Apple

• Samaras Says He’d Join Alliance to Keep Greece in Euro (BBG)
• Tensions with Warren camp could loom over Clinton campaign (Reuters)
• Ackman Report on Herbalife in China Figures in Probe (WSJ)
• Al Shabaab storms Kenyan university, 14 reported killed (Reuters)
• Iraq’s Four-Mile Line of Supertankers Fuels Shipping-Rates Surge (BBG)
• Menendez's fate could sharpen Republicans' edge in Senate (Reuters)
• IRS Chief Chides Ted Cruz Over 'Abolish the IRS' Mantra (BBG)
• Yemen Houthi fighters backed by tanks reach central Aden (Reuters)

With both channel stuffing and subprime out of the window if only for the time being, GM, whose China sales are falling off a cliff, had to come up with some urgent source of end demand. And thanks to recently disclosed data, we now know that "once a Government Motors, always a Government Motors", because just the first quarter of 2015, the average annual increase in sales to Uncle Sam, aka the Government was a whopping 24%, just  about 100% higher than GM's headline rate of sales increase!

Three weeks ago, when Hillary Clinton was scrambling to come up with a credible lie to explain why she was using a personal server for email distribution - one that was not US government property and thus exempt from official FOIA requests - she said during a press conference at the United Nations that the reason was simple: it was simply a matter of "convenience" of carrying just one device."when I got to work as secretary of State, I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed by the State Department, because I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for my personal emails instead of two." As it turns out she lied. Again.

• Oil holds around $55 as Iran nuclear talks drag on (Reuters)
• Bob Diamond’s African Banking Venture Runs Into Problems (WSJ)
• Iran Nuclear Talks Resume With Lavrov Saying Deal at Hand (BBG)
• Wal-Mart Ratchets Up Pressure on Suppliers to Cut Prices (WSJ)
• Renegades of Junk: The Rise and Fall of the Drexel Empire (BBG)
• Explosion at Yemen factory kills at least 25: residents, medics (Reuters)
• Macerich Rejects Simon Property’s $16.8 Billion Takeover Bid (WSJ)
• Reckoning Arrives for Cash-Strapped Oil Firms Amid Bank Squeeze (BBG)

• Iran, powers push for nuclear deal as clock ticks toward deadline (Reuters)
• How DIY Bond Traders Displaced Wall Street’s Hot Shots (BBG)
• MillerCoors Caught in a Downdraft (WSJ)
• Saudi-led strikes again hit Yemen overnight (Reuters)
• Even With Free Money, Merkel Still Reluctant to Spend (BBG)
• Britain Uses Tax Breaks to Lure Digital-Game Developers (WSJ)
• China to Insure Deposits in Move Toward Scrapping Rate Curbs (BBG)
• As China Expands Its Navy, the U.S. Grows Wary (WSJ)

In all the annals of investing, few seemingly innocuous phrases incorporate as much by way of grave implication as those four words, “a shift to banknotes”. 2008 was bad. With central bank policy now at the outer reaches of the possible and even of the theoretical, the outlook is certainly uncertain. Not wishing to participate in the terminal stages of a momentum-driven bubble is not bearish so much as simply sane.

• Setbacks and progress as Iran, six powers meet to end nuclear impasse (Reuters)
• Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Leave Iran Nuclear Talks (WSJ)
• Obama Ramps Up Lobbying on Iran as Deadline Looms (WSJ)
• Greek yields edge up as lenders scrutinise reform pledge (Reuters)
• Oil prices drop on possible Iran deal, dollar (Reuters)
• Yemen’s Houthis Battle for Aden as Saudi Strikes Hit Rebels (BBG)
• Iran nuclear deal to see $20 oil if Tehran floods crude market (Telegraph)
• China’s Zhou Says PBOC Has Room to Act on Growth Slowdown (BBG)

• Google's new CFO to make $70 million (WSJ)
• Senate passes Republican budget with deep safety net cuts (Reuters)
• With Yemen strikes, Saudis show growing independence from U.S. (Reuters)
• Banks Slash Dividends as Loans Sour From Beijing To Pearl River (BBG)
• North American Railroads Caught by Speed of Crude-Oil Collapse (BBG)
• Japan’s Zero Inflation a Setback for Abenomics (WSJ)
• Cooperman Says U.S. Seeks Information About Omega Trades (BBG)

• Saudi Arabia, allies launch air strikes in Yemen against Houthi fighters (Reuters)
• Pilot on Crashed Jet Was Locked Out of Cockpit, NY Times Says (BBG)
• Why Bombing This Tiny Oil Producer Is Roiling the Energy Market (BBG)
• U.S.-led coalition, Iraqis pound Islamic State in Tikrit (Reuters)
• Munger Says Prepare for Harder World as Buying Power Slides (BBG),Mocks Greek ‘Idiotic Idea’ You Can Vote Yourself Rich (BBG)
• The Central Banker Who Saved the Russian Economy From the Abyss (BBG)
• Bank of Canada says foreign buyers complicate housing market (Reuters)
• Investors Scoop Up Companies’ Bonds (WSJ)
• Espirito Santo Probe Turns Mariana Mortagua Into Portuguese Star (BBG)

Did you know that about one-fourth of the entire global prison population is in the United States?  Did you know that Apple has more money than the U.S. Treasury?  Did you know that if you have no debt and also have 10 dollars in your wallet that you are wealthier than 25 percent of all Americans?  Did you know that by the time an American child reaches the age of 18, that child will have seen approximately 40,000 murders on television?  There are some things that are great about the United States, and there are definitely some things that are not so great.  Once upon a time we were the most loved and most respected nation on the entire planet, but those days are long gone.

• ECB Tells Greek Banks Not to Boost Exposure to Athens Government’s Debt (WSJ)
• Search teams probe wreckage of jet in French Alps (Reuters)
• Flight Recorders Offer Best Hope of Explaining Jet’s Fatal Drop (BBG)
• Yemen Houthi militia sweeps toward Aden in threat to president (Reuters)
• In Nigeria, Oil Price’s Slide Deters Theft (WSJ)
• Saudi Arabia building up military near Yemen border (Reuters)
• Quant Who Shook the Financial World Tries More Humble Approach (BBG)
• Executive Pensions Are Swelling at Top Companies (WSJ)

The $665 Million Evolution in a Space Nobody Respected a Year Ago - Already Outpacing the Internet Circa 1994

Can stocks keep hitting new highs even as sales and profits fall?

• Saudis keep on pumping, oil prices keep on slumping (Reuters)
• Tenet Healthcare Nearing Deal to Buy United Surgical Partners (WSJ)
• Dizzying Pre-IPO Tech Values Spurred by Rush of Hedge-Fund Money (BBG)
• Russia threatens to aim nuclear missiles at Denmark ships if it joins NATO shield (Reuters)
• Torrent of Cash Exits Eurozone (WSJ)
• Draghi Cheerleads for Euro-Area Economy as Greek Risk Looms (BBG)
• Fortescue Mines for More Financing Options (WSJ)
• Topix Charts Evoke Calm Before ’13 Rout as Momentum Gains (BBG)