- Investors dump stocks (Reuters)
- Global Bond Rally Near `Panic’ Level With Japan Yield Below Zero (BBG)
- Global Growth Fears Hit Bank Stocks (WSJ)
- GOP Race for Second in New Hampshire Intensifies (WSJ)
- N.H. Primary: Where Each 2016 Candidate Needs to Place to Build Momentum (WSJ)
- ‘Risk parity’ strategy shows strain (WSJ)
- U.N. fears for hundreds of thousands if Syria troops encircle Aleppo (Reuters)
- World’s Negative-Yielding Bond Pile Tops $7 Trillion (BBG)
- IEA Warns Oil Prices Could Fall Further as Oversupply Worsens (WSJ)
- Nine dead, more than 100 hurt in train crash near Bavarian spa town (Reuters)
- Central Banks Make Global Economy Vulnerable, OECD’s White Says (BBG)
- Rubio needs strong New Hampshire showing to rebut debate critics (Reuters)
- Hong Kong Police Clash With Rioters in Shopping District (BBG)
- Wagers on technology and banks are now costing some investors (WSJ)
- Americans Can’t Help Themselves From Borrowing More on Credit Cards (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– Market anxiety spilled over into Asia early Tuesday, sending investors scurrying for havens like Japanese government bonds, where 10-year yields fell to zero percent for the first time. (http://on.wsj.com/1TPdXxd)
– For investors in emerging markets, Venezuela has quickly turned from a source of opportunity to a cause for concern. Though the country vows it will make its Feb. 26 payment, markets remain skeptic. (http://on.wsj.com/1W92APu)
– In a blow to financial services giant Blackstone Group LP , Brixmor revealed that accounting personnel had manipulated financial results and said its chief executive and other top managers had stepped down. (http://on.wsj.com/1W98XCb)
– A loss by Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire would sting less if the former secretary of state trails only among independents in her party’s primary. While a Donald Trump’s victory would come with caution signs if the Republican doesn’t expand his blue-collar base. (http://on.wsj.com/1W9cBMw)
– The Obama administration plans to boost the federal government’s power to investigate and punish colleges accused of deceptive marketing tactics and other misconduct, part of a campaign to address years of student complaints about for-profit institutions. (http://on.wsj.com/1W9d7u3)
FT
* UK’s class of nuclear-armed submarines is near completion with the release of 201 million pounds ($289.80 million)to BAE Systems to fund the last development stages before parliament votes on renewing Trident.
* The Open Banking Working Group, which took a review last year at the request of the Treasury, called for information on banks’ products and customers to be more easily accessed by digital services, including comparison websites.
* An increasing squeeze on Britain’s public finances will require Chancellor George Osborne to break several records if he is to balance the books by end of the decade, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
* HSBC Holdings Plc looks towards keeping its head office in London after months of agonising debate reflecting a reversal of the previous stance of Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver.
NYT
– After more than six years of negotiations, the global aviation industry agreed on Monday to the first binding limits on carbon dioxide emissions, tackling the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas pollution. (http://nyti.ms/1UZJb35)
– Time may finally be running out on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, a multi-billion dollar, over-budget federal project that has been hard to kill. (http://nyti.ms/1UZJb35)
– Mark Zuckerberg’s grand vision to connect the entire world, hit a major roadblock on Monday, when Indian regulators banned free mobile data programs that favor some Internet services over others. (http://nyti.ms/1PxATMl)
– Investment manager Allianz Global Investors said on Monday it had agreed to acquire Rogge Global Partners, a fixed income firm in London, for an undisclosed amount. (http://nyti.ms/1nUiYrP)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Bay Street lawyer Mitchell Finkelstein has launched an appeal of an Ontario Securities Commission ruling that he tipped a long-time friend about pending takeover deals, arguing the regulator made “impermissible inferences” in a ruling “based entirely on circumstantial evidence.” (http://bit.ly/1SFzrOb)
** Goodwill Industries of Toronto, Eastern, Central and Northern Ontario, Goodwill’s defunct Toronto-based chapter that suddenly closed last month and laid off 430 employees, is filing for bankruptcy in an attempt to restructure and even reopen some of its thrift stores. (http://bit.ly/20lDygY)
** Canadian investors are digging in their heels on both sides of the A$9 billion ($6.33 billion) tug-of-war for port and rail company Asciano Ltd – and the latest development shows neither side is backing down. On Monday, the months-long talks to acquire the Melbourne-based company took a turn as a revised offer from an Australian consortium became the new preference of the board of directors, putting previous board favorite Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP on unsteady ground.
NATIONAL POST
** Interest rates should not be the only tool to promote financial stability, the Bank of Canada’s Timothy Lane said, amid worries of highly indebted consumers and frothy housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver. (http://bit.ly/20lGv12)
** Tahoe Resources Inc’s friendly $945 million deal to buy Lake Shore Gold Corp is being viewed as a logical transaction that addresses challenges faced by both companies. Tahoe gets to diversify into Canada, increase its growth profile and reduce exposure to Guatemala, a very challenging jurisdiction. Lake Shore, meanwhile, can develop its projects quickly without worrying about diluting shareholders or taking on more debt. (http://bit.ly/1QoRVfj)
Britain
The Times
The Financial Conduct Authority has admitted that it must tighten its rules over trading by staff in shares of the banks and brokers it regulates after an internal inquiry found that sensitive information was being stored in places where any employee could find it. (http://thetim.es/1TP38Lv)
Britain’s Supreme Court is to hear an urgent appeal on behalf of thousands of Lloyds bank retail bondholders against its attempts to buy back their assets at a reduced price, in a scheme that was due to start today. (http://thetim.es/1TP3emq)
The Guardian
Imagination Technologies, maker of Pure digital radios, has decided to sell the business and parted company with its longtime chief executive, Hossein Yassaie, after warning that it would suffer a loss this year. (http://bit.ly/1TP222p)
Britain’s leading experts on public finances are warning that the turmoil of global stock markets threatens to leave a 2 billion pounds ($2.88 billion) black hole in George Osborne’s deficit-reduction plans that could force the chancellor to raise taxes or make fresh cuts in spending to hit his budget targets. (http://bit.ly/1TP2bD1)
The Telegraph
Ascential, the magazine business jointly owned by Guardian Media Group and private equity group Apax, is expected to float for 820 million pounds ($1.18 billion) on Wednesday after eight years in private ownership. (http://bit.ly/1TP2DkC)
Royal London Asset Management, which manages more than 80 billion pounds ($115.36 billion) of assets, has told bosses that it will not tolerate mega bonus payouts at lenders which are failing. (http://bit.ly/1TP2Mof)
Sky News
The Rugeley plant in Staffordshire, a coal-fired power station that can provide enough energy to power one million homes, is to close this summer with the potential loss of 150 jobs. (http://bit.ly/1TP2QUW)
The major shareholders of easyGym – who do not include Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the high-profile easyGroup founder – have appointed Houlihan Lokey, an investment bank, to oversee a sale of the fitness club chain later this year, Sky News said. (http://bit.ly/1TP31j8)
The Independent
Charities in UK are calling on the government to introduce legislation to ban supermarkets from sending unsold food to landfills. On Wednesday, France introduced a law that bans supermarkets from throwing away waste food – instead forcing them to donate it to charities and food banks or face a fine of 3,750 euros ($4,200.38). (http://ind.pn/1W8D0Kk)
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1V0s2pV Tyler Durden