Blackrock

• Ukraine Says Russia Exporting ‘Terror’ Amid Eastern Push (BBG)
• Civil War Threat in Ukraine (Reuters)
• China Shoe Plant Strike Disrupts Output at Nike, Adidas Supplier (BBG)
• Mt Gox to liquidate (WSJ)
• Ex-Co-Op Bank Chairman Charged With Cocaine Possession (BBG)
• Goldman Sachs plans to jump-start stock-trading business (WSJ)
• Credit Suisse first-quarter profit falls as trading tumbles (Reuters)
• U.K. Unemployment Rate Falls to Five-Year Low (BBG)
• Lawmakers Back High-Frequency Trade Curbs in EU Markets Law (BBG)
• Yahoo's growth anemic as turnaround chugs along (Reuters)
• Spain ETF Grows as Rajoy Attracts Record U.S. Investments (BBG)

Futures are treading water once more now that Ukraine has stormed to center stage from the backburner after everyone was convinced Putin would let the situation cool off after annexing Crimea. Guess not. Adding the renewed geopolitical jitters to what has already been a beta stock bloodbath into a holiday shortened week assures some high volatility fireworks. Cautious sentiment was observed over in Asia (Nikkei 225 -0.36%) amid renewed fears that geopolitical tensions in Ukraine will flare up again following reports of exchange gunfire with pro-Russian militants. This sentiment carried over into the European session with stocks lower across the board (Eurostoxx50 -0.71%). EUR is lower after ECB’s Draghi said any further strengthening of the EUR would warrant further action by the ECB, including non-standard measures such as quantitative easing - it is amazing how frequently and often the Virtu algos still fall for Draghi's jawboning trick which has now become all too clear will never be implemented and certainly not if he keeps talking about it daily, as he does.

The problem is now readily apparent: without any gates to prevent HFT (ab)users from positioning themselves anywhere they wish in the constructiveness/profitabilty spectrum, it goes without saying that everyone will immediately flock to the most profitable, and hence, least constructive and most predatory, HFT strategies.

• The counter-HFT-attack begins with first target - dark pools: Dark markets may be more harmful than high-frequency trading (Reuters)
• Malaysia Jet Team Hears Pings Consistent With Black Box (BBG)
• At Toyota as Humans Steal Jobs From Robots (BBG)
• ‘Reverse Auctions’ Draw Scrutiny (NYT)
• Death knell sounds for Brazil’s economic strategy (FT)
• Technology Traders Head for the Exit as Put Trades Surge (BBG)
• NSA Uses Corporate News to Spread Propaganda and Silence Dissent (TruthDig)
• Holcim, Lafarge agree to merger to create cement giant (Reuters)
• Any minute now: Investment Jump Seen From Macy’s to Berkshire After 2013 Fizzle (BBG)
• India kicks off world's biggest election in remote northeast (Reuters)

• Nato chief defends eastern advance (FT)
• Russia looks east as it seeks to rebalance trade interests (FT)
• Plane from Guinea briefly quarantined in Paris after Ebola scare (AFP)
• US attacks Japan’s stance on Trans-Pacific Partnership (FT)
• Thank you IMF: Ukraine PM says will stick to austerity despite Moscow pressure (Reuters)
• U.S. Army seeks motive for Fort Hood shooting rampage (Reuters)
• China Slowdown Adds to Emerging-Market Growth Hurdles, IMF Says (BBG)
• Top investors press Allianz to step up oversight of Pimco (Reuters)
• U.S. to Evaluate Role in Mideast Peace Process, John Kerry Says (WSJ)
• Scientists dismiss claims that Yellowstone volcano about to erupt (Reuters)
• Ukraine detains 12 riot police on suspicion of 'mass murder' (Reuters) - on CIA orders?

The stock market really was rigged... “It’s 2009,” Katsuyama says. “This had been happening to me for almost two years. There’s no way I’m the first guy to have figured this out. So what happened to everyone else?” The question seemed to answer itself: Anyone who understood the problem was making money off it...

Two years ago, on April 2, 2012, long before it became abundantly clear to even the most clueless CNBC hacks, we said that there will be no capex boom as long as corporate management teams abuse ZIRP (and yes, it is all the Fed's fault as we further explained) to allocate capital, most of it courtesy of low-cost debt, by providing quick returns to activist investors through dividends and buybacks, instead of reallocating the funds to grow the company by investing in Capex (the latest proof of the unprecedented lack of capital spending growth increase came earlier today) and SG&A or at least M&A. Two years later after our post, whose conclusion has been proven empirically by what has happened in the US economy where CapEx still refuses to pick up despite endless lies of some recovery that refuses to materialize except in talking head year-end bonuses, none other than the head of the world's largest asset manager, BlackRock's Larry Fink admits we were right all along.

• One-Ship Ukraine Navy Defies Russia to the End (WSJ)
• Crimea-Induced Trading Surge Stokes Moscow Exchange Rally (BBG)
• Moscow says Ukraine stops Russian crews disembarking in Kiev (Reuters)
• New images show more than 100 objects that could be plane debris (Reuters)
• Anger of Flight 370 Families Explodes in Beijing (BBG)
• Murdoch Promotes Son Lachlan in Succession Plan for Empire (BBG)
• Facebook to buy virtual reality goggles maker for $2 billion (Reuters)
• Syrian Regime Exploits Rebel Despair (WSJ)
• King Digital IPO price may not bode well for stock (Reuters)
• Rothschild in Twitter Spat as Bakries Cut Ties With Miner (BBG)

• U.S. Small-Cap Rally Sends Valuation 26% Above 1990s  (BBG)
• Russian troops seize Ukraine marine base in Crimea (Reuters)
• Apple in Talks With Comcast About Streaming-TV Service (WSJ)
• Top J.P. Morgan Executive in China to Leave Bank (WSJ)
• Treasury's Lew to undergo treatment for enlarged prostate (Reuters)
• Billionaire Sought by U.S. Holds Key to Putin Gas Cash  (BBG)
• Israel closes embassies around the world as diplomats strike (Reuters)
• Herbalife to Nominate Three More Icahn Candidates to Board (BBG)
• Australian ship homes in on possible debris from Malaysia plane (Reuters)
• California DMV Investigating Potential Credit Card Breach (WSJ)

In what many thought was a miracle of modern money-printing-driven yield-chasing, Puerto Rico managed to get $3.5 billion of bonds off last week with no problem (albeit at a 8.73% yield). The issue (while perhaps not as surprising as the low yield issues of Uganda we have reflected on previously) raised some eyebrows and in the trading since its release, FINRA noticed something concerning.  The bonds, as Bloomberg reports, are supposed to 'minimum denomination $100,000' blocks and yet 75 trades this week have been for no more than $25,000 violating regulations which deem these for "institutional purchasers" and strongly suggesting the heavy hedge fund demand was nothing more than a pump-and-dump scheme to unsophisticated retail investors. PR bonds have plunged from par to $92 this week.

One of the primary drivers of the real estate bubble in the past several years, particularly in the ultra-luxury segment, were megawealthy Chinese buyers, seeking to park their cash into the safety of offshore real estate where it was deemed inaccessible to mainland regulators and overseers, tracking just where the Chinese record credit bubble would end up. Some, such as us, called it "hot money laundering", and together with foreclosure stuffing and institutional flipping (of rental units and otherwise), we said this was the third leg of the recent US housing bubble. However, while the impact of Chinese buying in the US has been tangible, it has paled in comparison with the epic Chinese buying frenzy in other offshore metropolitan centers like London and Hong Kong. This is understandable: after all as Chuck Prince famously said in 2007, just before the first US mega-bubble burst, "as long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance." In China, the music just ended.

• Lost Jet’s Path Seen as Altered via Computer (NYT)
• Fed Links Low Rates to “Persistent Headwinds” in Economy (Hilsenrath)
• Top German Court Clears Euro-Zone Bailout Fund (WSJ)
• U.S., EU set sanctions as Putin recognizes Crimea "sovereignty" (Reuters)
• Indian wealth effect: Sensex, Nifty hit life highs as domestic-focused firms rally (Reuters)
• China bond default has positive effect on local government groups (FT) - unless it's negative
• Russia tensions  risk higher gas prices (FT)
• China Home-Price Growth Slows in Big Cities on Tight Credit (BBG)
• ECB's Weidmann says German surpluses "here to stay" (Reuters)
• Microsoft Office for iPad (AAPL) to be introduced this month (The Verge)

• Index of largest Chinese stocks drops to lowest since February 2009 (BBG)
• Plane-Debris Hunters Seek Suspected Aircraft Window Part (BBG)
• New-Home Building Is Shifting to Apartments (WSJ)
• Forward Guidance Risks Stoking Instability, BIS Says (BBG)
• Alleged Bitcoin Millionaire Nakamoto Gets $28,000 Donations (BBG)
• Mexico kills drug kingpin reported dead years ago (Reuters)
• Tencent to Buy 15% Stake in JD.com to Boost E-Commerce (BBG)
• Bitcoin exchange MtGox 'faced 150,000 hack attacks every second’ (Telegraph)
• Noyer Says Stronger Euro Creates Unwarranted Pressure on Economy (BBG)
• Russian Forces Gain in Ukraine as Separatist Vote Looms (BBG)

Crowdfunding is set to disrupt the finance industry. Its about time!

• Draghi as ECB Master of Suspense Keeps Investors on Edge (BBG)
• Abe lays out detailed plan for expanding defense powers (Nikkei)
• Inflation Fuels Crises in Two Latin Nations (WSJ)
• Obama walks into crossfire of Asian tensions (FT)
• Harvard Makes Professor Disclose More After Blinkx Slides (BBG)
• Hedge Funds Rework Currency Positions in Market Drop (BBG)
• Canada, U.S. Strike Tax-Information Sharing Deal (WSJ)
• Indonesia calls for greater clarity from Fed on tapering (FT)
• Sony to cut 5,000 jobs, split off PC, TV operations (Reuters)