Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Small-Cap Growth +.1%

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Education -1.9% 2) Homebuilders -1.0% 3) Computer Hardware -.9%

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:

• VRNT, SPKE, WMS, OPK, USCR, FIT, WATT, VRX, LSTR, DV, NSTG, EVHC, TAHO, IMDZ, NOAH, PAYX, ALE, GIMO, VCLT, ALDR, WST, WDC, CHE, FN, MDVN and USCR

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) JNPR 2) HOG 3) TXN 4) EBAY 5) IWM

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) VRNT 2) LSTR 3) BA 4) GM 5) BGG

Charts:

• ETFs Falling on Unusual Volume
• Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer: 

• Large-Cap Value +.4%

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Steel +2.6% 2) Insurance +1.1% 3) Airlines +.9% 

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume: 

• ACAD, RH, LULU, SIMO, YRD, WAL, MET, LDRH, KTWO and GHL

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity: 

• 1) CL 2) RH 3) ACAD 4) CAG 5) FOLD

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions: 

• 1) SONC 2) ACAD 3) CCL 4) AIG 5) LULU

Charts:

• ETFs Rising on Unusual Volume
• Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume

Morning Market Internals

NYSE Composite Index:

• Volume Running -5.6% Below 100-Day Average
• 8 Sectors Rising, 2 Sectors Declining
• 69.6% of Issues Advancing, 27.6% Declining
• 163 New 52-Week Highs, 3 New Lows
• 46.6% of Issues Above 200-day Moving Average
• Average 14-Day RSI 48.9%
• Vix 13.2 -4.3%
• Total Put/Call .91 -8.08%
• TRIN/Arms .58 -58.9%

Wednesday Watch

Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:

• China's Large Banks Wary on Li Keqiang's Plan for Bad Loans. China’s proposal to deal with a potential bad-loan crisis by having banks convert their soured debt into equity is meeting with unexpected resistance from some of the biggest potential beneficiaries of the plan -- the country’s large banks. Asked about the plan at the Boao Forum last week, China Construction Bank Corp. Chairman Wang Hongzhang said he needs to think of his shareholders and wouldn’t want to see a plan that simply converted "bad debt into bad equity." China Citic Bank Corp.’s Vice President Sun Deshun said at a press conference last week that any compulsory conversion of debt into equity would have to be capped. And Bank of China Ltd. Chairman Tian Guoli said in Boao that it’s "hard to evaluate" how effective debt-equity swaps will be, as so much has changed in China since the tool was used to bail out the banking system during a previous crisis in the late 1990s.
• China Considers Tightening Control Over Internet Websites. China’s government is moving to tighten its grip over the Internet as it rolls out draft rules that will effectively ban Web domains not approved by local authorities, including possibly the most widely used .com and .org addresses.  
• China's Shifting Debt Goalposts. What's the limit to the patience of global investors with shifting goalposts in China? That test may be about to happen. Last Thursday, developer Guangzhou R&F asked creditors to remove several clauses from the documents of its dollar bonds which restrict the company's ability to take on more debt.
• China's True Demand For Copper Is Only Half as Much as You Think. (video) A 15 million metric tonne stockpile. Virtually every aspect of the commodities bust has a China angle. Forecasts for China's consumption of raw materials have proved wildly optimistic, while domestic production of certain resources have resulted in particularly severe gluts in commodities such as steel and coal. But in one respect, China has been putting an artificial degree of upward pressure on a select resource—copper—sparing it from the worst of the rout in commodities.
• Red Flag Rising for India Finances as Migrant Remittances Shrink. India’s most reliable source of foreign funding is under threat. Remittances fell to $15.8 billion last quarter, the lowest since April-June 2011 and a 9.4 percent drop from a year earlier, as the global slowdown and slumping oil prices reduce demand for foreign workers. Indians working abroad -- from construction laborers in Dubai to Silicon Valley engineers -- send home the most money in the world, helping to pay for imports of fuel and electronics. The drop in cash flows is a "red flag" even as lower oil costs help shrink the current-account deficit for now, said Suvodeep Rakshit, an economist at Kotak Securities Ltd. in Mumbai. While India isn’t dependent on remittances, a further erosion to one of the most stable components of the current account would be “a headache," he said.
• Japan's Industrial Output Falls as Weak Exports Sap Demand. Japan’s industrial production dropped the most since the March 2011 earthquake as falling exports sapped demand and a steel-mill explosion halted domestic car production at Toyota Motor Corp. Output slumped 6.2 percent in February after rising in January, the trade ministry said on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a 5.9 percent drop. The government projects output will expand 3.9 percent this month. The data underscores the weakness of Japan’s recovery from last quarter’s contraction, with overseas shipments dropping for the last five months and sluggish domestic demand. With pressure building on policy makers to bolster growth, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that the government would front load spending after parliament passed a record budget for the 12 months starting April 1. He resisted calls for a supplementary fiscal package.
• Even BOJ Has Limits as Central Bank Balks at Minus 0.6% Yield. Even the Bank of Japan, which has been pushing bond yields below zero by charging interest on bank reserves, has its limits. Almost a fifth of the 645 billion yen ($5.7 billion) of the debt put up for sale at a money market operation Monday was left unbought as the BOJ shunned commercial paper with yields of minus 0.647 percent or less. At its March 18 operation to buy Japanese government bonds with repurchase agreements, it also excluded bid yields lower than the average accepted level and bought less debt than its target. 
• Asia Stocks Rise as Yellen's Dovish Comments Lift Risk Appetite. Asian stocks advanced after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled the U.S. central bank remains wary of raising interest rates while threats remain to domestic growth from a slowing global economy. The Topix index fell in Tokyo after Yellen’s comments strengthened the yen, souring the outlook for Japanese exporters. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 percent to 128.34 as of 9:03 a.m. in Tokyo. The measure is on course to post its largest monthly advance since October, climbing 7.7 percent to pare its quarterly loss to 2.7 percent.
• Yellen Prompts Traders to Scale Back Bets on Fed Rate Increase. Bond traders pushed back bets for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year after Chair Janet Yellen said the global economy presents heightened risks. The probability of a move at the Fed’s next meeting in April has dropped to zero, futures contracts indicate. The odds are 64 percent by December, after traders saw a 73 percent chance as recently as the end of last week. “The comment was more dovish than I expected,” said Wontark Doh, head of overseas fixed-income investment in Seoul at Samsung Asset Management, which oversees $200 billion. “One or two times is possible, three or four times is not possible. The upside for Treasury yields is limited.”

 Wall Street Journal:

• Supreme Court Struggles to Deal With 4-4 Split. A pair of developments revealed the new dynamic of a court equally divided between conservatives and liberals.
• Iranian Miniskirts, Bags of Cash Raise Doubts Over Controls at HSBC. Monitor finds lapses in bank’s efforts to prevent money laundering and evasion of sanctions following 2012 settlement with Justice Department.
• Another Terrorist Strike, Another Obama Lecture. The president knows that the U.S. could defeat Islamic State outright, but he lacks the political will to lead the fight.

Fox News:

• Donald Trump rescinds pledge to support eventual GOP nominee. (video) Donald Trump said Tuesday night he will no longer honor his pledge to support the eventual Republican pick for president regardless of who wins the nomination. The Republican front-runner made the remarks during a town hall event in Milwaukee, Wis. When he was asked if he would keep the pledge he signed last September to back the eventual nominee, Trump responded "No, I won’t."
• States moving to restore work requirements for food stamp recipients. (video) States are moving to once again require able-bodied adults to put in work hours in exchange for food stamps, after the requirements largely were suspended by the Obama administration. The slow-moving reversal follows the administration pulling back on Clinton-era changes that required recipients to work for government welfare benefits. Signing the reform bill in 1996 alongside then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, then-President Bill Clinton said the goal was to make welfare “a second chance, not a way of life.”

CNBC:

• ADB cuts developing Asia growth forecasts on China slowdown. Asia's developing economies, once home to double-digit growth rates, will see momentum stall over the next two years amid a weak recovery in industrial nations and a slowdown in China, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned on Wednesday. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth for developing Asia is expected at 5.7 percent in 2016 and 2017, decelerating from 5.9 percent in 2015, the bank said in its new 2016 outlook.
• Yellen push back at hawks creates confusion. (video) Fed Chair Janet Yellen attempted to reassure markets that the U.S. central bank will move cautiously with further rate hikes, pushing back at recent hawkish comments from other Fed officials. But the Fed chair also managed to unleash a backlash from some of Wall Street's more often staid economists. 

Zero Hedge:

• "Made Out Of Sand" - A Dramatic Look Inside A Newly Built Chinese Apartment. (video)
• This (Crashing) Trend Is Not Your Friend. (graph)
• Price Controls May Be On the Way.
• The Difference Between Capitalism & Communism (Explained To President Obama).
• MSNBC Host Admits Democratic Primary Rigged, While Station Simultaneously Rigs Coverage.
• Japanese Industrial Production Crashes Most Since 2011 Tsunami. (graph)
• Fitch Downgrades Chicago After "Worst Possible Outcome" In State Supreme Court Pension Reform Bid.
• Rail Traffic Volumes Tumble As Coal Stockpiles Soar At Record Rate. (graph)
• "It's Worse Than 2008": Toronto's "Condo King" Weighs In On The Death Of Alberta's Housing Market.
• CBO Misses Its Obamacare Projection By 24 Million People. (graph)
• Crushed By The Record Oil Squeeze, This Is How Energy Bears Are Shorting Crude Now.
• Sell In March And Go Away? There's Something About April During Election Years. (graph)
• Top Silicon Valley VC Laments: Startups Being Funded Are "Mostly Crap & Largely Worthless".
• The Doha Dilemma - Prolonging The Agony Deeper & Longer.
• Crude Rises After Gasoline Draw, Crude Build. (graph)
• "When Hawks Die" - Yellen-nado Sends Bonds, Stocks, & Bullion Soaring. (video)

Business Insider:

• Anderson Cooper to Donald Trump: 'That's the argument of a 5-year-old'. (video)
• China is trying to silence its critics abroad by targeting their families back home.

21st Century Business Herald:

• Beijing's Neighbor Towns May Control Property Market. Some counties and towns of Hebei province bordering Beijing will take steps to stem surge in property prices, citing local govt.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are +.25% to +1.5% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 149.25 -3.5 basis points. 
• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 57.0 -1.75 basis points. 
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 71.77 +.06%. 
• S&P 500 futures +.12%. 
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.12%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate 

• (CCL)/.32
• (LULU)/.80
• (PAYX)/.50
• (MU)/-.09
• (PRGS)/.29 

Economic Releases  
8:15 am EST

• The ADP Employment Change for March is estimated to fall to 195K versus 214K in February.     

10:30 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory build of +2,822,220 barrels versus a +9,357,000 barrel gain prior. Gasoline supplies are estimated to fall by -2,229,440 barrels versus a -4,642,000 barrel decline the prior week. Distillate supplies are estimated to fall by -342,780 barrels versus a +917,000 barrel build prior. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise by +.09% versus a -.6% decline prior. 

Upcoming Splits 

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Evans speaking, $28B 7Y T-Note auction, weekly MBA mortgage applications report and the (CAE) investor day could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by industrial and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.

Stocks Surging into Final Hour on Central Bank Hopes, Less European/Emerging Markets/US High-Yield Debt Angst, Short-Covering, Homebuilding/Healthcare Sector Strength

Broad Equity Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Substantially Higher
  

• Sector Performance: Almost Every Sector Rising
  

• Volume: Below Average

• Market Leading Stocks: Outperforming
  

Equity Investor Angst:

• Volatility(VIX) 14.32 -6.04%

• Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 133.16 +.31%

• Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 11.64 -1.36%

• S&P 500 Implied Correlation 54.69 -1.78%

• ISE Sentiment Index 83.0 -2.0%

• Total Put/Call 1.0 +21.95%

• NYSE Arms 1.29 +5.44% 

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 83.30 +.4%
  

• America Energy Sector High-Yield CDS Index 1,431.0 -4.76%

• European Financial Sector CDS Index 95.06 -.84%

• Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 26.02 -3.93%

• Asia Pacific Sovereign Debt CDS Index 57.30 -2.69%

• Emerging Market CDS Index 291.59 -.69%
  

• iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 126.43 -.06%

• 2-Year Swap Spread 11.0 +1.75 basis points
  

• TED Spread 34.25 -.5 basis point

• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -22.75 -1.25 basis points
  

Economic Gauges:

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 71.74 +.42%
• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .23% -4.0 basis points
  

• Yield Curve 102.0 +2.0 basis points
  

• China Import Iron Ore Spot $55.11/Metric Tonne -1.17%

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index -3.80 +1.1 points

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index -31.50 +1.4 points

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index -12.10 -.6 point

• 10-Year TIPS Spread 1.62% +6.0 basis points
• 27.5% chance of Fed rate hike at June 15 meeting, 39.1% chance at July 27 meeting

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei 225 Futures: Indicating -8 open in Japan 
• China A50 Futures: Indicating +71 open in China

• DAX Futures: Indicating +70 open in Germany

Portfolio: 

• Higher: On gains in my medical/retail/biotech/tech sector longs
  

• Disclosed Trades: Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges and some of my (EEM) short

• Market Exposure: Moved to 75% Net Long

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• World's Best Economy Betraying Investors as India Earnings Decay. Talk to a skeptic about this month’s global stock rebound and the first thing he mentions is likely to be earnings, or the lack thereof. Why should the nation with the brightest economic outlook be any different? India’s S&P BSE Sensex is up 9 percent from its February low and set for its best month in more than two years. Company profits are on the opposite trajectory, falling in four of the last five quarters in the worst run since the financial crisis. That’s despite the government forecasting the country to expand faster than any other major economy in the fiscal year through March. While profits are falling worldwide, nowhere is the divergence of earnings and the economy more pronounced than in India, where bad debts at banks, the commodities slump and uncooperative weather are squeezing companies. Stagnating income is widening stock valuations and inciting bearishness among the country’s equity strategists, who have left targets mostly unchanged amid the rally.
• China Stocks Drop for Second Day as Curbs Hurt Property Shares. (video) China’s stocks fell for a second day, paring this month’s advance, as a gauge of small companies slumped and property developers extended losses amid concern new price-cooling measures will hit sales. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.3 percent. Poly Real Estate Group. dropped to the lowest level in a month, dragging down a gauge of developers. The small-cap ChiNext index plunged the most in three weeks. The Shanghai index closed below the key 3,000 level for a fourth straight day at 2,919.83, the lowest level in more than a week. Trading volumes were 17 percent below the 30-day average. The ChiNext slid 2.1 percent, paring a rally since last month’s low to 17 percent through Monday. The ChiNext trades at 60 times reported earnings, four times more expensive than the Shanghai index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
• BOE Ready to Support Financial Stability on `Brexit' Risks. (video) Bank of England officials said they’re ready to support financial stability as they warned of the threats stemming from the U.K.’s referendum on its membership in the European Union. “Heightened and prolonged uncertainty has the potential to increase the risk premia investors require on a wider range of U.K. assets,” the BOE’s Financial Policy Committee said in a statement of its March 23 meeting released on Tuesday. “These pressures have the potential to reinforce existing vulnerabilities for financial stability.”
• Emerging-Markets 2015 Debt Trading Lowest Since 2009, EMTA Says. Emerging-markets debt trading in 2015 fell to the lowest in six years as investors allocated less to the asset class due to rising volatility and a weak growth outlook, EMTA said. Annual trading volume fell 20 percent to $4.73 trillion from $5.92 trillion in 2014, the lowest reported volume since 2009, according to a survey of 49 leading banks, asset management firms and hedge funds, conducted by the New York-based association for emerging-market debt trading and investment.
• European Stocks Halt Four-Day Declining Streak as Markets Reopen. (video) European stocks rose, snapping their longest losing streak in more than a month, as markets reopened after the Easter holiday. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.5 percent at the close of trading. It earlier erased an increase of as much as 1 percent as miners reversed gains. Real-estate shares posted the biggest gains on the gauge, with LEG Immobilien AG and Immofinanz AG up 2.5 percent or more.
• Iran Said to Attend Doha Talks Without Joining Oil Freeze. Iran will attend talks with fellow OPEC members and Russia in Qatar next month without joining their proposal to freeze crude oil production, according to a person familiar with the nation’s policy. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will attend the discussions in Doha on April 17, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private. Iran will maintain its policy of regaining market share lost during years of sanctions so won’t accept limits on its output, the person said. Most OPEC members, including Saudi Arabia, have said they will go to the meeting. “By attending the freeze meeting, and yet still being able to say they managed to escape the freeze, Iran earns some brownie points with its domestic audience,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director at consultant Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland.
• Shorts Crowding Into Texas Banks Bet Energy Pain Isn't Over. With energy stocks enjoying the biggest rebound since the beginning of the oil rout, short sellers have shifted their sights to regional banks that do business with the industry. Bearish bets have shot up 35 percent on average this year among the 10 most-shorted stocks in the KBW Regional Banking Index, data compiled by Bloomberg and Markit show. Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. and Prosperity Bancshares Inc. in Texas have seen short interest surge about 60 percent. The banking gauge fell 0.8 percent at 9:30 a.m. New York time.
• China's True Demand For Copper Is Only Half as Much as You Think. A 7 million metric tonne stockpile. Virtually every aspect of the commodities bust has a China angle. Forecasts for China's consumption of raw materials have proved wildly optimistic, while domestic production of certain resources have resulted in particularly severe gluts in commodities such as steel and coal. But in one respect, China has been putting an artificial degree of upward pressure on a select resource—copper—sparing it from the worst of the rout in commodities.
• Steel Rally Is Too Good to Be True. Is it time to call the bottom of the steel market? Lakshmi Mittal seems to think so. The billionaire CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, told the Financial Times this month the trough had been reached and "things should continue to improve." Is he right?
• Fed's Williams Sees Gradual Hikes as U.S. Economy on Track. (video) Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said the U.S. economy appears to be weathering cooler global growth and he repeated that the central bank will raise interest rates at a gradual pace. “Despite recent financial market volatility, my overall outlook for both the U.S. and the global economy remains largely unchanged over the past few months,” Williams said Tuesday in a speech in Singapore. “We took the first small step with a modest rate hike in December, and the future pace will be, as we’ve said repeatedly, gradual and thoughtful.”
• Yellen Says Caution in Raising Rates Is ‘Especially Warranted’. (video) Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it is appropriate for U.S. central bankers to “proceed cautiously” in raising interest rates because the global economy presents heightened risks. The speech to the Economic Club of New York made a strong case for running the economy hot to push away from the zero boundary for the Federal Open Market Committee’s target rate. “I consider it appropriate for the committee to proceed cautiously in adjusting policy,” Yellen said in the text of prepared remarks Tuesday. “This caution is especially warranted because, with the federal funds rate so low, the FOMC’s ability to use conventional monetary policy to respond to economic disturbances is asymmetric.”
• Traders Prepare for Death of a Junk Rally. Many traders don't trust the rally in riskier debt right now, and some are plotting ways to bet against it. The credit cycle seems to be souring, with corporate earnings generally weakening, and central bankers are seemingly more desperate. Yet riskier corporate debt is surging again, especially U.S. junk debt tied to energy companies, which has experienced a record 16 percent rally so far in March. That's fueled a 4 percent gain in the broader high-yield market, the biggest monthly gain since 2011.

Wall Street Journal:

• Pakistan Militant Group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar Threatens Fresh Wave of Violence. Extremists behind deadly Easter Sunday attacks make warning as government rounds up thousands in dragnet. The militant group behind the park massacre here this week on Tuesday threatened to unleash a wave of new attacks, as the government rounded up thousands of suspects. The Easter Sunday assault that killed 72 people was the latest in a series of bloody incursions by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar extremists over the past two years, which has established them as the most brutal and capable militant group in the country. ​The Pakistani Taliban affiliate’s network, officials say, reaches into the country’s heartland of... 
• Slowing in China: Not Just Economy but Political Resolve. A brittle regime lacks the determination to make painful industrial changes. China’s economic collapse no longer seems imminent. The Wall Street hedge funds who bet against the Chinese currency have taken heavy losses and battered stock markets are stabilizing. In fact, collapse was never in the cards. Over the short term, as Beijing has demonstrated, it has enough financial firepower left to fight off threats...
• Trump Is Obama Squared. Two epic narcissists who see themselves as singularly suited to redeem America.

MarketWatch.com: 

• What this stock market and the Cleveland Browns have in common. Rally is nothing more than a dead-cat bounce within a cyclical bear market.

CNBC:

• Yellen: Economic readings mixed, appropriate to proceed cautiously. (video) It is appropriate for the Federal Open Market Committee to proceed with caution in adjusting policy, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday, acknowledging that economic and financial conditions are in some respects less favorable now than in December. 
• Quiet times for stocks tend to end with big drops. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• Credibility Watch - Janet Yellen Crushes Recent Hawkishness, Unleashes Fresh Bout Of Soothing Dovishness: Live Feed.
• "Buy It All" Uber-Dovish Yellen Sends Stocks, Bonds, Gold, Oil Surging. (graph)
• Brazil's Coalition Government Officially Collapses As Vice President's Party Abandons Rousseff.
• "Europe Is Burning" Nigel Farage Slams Merkel's Migration Maelstrom. (video)
• Pentagon Orders Hundreds Of Military Families To Evacuate Turkey. 
• Loonie? (graph)
• As Conference Board Confidence Jumps, Gallup Confidence Dumps. (graph)
• Here Are The Four Reasons Why Investors Never Believed This Rally. (graph)
• Commodities Longs Will "Liquidate In Unison," Driving Bulls Off A Cliff, Barclays Warns. (graph)
• Case-Shiller Home Prices Jump Driven By West Coast Chinese Buyers. (graph)
• WTI Crude Tumbles Into 'Correction' To 2-Week Lows. (graph)
• SunEdison(SUNE) Plummets 40% On "Substantial Bankruptcy Risk" Warning. (graph)
• Prominent Hedge Fund Luxor Capital Warns Redeeming Investors Will Be "Gated" After Sharp Losses.

Business Insider:

• Donald Trump's campaign manager was just charged with misdemeanor battery after allegedly bruising a reporter.
• Chipotle's(CMG) best-case scenario is looking pretty grim. 
• This is why virtual reality headsets can make you feel so sick.
• Feds resume program that lets cops pocket cash and property — even from people who were never charged with a crime.
• The Supreme Court just issued a huge victory to public-sector unions in the biggest case affected by Scalia’s death.
• Scott Walker throws his support to Ted Cruz a week before the crucial Wisconsin primary.

Washington Times:

• Ex-Trump strategist calls candidacy a ‘charade’ in scathing open letter. A former campaign strategist for Donald Trump penned a blistering column on Monday calling the GOP front-runner a “self-preservationist” who “would stab any one of his supporters in the back if it earned him a cent more in his pocket.” Stephanie Cegielski, a former communications director for Mr. Trump’s short-lived “Make America Great Again” super PAC, claimed in an open letter for XOJane that Mr. Trump aimed to position himself as a “protest” candidate and never expected to do so well in the Republican primary. “What was once Trump’s desire to rank second place to send a message to America and to increase his power as a businessman has nightmarishly morphed into a charade that is poised to do irreparable damage to this country if we do not stop this campaign in its tracks,” she wrote. “And I am now taking full responsibility for helping create this monster — and reaching out directly to those voters who, like me, wanted Trump to be the real deal,” Ms. Cegielski wrote. “I don’t think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. “He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver’s seat, and nothing else matters. The Donald does not fail. The Donald does not have any weakness. The Donald is his own biggest enemy.” “I’ll say it again: Trump never intended to be the candidate. But his pride is too out of control to stop him now,” she continued. “He doesn’t want the White House. He just wants to be able to say that he could have run the White House.

Financial Times:

• Germany fears influence of homegrown militants on Syrian migrants.