Blackrock

• Facebook Researchers Manipulated News Feeds in 2012 Study (BBG)
• Argentina at Brink of Default as $539 Million Payment Due (BBG)
• Hedge fund correlation risk alarms investors (FT)
• As China Flexes Muscle, Obama Frets Over Rival’s Weakness (BBG)
• As caliphate declared, Iraqi troops battle for Tikrit (Reuters)
• Dubai Caps Worst Month Since 2008 as Real Estate Stocks Tumble (BBG)
• Russian Advisers Ready Iraq to Use New Combat Aircraft (BBG)
• Blackstone Readies Big-Bet Hedge Fund (WSJ) - so what was GSO?
• Pope says communists are closet Christians (Reuters)
• Thomson Reuters revising FX trading standards (Reuters)

• Currency Probe Widens as U.S. Said to Target Markups (BBG)
• Battle for Iraq refinery as U.S. hesitates to strike (Reuters)
• Ukraine forces battle separatists after truce 'refused' (Reuters)
• Fed Dots Ignored as Investors Focus on Yellen’s Message (BBG)
• Retirees Suffer as $300 Billion 401(k) Rollover Boom Enriches Brokers (BBG)
• American Apparel ousts CEO; source says Dov Charney 'will fight like hell' (LA Times)
• House Panel Is Subpoenaed as Trading Probe Heats Up (WSJ)
• GM Officials Ignored Alert on Car Stalling (WSJ)
• Russia’s $20 Billion Bond Void Filled by China to Mexico (BBG)

In his first press conference since the loss last night, it is widely expected that Eric Cantor will resign as House Majority Leader (on July 31). Of course, we are sure Goldman Sachs and BlackRock are fascinated to hear how they are going to get their money back?

The complete implosion in volume and vol, not to mention bond yields continues, and appears to have spilled over into events newsflow where overnight virtually nothing happened, or at least such is the algos' complete disregard for any real time headlines that as bond yields dropped to fresh record lows in many countries and the US 10Y sliding to a 2.3% handle, confused US equity futures have recouped almost all their losses from yesterday despite a USDJPY carry trade which has once again dropped to the 101.5 level, and are set for new record highs. Perhaps they are just waiting for today's downward revision in Q1 GDP to a negative print before blasting off on their way to Jeremy Grantham's 2,200 bubble peak after which Bernanke's Frankenstein market will finally, mercifully die.

If there was some confusion yesterday why in the first quarter, seemingly having no better capital allocation option S&P500 corporate CEOs spent a record $160 billion on stock buybacks, then the following report should explain it: According to a new study by the AP, the median pay package for a CEO rose above eight figures for the first time last year. The head of a typical large public company earned a record $10.5 million, an increase of 8.8 percent from $9.6 million in 2012, according to an Associated Press/Equilar pay study.

The inevitable shuttering of at least 3 billion square feet of retail space is a certainty. The aging demographics of the U.S. population, dire economic situation of both young and old, and sheer lunacy of the retail expansion since 2000, guarantee a future of ghost malls, decaying weed infested empty parking lots, retailer bankruptcies, real estate developer bankruptcies, massive loan losses for the banking industry, and the loss of millions of retail jobs. Since we always look for a silver lining in a black cloud, we predict a bright future for the SPACE AVAILABLE and GOING OUT OF BUSINESS sign making companies.

• The Fed can't print trade? World Trade Flows Fall in First Quarter (WSJ)
• PBOC’s Zhou Says China May Have Housing Bubble in ‘Some Cities’ (BBG)
• ECB's Weidmann - Reviving ABS market not task for central bank (Reuters)
• LOL: Fitch upgrades Greece by a notch to 'B'; outlook stable (Reuters)
• LOL x2: Spain Sovereign Debt Rating Upgraded by S&P (BBG)
• China Will Vet Tech Firms After Threatening U.S. Retaliation (BBG)
• US to claim victory over China in WTO car dispute (BBG)
• Obama urges Democrats to vote in midterms, attacks Republicans (Reuters)
• U.S. Military Pushes for More Disclosure on Drone Strikes (WSJ)

More than half a decade after the collapse, and with talking heads proclaiming the recovery as strong as ever and the Fed remarking on the housing market's foundational pillar to that recovery, BlackRock's CEO Larry Fink has a few words of warning for the exuberant - the US housing market is "structurally more unsound" today that before the last financial crisis. As the data comes in weaker and weaker, despite hopes for a post-weather bounce, the fact that the US housing market is "more dependent on Fannie and Freddie than we were before the crisis," is a problem for the US taxpayer and - unlike Mel Watt's 'free credit for everyone' approach to expanding the GSE's role, Fink says with strong underwriting standards, ownership of affordable homes can again become a foundation for American families. So Watt's easy 'Subprime 2.0' or Fink's hard 'American Dream'.

• Bank of England sees 'no housing bubble' (Independent)
• ‘If the euro falls, Europe falls’ (FT)
• India's pro-business Modi storms to historic election win (Reuters)
• Global Growth Worries Climb (WSJ)
• Bitcoin Foundation hit by resignations over new director (Reuters)
• Blackstone Goes All In After the Flop (WSJ)
• SAC's Steinberg loses bid for insider trading acquittal (Reuters)
• Beats Satan: Republicans Paint Reid as Bogeyman in 2014 Senate Races (BBG)
• Tech Firms, Small Startups Object to Paying for Internet 'Fast Lanes' (WSJ) - but they just provide liquidity
• U.S. Warns Russia of Sanctions as Ukraine Troops Advance (BBG)
• Major U.S. hedge funds sold 'momentum' Internet names in first-quarter (Reuters)

Stuyvesant Town, Manhattan's largest 'rental community', is back on the block as Bloomberg reports Fortress is preparing a $4.7bn bid for the apartmenet complex whose last 'failed' deal came to epitomize the lax lending based on unrealistic projections of future income that fueled the real estate bubble. Tishman Speyer and BlackRock purchased the 11,000-unit complex for $5.4 billion in 2006 - a record at the time - helped by a $3bn senior loan which was sliced-and-diced to investors (and then defaulted upon). But, as one analyst notes, "Stuytown has certainly come a long way since the depths of the crisis,” and Fortress' $4.7bn reflects a "resurgence in pricing." No bubble here at all as they hope rent-stabilized tenants will flip enabling all that fresh cash-flow for yet another yield-chasing investment idea based on the belief that real-estate prices (and rents) never go down (ever)... or potential buyers might remember "too many people have had too many unpleasant surprises at this location."

It has been a very quiet session so far, and despite the slow-mo levitation in the USDJPY, its impact on US equity futures has been minimal if not negative. In fact, following yesterday's latest late day tumble, which Goldman summarized as follows, "Equities tried and failed again to break 1885, it continues to be the level that we can’t escape"... it would appear we are increasingly changing the trading regime, and as Guy Haselmann explained simply, markets are slowly but surely coming to the realization that the Fed's crutches are being taken away (that they may well return following a 20%, 30%, or more drop in the S&P is a different matter entirely) and that the economy will not grow fast enough to make up for this. Perhaps the most notable "event" is the sheer avalanche of banks pushing up their forecasts for an ECB rate cut (and or QE start) to June following Draghi's yesterday comments. And so the 1 month countdown begins until the end of forward guidance, or until the ECB "shatters" its credibility as expained yesteday.

“Flash Boys” is a book written for Hollywood instead of the history books or policy makers.  Stay tuned for the movie.  

• 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)

• Putin Doesn't Rule Out Sending Troops (WSJ)
• Japan Cuts Economic View on Tax Rise (WSJ)
• No "harsh weather" in Chipotle restaurants where comp store sales rose 13.4% (PR)
• No sanctions for you: EU sanctions push on Russia falters amid big business lobbying (FT)
• Consumer Spending on Health Care Jumps as Obamacare Takes Hold (BBG)
• China Seen Cracking on Property Controls (BBG)
• Google, IBM results raise questions about other tech-sector companies (Reuters)
• California city evacuation lifted after military ordnance found (Reuters)
• For Obama, Standoff With Moscow Jumbles Plans at Home and Abroad (WSJ)