- Eurozone dismisses Greek budget deal (FT)
- Germany Says Greece Missing Debt Targets in Aid Rebuff (Bloomberg)
- Germans concerned over Draghi liquidity offer (FT)
- Azumi Says Japan Won’t Be Shy About Unilateral Intervention (Bloomberg)
- Schaeuble Signals Germany Is Flexible on Revising Terms of Portuguese Aid (Bloomberg) - food euphemism for "next on the bailout wagon"
- Venizelos Tells Greek Lawmakers to Back Budget Cuts or Risk Exiting Euro (Bloomberg)
- Putin May Dissolve Ruling Party After Vote (Bloomberg)
- HK Bubble pops? Hong Kong Sells Tuen Mun Site to Kerry for HK$2.7 Billion, Government Says (Bloomberg)
- Gross Buys Treasuries as Buffett Says Bonds Are ‘Dangerous’ (Bloomberg)
Overnight Press Digest
WSJ
* The $25 billion settlement of alleged mortgage foreclosure abuses unveiled Thursday will provide relief to an estimated one million at-risk borrowers.
* Greece's leaders agreed on austerity moves needed for a new bailout, but euro-zone finance ministers demaanded the measures formally pass the Greek parliament.
* PepsiCo is chopping 8,700 jobs and increasing its marketing budget as it tries to overhaul a struggling U.S. beverage business.
* The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday created the first shortcut to the U.S. market for "biosimilar" drugs -- cheaper versions of expensive and complex medicines made from biological matter.
* Oracle Corp agreed to acquire online-software maker Taleo Corp for $1.9 billion, its second such acquisition in recent months and the latest sign that the software industry's old guard is embracing a newer model.
* Ford Motor Co said two top executives who helped drive the company's recent turnaround will be retiring, adding further uncertainty to the auto maker's future leadership as the retirement of Chief Executive Alan Mulally looms. Ford said its global head of vehicle development, Derrick Kuzak and chief financial officer, Lewis Booth, would retire on April 1.
FT
LIBOR PROBE DISCOVERS CITIGROUP TOOK BIG HIT
Citigroup was forced to write off $50 million after two traders accused of attempting to influence global lending rates left the bank, according to people familiar with a worldwide investigation that is gathering pace. http://link.reuters.com/cyn56s
INDONESIAN BUMI INVESTORS CONFIDENT OF COMPROMISE
The Indonesian shareholders in coal miner Bumi are open to a compromise that would see financier Nat Rothschild stand down as co-chairman of the company but remain on its board, according to people familiar with the matter. http://link.reuters.com/byn56s
PARIS TO INVEST DIRECTLY IN DEXIA TO SALVAGE DEAL
The French government is to invest directly in the municipal finance unit of Dexia, the stricken Belgian bank, in order to salvage a deal to regularise lending to cash-strapped French local authorities. http://link.reuters.com/zun56s
LEHMAN ESTATE SUES CITI
The Lehman Brothers estate has sued another of the defunct investment bank's former counterparties, this time Citigroup, for $2.5 billion for cash taken in the period leading up to its bankruptcy that it wants returned. http://link.reuters.com/xun56s
ALCATEL-LUCENT MAY TO PREPARING FOR JOBS CUTS
Alcatel-Lucent is planning to cut up to 1,800 jobs in Europe, French union leaders have claimed, in the latest sign of the rapid scaling down of the European and U.S. telecoms equipment industry. http://link.reuters.com/wun56s
EUROPEAN BANKS PLAN NEW CAPITAL MEASURES
European banks are proposing capital-raising measures that go beyond regulators' demands and would cut only a small amount of lending to the real economy, according to a preliminary assessment of the plans by the European Banking Authority. http://link.reuters.com/vun56s
UK'S BOE SET TO PUMP BILLIONS INTO ECONOMY
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep interest rates at their current record lows on Thursday and authorised further gilts purchases totalling 50 billion pounds, in line with economists' expectations. http://link.reuters.com/tun56s
GREECE AGREES AUSTERITY CUTS, PM MAKES POLITICAL GAIN
Lucas Papademos, Greece's prime minister, notched up his first political win on Thursday, after days of missed deadlines, by persuading party leaders to override their populist instincts and back another round of austerity measures. http://link.reuters.com/sun56s
PEPSI TO AXE THOUSANDS OF JOBS
PepsiCo, the U.S. drinks and snacks company, said on Thursday it would shed 8,700 jobs worldwide to cut costs as it ramps up investment in its core cola and crisps brands that investors claimed have been neglected in favour of its healthier products. http://link.reuters.com/run56s
NYT
* A technical bug caused Citigroup to double the charge for customer payments in recent months. Some customers using their iPads to settle bills actually paid twice, according to customers and a bank official.
* As state and federal authorities announced the details of their $26 billion mortgage settlement with big banks on Thursday, millions of American homeowners were hoping that this time they would finally get relief.
* The Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a settlement with two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers that will avert a second trial over accusations that they had misled investors as the mortgage market was crumbling.
* The struggling Fox Business Network canceled its entire prime-time programming lineup in one stroke on Thursday, calling attention to the poor ratings performance of Fox Business, a four- and a half-year-old spinoff of the hugely popular Fox News Channel. Both channels are owned by News Corporation.
* Ford Motor Company on Thursday announced the retirement of two members of its management team who were integral to its financial recovery and product renaissance. The departures of Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth and Derrick M. Kuzak, its global product chief, will test Ford's ability to continue its revival through leadership team changes.
* The Alibaba Group's publicly traded affiliate, Alibaba.com , has emerged as a potential part of its plan to buy back most of a stake held by Yahoo, people briefed on the matter said on Thursday.
* Google is developing a home entertainment device, according to people with knowledge of the company's plans, in a move that would bring it more broadly into consumer electronics
European Economic Headlines
- Germany CPI for January -0.4% m/m 2.1% y/y – higher than expected. Consensus -0.4% m/m 2.0% y/y. Previous-0.4% m/m 2.0% y/y.
- Germany CPI - EU Harmonised for January -0.5% m/m 2.3% y/y – in line with expectations. Consensus -0.5% m/m 2.3% y/y. Previous -0.5% m/m 2.3% y/y.
- France Current Account for December -€3.0B. Previous -€2.3B.
- France Manufacturing Production for December -1.4% m/m 0.8% y/y – lower than expected. Consensus -1.0% m/m 0.9% y/y. Previous 1.3% m/m 2.2% y/y.
- France Industrial Production for December -1.4% m/m -1.3% y/y – lower than expected. Consensus -0.8% m/m -0.6% y/y. Previous 1.1% m/m 0.9% y/y.
- Italy Industrial Production s.a. for December 1.4% m/m – higher than expected. Consensus -0.5% m/m. Previous 0.3% m/m.
- Italy Industrial Production w.d.a. for December -1.7% y/y. Previous -4.1% y/y.
- Italy Industrial Production n.s.a. for December -7.7% y/y – lower than expected. Consensus -7.2% y/y. Previous -4.1% y/y.
- Norway CPI for January -0.2% m/m 0.5% y/y – higher than expected. Consensus -0.4% m/m 0.2% y/y. Previous 0.1% m/m 0.2% y/y.
- Norway CPI Underlying for January -0.6% m/m 1.3% y/y – higher than expected. Consensus -0.6% m/m 1.2% y/y. Previous 0.2% m/m 1.0% y/y.
- Norway Producer Prices incl. Oil for January 2.2% m/m 7.9% y/y. Previous 0.2% m/m 8.2% y/y.
- Switzerland CPI for January -0.4% m/m -0.8% y/y – lower than expected. Consensus -0.3% m/m -0.7% y/y. Previous -0.2% m/m -0.7% y/y.
- UK PPI Input n.s.a. for January 0.5% m/m 7.0% y/y. Previous -0.6% m/m 8.7% y/y.
- UK PPI Output n.s.a. for January 0.5% m/m 4.1% y/y – higher than expected. Consensus 0.1% m/m 3.7% y/y. Previous -0.2% m/m 4.8% y/y.
- UK PPI Output Core n.s.a. for January 0.3% m/m 2.4% y/y – higher than expected. Consensus 0.0% m/m 2.3% y/y. Previous -0.1% m/m 3.0% y/y.