Today's Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Russia Calls on U.S. to Remove Its Nuclear Weapons From Europe. Russia called for a ban on American nuclear
weapons in parts of Europe, saying the U.S. is breaking an
international agreement by holding joint nuclear training
missions with NATO allies that don’t possess such weapons. Using ships and airfields as well as training crews from
non-nuclear states from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
in such exercises is “in direct contradiction to the letter and
spirit” of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT,
ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement on
its website.
- Euro area waits for Greek Plan C. European
officials are preparing to assess Greece's third set of economic policy
proposals with German Chancellor Angela Merkel urging Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras to do what is needed to qualify for aid. Tsipras'
government may submit a comprehensive list of policy measures aimed at
securing more financial aid by the end of the week. That document
needs the endorsement of Greece's official creditors and the finance
officials' committee before ministers will consider whether it's up to
scratch. Euro-area finance officials will hold a call on Wednesday to
discuss progress on Greece, two people familiar with the plans said.
- Soros Says Greece Now Lose-Lose Game After Being Mishandled. (video) The chances of Greece leaving the euro area
are now 50-50 and the country could go “down the drain,”
billionaire investor George Soros said. “It’s now a lose-lose game and the best that can happen is
actually muddling through,” Soros, 84, said in a Bloomberg
Television interview due to air Tuesday. “Greece is a long-festering problem that was mishandled from the beginning by all
parties.”
- French Output Growth Cools as Manufacturing Weakness Persists. France’s private-sector output lost momentum
this month as manufacturing shrank for an 11th consecutive
month, holding back the recovery. Markit Economics said on Tuesday that its composite
Purchasing Managers Index for services and manufacturing slipped
to 51.7 from 52.2 in February. While the factory measure rose to
48.2 from 47.6, it remained below the 50 mark that divides
expansion from contraction. The services gauge declined to 52.8
from 53.4.
- Banks Push European Stocks Higher With Stoxx 600 Nearing Record. Lenders led a rally in European stocks,
sending the Stoxx Europe 600 Index near a record. Spain’s Banco Santander SA and Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo SpA
climbed more than 1.5 percent, while France’s Societe Generale
SA added 2.5 percent. Deutsche Lufthansa AG lost 1.6 percent as
Germanwings, its low-cost subsidiary, operated a plane that
crashed in southern France. The Stoxx 600 advanced 0.3 percent to 402.49 at the close
of trading in London, reversing an earlier drop of as much as
0.5 percent as data showed that euro-area business activity
expanded faster than forecast.
- Beijing to Shut All Major Coal Power Plants to Cut Pollution. Beijing, where pollution averaged more than
twice China’s national standard last year, will close the last
of its four major coal-fired power plants next year. The capital city will shutter China Huaneng Group Corp.’s
845-megawatt power plant in 2016, after last week closing plants
owned by Guohua Electric Power Corp. and Beijing Energy
Investment Holding Co., according to a statement Monday on the
website of the city’s economic planning agency. A fourth major
power plant, owned by China Datang Corp., was shut last year.
- Here's How $20 Oil Could Become a Reality If Storage Runs Out. (video) The looming storage crisis explained.
- Morgan Stanley(MS) Cuts Commodities Outlook on China Demand. Morgan Stanley cut its price forecasts for
almost all base metals and bulk commodities as China’s
“dormant” industry fails to bolster demand in the world’s
biggest consumer of copper and iron ore. The bank reduced its 2015 estimate for nickel by 23 percent
from its previous estimate to an average $14,815 a metric ton
and lowered copper by 16 percent to $5,945 a ton. It cut its
iron ore outlook by 28 percent and coking coal by 16 percent.
- Bullard Says Markets Risk Rate-Rise Surprise If They Ignore Fed. Investors risk suffering a Federal Reserve
interest-rate rise surprise unless market expectations for
future tightening line up with the outlook of policy makers,
said St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. Bullard said active discussion by the Fed about the timing
of the first rates increase since 2006 ought to ensure that it
doesn’t come as a shock when policy eventually moves.
- Speed Traders Team Up in Microwave-Tower Superhighway Plan. Two key competitors in the technological
arms race that’s driving financial markets ever closer to light
speed have called a truce. KCG Holdings Inc., a brokerage with roots in high-frequency
trading, and World Class Wireless LLC will unite their networks
of microwave towers, connecting major market centers around the
globe, according to a statement released last month. WCW, which
is owned by ECW Wireless, has the same address and senior
managers as high-frequency trader Jump Trading LLC. A
representative for Jump said the firm declined to comment.
Wall Street Journal:
CNBC:
- Profit recession: This is what you need to know. (video) The suddenly dour forecast for corporate profits in 2015 is accompanying fears that a recession will be close behind. In fact, the two have gone pretty much hand in
hand over the years, which is why a looming earnings pullback in
corporate America has sparked concern on Wall Street. Since the end of
World War II in 1945, each of the 10 economic recessions has been
accompanied by a decline in earnings growth.
- Nasty tax surprise for Obamacare customers (video).
ZeroHedge:
Business Insider:
The Times:
- West’s tech bubble is ‘about to burst’. Silicon Valley is in a bubble and it is about to burst, one of the technology
industry’s shrewdest investors has warned. A considerable number of “unicorns” — young, private technology companies
worth $1 billion or more — are doomed to fail in the coming months, Sir
Michael Moritz, the chairman of Sequoia Capital, told The Times.
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