Greek defense minister says Greece has Plan B if EU rigid on
deal (
Reuters)
Germany rejects Greek claim for World War Two reparations (
Reuters)
Greece to Seek $11.3 Billion in Financing to Avoid Funding
Crunch (
BBG)
Lazard Sees $113 Billion Greek Debt Cut as ‘Reasonable’ (
BBG)
U.S. Navy Considers Setting Up Ship Base in Australia (
BBG)
As U.S. Exits, China Takes On Afghanistan Role (
WSJ)
EU money funds cut exposure to bank debt (
FT)
Dalio’s Bridgewater Fund Said to Rise 8.3% in January (
BBG)
Oil-Price Rebound Predicted (
WSJ)
U.S. Is Seeking Felony Pleas by Big Banks in Foreign Currency
Inquiry (
NYT)
China Inflation Drops to Five-Year Low in January (
WSJ)
Top Turkish judge warns of judiciary becoming "instrument of
revenge" (
Reuters)
Ukraine Begins Offensive Against Rebels While U.S. Weighs Arms
Aid (
BBG)
Central Bankers Bash ‘Audit the Fed’ Bill (
WSJ)
China Injects Funds Into Financial System (
WSJ)
Egypt’s Currency War: The Devaluation Eclipsed by Russia,
Brazil (
BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Qualcomm Inc said it will pay a $975 million fine as part of a
long-awaited settlement with Chinese antitrust authorities, which
also includes several changes to Qualcomm's practices in licensing
patents for mobile phones sold in China. (
http://on.wsj.com/1CbY9Ir)
* McDonald's Corp said continued steep declines in same-store
sales in Japan and China in January outweighed a slight improvement
in the U.S., extending the slump that has roiled the fast-food
company. (
http://on.wsj.com/1y3hbOR)
* Cathy Engelbert was named as the new chief executive of
Deloitte LLP, effective March 11. The 50-year-old becomes one of
the most senior women in the financial-services industry, which in
some areas trails behind other sectors in promoting women to
high-level positions. (
http://on.wsj.com/1KBC3oY)
* Members of the United Auto Workers union have ratified a
four-year contract with truck maker Navistar International Corp
that will provide workers with a combination of wage increases and
bonuses, while maintaining a two-tier wage scale for new hires and
veteran employees. (
http://on.wsj.com/1A7SgAO)
* Three Federal Reserve officials criticized proposed
legislation to expand congressional oversight of the central bank's
interest-rate decisions, pushing back against the bill as it is
gaining attention. Fed governor Jerome Powell called the bill,
known to supporters as "Audit the Fed," misguided. (
http://on.wsj.com/1COauaX)
FT
Two Singaporean shipbuilders - Keppel Corporation and Sembcorp
Marine - and three other Brazilian shipbuilders have been accused
of corruption and participating in a bribe-for-contracts scheme at
Brazil state-owned oil group Petrobras.
Towergate is considering appointing David Ross - who is
currently leading New York-based rival Arthur J Gallagher - as its
new CEO. The UK-based insurance broker has been without a leader
since October and has 1 billion pounds ($1.52 billion) in debt.
Chinese developer Dalian Wanda has won an auction to acquire
sports rights agency Infront Media for 1 billion euros ($1.13
billion) from private equity group Bridgepoint. Infront Media is
owned by the nephew of FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Vistara - an airline joint venture setup by India's Tata Group
and Singapore Airlines aims to go beyond ferrying passengers
domestically and wants to feed India's rapidly growing appetite for
international travel.
NYT
* Governor of Illinois Bruce Rauner, the newly elected
Republican who has often criticized public sector unions, took his
first step toward curbing their power by announcing an executive
order that would bar unions from requiring all state workers to pay
the equivalent of dues. (
http://nyti.ms/1Dzs9Cq)
* Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc said it would pay $975 million for
violating China's antimonopoly law. As part of the deal, Qualcomm
will also offer its licenses for third- and fourth-generation
communications systems for high-speed wireless data to smartphones,
at a sharp discount to what it charges companies elsewhere. (
http://nyti.ms/1uybX28)
* The Justice Department is pushing some of the biggest banks on
Wall Street, including, for the first time in decades, American
institutions to plead guilty to criminal charges that they
manipulated the prices of foreign currencies. (
http://nyti.ms/1AdRsc1)
* Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Bank of Russia, views the
Ruble's steep drop as a painful but necessary step to wean the
nation off imports. (
http://nyti.ms/1AdTFEl)
* Critical elements of Puerto Rico's plan to avert financial
disaster are in jeopardy, after a federal judge struck down a law
that allowed the government to restructure certain debts. (
http://nyti.ms/1COfMmJ)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Auto investment soared in Mexico last year and light vehicle
production topped three million for the first time, underscoring
Canada's decline to junior-partner status in North American Free
Trade Agreement when it comes to the auto industry. (
http://bit.ly/1z3CeC9)
** Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper shook up his foreign
policy team with a mini-shuffle that moves his most valuable
lieutenant Jason Kenney to Defence as the date approaches for
Canada to decide on extending the politically sensitive military
mission in Iraq. (
http://bit.ly/1zFF3wZ)
** Ontario Provincial Police will question Premier Kathleen
Wynne as part of the criminal investigation into bribery
allegations against one of her top aides. The move comes after
officers accused Wynne's deputy chief of staff for breaking
anti-corruption laws by offering a former Liberal candidate a
government job in exchange for dropping out of the Sudbury
by-election race. (
http://bit.ly/1Deb6p4)
NATIONAL POST
** Plans for a new no-frills airline are in flux after Canada
Jetlines Ltd scrapped a proposed C$50 million ($40 million) IPO,
but the company's president said a new deal is in the works. The
company said on Friday that a reverse takeover deal with a
capital-pool company called Inovent Capital Inc had been abandoned.
(
http://bit.ly/1zr8FJO)
** Queen's University says Melody Torcolacci, a professor who
has come under fire for teaching anti-vaccination materials, will
not lead the course in question for the rest of the term. The
university had made headlines last week when a PowerPoint
presentation from Torcolacci's first-year class showed what looked
like a heavy anti-vaccination focus in her teaching. (
http://bit.ly/1Ccwqau)
** Aboriginals who were adopted into white families during the
1960s "Scoop" are suing the federal government for the loss of
their culture and emotional trauma. Almost 1,200 adoptees have
filed a class-action lawsuit in Saskatchewan, seeking compensation
from Ottawa for "cultural genocide". (
http://bit.ly/1KIcbGh)
Hong Kong
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- The growth in the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong will
slow down this year after a robust increase in 2014, the Tourism
Board is predicting, while it noted that spending last year by
tourists, excluding day-trippers, fell for the first time in a
decade. (bit.ly/1zQNPHp)
-- Guangdong saw its slowest economic growth in a quarter of a
century last year, with three main indicators failing to reach
their targets. The province's economy grew 7.8 percent last year,
and was short of the targeted 8.5 percent, as investment, exports
and consumption had lost momentum, according to governor Zhu
Xiaodan. (bit.ly/1M7HjT4)
THE STANDARD
-- Hong Kong Disneyland Resort recorded a golden year in 2014,
reaping HK$332 million ($42.82 million) in profit, up 36 percent
from 2013 due to a rise in per capita guest spending and an
increase in visitor numbers. (bit.ly/193w8vA)
-- Hong Kong could be heading for an acute shortage of the H3N2
flu vaccine, which will mean a priority system for people needing
jabs. For health authorities have been able to only order between
80,000 and 100,000 bit.ly/1DZQajDdoses - 70 percent less than last
year's order of 260,000 to 280,000 - and they will not arrive until
at least April. ()
-- Clothing retail chain I.T Limited will bid for a plot of land
in Kunshan in Jiangsu province, hoping to set up its first
logistics and distribution center for HK$372 million. The firm is
leasing several warehouses in mainland cities and facing long-term
rental pressure, said chairman Sham Kar-wai. (bit.ly/1y1ODVH)
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
-- Sun Hung Kai Properties said it would invest HK$7 billion
($902.86 million) in a residential development project in Tin Shui
Wai awarded by MTR Corp after the develper beat three other
consortiums in the tender.
-- Home appliances retailer GOME Electrical Appliances Holding
Ltd said it has signed a 20 billion yuan purchase order with Haier
Group, parent of Haier Electronics Group Co Ltd. Some 16 billion
yuan is targetted to be from offline stores sales and 4 billion
yuan from online sales.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES
-- Chinese developer Greenland Hong Kong Holdings Ltd said its
sales rose three times year on year last year to 12.9 billion yuan
($2.07 billion). It expects sales to increase to 18 billion yuan in
2015.
Britain
The Times
A former government minister and the ex-head of Revenue &
Customs face being called before MPs to explain how Britons were
able to hide 135 million pounds ($205.52 million) in the Swiss
branch of HSBC without facing criminal sanctions. (
http://thetim.es/1vAWhw8)
Thousands of British motorists caught speeding on the Continent
could be tracked down and fined in the UK under new European Union
legislation. (
http://thetim.es/1zQNjZU)
The Guardian
HSBC was fighting an international firestorm on Monday over
revelations that its Swiss private bank helped clients conceal
undeclared accounts and provided services to criminals and corrupt
businessmen. (
http://bit.ly/16Mbgra)
The Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, has urged the G20 to
mount a big push to implement global regulatory reforms, fearing
that governments may be tiring of nonstop rule-making since the
financial crisis six years ago. (
http://bit.ly/1zqHEpU)
The Telegraph
One of the richest men in Thailand, Dhanin Chearavanont, has
approached Tesco Plc about a multi-billion pound deal to buy its
business in the country. (
http://bit.ly/16IJBHc)
The Co-operative Pharmacy brand is to disappear after more than
70 years as part of a revamp of the high street chain by its new
owners. (
http://bit.ly/1zQPpcd)
Sky News
A report says HSBC's Swiss arm helped wealthy customers avoid
tax, months after Indian elections focused on battling tax evasion.
(
http://bit.ly/1uxlNRU)
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc has called on regulators to
intervene after accusing firms offering free product trials of
taking its customers for a ride. (
http://bit.ly/1IGVSO5)
The Independent
A police force was forced to apologise today after one of its
officers told a newsagent to hand over the names of four people
after they bought a commemorative edition of the Charlie Hebdo
magazine. (
http://ind.pn/1CLVUAL)
The new privacy policy for Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's smart
TVs allows the company and its partners to listen in on everything
their users say. The policy has drawn the ire of internet users,
who compared it with George Orwell's dystopian fiction 1984. (
http://ind.pn/1Dx7Khb)
Fly On The Wall Pre-Market Buzz
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include:
NFIB small business optimism index for January at
9:00--consensus 101.0
Wholesale trade inventories for December at 10:00--consensus
up 0.2%
JOLTS job openings for December at 10:00--consensus 4.99M
ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
Citi (C) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank
CoreSite Realty (COR) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at
BofA/Merrill
CyberArk (CYBR) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at
William Blair
Equity Residential (EQR) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at
BofA/Merrill
Hasbro (HAS) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at
BMO Capital
St. Jude Medical (STJ) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Sterne
Agee
TECO Energy (TE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS
Downgrades
AES Corp. (AES) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill
American Campus (ACC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at
Citigroup
Approach Resources (AREX) downgraded to Sell from Hold at
Miller Tabak
Bruker (BRKR) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill
EPR Properties (EPR) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at
Citigroup
Fifth Street Finance (FSC) downgraded to Equal Weight from
Overweight at Barclays
Fifth Street Finance (FSC) downgraded to Market Perform at
Raymond James
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) downgraded to Hold from Buy at
Deutsche Bank
Gap (GPS) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho
Golub Capital (GBDC) downgraded to Market Perform from
Outperform at Wells Fargo
Masco (MAS) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at MKM Partners
Masco (MAS) downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at
Raymond James
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at
Citigroup
SPX Corp. (SPW) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank
Transocean (RIG) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at
Credit Suisse
Initiations
AmTrust (AFSI) initiated with a Buy at SunTrust
Cempra (CEMP) initiated with a Buy at Janney Capital
County Bancorp (ICBK) initiated with an Outperform at RW
Baird
Hain Celestial (HAIN) initiated with an Outperform at
Bernstein
Insmed (INSM) initiated with a Buy at Janney Capital
Leju (LEJU) initiated with a Buy at BofA/Merrill
Old Line Bancshares (OLBK) initiated with an Outperform at RW
Baird
Patriot National (PN) initiated with a Buy at SunTrust
Patriot National (PN) initiated with a Buy at UBS
Patriot National (PN) initiated with an Outperform at BMO
Capital
Patriot National (PN) initiated with an Outperform at JMP
Securities
Pernix Therapeutics (PTX) initiated with a Buy at Cantor
Primerica (PRI) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies
Stifel Financial (SF) initiated with a Buy at Evercore ISI
Unilife (UNIS) initiated with an Overweight at Piper
Jaffray
COMPANY NEWS
Qualcomm (QCOM) confirmed settlement in China, to pay $975M fine
Gap (GPS) reported January SSS down 3%
Aeropostale (ARO) announced that Marc Miller, EVP and CFO,
has been appointed EVP and COO. The company also said that David
Dick will join the company as SVP and CFO on February 17
UBS (UBS) said SEC, NY AG investigating sales of unregistered
securities
GNC Holdings (GNC) refuted claims made by the New York State
Attorney General in his February 2 letter with original test
results and the results of retesting that was performed on the
product lots cited in the letter
EARNINGS
Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last
night and today include:
Wyndham (WYN), Spirit Airlines (SAVE), RetailMeNot (SALE),
Globe Specialty Metals (GSM), Full Circle Capital (FULL), Horace
Mann (HMN), Yodlee (YDLE), INTL FCStone (INTL), AMAG
Pharmaceuticals (AMAG), Inphi (IPHI), Brixmor (BRX), Comstock
Resources (CRK), Compass Minerals (CMP), CSC (CSC), Newport (NEWP),
Meru Networks (MERU), ICU Medical (ICUI), MaxLinear (MXL), Model N
(MODN), GigOptix (GIG), Primerica (PRI), Premier (PINC), Waste
Connections (WCN), Molina Healthcare (MOH), Cascade Microtech
(CSCD), ESCO Technologies (ESE), Danaos (DAC), Montpelier Re (MRH),
RealD (RLD), Qualys (QLYS)
Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include:
Regeneron (REGN), Genesee & Wyoming (GWR), Talisman
Energy (TLM), NGL Energy Partners (NGL), Otter Tail (OTTR), Albany
International (AIN), Dun & Bradstreet (DNB), Good Times
Restaurants (GTIM), Argo Group (AGII), KapStone (KS), Orion Energy
(OESX), CM Finance (CMFN), Selectica (SLTC), Coupons.com (COUP),
Unilife (UNIS), First Marblehead (FMD), Neurocrine (NBIX), Allison
Transmission (ALSN), Arrowhead (ARWR), Blue Capital (BCRH)
Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include:
Allot Communications (ALLT), Crown Holdings (CCK), Liberator
Medical (LBMH), Silver Spring (SSNI)
Greenbrier (GBX) backs FY15 EPS view $5.20-$5.50, consensus
$5.42
Qualcomm (QCOM) raises FY15 EPS view to $4.85-$5.05 from
$4.75-$5.05
Gap (GPS) raises Q4 EPS view to 73c-74c, consensus 68c,
raises FY14 EPS view to $2.86-$2.87, consensus $2.76
Aeropostale (ARO) sees Q4 EPS (6c)-(1c), consensus (27c)
Urban Outfitters (URBN) reports Q4 revenue $1.01B, consensus
$997.69M
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Disney's (DIS) Marvel, Sony (SNE) agree on Spider-Man movie
production, WSJ reports
Telefonica (TEF) undecided on response to AT&T's (T)
Mexico push, Financial Times says
IBM (IBM) files lawsuit against Priceline (PCLN) over patent
royalties, Bloomberg reports
Samsung (SSNLF), Microsoft (MSFT) settle Android patent
payment dispute, Re/code reports
Apple (AAPL) planning debut bond sale in Swiss francs, WSJ
reports
Ireland may reject IAG (ICAGY) offer for Aer Lingus,
Bloomberg says (BAIRY)
SYNDICATE
Atara Biotherapeutics (ATRA) files to sell 3M shares of common
stock
Avenue Financial (AVNU) 2.5M share IPO priced at $11.00
Biocept (BIOC) 8M share Secondary priced at $1.25
Ensign Group (ENSG) files to sell 2.5M shares of common stock
Health Insurance Innovations (HIIQ) files to sell 800,992
shares of Class A common
Idera Pharmaceuticals (IDRA) files to sell $75M in common
stock
RedHill Biopharma (RDHL) files to sell ADS shares, no amount
given
Rose Rock Midstream (RRMS) files to sell 2M common units
representing limited partners
Teva (TEVA) files automatic mixed securities shelf
