- Oil lifts stocks off lows, yen and low-risk debt in favor (Reuters)
- Yes, this agaim: Oil gains after Russia says open to talking with OPEC (Reuters)
- More forecasts: Oil Prices Could Jump 50% by the End of 2016 (BBG)
- New Risks for Trump After Iowa Loss (WSJ)
- Yuan Gap Widens Again as Depreciation Bets Swamp PBOC Fightback (BBG)
- Germany Struggles to Assess Security Threats Ahead of Carnival Season (WSJ)
- Marco Rubio becomes early hope for mainstream U.S. Republicans (Reuters)
- Dollar Bears Awaken Before Jobs Report as BOJ-Stoked Rally Fades (BBG)
- Yahoo to Cut 15% of Workforce, Explore Strategic Options (WSJ)
- Merck’s Top-Selling Diabetes Drugs Fall Short of Sales Estimates (BBG)
- Euro-Area Price Cuts Intensify Pressure on Draghi to Act (BBG)
- Syngenta Agrees to $43 Billion ChemChina Takeover (WSJ)
- China seeks food security with $43 billion bid for Syngenta (Reuters)
- Starboard Takes 6.7% Stake in Marvell Technology (WSJ)
- Australian asylum ruling paves way for deportation of infants (Reuters)
- Perks Keep Getting Nicer—for Some Workers (BBG)
- Greek military to oversee response to refugee crisis (Kath)
- Putin Prepares to Court Foreign Investors Wary of Past Stumbles (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– Exxon Mobil Corp posted its weakest annual results in more than a decade and BP PLC suffered a loss as big as that booked in the aftermath of the worst offshore oil spill in its history, showing the extent of the damage that the 20-month crude-price slump can inflict on even the biggest and most secure oil companies. (on.wsj.com/20FwfmA)
– The global retreat from risk intensified Tuesday, sending the Dow industrials to a 295.64-point decline and pushing U.S. crude futures to their deepest two-day drop since the financial crisis. (on.wsj.com/20FzeLM)
– Beaten in Iowa but unbowed, Republican Donald Trump returned Tuesday to the state that has served as his campaign home base facing a new set of challenges in what is likely to be a must-win primary. (on.wsj.com/1VK6CgM)
– Yahoo Inc has effectively hung a for-sale sign on its Web properties, signaling the possible end of a 20-year run by an Internet icon. The company on Tuesday said it would explore “strategic alternatives” as part of a restructuring that will eliminate roughly 15 percent of its workforce. (on.wsj.com/1JWbNd5)
FT
* Microsoft Corp is paying about $250 million to buy Swiftkey, maker of a predictive keyboard powered by artificial intelligence that is installed on hundreds of millions of smartphones.
* Luxembourg is going to launch an official initiative to promote the mining of asteroids for minerals. Collaborating with U.S. and European commercial partners, it aims to help create a new space industry to exploit asteroids for metals and other materials that are scarce on Earth.
* The United States and European Union have agreed a new deal for transferring data across the Atlantic. A top U.S. director of national intelligence will sign a pledge that the U.S. government will avoid “indiscriminate mass surveillance” of EU citizens when their information is sent from Europe to the United States.
* One of Britain’s biggest supermarket chains J Sainsbury Plc agreed on Tuesday to pay 1.3 billion pounds ($1.87 billion) to acquire Home Retail Group Plc, while analysts at Sanford Bernstein say is “a carefully crafted deal”.
NYT
– State-owned China National Chemical Corporation is nearing a deal to acquire Syngenta AG of Switzerland, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of agriculture chemicals and seeds, people with knowledge of the discussions said on Tuesday. (http://nyti.ms/20oMHe5)
– Facing investor demands for action, Yahoo! Inc said it would lay off workers and explore possibilities that include sale of some assets. (http://nyti.ms/1o4MThi)
– Experts on financial distress told lawmakers in Washington that Puerto Rico’s financial troubles are so complex that bankruptcy alone would not solve them, and might make them worse. (http://nyti.ms/1SEM5uV)
– After a bitter face-off for more than a decade between Argentina and a group of disgruntled New York hedge funds, both sides have come to the negotiating table with fresh hopes of a resolution. (http://nyti.ms/1PyGjtJ)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Canadian pension plans took a major hit in January from the turmoil in global markets, suffering a drop in their funding solvency as bond yields fell and their investment portfolios posted losses, according to pension consulting firm Aon Hewitt. (http://bit.ly/1SFqRNm)
** China has reduced the sentence for Huseyin Celil, the Canadian man imprisoned for life on militant-related charges and for endangering state security. (http://bit.ly/1X2GgYU)
** Like oil producers around the world, Norway’s national energy company Statoil has taken the axe to almost every part of its business. But Statoil is swimming against the tide in one important respect. It is among a handful of energy companies that has so far maintained its dividend, and it may be the only one that is actually considering raising the payout. (http://bit.ly/1Ssh5jw)
NATIONAL POST
** Ontario’s largest credit union, Meridian, is trying to kick off the spring home buying season as temperatures outside make it look like April has already arrived in some parts of the country. (http://bit.ly/1NODYFE)
** Canadian auto sales soared 9.6 percent in January, with 11 different brands reporting double-digit growth. Continuing the trend of the past several months, pickup trucks and SUVs drove the sales increase, with light truck sales up 17 percent and passenger car sales down 3.8 percent, according to data from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. (http://bit.ly/1SXAAQD)
** Wal Mart Canada is bringing its “click and collect” online grocery service to Toronto this week. In Toronto, the service will be offered initially at 12 stores. It takes orders up to 21 days in advance and carries a pickup fee of C$ 3 ($2.14). (http://bit.ly/1SshP88)
Britain
The Times
British Gas is set to cut 500 jobs as Centrica Plc, its parent company, battles to trim costs as part of a sweeping restructuring drive. (http://thetim.es/1QZD7Z8)
The executive in charge of EDF’s project to build an 18-billion-pound ($25.91-billion) nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset has quit the French state-controlled electricity company for a job in the United States. (http://thetim.es/1QZENBS)
The Guardian
Sainsbury’s has agreed terms to buy Home Retail Group Plc, the owner of Argos, in a 1.3 billion pounds ($1.87 billion) deal which will create a combined food and non-food retailer that can take on Amazon and John Lewis. (http://bit.ly/1QZIckm)
The Financial Conduct Authority has told companies selling complex financial bets to do more to protect customers from losses and guard against money laundering. (http://bit.ly/1QZIYxM)
The Telegraph
Vodafone Group Plc has resumed talks with cable TV billionaire John Malone to discuss an asset swap with Liberty Global Plc. (http://bit.ly/1QZJP1m)
The boss of easyJet Plc has moved to quash speculation she is poised to leave the low-cost airline after confirming for the first time that she spurned an approach from Marks and Spencer Group Plc to take charge of the struggling retailer. (http://bit.ly/1QZK4JT)
Sky News
The Treasury has taken a step towards what could be a record-breaking privatisation by appointing advisers to oversee a 17-billion-pound ($24.47-billion) auction of chunks of Bradford and Bingley. (http://bit.ly/1QZKujw)
The Royal Automobile Club said it expected the cost of both petrol and diesel at the pumps to start to rise soon following seven consecutive months of average falls in petrol costs as world oil prices collapsed. (http://bit.ly/1QZKNLa)
The Independent
TalkTalk Telecom Group Plc lost more than 100,000 customers following the hacking attack in October, in which four million customers were warned that their personal data was put at risk. (http://ind.pn/1QZLB2q)
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1JXRzjf Tyler Durden