SUNDAY 2/23/14

Russia complains that the Ukraine opposition protestors did not follow through with the 2/21/14 agreement. President Yanukovych was to stay in power a few months but the parliament voted to oust Yanukovych instead who has fled Kiev and vows not to resign. Russia and US relations are strained. Most Ukrainians do not want the country to split. The opposition wants Yanukovych out due to his dictatorial rule the last few years and unrest will likely continue until he resigns. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is freed from prison after 30 months and immediately goes to Independence Square vowing she will run for president. The parliament votes to grant presidential powers to the leader of parliament.

Turkey unrest continues as riot police use tear gas against 3K protestors in Istanbul. The protestors are marching against new legislation that creates stricter government control over internet use. The Venezuela riots now result in 10 deaths and 100’s wounded and tensions are increasing. President Maduro is in crisis management and worries that protestors will take over the government emboldened by the developments in Ukraine. Venezuela is growing more unstable since the jailing of opposition leader Lopez and the riot police shooting indiscriminately into a crowd of protestors last week.

The G-20 communiqué out of Sydney says policies will be developed to increase global growth. IMF’s Lagarde heralds the ‘action-oriented’ plan. MSFT is lowering the price that manufacturers pay for Windows operating system software. This will allows the companies to provide tablets and computers that compete more directly with the low-cost providers such as GOOG Chromebook. This action is deflationary. AAPL and SSNGY continue to work with a mediator to resolve a patent dispute but are barreling towards a court trial beginning next month. Apple’s CEO Cook and Samsung’s CEO JK Shin are involved in the mediation talks. AAPL continues to address the software security flaw that exposes users email, financial data and other private information to computer hackers. Mobile Apple devices are provided a fix. Personal computers running the Mac OS X operating system remain vulnerable.

The WhatsApp messaging service, that FB just announced buying last week for billions of dollars, goes down for several hours. The extended outage is blamed on higher traffic due to the publicity over the acquisition but perhaps Zuckerberg should have kicked the tires better. The retail sector is beaten further with more negative mall news. One person dies and nearly 30 others are injured due to a carbon monoxide leak from malfunctioning heating equipment at a Legal Sea Foods restaurant in New York. The US braces for another cold snap so natty gas prices will remain elevated. The Fed comes to agreement with large banks GS, JPM, C, MS, BK, NTRS, STT and USB concerning capital requirements. Others such as WFC and BAC continue the process.

The G-20 finishes the weekend meeting and essentially serves as the ‘global economic PR’ department. Member countries agree to the stronger growth message and vow to show progress before the next meeting in mid-November in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The air pollution and smog in Beijing is at dangerous levels. Particulates are extremely high so folks are breathing in dust. The air is as thick as pea soup fog with low visibility. Chinese and foreign nationals are leaving the city in droves since it is too difficult and unhealthy to deal with the pollution on a daily non-stop basis. China’s athletic fields are now constructed with domes and air filters creating the vision of a bubble society where folks must only live indoors. To attract more students, schools brag that they have more air filters than a competing school. The uncontrolled coal plants are creating much of the pollution. The dollar/yuan is 6.0945. The dollar/yen is 102.56.