Wells Fargo

• Qatar Bank: Deutsche Bank to raise $11 bln with help from Qatar (Reuters)
• AstraZeneca rejects Pfizer's take-it-or-leave-it offer (Reuters)
• China Home-Price Growth Slowdown Spreads as Sellers Discount (BBG)
• The new face of NSA: Mike Rogers (Reuters)
• Putin orders troops near Ukraine to return home (AP)
• Wall of Worry Rebuilt as Nasdaq Rout Sends Cash to High (Nasdaq)
• Bank of England's Mark Carney highlights housing market's risk to UK economy (Guardian)
• Greek Selloff Shows Rush for Exit Recalling Crisis (BBG)
• Anti-austerity Greek radicals ahead in Athens local election (AFP)

• 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)

• EU Court: Google Must Remove Certain Links on Request (WSJ), people have right to be forgotten on Internet (Reuters)
• Harsh weather: German Investor Confidence Drops for Fifth Straight Month (BBG)
• More harsh weather: China Slowdown Deepens (BBG)
• Harsh weather as far as the eye can see: China’s New Credit Declines (BBG)
• "Alien" artist, surrealist H.R. Giger dies aged 74 (Reuters)
• Pfizer urges AstraZeneca to talk as UK lawmakers slam offer (Reuters)
• Property sector slowdown adds to China fears (FT)
• Russia says EU sanctions will hurt Ukraine peace efforts (Reuters)
• U.S. Considers Relaxing Crude Oil Export Restrictions (WSJ)

• Hillary and Me: The 2008 campaign was a nightmare. Will 2016 be as bad?  (Politico)
• What Timothy Geithner Really Thinks (NYT)
• Rebels declare victory in east Ukraine self-rule vote (Reuters)
• Race for AIG's Top Job Has Two Favorites (WSJ)
• America on the Move Becomes Stay-at-Home Nation for Millennials (BBG)
• Old, Fired at IBM: Trendsetter Offers Workers Arbitration (BBG)
• Bad luck Jonathan: Pressure Mounts on Nigerian President (WSJ)
• Iran leader slams West's 'stupid' missile stance before talks (Reuters)
• Conchita Wurst of Austria Wins Eurovision Song Contest (WSJ)
• Greek Finance Ministry expects Q1 GDP contraction of less than 1.5 pct (Kathimerini)

• Omnicom, Publicis call off proposed $35 billion merger (Reuters)
• Apple in talks for $3.2bn Beats deal (FT)
• Alibaba IPO Grew Out of ’80s Chaos and Guy From Goldman (BBG)
• Nigeria's president at WEF pledges to free kidnapped girls (Reuters)
• JPMorgan Joins Wells Fargo in Rolling Out Jumbo Offerings (BBG)
• It's 1999 all over again: Young Bankers Fed Up With 90-Hour Weeks Move to Startups (BBG)
• ECB stimulus talk knocks euro, peripheral yields (Reuters)
• Deutsche Bank Currency Crown Lost to Citigroup on Volatility (BBG)
• London Taxis Plan 10,000-Car Protest Against Uber App Use (BBG)
• Pfizer Holders Could Face Tax Hit in a Deal for AstraZeneca (WSJ)

• China’s Trade Unexpectedly Rises (BBG)
• 'We're already not in Ukraine' - rebel east readies secession vote (Reuters)
• Pro-Russian Separatists in Ukraine Reject Putin's Call to Delay Vote (WSJ)
• Vietnam’s Stocks Post Biggest Loss in Decade on China Tensions (BBG)
• Hedge Funds Extend Their Slide (WSJ)
• Carney Looks to Untested Tools as House Prices Boom (BBG)
• New Draghi Era Seen on Hold at ECB as Euro Area Recovers (BBG)
• Woman With Printer Shows the Digital Ease of Bogus Cash (BBG)
• Regulators See Growing Financial Risks Outside Traditional Banks (WSJ)

• Alibaba files for what may be biggest tech IPO (Reuters)
• Early Tap of 401(k) Replaces Homes as American Piggy Bank (BBG)
• Developers Turn Former Office Buildings Into High-End Apartments (WSJ)
• Thai court orders Yingluck Shinawatra to step down as PM (Guardian)
• German industry orders fell 2.8% in March, the biggest drop in one and a half years (RTE)
• Ukraine Bulls Scatter as Death Toll Mounts (BBG)
• China Property Slump Adds Danger to Local Finances (BBG)
• Stein Says Fed May See Bouts of Volatility as It Approaches Exit (BBG)

Wall Street is back in the business of lending money at the Fed’s gifted rate of zero plus a modest 80 basis point spread - so that the fast money can buy CLO paper on 9 to 1 leverage. There is your triple shuffle. It didn’t work out last time, but that doesn’t matter because the game is obvious. After enough buying on Wall Street’s triple leverage, junk loan prices might temporarily rebound. Then the brokers will put out the call to retail: The junk loan asset class is rebounding - its time to come back. For the final shearing, that is!

• Both sides bury dead as Ukraine slides towards war (Reuters)
• Dollar wilts to 6 1/2-month low; shares drift (Reuters)
• Draghi Grapples With Money Markets Signaling Recovery Too Early (BBG)
• Foreign wristslaps: Credit Suisse Nears Record Tax Plea: Credit Suisse Settlement Expected to Exceed $1 Billion (WSJ)
• OECD joins IMF in cutting global growth forecast, demanding moar QE from ECB  (WSJ)
• Three Bankers Bolster Blankfein as Goldman Trading Sinks (BBG)
• Strong performance from eurozone services sector (FT)
• OECD Cuts Forecast for 2014 Global Growth; Urges ECB Action (WSJ)
• Elite Colleges Don't Buy Happiness for Graduates (WSJ)
• How Russia Inc. Moves Billions Offshore -- and a Handful of Tax Havens May Hold Key to Sanctions (BBG)

• Fed’s Fisher Says Economy Strengthening as Payrolls Rise (BBG)
• Russia Knows Europe Sanctions Ineffective With Tax Havens (BBG)
• EU Cuts Euro-Area Growth Outlook as Inflation Seen Slower (BBG)
• U.S. Firms With Irish Addresses Get Tax Breaks Derided as ‘Blarney’ (BBG)
• Portugal exits bailout without safety net of credit line (Euronews)
• Puzzled Malaysian Air Searchers Ponder What to Try Now (BBG)
• Barclays, Credit Suisse Battle Banker Exodus, Legal Woes (BBG)
• Germany says euro level not an issue for politicians (Reuters)
• Alibaba-Sized Hole Blown in Nasdaq 100 Amid New Stock (BBG)
• Obamacare to save large corporations hundreds of billions (The Hill)

• Ukraine attacks rebel city, helicopter shot down (Reuters)
• Euro Unemployment Holds Near Record Amid Factory Gains (BBG)
• Yellen’s Fed Resigned to Diminished Growth Expectations (BBG)
• Junket Figure's Disappearance Shakes Macau's Gambling Industry (WSJ)
• China tried to undermine economic report showing its ascendancy (WSJ)
• Liquidity Trap Hitting AAA Bonds Has ATP CEO Sounding Alarm (BBG)
• AstraZeneca Snubs Pfizer Approach That U.K. Won’t Block (BBG)
• Missing Jet Recordings May Have Been 'Edited' (NBC)
• RBS turns corner as first-quarter profit trebles (Reuters)
• Japan household spending hits four-decade high, wages key to outlook (RTRS) while Real Incomes Drop 3.3% in March, 6th straight decline

• Two-Thirds of Insurance Exchange Enrollees Paid Premiums (WSJ)
• Panic: Criminal Charges Against Banks Risk Sparking Crisis (BBG)
• Did the junk bubble pop: Junk Loans Pulled as Investors Say No After Fed Raises Concerns (BBG)
• CME mulls price fluctuation limits for gold, silver futures (Reuters)
• AT&T Has Approached DirecTV About Possible Acquisition (WSJ)
• NBA sets wheels turning for Clippers sale; Oprah in wings (Reuters)
• One way to fix prison overcrowding: Florida Jail Hit by Deadly Blast (WSJ)
• New Boeing jets hold key to more than half of future sales (Reuters)
• Sony slashes profit estimate by 70% (Guardian)

It doesn’t get any more Orwellian than this: Wall Street mega banks crash the U.S. financial system in 2008. Hundreds of thousands of financial industry workers lose their jobs. Then, beginning late last year, a rash of suspicious deaths start to occur among current and former bank employees.  Next we learn that four of the Wall Street mega banks likely hold over $680 billion face amount of life insurance on their workers, payable to the banks, not the families. We ask their Federal regulator for the details of this life insurance under a Freedom of Information Act request and we’re told the information constitutes “trade secrets.”

• U.S. Plans to Hit Putin Inner Circle With New Sanctions (BBG)
• Russian Billions Scattered Abroad Show Trail to Putin Circle (BBG)
• GE’s Alstom Bid Gains Steam as Hollande Said Not Opposed (BBG)
• Russia-West tensions pressure stocks, buoy oil prices (Reuters)
• Toyota Said to Plan to Move U.S. Sales Office to Texas (BBG)
• Egyptian court seeks death sentence for Brotherhood leader, 682 supporters (Reuters)
• Greece warned of 14.9 billion euro financing gap (FT)
• Comcast to shed 3.9 million subscribers to ease cable deal (Reuters)
• Big U.S. Banks Make Swaps a Foreign Affair (WSJ)

• Russia raises interest rates to 7.5% (FT)
• Shanghai to Allow Raw Material Exchanges in Trade Zone (BBG)
• US, Japan Fail to Clinch Trade Deal (WSJ)
• 'We don't have a magic wand', says ECB's Constancio (Reuters)
• Tokyo Inflation Quickens to Fastest Since 1992 (BBG)
• Demand for Home Loans Plunges (WSJ)
• EU banks urged to grasp chance to raise capital (FT)