Wells Fargo

• Ukraine, Russia Fail to Reach Deal in Natural-Gas Talks (WSJ)
• Boko Haram Kidnaps More Girls in Nigeria (WSJ)
• Déjà vu: echoes of pre-crisis world mount (FT)
• Money market rates hit new low as ECB moves gain traction (Reuters)
• 'Dark Pools' Face New SEC Probe (WSJ)
• Buffett Ready to Double $15 Billion Solar, Wind Bet (BBG)
• White House-Congress rift over Bergdahl deal deepens (Reuters)
• Taxpayers Face Big Medicare Tab for Unusual Doctor Billings (WSJ)
• Lean Retirement Faces U.S. Generation X as Wealth Trails (BBG)
• Employers’ skills gap claim does not show up in US wage data (FT)
• He is holding out for the Zuckerberg overbid: Donald Sterling says LA Clippers not for sale (WSJ)

• Attorneys Known for Large Civil Settlements Line Up to Sue GM Over Company's Handling of Defective Ignition Switches (WSJ)
• Pakistani Taliban attack airport in Karachi, 27 dead (Reuters)
• U.S. Official: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Has Declined to Speak to His Family (WSJ)
• Ukraine Gas Talks Resume in Brussels to Avoid Cut-off This Week  (BBG)
• China's Central Bank Flexes Muscle (WSJ)
• China says Vietnam, Philippines' mingling on disputed isle a 'farce' (Reuters)
• World Needs Record Saudi Oil Supply as OPEC Convenes (BBG)
• Kraft Raises Prices on Maxwell House, Yuban U.S. Coffee Products (BBG)
• United Continental: One Sick Bird (WSJ)

• Canada Aims to Sell Its Oil Beyond U.S (WSJ)
• ECB Unanimity May Prove Fleeting (WSJ)
• Chinese military spending exceeds $145 billion, drones advanced: U.S. (Reuters)
• France to sell 10 warships to Russia next? BNP Executive Firings Sought by Top New York Bank Regulator Amid Probe (BBG)
• Vodafone says governments have direct access to eavesdrop in some countries (Reuters)
• Home Price Gains of 20% Vanish as Hottest Markets Cool (BBG)
• G-7 Heads Warn Moscow Before Facing Putin (WSJ)
• Barclays Fine Spurs U.K. Scrutiny of Derivatives Conflict (BBG)
• "Or Costs" - Obama Says Putin Running Out of Time Over Ukraine (BBG)
• Banca Monte Paschi Falls After Offering New Stock at 35.5% Discount (BBG)

The massive consolidation of wealth, combined with the removal of any limits on money in campaigns, has allowed for the purchase of our government. Americans know that something is wrong, deeply wrong. They see signs of the problem everywhere: income inequality, growing concentration and power of mega corporations, political donations/corruption, the absence of jobs with decent salaries, the explosion of the US prison population, healthcare costs, student loan debt, homelessness, etc. etc. However, the true causes and benefactors behind these problems are purposely hidden from view. What Americans see is Kabuki Theater of a functioning form of capitalism and democracy, but beyond this veneer our country has devolved into the exact opposite.

• Inside the White House's decision to free Bergdahl (Reuters)
• Dimon’s Raise Haunts BNP Paribas as U.S. Weighs $10 Billion Fine (BBG)
• Jobs Are on the Line as Banks' Revenue Slides (WSJ)
• Wall Street Adjusts to the New Trading Normal (WSJ)
• Nothing like objective, intense probes: GM recall probe to clear senior execs, finds no concerted coverup (Reuters)
• ECB ready to cut rates and push banks into lending to boost euro zone economy (Reuters)
• China Should Resist Further Stimulus, IMF Says (BBG)
• Carney Finds Ally in Draghi as Key Rate Kept at 0.5% (BBG)
• Assad wins Syria election with 88.7 percent of votes (Reuters)

If the Fed is looking for definitive proof of bubble euphoria it should look no further than the CLO market: according to Bloomberg, so far in 2014, more than $46 billion of collateralized loan obligations have been raised, after $82 billion were sold in all of 2013. As a result of this epic dash for repackaged trash, JPMorgan boosted its annual forecast for CLO issuance from $70 billion to as much as $100 billion, which means 2014 may end up as the biggest year on record. We assume it is with great irony that Bloomberg summarizes: "The business of bundling junk-rated corporate loans into top-rated securities is booming like never before after the implementation of regulation aimed at making the financial system safer."

• U.S. sets new import duties on Chinese solar products (Reuters)
• U.S.-China Solar-Products Dispute Heats Up (WSJ)
• China Mulls Offshore Yuan Gold Trade in Free Trade Zone (BBG)
• Insider-Trading Probe Could Snarl a Deal for Icahn (WSJ)
• KCG Holdings Suspects Its Trading Code Was Stolen (WSJ)
• ‘Period. Full Stop’ Is the New ‘At the End of the Day’ (BBG)
• Draghi not so goof for bonds: Investors Flag Risk of ECB Disappointing After Europe Bond Rally (BBG)
• But great for stocks: Equity Traders See Draghi Turning Throttle Up on Rally (BBG)

• At least 74 dead in crashes similar to those GM linked to faulty switches (Reuters)
• Obama Calls for $1 Billion Europe Security Fund; Will Increase U.S. Military Presence in Eastern Europe (WSJ)
• Euro Inflation Slowing More Than Forecast Pressures ECB (BBG)
• China accelerates as euro zone stumbles (Reuters)
• Russia says Ukraine situation worsening, submits U.N. resolution (Reuters)
• Secondary Sales Squeeze Investors (WSJ)
• Barclays Said to Start Cutting Jobs in Investment Banking Unit (Bloomberg)
• Backlash Grows on Release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in Taliban Prisoner Swap (WSJ)
• For fallen soldiers' families, Bergdahl release stirs resentment (Reuters)
• PIMCO's Gross stares at record outflow (Reuters)

• Unstoppable $100 Trillion Bond Market Renders Models Useless (BBG)
• Afghan president fumes at prisoner deal made behind his back (Reuters)
• Spain to Unveil $8.6 Billion Stimulus Package (AP)
• How fracking helps America beat German industry (Reuters)
• Obama to Urge European Allies to Stay Tough on Russia (WSJ)
• Frenchman 'admits' Brussels shooting in video (AFP)
• Heloc Payment Jump to Take Bite Out of Consumer Spending (WSJ)
• Obama Said to Propose Deep Cuts to Power-Plant Emissions (BBG)
• Lehman Lesson Lost as Bank Lobby Gains Clout (BBG)
• WSJ reports that WSJ reporting on Icahn insider trading probe may have killed it (WSJ)
• KKR liquidates former Goldman Sachs traders-run hedge fund (Reuters)

• Ukraine Rebels Outfox Army to Dent Poroshenko Troop Goal (BBG)
• Russia Withdraws Most of Forces From Ukraine Border: U.S. (BBG)
• Super-Size Me! China’s ’Mini’ Stimulus Starts Expanding (BBG)
• Option B: The blueprint for Thailand's coup (Reuters)
• Big investors replace banks in $4.2tn repo market (FT)
• Draghi Shields Catalan Independence Bid From Market (BBG)
• U.S. companies seek cyber experts for top jobs, board seats (Reuters)
• Parsley CEO Emerges as One of Youngest U.S. Billionaires (BBG)

• Snowden: 'no relationship' with Russian government (Reuters)
• Bond Surge Worldwide Drives Index Yield to One-Year Low (BBG)
• Shares flirt with record highs on ECB easing bets (Reuters)
• Goldman Shuns Bonds Pimco’s Gross Favors in ‘New Neutral’  (BBG)
• Porn may be messing with your head (Reuters)
• Dish to Become Largest Company to Accept Bitcoin (AP)
• To Make a Killing on Wall Street, Start Meditating (BBG)
• Apple to get Beats, music mogul Iovine for $3 billion (Reuters)
• Fink Says Leveraged ETFs May ‘Blow Up’ Industry  (BBG)

• Vietnam, China trade accusations after Vietnamese fishing boat sinks (Reuters)
• SEC Set to Spur Exchange Trading (WSJ)
• Bank of Japan quietly eyes stimulus exit (Reuters)
• Japan Risks Low Growth Even as Easing Spurs Inflation (BBG)
• Hello Japan: Bond Market Message to Fed: Your 4% Rate Outlook Is Too High (BBG)
• Malaysia, UK firm release satellite data on missing MH370 flight (Reuters)
• Fighting rages in eastern Ukraine city, dozens dead (Reuters)
• Bad Credit No Problem as Balance-Sheet Bombs Rally 94%  (BBG)
• Draghi’s Asset-Backed Drive Rouses Academic Skeptics (BBG)
• For-Profit Colleges Face Test From State, Federal Officials (WSJ)

Just as the Fed started the Taper large banks began ramping up their U.S. Treasury holdings.

• "May?" New Cold War May Emerge in Ukraine Crisis, Medvedev Says (BBG)
• Wristslaps will be fast and furious: EU Commission charges HSBC, JPMorgan, Credit Agricole with rigging (Reuters)
• Credit Suisse Rises as U.S. Guilty Plea Ends 3-Year Probe (BBG)
• After Martial Law Declaration, Thailand Waits for General's Next Move (WSJ)
• China property slowdown spells trouble for Asia bonds (FT)
• Russia Close to $400 Billion Gas Pipeline Deal in Pivot to China (BBG)
• Dimon-by-the-Sea Shows London Banking’s Engine of Growth (BBG)
• Modi Faces Greece-Sized Snag to Economic Revival (FT)
• U.K. Inflation Accelerates on Airfare Surge (BBG)

• 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)