- Putin Says No Immediate Need to Invade Eastern Ukraine, Leaves Threat Dangling. Vladimir Putin said he sees no immediate need to invade eastern Ukraine as the Obama administration prepares $1 billion in loan guarantees for the cash-strapped nation and threatens sanctions against Russia. In his first public remarks since Ukraine said its Crimean peninsula had been taken over by Russian forces, President Putin said he reserved the right to use force to defend ethnic Russians while there’s “no such necessity” at present. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kiev to offer an aid package to Ukraine’s interim government, as President Barack Obama challenged Putin’s rationale for intervening.
- Ukraine Crisis Threatens $8 Billion of Russian Company Loans. Political and military tension in Ukraine is threatening to derail $8 billion of international loans sought by Russian companies. Billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP) is among at least 10 borrowers negotiating loans with U.S., European and Japanese banks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Russia’s currency, bond and stock markets rose after plunging when troops seized control of the Black Sea region of Crimea. The cost of insuring the country’s debt against losses is falling after the biggest increase since June.
- U.S. Readying Russia Sanctions Within Days, Kerry Aides Say. The U.S. administration is preparing sanctions to punish Russia for its military action in Crimea and will announce an assistance package aimed at bolstering the fledging Ukrainian government, officials said. As Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, today amid the worst standoff between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War, U.S. officials traveling with him expressed concern over reports that Russian aircraft had attempted incursions into airspace over mainland Ukraine before being turned back by Ukrainian jets.
- European Stocks Rebound From Biggest Drop in Five Weeks. European stocks rose, rallying the most in eight months, as investors speculated that the military standoff in Ukraine will not lead to war. Glencore Xstrata Plc advanced 1.7 percent after increasing its forecast for cost savings following the acquisition of Xstrata Plc. Beiersdorf AG added 2 percent as the maker of Nivea skin cream reported profit that beat estimates and predicted sales will rise as much as 6 percent this year. Ashtead Group Plc rallied the most since 2011 after saying full-year earnings will exceed the company’s previous projections. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 2.1 percent to 337.15 at the close of trading.
- WTI Crude Falls From Five-Month High on Ukraine. WTI for April delivery slid $1.85, or 1.8 percent, to $103.07 a barrel at 1:21 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 2.3 percent to $104.92 yesterday, the highest settlement since Sept. 19. The volume of all futures traded was near the 100-day average.
- Insurers’ Obamacare Losses May Reach $5.5 Billion in 2015. The money, outlined in President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins in October, is designated to help insurers who find the cost of the law higher than expected, based on the percentage of older, sicker people who sign up compared with younger enrollees.
- Obama Seeks $100 Billion in New Taxes on Multinationals. President Barack Obama proposed raising about $100 billion in revenue over the next decade through new taxes and restrictions on U.S. multinational companies.
- Putin: Russia Reserves Right for Force in Ukraine. Says Toppling of Ukrainian President Was 'Unconstitutional Coup'.
- Apple's(AAPL) Finance Chief Is Stepping Down. Peter Oppenheimer to Be Succeeded by Insider Luca Maestri, Ending 18-Year Career at Company.
- Corporate insider bearishness at pre-2008 crash levels. Opinion: Don’t ignore the behavior of executives in the know.
ZeroHedge:
Business Insider:
Washington Post:
Libertyblitzkrieg:
- The Debt Bubble Expands as Auto Loan Amounts Hit a New Record. Is anyone surprised that the poorest and least credit worthy of Americans are being saddled with piles of debt in order to buy new cars? It’s not enough that a generation of our citizens will toil pointlessly to pay off more than $1 trillion of student loans, we may as well add some other form of debt burden on top of it. It’s hard to even imagine this is happening so shortly after the last credit bubble train wreck, but happening it is.
- Turkish PM says rival will "pay price" as new recordings emerge. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday berated an Islamic cleric he accuses of plotting to wreck his government, as more voice recordings apparently intended to embarrass the Turkish leader were aired on the Internet.
- Global PC shipments to fall 6.1 percent in 2014: IDC. Global shipments of personal computers fell 9.8 percent last year, the worst contraction on record, and are likely to decline by 6.1 percent in 2014 due to lackluster demand in developing countries, according to market research firm IDC.
- Putin, China's Xi hold "close" views on Ukraine, Kremlin says. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in Ukraine by telephone on Tuesday and their positions on the issue are "close", the Kremlin said. It said the presidents of the veto-wielding U.N. Security Council nation expressed hope that "the steps taken by the Russian leadership will allow for the reduction of ... tension and provide for the security of Russian-speaking citizens living in Crimea and the eastern regions of Ukraine."
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