Deutsche Bank

After all 31 banks passed Dodd-Frank's "stress"-test with flying colors and awaited The Fed's CCAR blessing to spread the wealth to shareholders, we thought ironic that The Fed's Tarullo had previously commented that "we don't want banks to know the stress-test scenarios and tailor their portfolios to meet our goals," because that would never happen. The CCAR results are now out and 28 of 31 passed. Deutsche Bank, Santander failed for "qualitative" reasons (with significant and widespreasd deficiencies in risk management) and Bank of America will need to resubmit their proposal.

• Dollar at 12-year peak versus euro, emerging markets spooked (Reuters)
• CIA sought to hack Apple iPhones from earliest days (Reuters)
• Draghi Urged Greece to Allow Troika Back Before It’s Late (BBG)
• Brent crude dips below $58 on strong dollar and supply (Reuters)
• Credit Suisse replaces CEO Dougan with Prudential's Thiam (Reuters)
• More "distressed" energy M&A: Verisk buys Wood Mackenzie for £1.85bn (FT)
• Prepare for a surge in defaults: Investors Are Buying Stocks and Bonds From Energy Producers Amid Oil Price Drop (WSJ)
• Private equity executive ordered to pay £72m to ex-wife (FT)
• Democratic donors unfazed by Hillary Clinton's use of private email (Reuters)
• Expensive Hepatitis C Medications Drive Prescription-Drug Spending (WSJ)
• 'ISIS Hackers' Almost Certainly Not ISIS Hackers (NBC)

• ECB Starts Buying German, Italian Government Bonds Under QE Plan (BBG)
• Creditors Reject Greece's Reform Proposals (BBG)
• Is Apple Watch the Timex digital watch of the Internet era? (Reuters)
• Tesla shedding jobs in China as sales target missed (Reuters)
• Malaysia Airlines says expired battery on MH370 did not hinder search (Reuters)
• Gunmen kill more than 12 Islamic State militants in eastern Syria (Reuters)
• GM Plans Share Buyback, Averting Proxy Fight (WSJ)
• Wisconsin capital marked by third day of protests after police shooting (Reuters)

It was not all smiles and jokes as Mario Draghi's European QE officially launched in Europe, with Greece leaving the proverbial turd in the monetary punch bowl.

Blackstone, who already may be your landlord, is reportedly close to buying the nation's second largest skyscraper in a $1.5 billion deal. 

The one thing to note about today's "decisive" jobs number, is that most are scrambling to warn that they really have no idea what it will be due to yet another unprecedented instance of cold weather and snow in the winter (see "Goldman Warns Snow May Leads To Lower Jobs Number, But Snowstorms Will Result In Higher Wages"). The reality is that, based on recent ADP trends and the shale patch reality and recent ISM/PMI surveys, today's NFP should print well below 200,000 (unless some 100,000 bartenders were hired in the deep of winter), not where Wall Street consensus expects it, at 235,000 (on a range of 150K to 370K.

The real "dynamo" of global growth since the Lehman crisis is about to go dark.

• China Lowers Growth Target to About 7% (WSJ)
• Obesity Is Hurting the U.S. Economy in Surprising Ways (BBG)
• Embattled Hillary Clinton urges State Department to release emails (Reuters)
• Washington Strips New York Fed’s Power (WSJ)
• U.S. Supreme Court split over Obamacare challenge (Reuters)
• Citigroup Loses $800 Million as It Exits Turkey’s Akbank (BBG)
• Justice Who Once Tried to Kill Obamacare Now Potential Savior (BBG)
• Buyers of Espírito Santo Debt Face Financial Uncertainty (WSJ)

"Three big private equity firms — the Blackstone Group, Colony Capital and Cerberus Capital Management — are betting that so-called landlord loans to small and midsize investors will become the next big opportunity to profit from the rebound in the United States housing market. The private equity firms are providing financing indirectly to hundreds of real estate funds buying single-family homes, something that until recently was not widely available."

• RBS to cut up to 14,000 jobs in investment banking unit (FT)
• Doctors, patients scramble ahead of high court Obamacare decision (Reuters)
• Rajan Cuts India Rates After Modi Agrees to Inflation Target (BBG)
• Russia’s Putin Makes First Public Comments on Killing of Boris Nemtsov (WSJ)
• House breaks impasse, passes security funding without provisions (Reuters)
• How a 25-Year-Old Investor Spurred Lumber Liquidators’ Plunge (BBG)
• Jeff Immelt’s Overhaul of GE Impeded by Falling Oil Prices (WSJ)
• Sahara India Defaults on Luxury Hotel Loans From Bank of China (BBG)

- “Bail-in is now the rule” - EU Finance Minister Noonan  - Austrian bondholders today … international depositors tomorrow ... We urge readers to diversify deposit holdings and acquire allocated gold to protect their wealth during the next phase of the banking crisis.

• 3 days after Zero Hedge, here's Bloomberg: Company Cash Bathes Stocks as Monthly Buybacks Set Record (BBG)
• Israel's Netanyahu to address Congress in speech that has strained ties with Obama (Reuters), Risks Diplomatic, Political Pain If Speech Falls Flat (BBG)
• Before Key Speech, Netanyahu Hails U.S. Ties (WSJ)
• $1.92 bilion FX rigging charge: Barclays Posts Loss as Foreign-Exchange Provisions Rise (WSJ)
• Barclays Awards Jenkins First Bonus as CEO, Cuts Pay Pool (BBG)
• Exxon’s Russia Exposure Surges as Long View Outweighs Sanctions (BBG)
• Obama says Iran must halt key nuclear work for at least a decade (Reuters)
• Yellen Turning from Friend to Foe for Dollar Bulls (BBG)

There is no exit strategy…there is only a continuation strategy... and The Fed’s cronies have always known this. Yellen is simply paralyzed with fear that the markets will violently react to a tightening of policy. The Fed is being held hostage to the financial markets but, ironically, is in no mood to escape its captors despite so many clear opportunities. The lack of action, by Yellen, can only be described as cowardly.

• Hilsenrath: Fed Ushering in New Era of Uncertainty on Rates (WSJ)
• Is Supreme Court's chief justice ready to take down ObamaCare? (The Hill)
• Netanyahu arrives in U.S., signs of easing of tensions over Iran speech (Reuters)
• Nemtsov Murder Fuels Suspicion, Fails to Spur Russia Selloff (BBG)
• ECB uncomfortable with leading role in Greek funding drama (Reuters)
• Video shows Los Angeles police shooting homeless man dead (Reuters)
• Iraq Military Begins Campaign to Reclaim Tikrit (WSJ)
• How Billionaires in London Use Secret Luxury Homes to Hide Assets (BBG)