Wells Fargo

• Grillo kills move to break Italy deadlock (FT)
• Abe nominates Kuroda to run BoJ (FT)
• More WMT bad news: Wal-Mart Chief Administrative Officer Mars to Leave: WSJ (BBG)
• Japan's Abe: Islands Are Indisputably Ours (WSJ) - Except for China of course
• Low-key departure as pope steps down, to enter the final phase of his life "hidden from the world" (Reuters)
• Cuts unlikely to deliver promised budget savings (Reuters)
• European Union caps bankers’ bonuses (FT)
• White House, Republicans dig in ahead of budget talks (Reuters)
• Jockeying Stalls Deal on Cuts (WSJ)
• Argentina Says It Won’t Voluntarily Comply With Bond Ruling (BBG)
• Italian president says forming new government cannot be rushed (Reuters) - or happen at all
• Central Banks Spewing Cash Must Plan Exit Timing, Rohde Says (BBG)
• China Regional Targets Cut in Sign Debt Concerns Heeded (BBG)
• RBA Says Up to 34 Central Banks Holding Australian Dollars (BBG)

• Wal-Mart's Sales Problem—And America's (WSJ)
• Investors fret that Italy may undermine ECB backstop (Reuters)
• Monti Government Mulls Delaying Monte Paschi Bailout (BBG)
• Norway Faces Liquidity Shock in Record Redemption (BBG)
• ECB's Praet Says Accommodative Policy Could Lose Effectiveness (BBG)
• EU Chiefs Tell Italy There’s No Alternative to Austerity (BBG)
• New Spate of Acrimony in congress As Cuts Loom (WSJ)
• BOE's Tucker hints at radical growth moves (FT)
• Kuroda Seen Getting DPJ Vote for BOJ, Iwata May Be Opposed (BBG)
• Russian Banks Look to Yuan Bond Market (WSJ)
• Dagong warns about rising debt (China Daily)
• Italy Election Impasse Negative for Credit Rating, Moody’s Says (BBG)

• Italy Political Vacuum to Extend for Weeks as Bargaining Begins (BBG)
• Italian impasse rekindles eurozone jitters (FT)
• On Spending Cuts, the Focus Shifts to How, Not If (WSJ)
• Obama spending cuts strategy focused on waiting game (Reuters)
• BOE’s Tucker Says He’s Open to Expanding Asset-Purchase Program (BBG)
• Fed Faces Explaining Billion-Dollar Losses in Stress of QE3 Exit (BBG)
• Carney warns over lack of trust in banks (FT) - here's a solution: moar bank bailouts!
• Bundesbank tells France to stick to budget (FT)
• China to tighten shadow banking rules (FT)
• Saudis Step Up Help for Rebels in Syria With Croatian Arms (NYT)
• After election win, Anastasiades faces Cyprus bailout quagmire (Reuters)
• Just for the headline: Singapore’s Darwinian Budget Sparks Employer Ire (BBG)

• Risk of instability hangs over Italy poll (FT), Protest votes add to uncertainty in close Italy election (Reuters), and... Risk On
• Czech inspectors find horsemeat in IKEA meatballs (Reuters)
• China’s Slower Manufacturing Casts Shadow Over Recovery (Bloomberg)
• So much for reform: China Prepares for Government Shuffle as Zhou Stays at PBOC (Bloomberg)
• France to pause austerity, cut spending next year instead: Hollande (Reuters)
• Sinopec to buy stake in Chesapeake assets for $1.02 billion (Reuters)
• White House warns states of looming pain from March 1 budget cuts (Reuters)
• China Quietly Invests Reserves in U.K. Properties (WSJ)
• Osborne Keeps Austerity as Investors See Downgrade as Late (BBG)
• South Korea's new president demands North drop nuclear ambitions (Reuters)
• Russia accuses U.S. of double standards over Syria (Reuters)

U.S. Department of Justice, Airgas, Alternative Investment Group, American Century, America’s Health Insurance Plans, ApexBrasil, Association for Corporate Growth, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Barclays Services Corporation, BNP Paribas, Capital Research, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Fidelity, Franklin Resources, Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Intel, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation, NMS Group, Oracle, Pension Real Estate Association, Real Estate Roundtable, Reynolds American, Royal Bank of Scotland, Visa, Wells Fargo, Nomura Holdings America, Laurus Funds, Ripplewood Holdings

• Spain’s Deficit Widened to 10.2% on Bank-Rescue Cost (BBG) - or as Rajoy would say, when one excludes all negatives, it was a surplus
• Monti Austerity Pushes Italians Toward Parliament Upheaval (BBG)
• Russia accuses U.S. of double standards over Syria (Reuters)
• Euro Area to Shrink in 2013 as Unemployment Rises (BBG)
• UK, China central banks to discuss currency swap line (Reuters)
• Italy Court Rejects Challenge to Bailout of Monte Paschi (BBG)
• Japan's Abe to showcase alliance, get Obama to back Abenomics (Reuters)
• Russia’s missing billions revealed (FT)
• China Home-Price Gains May Presage Policy Tightening (BBG)
• Fed unlikely to curtail stimulus despite rising doubts (Reuters)
• Banks face fines up to 30 per cent of revenues (FT) - just as soon as Basel III is passed (i.e., never)
• J.C. Penney Can Raise Billions Under Revised Credit Line (BBG)
• Cost of Dropping Citizenship Keeps U.S. Earners From Exit (BBG)

Read on as the MSM pick up on what I've been ranting about for 2 years. Virtually every penny of the big banks' profits consists of taxpayer bailout money. This doesn't include the ~60% of revenue paid out as bonuses, of course!

• China drains cash to curb liquidity (FT) - no longer just a New Year issue...
• Hilesnrath speaks (but nobody cares anymore) - Fed Split Over How Long To Keep Cash Spigot Open (WSJ)
• Chasm opening between weak French and strong German economies (Reuters)
• JPMorgan Said to Seek First Sale of Mortgage Bonds Since Crisis (BBG)
• China's Bo Xilai not cooperating on probe, been on hunger strike (Reuters)
• Fed minutes send warning on durability of bond buying (Reuters)
• Sony Seeks an Extra Life in New PlayStation 4 (BBG)
• Rajoy pledges fresh round of reforms (FT) - and by reforms he means kickbacks?
• Doubts loom over eurozone recovery (BBG)
• China Extending Zhou Stay Seen as Aid to Financial Overhaul (BBG)
• King Pulls Out Stops to Energize Economy in Carney Handover (BBG)
• Central Banks Discussed Nominal GDP Targets at G-20 (Businessweek)
• Grand Central Owner Opposes IPO of Empire State Building (BBG)

Day after day, whenever anyone challenges the TBTF banks' scale, they are slammed down with a mutually assured destruction message that limitations would impair profitability and weaken the country's position in global finance. So what if you were to discover, based on Bloomberg's calculations, that the largest banks aren't really profitable at all? What if the billions of dollars they allegedly earn for their shareholders were almost entirely a gift from U.S. taxpayers? The stunning truth is that the top-five banks account for $64 billion of an implicit subsidy based on the ludicrous (but entirely real) logic that: The banks that are potentially the most dangerous can borrow at lower rates, because creditors perceive them as too big to fail. Once shareholders fully recognized how poorly the biggest banks perform without government support, they would be motivated to demand better. The market discipline might not please executives, but it would certainly be an improvement over paying banks to put us in danger.

• Office Depot Agrees to Buy Officemax for $13.50/Shr in Stock
• Bulgarian Government Resigns Amid Protests (WSJ)
• Rome will burn, regardless of Italian election result (Reuters)
• Abe Says No Need for Foreign Bond Buys Under New BOJ Chief (BBG)
• Rhetoric Turns Harsh as Budget Cuts Loom (WSJ)
• Muddy Waters Secret China Weapon Is on SEC Website (BBG)
• Business Loans Flood the Market (WSJ)
• Staples May Be Winner in Office Depot-OfficeMax Merger (BBG)
• Fortescue Won't Pay Dividend, Profit Falls (WSJ)
• Key Euribor rate on hold after rate cut talk tempered (Reuters)
• FBI Probes Trading in Heinz Options  (WSJ)
• Spain Said to Impose Yield Ceiling on Bond Sales by Regions (BBG)
• BOK’s Kim Signals No Rate Cut Needed Now as Outlook Improves (BBG)

With the honey badger market continuing to be completely dislocated from absolutely every piece of underlying data (except for German hope and confidence reported earlier this morning), moments ago the NAHB housing market index printed at 46, on expectations of an increase from January's 47 to 48. This makes it the first drop in the index in 10 months, and the first drop to expectations since April 2012, which in turn sent the ES to fresh highs (don't ask). And while we are confident the decline will be blamed on such unpredictable aberrations as snow in January and February, a meteor shower in Russia and, of course, Bush, despite last February's print posting a solid rise from 25 to 28, perhaps the more worrying indicator was that the component gauging traffic of prospective buyers slipped a whopping 4 points to 32. The drop matched the biggest sequential declines going back all the way to 2007. And now back to your pre-spun housing recovery.

• Here comes the replay of 2011 as China starts the counter-reflation moves: China Central Bank Reverses Cash Pump (WSJ)
• Security group suspects Chinese military is behind hacking attacks (Reuters)
• Iceland Foreshadows Death of Currencies Lost in Crisis (BBG)
• China Allows More Firms to Sell Mutual Funds to Bolster Market (BBG)
• Uncertainty looms for Italians (FT)
• Forget the big comeback; Detroit focuses on what can be saved (Reuters)
• SAC’s Cohen May Face SEC Suit as Deposition Hurts Case (BBG)
• Hollande wrestles with austerity demands (FT)
• Obama Golf With Woods in Florida Risks Muddling Messsage (BBG)
• Simpson and Bowles to Offer Up Deficit (WSJ)
• Aso Says Japanese Government Not Planning Foreign Bond Buys (BBG) - ... until it changes its tune once more
• Abe to Decide on Bank of Japan Governor Nomination Next Week (BBG)

• G20 struggles over forex, at odds over debts (Reuters)
• Alwaleed Sells Airbus A380 to Invest in Middle East Firms (BBG)
• GOP Stalls Vote on Pick for Pentagon (WSJ)
• ECB officials rebuff currency targeting as G20 meets (Reuters)
• Not good for the reflation effort: Muto leads as Japan PM close to choosing nominee for Bank of Japan chief (Reuters)
• M&A Surges as Confidence Spurs Deals in Computers to Consumer (BBG)
• JPMorgan’s head of equity prop trading Gulati to launch own fund (FT)
• Tiffany & Co. sues Costco over engagement rings labeled ‘Tiffany' (WaPo)
• JPMorgan Said to Fire Traders, Realign Pay Amid Slump (BBG)
• Broker draws Tullett into Libor scandal  (FT)
• Airbus drops Lithium-Ion batteries for A350 (Reuters)

"Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Heinz’s Board of Directors, Heinz shareholders will receive $72.50 in cash for each share of common stock they own, in a transaction valued at $28 billion, including the assumption of Heinz’s outstanding debt. The transaction will be financed through a combination of cash provided by Berkshire Hathaway and affiliates of 3G Capital, rollover of existing debt, as well as debt financing that has been committed by J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo. Berkshire Hathaway owns and invests in leading businesses across a variety of industries, including numerous iconic brands. 3G Capital is a global investment firm focused on long-term value creation, with a particular emphasis on building and expanding great brands and businesses. Advisors for this transaction include: Centerview Partners and BofA Merrill Lynch as financial advisors to Heinz and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP as legal advisor to Heinz. Moelis & Company acted as advisors to the Transaction Committee of Heinz’s Board of Directors and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal advisor to the Transaction Committee of Heinz’s Board of Directors. Lazard served as lead financial advisor. J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo also served as financial advisors to the investment consortium. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal advisor to 3G Capital. Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP is acting as legal advisor to Berkshire Hathaway."

• John Kerry just got happier: Berkshire Hathaway, 3G Buying Heinz for $72.50 a Share, or $28 Billion - ~20% premium to last price (CNBC)
• US Airways, AMR to Merge (WSJ) - can thousands of workers spell "synergies"?
• Draghi, Carney show ascent of "whatever it takes" central bankers (BBG) ... to preserve the Goldman way of life
• Euro zone economy falls deeper than expected into recession (Reuters)
• Soros has made $1 billion betting against the Japanese Yen (WSJ)
• Ex-Analyst at SAC Felt Pressured for Tips  (WSJ)
• Desalination Seen Booming at 15% a Year as World Water Dries Up (BBG)
• China's 'Wall' Hits Business (WSJ)
• Israel publishes some details as Australian spy mystery deepens (Reuters)
• Tata Motors Profit Falls 52% (WSJ)
• AB InBev Will Sell Corona Unit to Salvage Modelo Takeover (BBG)
• "Blade Runner" Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend (Reuters)
• In Ohio and beyond, Obama sees model for manufacturing revival (Reuters)