Private Equity

• Headline of the day goes to... Cold weather seen temporarily slowing U.S. economy (Reuters)
• Americans Want to Pull Back From World Stage, Poll Finds (WSJ)
• U.S. Plans to Charge BNP Over Sanctions (WSJ)
• What about Jay Carney: Putin Threat to Retaliate for Sanctions Carries Risks (BBG)
• Fed expected to take further step toward ending bond buying (Reuters)
• A Fed-Watcher’s Guide to FOMC Day: Steady Taper, Green Shoots (BBG)
• Alstom accepts 10 billion euro GE bid for its energy unit (Reuters)
• BOJ projects inflation exceeding 2 percent, keeps bullish view intact (Reuters)

Bad Government and Central Bank Policy Are the MAIN CAUSE of Runaway Inequality

This eruption of late cycle bubble finance hardly needs comment. Below are highlights from a Bloomberg Story detailing the recent surge of leveraged recaps by the big LBO operators. These maneuvers amount to piling more debt on already heavily leveraged companies, but not to fund Capex or new products, technology or process improvements that might give these debt mules an outside chance of survival over time. No, the freshly borrowed cash from a leveraged recap often does not even leave the closing conference room - it just gets recycled out as a dividend to the LBO sponsors who otherwise hold a tiny sliver of equity at the bottom of the capital structure. This is financial strip-mining pure and simple - and is a by-product of the Fed’s insane repression of interest rates.

 “On the way in, there’s insatiable demand.” Alas, “it’s going to be a disaster on the way out.”

"The amount of experience he has is ridiculous," says former JPM prop trader Galuti, adding "- in a positive way," as he explains why former Clinton Commerce secretary (and Obama chief of staff) Bill Daley has joined the small Swiss-based hedge fund. The revolving door of favors continues as Daley, who The FT reports will be based in Chicago and oversee US expansion (as well as provide macroeconomic and political advice), joins an ever-growing number of former Obama administration officials to have taken jobs in the financial sector.

• Ukraine forces kill up to five rebels, Putin warns of consequences (Reuters)
• Obama to Russia: More sanctions are 'teed up' (AP)
• Vienna Banks Bemoan Russia Sanctions Testing Cold War Neutrality (BBG)
• GE’s $57 Billion Cash Overseas Said to Fuel Alstom Deal (BBG)
• GM posts lower first-quarter profit after recall costs (Reuters)
• Apple Stock Split Removes Obstacle to Inclusion in Dow (BBG)
• U.S. regulators to propose new net neutrality rules in May (Reuters)

In February, we highlighted the fact that subprime loans were about to make a return: Subprime Mortgages are Back…This Time Marketed as “Second Chance Purchase Programs.” In that article, we posited that with the “all cash” private equity shops and hedge funds no longer able to make good returns through buying new homes to rent, these investors would need some sucker to sell to in order to realize a return (Blackstone’s purchases have plunged 70% recently). That sucker, as always, will be the retail muppets, and those muppets will be lured in through subprime. This is now starting to happen in earnest. "We're sorry, but on what sort of bizarro crackhead planet is putting 3% down toward an asset mean you are “buying it.” ... The Truman Show rolls on..."

• Ukraine Accord Nears Collapse as Biden Meets Kiev Leaders (BBG)
• Novartis reshapes business via deals with GSK and Lilly (Reuters)
• Moscow Bankers See Fees Slide 67% as Ukraine Crisis Grows (BBG)
• Why ECB's QE will be Ukraine's fault: Draghi Gauges Ukraine Effect as ECB Tackles Low Inflation (BBG)
• As Phone Subsidies Fade, Apple Could Be Hurt (WSJ)
• Amazon Sales Take a Hit in States With Online Tax (BBG)
• Ford Speeds Up Succession Plan: Mark Fields, Auto Maker's No. 2, Seen Replacing Alan Mulally as CEO Ahead of Schedule (WSJ)
• U.S. force in Afghanistan may be cut to less than 10,000 troops (Reuters)
• IBM End to Buyback Splurge Pressures CEO to Boost Revenue (BBG)

• Putin playing the long game over Russian kin in Ukraine (Reuters)
• U.S.-Russia Relations Come Full Circle After Ukraine (WSJ)
• Japan PM makes offering to Yasukuni Shrine, angers China, South Korea (Reuters)
• In Gold Miners' Talks, Scale Is Crucial: Combined Barrick-Newmont Would Be Able to Trim Costs (WSJ)
• SEC Said to Weigh Shining Light on Brokers’ Stock Routing (BBG)... and protmply unweigh it
• Exelon Beating Facebook in S&P 500 After Valuation Scare (BBG)
• Court Case May Help Define 'Insider Trading' (WSJ)
• Spanish banks face tough rivalry in small companies bet (Reuters)

They’re not even trying to blame the weather this time.

Why a stranger on Facebook is not a source of a good deal flow?

• J.P. Morgan's Dimon Describes Year of Pain (WSJ)
• SAC Faces a Final Reckoning for 14 Years of Insider Scam (BBG)
• New Standards for $693 Trillion Swaps Market Increase Risk of Blowup (BBG)
• China says no major stimulus planned; March trade weak (Reuters)
• As we said in 2012 would happen: Record Europe Dividends Keep $3 Trillion From Factories (BBG)
• Blame it on the algo: Deutsche Bank Said to Find Improper Communication in FX Case (BBG)
• Coke Sticks to Its Strategy While Soda Sales Slide (WSJ)
• Ukraine’s Rust Belt Faces Ruin as Putin Threatens Imports (BBG)
• RBC Joins Goldman in Suing Clients After Singapore Crash  (BBG)
• U.S. House panel to look at aluminum prices, warehousing (Reuters)
• Brooklyn Apartment Rents Jump to a Record as Leases Surge (BBG)

All the gains that Japan's Nikkei 225 futures had achieved in the post-FOMC-Minutes exuberance have been lost as first Japan (huge miss in machine orders) and then China (huge miss in imports and exports) hit the market with a disappointing data double whammy. US futures are relatively untouched for now (even as USDJPY tumbles back below 102). Asian equity markets are mixed (China/India down notably and Japan fading fast) as another Chinese bank has "delayed payment" on a bond. Copper prices have also reverted and given up post-FOMC gains (despite rumors of PBOC bailout buying).

Oops. Another day, another failed IPO. Private equity group Blackstone's darling La Quinta IPO'd at $17 last night raising $650 million (at a multiple of 47 times last year's earnings). This was already below the low end of the range ($18 to $21) but this morning's open shows it seems the 'public' is not buying the hyper-growth story anymore....

• Top Medicare Doctor Paid $21 Million in 2012, Data Shows (BBG)
• Separatists build barricades in east Ukraine, Kiev warns of force (Reuters)
• Greece launches sale of five-year bond (FT)
• High-Frequency Trader Malyshev Mulls Accepting Outside Investors (BBG)
• U.S. defense chief gets earful as China visit exposes tensions (Reuters)
• GM Workers Who Built Defective Cars Fret About Recall (BBG)
• Kerry, Congress Agree: Superpower Status Not What It Was (BBG)
• Crimeans Homeless in Ukraine Seek Solace in Kiev Asylums (BBG)
• JPMorgan's Dimon says U.S. banks healthy, Europe lagging (Reuters)