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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Frontrunning: April 16

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

Submitted by Tyler Durden.

  • Euro zone bond yields sink to historic lows (Reuters)
  • Clinton Foundation to Keep Foreign Donors (WSJ)
  • Russia says U.S. forced it to act on Ukraine (Reuters)
  • Bankers to China’s Rescue (BBG)
  • Saudi Arabia Adds Half a Bakken to Global Oil Market in a Month (BBG)
  • Valuations of Hong Kong’s stock market operator go interstellar (Reuters)
  • Switzerland Attracts Fewer Firms as Politics Hurt Business Image (BBG)
  • NY settles suit against Ernst & Young over Lehman audit (AP)
  • Judge Rules GM Can Keep Its Bankruptcy Shield (WSJ)
  • The Oil Industry’s ‘Man Camps’ Are Dying (BBG)
  • 3 Big I.P.O.s Could End Slow Start for ’15 Debuts (NYT)
  • Double Mystery of BOJ Stock Rally Boosting Japan’s Megabanks (BBG)
  • Coffee Farmers Are Hurt by Single-Serving Pods Revolution in U.S. (BBG)
  • America’s Most-Wanted Swiss Bankers Aren’t Hard to Find (BBG)

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

* The European Commission took direct aim at Google Inc , charging the Internet-search giant with skewing results to favor its comparison-shopping service. But the formal complaint may only be the opening salvo in a broader assault that prompts big changes at Google. (http://on.wsj.com/1IKEk2N)

* A federal judge ruled General Motors Co can keep its bankruptcy shield, which allows it to block potentially billions of dollars in legal claims by hundreds of customers seeking damages over a defective ignition switch. (http://on.wsj.com/1H8ZpSl)

* The initial public offering of Virtu Financial Inc will gauge how investors view a firm that has been at the center of controversy around computerized trading. Virtu is set to start trading Thursday, after pricing its shares at $19 each. (http://on.wsj.com/1yxaQCd)

* The Clinton Foundation board has decided to continue accepting donations from foreign governments, primarily from six countries, even though Hillary Clinton is running for president, a summary of the new policy to be released Thursday shows.(http://on.wsj.com/1aXhu9F)

* Relationship Science LLC hired a new chief executive and raised a new funding round as it retools in search of faster growth. Jon Robson, a veteran of NYSE Euronext and Thomson Reuters Corp, has joined the company as CEO. (http://on.wsj.com/1ayzsPf)

FT

After filing formal antitrust charges against search giant Google Inc, the European Union is upping the ante against companies it suspects of indulging in anti-competitive behaviour. EU officials said the charge sheet is ready against Russian gas exporter Gazprom.

Adultery website AshleyMadison.com plans to list itself on the London stock market to generate about $200 million that it says will help fuel its expansion into “the international market of adultery”. The company values itself at $1 billion.

Guy Hands owned European private equity firm Terra Firma has launched a bid for struggling gym operator LA Fitness, countering rival offers from Pure Gym and Fitness First. Last year, LA Fitness sold 33 gyms to Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct while the remainder of its 43 gyms, which are located in London and the southeast, are up for sale.

Accounting firm Ernst & Young will pay $10 million to settle a New York lawsuit that accused it of helping Lehman Brothers hide its precarious financial situation in the run-up to the 2008 global financial meltdown.

NYT

* The European Union is accusing Google Inc of abusing its dominance, and Microsoft Corp has links with the three initial complainants that sparked the antitrust investigation. (http://nyti.ms/1GMEhCZ)

* For political activists anticipating the 2016 U.S. presidential race, the minimum wage fight – and the challenge it poses to system they view as favoring the wealthy – is occurring at a potentially pivotal time. (http://nyti.ms/1E487lV)

* A federal bankruptcy judge ruled that General Motors , which emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, is not liable for accidents tied to the defect that occurred before that time. (http://nyti.ms/1GMFomd)

* As increases in oil stockpiles slowed in the United States, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 5 percent. But analysts remain unsure where oil pricing is headed. (http://nyti.ms/1FVnoDb)

* President Obama’s removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism goes only a short way to reconnecting American businesses with Cuba, experts said. (http://nyti.ms/1H9OrfD)

* Investors flocked to initial public offerings by Etsy Inc , Party City Holdco Inc and Virtu Financial Inc , reflecting what analysts and deal makers say is a continuing appetite despite a lull in early 2015. (http://nyti.ms/1DlfNNj)

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used a speech in front of nearly 10,000 Indo-Canadians in Toronto on Wednesday night to tout his achievements since becoming India’s leader and promise that his country would overcome corruption and poverty. (http://bit.ly/1CR5qNA)

** Toyota Motor Corp will invest hundreds of millions of dollars to replace Corolla production that is being shifted to Mexico and to upgrade its Canadian factories for a new system to assemble vehicles, the president of the company’s Canadian manufacturing arm says. (http://bit.ly/1INY9X3)

NATIONAL POST

** The Bank of Canada acknowledged Wednesday the country’s output was flat-lining for most – if not all – of the first quarter, given that the fallout from the crash in crude appears to have been more “front loaded” than predicted just a few months.

For the central bank’s policymakers, this will mean staying the course for now at current ultra-low interest rates and assessing the impact of still-low oil costs along the way. (http://bit.ly/1yv65sM)

** The numbers certainly aren’t mind-blowing on Cameco Corp’s five-year agreement to provide 7.1 million pounds of uranium to India through 2020. The deal is only estimated to be worth $350 million and it’s small when you consider that the Saskatchewan-based miner sells about 33 million pounds of uranium annually. (http://bit.ly/1FWkXQT)

** Planned fee hikes at Canada’s “quasi-monopoly” securities clearing and settlement system could drive the Ontario Financing Authority, a Crown agency that handles debt issues and risk management for the province, to take business outside the country. (http://bit.ly/1IhpoG0)

China

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

– China’s regulators will encourage internet companies to expand into capital markets by loosening restrictions that regulate admission into the market and helping companies raise funds, said Zhang Yujun, assistant chairman at China’s Securities Regulatory Commission.

SECURITIES TIMES

– Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianling said the group’s internet finance products, including funds and insurance, will be released next month.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

– Nuclear power projects such as “Hualong 1,” a home-grown “third generation” reactor that China approved on Wednesday, are a part of China’s plan to stabilise the economy, said Premier Li Keqiang, according to the newspaper.

PEOPLE’S DAILY

– Land prices rose slightly in 105 Chinese cities between 2014 and the first quarter of 2015, data from the Ministry of Land and Resources indicated. Land prices rose 0.55 percent in the first quarter of 2015, down 0.39 percent from the previous quarter.

CHINA DAILY

– The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will complement existing international financial institutions since the Asian Development Bank and World Bank do not focus on infrastructure construction, an editorial in the newspaper said.

21st CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD

– China’s economy is expected to stabilise in the second half around July, said Fan Jianping, chief economist at the State Information Center.

Britain

The Times

SLICK FARAGE PLEDGES 18 BLN POUNDS TAX CUTS

UKIP published an independent audit of their policy costs alongside their manifesto yesterday morning in a bid to project an image of fiscal responsibility. Nigel Farage promised an 18 billion pounds ($26.77 billion) tax giveaway as he said UKIP was “leading the charge for a low tax revolution.”(http://thetim.es/1DkohEr)

GOOGLE FACES $6.6 BLN FINE AS BRUSSELS ACCUSES IT OF CHEATING CONSUMERS

Brussels has signalled that it is ready for a protracted fight with Google Inc after levelling its first formal charges against the internet giant and indicating that there would be more to come. The European Commission accused Google yesterday of cheating consumers and abusing its dominance of internet searches by displaying its own shopping comparison service, Google Shopping, more prominently in search results than rival services.(http://thetim.es/1PPLh4L)

The Guardian

IMF FORECAST BLOWS HOLE IN GEORGE OSBORNE’S DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN

Britain’s next government will face a tougher time than expected reducing Whitehall’s annual spending deficit, according to the International Monetary Fund, which said lower tax receipts and uncertainty surrounding the election would undermine growth forecasts.(http://bit.ly/1PPPZ2p)

TESCO PREPARES TO GET RID OF LAST CORPORATE JET

Tesco Plc is close to ridding itself of a fleet of corporate jets that came to symbolise the strategic missteps at Britain’s biggest retailer, with the final aircraft set to be handed back next month. The supermarket group has sold or returned four of the five planes it had last autumn, including the Gulfstream jet used by Philip Clarke, the former chief executive who was ousted in July.(http://bit.ly/1PPT0jc)

The Telegraph

ED MILIBAND’S US ADVISER DAVID AXELROD PAYS NO TAX IN BRITAIN

Ed Miliband’s most senior adviser, David Axelrod, pays no tax on his reported 300,000 pounds ($446,100) earnings in Britain, The Telegraph has learned. Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama, admitted that he is not resident for tax purposes in the UK.(http://bit.ly/1PPUie3)

SAINSBURY’S TO CONVERT SUPERMARKETS INTO NON-FOOD SPACE

J Sainsbury is planning to convert shop space equivalent to almost 40 supermarkets from selling food into non-food as it tries to fight back against a fall in grocery sales. Sainsbury’s intends to use half of this space to sell its collection of own-brand non-food products, such as kitchenware and homeware.(http://bit.ly/1Dkxnkg)

Sky News

SAFE SEX WARNING OVER EBOLA VIRUS IN SEMEN

The World Health Organisation is urging survivors of the virus to practise safe sex “until further notice” after traces of Ebola were found in the semen of a man who had been given the all-clear six months earlier.(http://bit.ly/1PPVzBV)

PROTESTER ATTACKS DRAGHI AT NEWS CONFERENCE

The president of the European Central Bank was interrupted at a news conference by a protester shouting “end ECB dictatorship”. Mario Draghi was outlining the bank’s latest monetary policy thinking when a lone woman jumped onto the desk above Draghi and showered him with items including what looked like confetti and sheets of paper.(http://bit.ly/1PPVUEv)

The Independent

LIB DEMS WOULD ONLY JOIN WITH TORIES AGAIN IF THEY DROP £12BN WELFARE CUTS, SAYS NICK CLEGG

Nick Clegg could give David Cameron the go-ahead to hold an in/out EU referendum in post-election talks on another coalition, but in return would demand the Conservatives scrap their planned 12 billion pounds ($17.84 billion) of welfare cuts.(http://ind.pn/1PPWWAz)

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