever After EU Parliament Rejects Fix. European carbon permits declined by the most on record to an
unprecedented low after lawmakers rejected an emergency plan to address
a surplus of allowances. Carbon for December fell as much as 45
percent to 2.63 euros a metric ton on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in
London, and German power prices for next year dropped to the lowest
since at least 2007. Ireland, which holds the European Union presidency,
vowed to continue talks on the plan after the bloc’s Parliament sent
the draft back to its environment panel. The rejection may render
Europe’s 54 billion-euro ($71 billion) cap-and-trade program
“completely toothless,” leaving prices near zero for several years, said
Patrick Hummel, an analyst at UBS AG in Zurich. Opponents of the plan,
including the Polish government and the European People’s Party, the
biggest political group in the Parliament, have argued it would raise
energy costs and artificially boost prices.
- Goldman Shares(GS) Fall as Trading Revenue Misses Estimates. Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. (GS), the Wall Street bank that generates the highest
percentage of revenue from trading, dropped as much as 3 percent after
revenue from that business fell more than its rivals. The shares slumped
2.5 percent to $142.80 in New York at 10:58 a.m., the largest decline
in the 81-company Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index
(S5FINL).
Wall Street Journal:
- FBI Probe Heats Up in Deadly Boston Marathon Bombings. The
FBI-led investigation into the bombings at the Boston Marathon
that killed three and wounded more than 170 intensified Tuesday, with
authorities interviewing witnesses and processing what one official
called the "most complex crime scene" the city had ever dealt with.
President Barack Obama in a brief statement Tuesday called the bombings
an act of terrorism, though he added that authorities still don't know
the identity or motive
of the perpetrators.
- Boston Bombings: Live Coverage.
- IMF: Euro Zone at Risk of Long Stagnation.
The euro zone could suffer an even more prolonged period of economic
stagnation that would make the task of reducing government and private
sector debt levels more difficult, particularly if "adjustment fatigue"
stalls needed changes, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook, the Fund said the euro
zone remains the weakest part of the global economy, and warned that a
long period of low growth in the currency area would weaken the
potential for expansion in the neighboring economies of central and
Eastern Europe, as well as further afield. The Fund said that in the near-term, the euro zone still poses the
greatest threat to a recovery in the global economy, citing "the fallout
from events in Cyprus" and political stalemate in Italy, as well as
"vulnerabilities" among the weaker members of the currency area. "What you have is weak banks, weak governments, low growth…and there is
always a danger that they build on each other and things go from bad to
worse."
- Germany's Debt in 2012 Rises on Bailout Payments, Building Reserves. Contributions to European rescue efforts and the building of social
insurance fund reserves helped to drive up Germany's benchmark debt
level, data provided by the country's central bank showed Tuesday. German general government debt reached 2.17 trillion euros ($2.84
trillion) at the end of 2012, the Deutsche Bundesbank said in a
statement. This equated to 81.9% of the country's economic output,
putting it well above the European Union's upper limit of 60% as defined
in the Maastricht Treaty, the 1992 agreement which helped pave the way
for the common currency. Government debt rose by EUR81 billion last year, despite the fact that
the general government balance actually recorded a surplus of EUR4
billion last year. "Of particular significance here were measures in connection with the
European sovereign debt crisis, which accounted for EUR45 billion," the
bank wrote. That amount included a EUR9 billion capital contribution to
the euro zone's permanent rescue mechanism, the ESM, and EUR36 billion
in loans via the temporary bailout fund, the EFSF. The EUR45 billion
figure counts as debt but is not included in the country's annual budget
deficit figure under European rules. This is because "in parallel with
the increase in debt, an expansion in financial assets in the same
amount is recorded," the bank wrote. Germany's contributions to bailout programs in troubled euro-zone
states are technically loans, which, in theory at least, should be
repaid in full, plus interest.
As the largest contributor to euro-zone bailouts, German lawmakers are
growing increasingly frustrated with being asked to prop up the
currency zone's wobbliest states.
- The Best Indicator of U.S. Health is Wage Growth (or Lack Thereof).
- How and When Apple May Return More Cash to Shareholders.
Fox News:
- Marathon bombs likely made from pressure cookers, shrapnel, sources say. Pressure cookers – possibly activated remotely by a cellphone – are
believed to have been used to make the crude bombs that sent deadly
shrapnel hurling into a crowd of onlookers and competitors at Monday’s
Boston Marathon, experts told Fox News. Doctors treating some of the 176 injured victims believe the
explosives were packed with deadly shrapnel, including pellets, nails
and sharp metallic objects – with some patients having “40 or more” such
fragments embedded in their bodies. “Many of them have severe wounds mostly in the lower part of their
body – wounds related to the blast effect of the bomb, as well as small
metallic fragments that entered their bodies – pellets, shrapnel, nails –
that these bombs had,” George Velnahos, chief of trauma surgery at
Massachusetts General Hospital, said Tuesday. “I wouldn't exclude completely the possibility that some of these
fragments are environmental, but my opinion is that most of them were in
the bomb,” Velnahos said. “They are numerous,” he added. “There are people who have 10, 20, 30 or 40 of them in their body or more.”
- Drastic security changes coming to large-scale public events, experts say.
- Target(TGT) Shares Slip After Warning 1Q Profit will Miss Forecasts.
Shares of Target narrowed marginally on Tuesday after the retailer said
it would likely miss expectations during the quarter due to
softer-than-expected sales
trends. Target, which is expected to report first-quarter earnings on
May 22, saw shares slump 1% on the news in early trade.
- Redbook: U.S. Retail Sales Down 2.7% in First Week of April Vs. March. National chain store sales fell 2.7% in the first week of April from
March, according to Redbook Research's latest indicator, released
Tuesday. The index's fall compared with a targeted 2.1% decline. The
Johnson Redbook Index also showed seasonally adjusted sales for the
period were up 2% from last year, compared with a 2.6% targeted gain.
CNBC:
- Fed's Evans Optimistic, Dudley Less So on Jobs Outlook. Two
top Federal Reserve policy doves offered clashing views on the U.S.
economic outlook on Tuesday, although both agreed the job market has not
yet improved enough to merit any cuts to the central bank's bond-buying
program.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
- Time Warner Cable Is Going To Offer Live Streaming For iPhones And iPads Out Of The Home.
- The Citi Economic Surprise Index Just Went Negative...(graph)
- MICHAEL PETTIS: Urbanization May Be The Most Misunderstood Issue About China. Debt is the key problem for China, according to Pettis, due to China’s investment-driven growth.
No one should be surprised at China’s excessive leverage, which
Pettis said substantially exceeds its published number of 80%
debt-to-GDP. “We have seen these investment-driven growth models before
and they all end up exactly the same way,” he said. The initial spate of
economically viable projects is ultimately displaced by less viable
ones, and then by unviable projects. When that happens, he said,
debt-servicing capacity becomes unsustainable. “That is why we always run into a debt problem,” he said. One of the least understood issues, Pettis said, is that urbanization will exaggerate China’s debt problems.
- Canada Has Got Problems.
- 4 Signs That The Housing Recovery Is Stalling. (graphs)
Reuters:
- Moody's still sees negative outlook for most US state, local governments. Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday that most U.S. public finance sectors, such as state and local governments, still face a negative
outlook and will likely continue to do so until fiscal and economic
conditions strengthen.
- France warned on growth goals, fiscal targets in doubt. France's economy could shrink this year and miss future government forecasts, the country's budget watchdog and the IMF warned on Tuesday, casting doubt on
Paris's pledge to cut its deficit below 3 percent of output.
- Italy's temporary layoff scheme runs out of cash, sparks protests. Thousands of idled Italian
workers staged a sit-in in front of parliament on Tuesday and
trade unions threatened strikes unless the government steps in
to back a temporary jobless scheme which is running out of
funds. Italy's often divided union confederations united to call on
Mario Monti's caretaker government to find around 1.5 billion
euros to guarantee payments due to some 700,000 workers sent
home on reduced pay under the "cassa integrazione" scheme.
Telegraph:
Euromoney:
Chinaxwcb.com:
- China Tightens Control of News Organizations' Social Media Use.
State Administration of Radio Film and Television recently issued new
rules banning reuse of news products from overseas media and websites
without permission, according to a commentary. Editorial staff must
obtain permission to set up microblogs for work purposes. Editorial
staff mustn't release any information they acquire when on duty without
permission.
Style Underperformer:
Sector Underperformers:
- 1) Coal -.50% 2) Networking +.24% 3) Medical Equipment +.43%
Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
- TKC, WTI, USB, CYBX, KEYN, NTGR, IPCM, CLI, SRPT, PBY, GS, CBI, APA, CRR, MTB, OSIS, PNRA, OPEN and SNN
Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
- 1) ACI 2) HCA 3) HON 4) ALTR 5) APA
Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:
- 1) KEYN 2) CLI 3) CBI 4) FCX 5) MTB
Charts:
Style Outperformer:
Sector Outperformers:
- 1) Airlines +2.25% 2) Road & Rail +1.44% 3) Gold & Silver +1.19%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
- HK, NGD, ING, UNXL, KO, SBGI, MJN, LCC and TSLA
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
- 1) ESRX 2) KO 3) DUST 4) SRPT 5) RDN
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
- 1) FLR 2) PNFP 3) PXD 4) JNJ 5) WMT
Charts: