Good morning New York,
ALPHAVILLE
In Memoriam – Australia's inverted yield curve: Remember Australia's inverted yield curve in 2012? Well, Neil says it's almost gone. It's a development that will have left the Reserve Bank of Australia feeling very pleased with itself.
What will Russia do? Nicos Anastasiades is between a rock and a hard place. On one side there's Cypriot citizens and official creditors — all, it seems, not liking the levy on deposits below €100,000 — and on the other, Russia. Kate's post explores thay extremely squeezed space. Plenty more on Cyprus here.
NEWS
Cypriot authorities rushed to renegotiate the terms of under threat €10bn bailout by moving to scrap its controversial levy on small account holders and instead seizing more from larger depositors and businesses. The parliamentary vote on the rescue deal was postponed a second day running and is now scheduled to take place today. It looks unlikely to pass, Reuters cited Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stylianides as saying on state radio. A senior EU official said international lenders were pushing the Cypriot government to exempt all deposit holders below €100,000. Instead, the IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank wanted a levy of 15.6 per cent on all deposits above that level, many of which are held by Russians. (Financial Times) (FT Alphaville) (Wall Street Journal)
Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station suffered a power failure on Monday night, and some systems, including cooling mechanisms for several pools storing radioactive fuel rods, remained offline on Tuesday morning. The pools are cooled to well below safe temperature thresholds but if power is not restored, temperatures inside one pool could rise to levels deemed unsafe in a little over four days. (Financial Times)
Citi to pay $730m in subprime class action deal: Settles claims the bank misled investors in its bonds and preferred stock between 2006 and 2008 over its exposure to subprime mortgages, in the second-biggest class action payout related to the financial crisis. (Financial Times)
Blackstone considering Dell bid: "Blackstone Group is weighing a bid for Dell, the computer maker seeking offers to rival the proposed $24.4 billion buyout by its founder and Silver Lake Management, said people with knowledge of the matter." (Bloomberg)
Brussels green light for Italy debt sale: "Italy is considering a substantial increase in sales of government debt to boost its recession-hit private sector after striking a deal with the European Commission that allows a relaxation of Rome's fiscal targets." (Financial Times)
Argentina charges HSBC with money laundering: Argentina's government said it filed criminal charges against the local subsidiary of HSBC for allegedly helping businesses evade taxes and launder a total of 616m pesos ($121m). (Wall Street Journal)
China's foreign direct investment rose for the first time in nine months in February, a sign confidence in the world's second-biggest economy is improving amid optimism growth will keep rebounding. Inbound FDI was 6.3% higher than in February 2012, the Ministry of Commerce said. (Bloomberg)
Ryanair unveils $15.6bn Boeing order: "The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair announced a $15.6 billion order for about 175 passenger jets from U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Tuesday. The order for current-generation 737 aircraft delivers a boost to the U.S. company, which has struggled in recent months after the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner." (Reuters)
Contractors reap $138bn from Iraq war: An analysis by the Financial Times reveals the extent to which both American and foreign companies have profited from the conflict – with the top 10 contractors securing business worth at least $72bn between them. None has benefited more than KBR, once known as Kellogg Brown and Root. The controversial former subsidiary of Halliburton, which was once run by Dick Cheney, vice-president to George W. Bush, was awarded at least $39.5bn in federal contracts related to the Iraq war over the past decade. Two Kuwaiti companies – Agility Logistics and the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation – are the second and third-biggest winners, securing contracts worth $7.2bn and $6.3bn respectively. (Financial Times)
Markets: The FTSE All-World index is flat as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 eases back 0.2 per cent and after the Asia-Pacific region rallied 0.4 per cent, though that was mainly the result of a strong Tokyo session. US index futures suggest Wall Street's S&P 500 will add 1 point to 1,553. Across asset classes, it is evident that traders remain cautious. Perceived havens are seeing demand, pushing the dollar index up 0.3 per cent and nudging benchmark Treasury and Bund yields down one basis point or so to 1.94 per cent and 1.39 per cent respectively. Gold is barely changed at $1,603 an ounce as the euro falls 33 pips to $1.2921 writes the FT's Global Markets pirate Jamie Chisholm.
