Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:  

• Ukraine Calls for New Peace Talks as Tusk Advocates EU Sanctions. Ukraine and Germany called for fresh talks about a cease-fire between government troops and rebels after Russia accused its neighbor of putting the peace deal at risk. European Union President Donald Tusk also urged members to extend sanctions against Russia until the end of the year. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed in a phone call to initiate a meeting between their foreign ministers and those of France and Russia, following accusations from Russia that its neighbor was undermining the truce signed in Belarus’s capital last month. “If everything will be on the brink of collapse because the Minsk agreements aren’t being observed by one side of the conflict, then of course vigorous efforts will be needed at all levels,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call on Thursday.   
• EU Leaders Urge Tsipras to Compromise as Time Runs Out. European Union leaders urged Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to find a compromise with Greece’s euro-area creditors, as France and Germany prepared for negotiations on the sidelines of Thursday’s summit in Brussels. Tsipras will meet later this evening with Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Francois Hollande and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. Also present will be Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who leads the euro-area finance ministers’ group that is the more usual forum for deliberating Greece’s predicament.
• Merkel Vows to Keep Euro Intact as She Dives Into Greek Standoff. (video) German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to keep the euro intact as the strain of keeping Greece afloat opened divisions among European Central Bank policy makers. Merkel will meet Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at a European Union summit in Brussels Thursday with work to prepare for more financial aid stalled and the ECB Governing Council fending off calls from its own banking supervisors to tighten the screws on the government in Athens. “If the euro fails, Europe fails,” Merkel told German lawmakers in Berlin before she traveled to Brussels, reprising an expression she adopted during the height of the debt crisis from 2010 to 2012.
• The Company Securing Your Internet Has Close Ties to Russian Spies. (video) Kaspersky Lab has published reports on alleged electronic espionage by the U.S., Israel, and the U.K.—but it’s yet to look at Russia. Kaspersky Lab sells security software, including antivirus programs recommended by big-box stores and other U.S. PC retailers. The Moscow-based company ranks sixth in revenue among security-software makers, taking in $667 million in 2013, and is a favorite among Best Buy’s Geek Squad technicians and reviewers on Amazon.com. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Eugene Kaspersky used to work for the KGB, and in 2007, one of the company’s Japanese ad campaigns used the slogan “A Specialist in Cryptography from KGB.”
• European Stocks Rise to Highest Since 2000 After Fed Statement. European stocks climbed to their highest level since 2000, as the Federal Reserve acknowledged a moderation in economic growth, fueling speculation it won’t be in a rush to raise interest rates. All but two of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced, with energy companies leading gains. Royal Dutch Shell Plc rose 1 percent, while Premier Oil Plc added 8 percent, for the biggest increase on the equity benchmark. The Stoxx 600 increased 0.6 percent to 400.83 at the close of trading.

Wall Street Journal: 

• Forex Market Erupts on Central-Bank Moves. Increased volatility marks turnaround for currency market after years of relative calm.

Fox News: 

• Iran deal would reportedly ease sanctions immediately, allow nuclear enrichment. International sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy for years would be immediately eased and the Islamic Republic could continue to enrich uranium under the terms of a deal being hammered out in Geneva between Tehran and six world powers, according to a report Thursday.

CNBC: 

• Moment of truth for Biogen's big Alzheimer's bet. (video) The most anticipated event for Biogen Idec's drug pipeline, Friday's release of data on its experimental Alzheimer's medicine, started 12 years ago with the rekindling of an old friendship.
• Yardeni: Markets all rigged, it is what it is. (video)

ZeroHedge:

• Philly Fed Signals Worst Margin Compression Since Lehman. (graph)
• US Dollar Recovers All FOMC Jawbone Losses, EUR Plunges 400 Pips. (graph)
• After Pillaging Pensions, Greece Raids Utilities To Repay Troika; Bonds Plunge As Bank Run Accelerates.
• Financials Give Up All Fed-Fueled Gains, Energy Stocks Battered. (graph)
• TAG Heuer Unveils Smartwatch Partnership With Google(GOOG).
• Philly Fed Suffers Worst Run In 3 Years, All Sub-Indices Collapse. (graph)
• Initial Claims Hold Worst Levels In 6 Months As Shale State Joblessness Re-Surges. (graph)
• The Unraveling Is Gathering Speed.
• The Seven Reasons Behind The Record Surge In Chinese Stocks. (graph)
• How Many Shale Oil Plays Make Money At $37 Per Barrel? (Spoiler Alert: None).

Business Insider:

• I was at the Fed meeting on Wednesday, and I think the market got it wrong. The problem with the position that the Fed will never raise rates is that all it takes is one meeting for the picture to change, or for this stance to be wrong. If the Fed really does plan to be data dependent — and I think it does — it will one day look at the data and decide it is time to raise interest rates. And that day is way sooner to becoming a reality than the market expects.
• Retailers are launching a new generation of e-commerce membership programs modeled on 'Amazon Prime'.
• ISIS claims responsibility for Tunisia museum attack that killed 23.
• ALBERT EDWARDS: It is already too late to raise rates.
• The Obama administration is exempting a key White House office from handing over their records.
• Russia's massive military exercises are a clear warning to NATO.
• Oil is getting slammed again.

Telegraph:

• Europe gets tough with Greece ahead of crunch EU summit. Angela Merkel warns there will be "no solution" to the country's bail-out stand-off at European Council meeting.