Friday, September 05, 2014

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
  • Ukraine Truce Set as EU Considers Russian Sanctions. (video) Ukraine agreed on a cease-fire with pro-Russian separatists to stem months of bloodshed as U.S. and European leaders said they plan more penalties on Russia until it’s clear President Vladimir Putin is serious about peace. The two sides agreed to stop fighting at 6 p.m. local time today, Heidi Tagliavini, a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which will help monitor the accord, told reporters after negotiations in Minsk, Belarus. The talks included representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, where most of the fighting has occurred, and the OSCE. 
  • Ukraine's Cease-Fire Is Putin's Victory. Ukraine has signed a cease-fire deal with the Russian-backed rebels holding part of its territory. For Kiev, this is an admission of defeat: Having failed to secure meaningful Western help, President Petro Poroshenko, who had vowed never to negotiate with the "terrorists," is cutting his losses.
  • Obama Says NATO Supports Action Against Islamic State. U.S. President Barack Obama said NATO allies are prepared to join military action to battle Islamic State extremists and urged Arab states in the Middle East to engage in the fight. “There was unanimity over the last two days that ISIL poses a significant threat to NATO members, and there was a recognition that we have to take action,” Obama said at a news conference in Newport, Wales, wrapping up the annual summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
  • ‘Abenomics’ at risk as firms put brakes on spending, hoard their cash. Japanese companies from NTT Docomo Inc. to Honda Motor Co. are putting the brakes on spending as they pile up cash, showing the challenge Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new Cabinet faces in reviving the economy. Capital expenditure growth by nonfinancial companies will slow on aggregate to 1.3 percent next fiscal year from an estimate of 7.9 percent this year, according to a Moody’s Investors Service study of rated companies.
  • Euro-Area Economy Stagnates on Slump in Investment. Euro-area investment fell in the second quarter for the first time in more than a year, reflecting the gloomy outlook presented by Mario Draghi yesterday as he unveiled new European Central Bank stimulus. The economy stagnated in the three months through June as investment fell 0.3 percent, data today showed.
  • European Stocks Decline Amid Skepticism of ECB Measures. Stocks in Europe dropped from a two-month high amid investor concern that the latest European Central Bank stimulus measures aren’t enough to spur the economic recovery. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4 percent to 347.57 at the close of trading.
  • Iron Ore Drops Below $85 for First Time Since ’09 as China Slows. Iron ore declined below $85 a metric ton for the first time in five years as ChinaĆ¢€™s economy, the world’s biggest buyer, showed signs of losing momentum amid an expanding global glut. Ore with 62 percent content at the Chinese port of Qingdao dropped 1.7 percent to $83.80 a dry ton today, sliding to the lowest level since September 2009, according to data compiled by Metal Bulletin Ltd. The raw material decreased for a fifth week in the longest run of losses since May. Prices tumbled 38 percent this year as Vale SA, Rio Tinto Group (RIO) and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) increased production, pushing the market into a glut.
  • Fisher Says Booming Junk Markets Have ‘Overshot the Mark'. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said a decline in interest rates on riskier credit suggests U.S. markets have become overheated. “The dashboard shows that we have overshot the mark,” Fisher said in a speech in Dallas. “I have been involved with the credit markets since 1975. I have never seen such ebullient credit markets.”
Wall Street Journal:
CNBC:
ZeroHedge:
Business Insider:
  • Obama Just Completely Changed His Tune On ISIS. President Barack Obama on Friday said unequivocally that the extremist group calling itself the Islamic State must be dismantled, degraded, and "ultimately defeated," days after he earned criticism for saying the goal was to roll back the organization to a point it was "manageable.""We are going to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL, in the same way we went after Al Qaeda," Obama said Friday, later adding that "you can’t contain an organization [like ISIS]. The goal has to be to dismantle them." 
Reuters:
Telegraph: 
Ukrayinska Pravda:
  • About 6,000 Russian Troops Fight in Ukraine. Head of Ukrainian Defense Ministry's reconnaissance headquarters Yuri Pavlov tells lawmakers at closed parliament meeting yesterday that Russia also sent "several hundred" military vehicles to Ukriane, citing a lawmaker who was present.
Asia Asset Management:
  • Is China heading towards a financial crisis? Uncontrolled subprime lending made it possible for millions of ill-qualified borrowers in the United States to live beyond their means and buy houses that they would not otherwise be able to afford. As the system got stretched, the housing bubble eventually burst, triggering the most severe global financial crisis since the Great Depression. Many people are now starting to find parallels in today’s China.

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