>>> USCLOSE Dow +1,41% S&P +1,53% Nasdaq +1,75%

Closing Market Summary: S&P 500 Sets New Record While Ukraine Remains in Focus

Equity indices enjoyed a broad-based rally on Tuesday that sent the S&P 500 (+1.5%) and the Russell 2000 (+2.5%) to new closing record highs.

Stocks surged out the gate after index futures received a considerable bid around 1:00AM ET. The overnight strength came about after it was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin called back the troops that were conducting exercises on the country's border with Ukraine. Mr. Putin commented on the tense situation, saying Russia is not aiming to annex the Crimean peninsula and that military force is a choice of last resort.

Mr. Putin's comments were followed by a response from Secretary of State John Kerry who visited Kiev today. Secretary Kerry called on Russia to refrain from using force and said the United States is not seeking a confrontation, but if Russia does not deescalate, then the U.S. will be forced to increase pressure on Russia. Less than 30 minutes after the comments from Secretary Kerry, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the introduction of any potential sanctions will be met with a response that is "not necessarily symmetrical."

The overnight developments were viewed positively by market participants who rushed into risk while shedding some of the safe-haven assets that were in strong demand yesterday: Treasuries spent the entire session in a steady retreat with the 10-yr yield ending at its session high (+9 bps at 2.69%); Gold futures fell 0.9% to $1337.80/ozt; and Crude oil lost 1.6%, ending at $103.34/bbl. In turn, the risk rally translated into solid gains for all ten sectors. The three largest S&P 500 groups—financials (+2.0%), technology (+1.5%), and health care (+1.9%)—paced the advance while most of the remaining groups added at least 1.0% with utilities (+0.8%) as the lone exception.

Elsewhere, industrials (+1.7%) also factored into the advance thanks to big gains among transports. All 20 members of The Dow Jones Transportation Average (+2.2%) finished in the green with airlines and railroads blazing the trail. Union Pacific (UNP 183.85, +4.34) and Delta Air Lines (DAL 34.45, +1.86) settled higher by 2.4% and 5.7%, respectively.

Although stocks spent the entire session in a steady push to new highs, a brief dip took place in the afternoon amid reports indicating Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Astrakhan region. While the initial headline lacked detail, subsequent reports indicated the test was planned in accordance with international laws and that U.S. officials received an early notice.

The afternoon reports did not derail the rally, allowing the S&P 500 to settle just below its best level of the day.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while the February ADP Employment Change will be announced at 8:15 ET. The ISM Services report for February will cross the wires at 10:00 ET while the Federal Reserve will release its March Beige Book at 14:00 ET. Nasdaq Composite +4.2% YTD Russell 2000 +3.9% YTD S&P 500 +1.4% YTD Dow Jones Industrial Average -1.1% YTD

WSJ Apple's Global Roaming Plan

Apple's Global Roaming Plan

"Designed by Apple in California" is a slogan familiar to anyone who has unwrapped an iPhone. But the U.S. technology giant's recent moves underscore its increasing dependence on overseas markets to fuel growth. On Tuesday, Apple announced that Chief Financial officer Peter Oppenheimer will retire after a decade in the post. His replacement is Luca Maestri, who joined the company only a year ago after a two-year stint as the CFO of Xerox. He also boasts a long career of deep international experience at companies such as Nokia Siemens and the overseas divisions of General Motors. Apple took pains to emphasize both Mr. Maestri's overseas resume and the "seamless" nature of the transition, and it is noteworthy that the company chose to handpick an outsider rather than promote from within. This came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is in the midst of a hiring burst in Asia, poaching engineers from companies such as HTC to speed up development of devices like the iPhone and iPad. Sources told the Journal that Apple's operations staff and engineers in China now exceed 600. China has gone from being less than 5% of Apple's quarterly revenue at the end of 2009 to 15% in the last three months of 2013. Apple today is a much different company from the one it was when Mr. Oppenheimer took the CFO job. In fiscal 2004, Apple was primarily a computer company with nearly 60% of its $8.3 billion in revenue coming from the Mac. By fiscal 2013, which ended in September, revenue had increased more than 20-fold, with the majority of that coming from the iPhone. Mac sales were less than 13% of fiscal 2013 revenue. But while Apple has become a global force, business in its own backyard has slowed. In 2004, nearly half of the company's revenue came from its Americas segment, and 84 of its 86 retail stores were located in the U.S. Now, the Americas segment constitutes about 37% of revenue, and 40% of its retail stores are in foreign countries. Revenue in the Americas segment actually declined by 1% year over year in the company's most recent quarter. And don't forget that about 78% of the company's $159 billion cash hoard now sits offshore. A growing number of investors believe Apple has become a slow-growth tech giant that should milk its cash machine. So it is no surprise that the company is beefing up the foreign ranks of its workforce and its executive suite in an effort to capitalize on markets with better growth potential. Ultimately, though, Apple's future rests on its ability to keep spinning up new gadgets that customers will want to pay top dollar for—no matter where they live.

>>> UBS initiation details for CHD, CL, EL, HPC, MNST, TEN,

UBS initiation details for CHD, CL, EL, HPC, MNST, TEN, KO, CCE, DPS, PEP, PG, AVP, CLX, ENR

UBS initiated coverage of the following co's within Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary: * CHD initiated with a Buy; tgt $77; leveraging low-growth categories into ~10% EPS growth * CL initiated with a Buy; tgt $70; strong franchise, well-equipped to navigate today's challenges * EL initiated with a Buy; tgt $81; growth to the North, South, East, and West; not your average HPC shop * MNST initiated with a Buy; tgt $85; volumes poised to accelerate in 2014, legal/regulatory concerns seem to abate * TEN initiated with a Buy; tgt $70; beneficiary of growth in global emissions content * KO initiated with a Neutral; tgt $40; a number of pros but one large con...America not quite yet beautiful for co * CCE initiated with a Neutral; tgt $50; well-run co, tough operating environment * DPS initiated with a Neutral; tgt $54; cash still king at DPS, however, growth remains a challenge * PEP initiated with a Neutral; tgt $85; a game of three-way tug of war -- still waiting on a victor * PG initiated with a Neutral; tgt $81; multiple years of problems in the making...multiple years to unwind them * AVP initiated with a Sell; tgt $14; a glutton for restructuring, still starved for reinvestment * CLX initiated with a Sell; tgt $80; well-run and shareholder-friendly company, too-high expectations * ENR initiated with a Sell; tgt $92; weak categories where ENR is in PG's teeth, no shining star on the top line, limiting estimated organic growth to +LSD

(Techcrunch) Facebook Looking Into Buying Drone Maker Titan Aerospace

Facebook Looking Into Buying Drone Maker Titan Aerospace {http://tcrn.ch/1cqNfbg}

Facebook, one of the primary backers of the Internet.org initiative, which aims to bring affordable Internet access to the 5 billion people in the world who still lack connectivity, is in talks with a company that could help further that agenda. TechCrunch is hearing that Facebook is buying Titan Aerospace, makers of near-orbital, solar-powered drones which can fly for five years without needing to land. According to a source with access to information about the deal, the price for this acquisition is $60 million*.

From our understanding, Facebook is interested in using these high-flying drones to blanket parts of the world without Internet access, beginning with Africa. The company would start by building 11,000 of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), specifically the “Solara 60″ model.

You can see an example of these UAVs, first introduced last year, here on YouTube. As the video explains, these drones are “atmospheric satellites” that can conduct most of the operations of an orbital satellite, but are cheaper and more versatile. The drones could potentially have many uses, including weather monitoring, disaster recovery, Earth imaging, or communications, the company has said, but clearly Facebook would be interested in that latter part.


The Solara 50 and 60 models can be launched at night using power from internal battery packs, then when the sun rises, they can store enough energy to ascend to 20KM above sea level where they can remain for five years without needing to land or refuel. Such capabilities make them ideal for regional Internet systems, like those that Internet.org would be focused on. (For those interested, Ars Technica took a more in-depth look at the technology and history behind Titan’s aircraft last August).

Titan Aerospace is a privately held venture with R&D facilities in New Mexico. The company has raised an undisclosed amount of funding through seed and Series A and A-1 rounds, and had announced in October 2013 it would open a B round soon.

Titan is currently led by CEO Vern Raburn, previously founder and CEO of Eclipse Aviation. The company was founded in 2012 by Max Yaney (CTO), in order to produce what it refers to as “atmosats,” new types of UAVs that do the work of near-Earth satellites at a fraction of the cost.

The designation of “satellites” is important here, as the idea has been to position these aircraft above the airspace that the FAA regulates in the U.S. Class A airspace ends at 60,000 feet stateside, and above that the U.S. doesn’t regulate, Fortune had pointed out last summer. That means the only issue in launching these in the U.S. would be the initial climb. In other parts of the world, the laws will, of course, vary. But in the developing markets Internet.org is focused on, it’s likely they’re not as far along in regulating such new technology.

Following the acquisition, all of Titan Aerospace’s production would be for the Internet.org project only, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Facebook’s Own “Project Loon,” Worth Less Than WhatsApp?

The Internet.org project competes with Google’s own R&D effort called “Project Loon,” which would involve balloons, not aircraft. TechCrunch had previously heard that Facebook has its own counterpart to “Project Loon” in the works, and this could be a part of that agenda.

In any event, if you’re keeping score at home, that’s $60 million to bring Internet to the world, and $19 billion for WhatsApp. That may seem odd, but this acquisition and WhatsApp would share the same broader goal of making the Internet more accessible, from Facebook’s point of view.

If Facebook could project weak but free Internet to developing nations via Titan Aerospace drones, it could then make a basic version of WhatsApp available to those users. They may not be able to send or view photos, but they likely could send messages and view status updates, even if they only had a weak, slow connection.

Facebook’s acquisition of Onavo could lend a hand, too. We hear the team is hard at work on data compression technologies that would allow the same functions to require less transmitted data to complete. Onavo-optimized WhatsApp or Facebook apps could run on a weaker Internet signal, such as from drones, because they don’t need to send or receive as much data.

Many ask why Facebook would even care about getting these parts of the world on the Internet if they currently have such little buying power that it’s hard to make money off of ads shown to them. There’s the altruistic side of Internet.org, but when it comes to business, Facebook is playing the long game. It hopes that with time, everyone in the world will gain affordable access to the Internet and smartphones, which could help them join the knowledge economy and gain more buying power.

If Facebook can use Titan’s drones to be someone’s first experience on the Internet, they’re likely to get deeply hooked into the social network’s service and eventually become a lucrative lifetime user.

WSJ : Pimco Raises $5.5 Billion to Buy Bank Assets

Pimco Raises $5.5 Billion to Buy Bank Assets
Bond Firm Has Closed Fund to New Investors and Will Target Banks' Unwanted Assets

Bond giant Pimco has raised $5.5 billion to buy bank assets in the U.S. and Europe and has closed the fund to new investors, according to a person familiar with the fundraising.

The Bank Recapitalization and Value Opportunities II fund, or Bravo II, is being led by deputy chief investment officer Dan Ivascyn and will target a range of unwanted assets on the balance sheets of banks, including residential and commercial real-estate assets.

Investors are lining up to snap up the unwanted loan portfolios and real-estate assets. Many of the targets lie in Europe, where banks have been busy shrinking their balance sheets primarily to meet stricter capital requirements.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that two of Italy's biggest banks, Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI +2.69% SpA and UniCredit UCG.MI +4.71% SpA, were in talks with U.S. private-equity firm KKR KKR +1.65% regarding the sale of some of their restructured loans.

Commerzbank CBK.XE +4.46% said in February that it had sold €710 million of Spanish commercial real-estate loans to investors. In the U.K. late last year, the Royal Bank of Scotland RBS.LN +2.46% sold its first portfolio of U.K. commercial property assets to hedge fund Varde Partners, and in August, Spain's 'bad bank'—set up to house assets from the country's bailed out banks—sold its first real-estate assets to private equity group HIG.

California-based Pimco, traditionally a bond-house and home to the world's largest mutual fund, has been busy diversifying in recent years. Bravo II follows the $2.4 billion raised for Bravo I in 2011.

Pimco's new Chief Executive Douglas Hodge told Financial News last month that he wants to broaden the firm's equity expertise, including backing the hiring of teams by equity chief Virginie Maisonneuve. The firm offers products in derivatives, multi-asset, real estate, private equity, real return and emerging markets, but is still 90% exposed to fixed income.

Mr. Ivascyn, previously a credit and mortgages specialist, was promoted to the deputy CIO role in mid-January following the unexpected departure of chief executive Mohamed El-Erian, whose exit left Bill Gross, who founded Pimco in 1971, as sole chief investment officer.

Andrew Balls, head of European portfolio management; Mark Kiesel, head of Pimco's corporate bonds group; Scott Mather, head of global portfolio management; Mihir Worah, a former particle-physicist who heads up Pimco's real-return portfolio management team; and Ms. Maisonneuve, were also promoted to the deputy CIO role.

WSJ : Glencore Xstrata Eyes Oil, Nickel Assets

Glencore Xstrata Eyes Oil, Nickel Assets
Shell's Nigerian Oil, BHP's Australian Nickel Assets Are Possible Targets

LONDON— Glencore Xstrata GLNCY -0.46% PLC said Tuesday it will look at Royal Dutch Shell RDSB.LN +1.28% PLC's Nigerian oil and BHP Billiton Ltd BLT.LN +0.82% 's Australian nickel assets as part of its opportunistic approach to mergers and acquisitions strategy.

Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said the commodities titan only purchases assets that meet its criteria for returns on investment.

Glencore will look at Shell's Nigeria assets although, "I'm not sure we will get there at the [investment] hurdle rates which we require," he told journalists on a call.

A Shell spokesman declined to comment on whether Glencore was in the running for the Nigerian oil assets. Shell had received interest from more than 100 parties for them, he said, and has whittled the pool to 20 bidders.

Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden, who took the reins Jan. 1, is mapping out a more conservative path for the Anglo-Dutch company after a decade of heavy investment in large, long-term projects and as low natural gas prices in the U.S. are weighing on its earnings.

As part of its business review, Shell sold its Australian refinery and gas stations to energy trader Vitol Group for $2.6 billion. Glencore had also put in a bid for those assets, but in the end walked away.

"We looked at the Shell assets in Australia," said Mr. Glasenberg. "The numbers that it was going at didn't meet the (return on investment) rates that we believe were worthwhile, so we didn't go down that path."

Mr. Glasenberg also said Glencore will look at BHP Billiton's Nickel West operations in Western Australia, given potential synergies with Glencore's Minara unit, which controls the Murrin Murrin nickel and refining project in the same region.

"Nickel West is out in the market and you know us, we kick tires and look at anything which is available," he said.

Glencore reported Tuesday a $454 million impairment charge on Murrin Murrin.

Nickel West also suffered an impairment charge of $865 million post tax during BHP's fiscal year ending June 30. For the period, the project produced 103,300 metric tons of saleable nickel, down from 109,000 tons the year earlier.

A BHP spokeswoman declined to comment on Mr. Glasenberg's comments.

>>> Gapping down

Gapping down

In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: RSH -23.2%, ACUR -13.2% (light volume), MDR -9.4%, MCP -3.6%, DXPE -2.4% (light volume), ASNA -2%, MMSI -1.5%, (light volume), MR -1.2%, (increases existing share repurchase program by $100 mln), PDLI -1%, (light volume), UVE -0.6%.

Metals/mining stocks trading lower: GFI -2.7%, HMY -2.4%, SLV -1.6%, GG -1.2%, GLD -1%, AU -0.9% ( downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS), GOLD -0.8%.

Other news: IRE -8.1% (Wilbur Ross & Fairfax have sold 6% stake in IRE, according to reports), MNDL -7.6% (announces public offering of common stock, size not disclosed), SNTA -6.5% (announces that Safi R. Bahcall, Ph.D., has resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors; newly formed Executive Committee to act as principal executive body), BLRX -5.8% (announces public offering of its American Depositary Shares, size not disclosed), ARP -4% (announces public offering of 5.5 mln common units representing limited partner interests), ASC -3.2% (launches public offering of 6 mln shares of common stock), ACAD -2.6% (announces proposed public offering of $150 mln shares of common stock), RTI -2.1% (filed to delay its 10-K), COWN -1.6% (to offer $125 million of cash convertible senior notes), DVAX -1.1% (to receive $5.4 million milestone from AstraZeneca; AZN to assume responsibility for future clinical development of investigational TLR-9 Agonist for treatment of Asthma ), APAM -1.1% (announces commencement of public offering of 7 mln shares, OMER -0.9% ( Submits IND to Advance OMS721 Phase 2 Clinical Program), CG -0.3% (files for offering of 12,000,000 common units representing limited partner interests).

Analyst comments: WBMD -1.9% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel), DNDN -1.8% (downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein), CLF -0.8% (downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo), AVP -0.7% ( initiated with a Sell at UBS), HOT -0.5% ( downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman; removed from America's Buy list), MSG -0.5% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham), ISRG -0.4% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Cantor).

>>> Anadarko Petroleum Corp Guides FY14 same-store sale volume* +6-7% y/y, produ


Anadarko Petroleum Corp Guides FY14 same-store sale volume* +6-7% y/y, production +40K bpd y/y
- Guides FY14 CAPEX $8.1-8.5B

- During 2014, Anadarko expects to drill up to 25 high-potential deepwater exploration/ appraisal wells. Additionally, we plan to continue accelerating value through active portfolio management and monetizations, as demonstrated by the recently announced divestiture of our non-operated assets in Bohai Bay, China, and the closing of our sale of a 10-percent working interest in Mozambique's Offshore Area 1 to OVL

* "Same-store" sales volumes are intended to present performance of Anadarko's continuing asset base, giving effect to significant recent divestitures; accordingly, sales volumes presented, exclude approximately 11 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) of 2013 production and all 2014 volumes associated with the China and Pinedale/Jonah asset divestitures.

>>> Autozone +3% pre-market on Better Earnings

AutoZone beats by $0.09, beats on revs

Reports Q2 (Feb) earnings of $5.63 per share, $0.09 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $5.54; revenues rose 7.3% year/year to $1.99 bln vs the $1.97 bln consensus. Domestic same store sales, or sales for stores open at least one year, increased 4.3% for the quarter.

For the quarter, gross profit, as a percentage of sales, was 52.1% (versus 51.9% for last year's quarter). The improvement in gross margin was attributable to higher merchandise margins and lower shrink expense, partially offset by the inclusion of the recent acquisition of AutoAnything (20 bps). Operating expenses, as a percentage of sales, were 35.2% (versus 34.7% last year). The increase in operating expenses, as a percentage of sales, was primarily due to the timing of advertising costs (22 bps).

Under its share repurchase program, AutoZone repurchased 404 thousand shares of its common stock for $200 million during the second quarter, at an average price of $495 per share.

(BN) Mining M&A Goes Hostile as Targets Want More: Corporate Canada

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Mining M&A Goes Hostile as Targets Want More: Corporate Canada 2014-03-04 12:54:01.6 GMT

(For Corporate Canada news alerts: SALT CACOL <GO>)

By Liezel Hill March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Conditions are ripe for more hostile takeovers in mining as buyers capitalize on share prices that plunged last year, while targets hold out for more amid a glimmer of recovery. “For a lot of people, when their prices are low they don’t want to do a deal,” said Derek White, chief executive officer of the international unit of KGHM Polska Miedz SA, a Polish copper and silver producer. “For that reason you are going to see more hostility because people see value and they want to try and capture that.” There have already been four unsolicited or hostile bids for mining companies announced this year, with a total value of $4.54 billion, compared with $594.4 million for all of 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Goldcorp Inc.’s C$2.94 billion ($2.66 billion) offer for Osisko Mining Corp., announced Jan. 13, was the largest unfriendly bid for a mining company since First Quantum Minerals Ltd. bought Inmet Mining Corp. for $4.7 billion in November 2012, Bloomberg data show. Mining companies, especially smaller explorers and developers that don’t generate revenue, declined last year and struggled to sell shares to fund operations after commodity prices fell. While valuations have started improving since the start of 2014 as gold rose 11 percent and equity offerings increased, the Bloomberg World Mining Index of 102 companies was still down 32 percent in the past two years.

Direct to Shareholders

KGHM, based in Lubin, Poland, is focused on investing in exploration and development companies and their projects, rather than acquisitions for now, said White, who spoke on the sidelines of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto on March 2. Boards and management at these companies don’t want to sell at current prices, said David Garofalo, CEO of HudBay Minerals Inc., which made an unsolicited bid last month for Vancouver- based Augusta Resource Corp. “They still have share prices in their head that are much higher than where they are on an absolute basis right now,” said Garofalo, who also sees the possibility of more hostile bids. “It’s possible that in frustration some of the more senior companies, more established producers, might go over the heads of the board and management in order to bring it directly to shareholders.”

Due Diligence

Augusta’s situation is more a coincidence than the start of a new trend in the industry, Augusta CEO Gil Clausen said. HudBay has limited capability to pay fair value, and Augusta sees “no chance of the bid succeeding in its current form,” Clausen said yesterday in an e-mail. Hostile bids are tricky in the mining industry, said Mitchell Krebs, CEO of Coeur Mining Inc. “One of the disadvantages of going into a hostile situation is that you don’t really get a chance to do any diligence,” he said in a Feb. 24 interview. “In this industry it’s got to be a pretty unique situation for you to feel that comfortable about something to the point where you don’t need to do any diligence.” Goldcorp, which is seeking control of Osisko’s Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec, said yesterday it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the smaller company seeking to stop the bid. Osisko, which has rejected the offer as too low, will allow Goldcorp full access for due diligence by April 1, Vancouver- based Goldcorp said in a statement. In return, Goldcorp agreed not to take up and pay for shares tendered in the bid before April 15, unless Osisko announces a transaction with another party.

‘Maximize Value’

The deal gives Osisko more time to consider alternatives to the Goldcorp bid, CEO Sean Roosen said yesterday in a statement. Dealmaking activity in the mining sector slowed last year, dipping below $100 billion in total value for the first time since 2005 and with the fewest number of deals since 2006. In addition to the Goldcorp-Osisko and HudBay-Augusta bids, Minerals Technologies Inc. has made an unsolicited bid for Amcol International Corp., a producer of bentonite clay whose products are used in metal casting, construction and drilling, topping an agreed offer from Imerys SA. Waterton Global Resource Management also has made an unfriendly bid for Chaparral Gold Corp. Hostile bids that are successful can help boost mergers and acquisitions in the sector more broadly, said Isser Elishis, managing partner and chief investment officer at Waterton, a Toronto-based private equity firm that invests in precious metals assets and companies. Waterton has offered C$57.1 million for Chaparral, an exploration company with assets in Nevada. Chaparral rejected the bid as too low. “Eventually every market gets locked” when buyers and sellers can’t agree, Elishis said yesterday in an interview. “Usually, in my opinion, what kicks it over is you get a couple of hostile bids that go through, the market revalues itself, not only on price but on rationalization of the transaction, and then the market starts to function normally.”

For Related News and Information: Gold Miners See Looming Output Drop After Cut in Spending NSN N1VQWW6KLVRQ <GO> Gold to Coffee Drive Bullish Bets Higher: Commodities NSN N1K2BE6TTDS8 <GO> Mining’s $8 Billion of Private Equity Seen Reviving 2014 M&A NSN N0F82T6VDKHT <GO> Top commodity stories: CTOP <GO> Mining stories: NI MNG <GO> Commodity price forecasts: CPF <GO>

--Editors: Jacqueline Thorpe, Steven Frank

To contact the reporter on this story: Liezel Hill in Toronto at +1-416-203-5727 or lhill30@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Simon Casey at +1-212-617-3143 or scasey4@bloomberg.net