>>> EU said to be readying fines against Audi, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen over

EU said to be readying fines against Audi, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen over diesel emissions cheating - Handelsblatt
- "The penalties can be a maximum of ten percent of the annual turnover of the accused companies. Audi , BMW , Daimler and Volkswagen come together to nearly 500 billion euros in annual sales."

>>> VOD LN - Announces successful placing of £3.44B Mandatory Convertible Bonds

VOD - Announces successful placing of £3.44B Mandatory Convertible Bonds
- Vodafone to raise £3.44 billion through the issuance of MCBs
· Bonds to be issued in two tranches - maturing March 2021 and March 2022
· Net proceeds of the bonds will be used as part of the financing of the acquisition of Liberty Global's assets in Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania
· Potential for Vodafone to buy back shares in order to mitigate dilution. Any decision to buy back shares will be taken independently of the conversion of the bonds and will be dependent on market conditions and Vodafone's financial position and outlook at the relevant time. Any such share buyback will be funded from the issuance of hybrid securities, depending on credit market conditions
· An option strategy gives Vodafone the ability to mitigate, partially or fully, any share price appreciation relative to the initial conversion price of the bonds, should it decide to execute a share buyback. Vodafone reserves the right to cancel or modify any option strategy entered into during the tenor of the bonds

>> GE US - CEO: Sees free cash flow in negative territory this year - JP Morgan

CEO: Sees free cash flow in negative territory this year - JP Morgan conf comments
- This is a multiyear turnaround in power unit; power unit was slow to adjust cost structure amid slump
- We are committed more transparency on restructuring costs; declines to say if restructuring costs will be included in future guidance; going to talk about restructuring on March 14 in "GE outlook" presentation
- We really want to get the balance sheet questions off the table so that we can play offense
- We wish we were not in the long term care business, but will manage it as best we can as long as we remain in the business