>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 4th of April 2016

>>> Up
*AMEREN UPGRADED TO OVERWEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
*BUZZI UNICEM UPGRADED TO OUTPERFORM FROM NEUTRAL AT DAVY
*COMMERZBANK RAISED TO OUTPERFORM VS NEUTRAL AT MEDIOBANCA
*ERSTE RAISED TO OUTPERFORM VS NEUTRAL AT MEDIOBANCA
*EXELIXIS RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT STIFEL
*IMCD RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT KEPLER CHEUVREUX
*IMCD GROUP RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT GOLDMAN
*MARKS AND SPENCER RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT PEEL HUNT
*RWE RAISED TO BUY AT SOCIETE GENERALE
*WEIR GROUP RAISED TO BUY VS NEUTRAL AT NOMURA

>>> Down
*ABN CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OUTPERFORM AT MEDIOBANCA
*ADMIRAL CUT TO UNDERPERFORM VS NEUTRAL AT CREDIT SUISSE
*BNP CUT TO UNDERPERFORM VS NEUTRAL AT MEDIOBANCA
*BOUYGUES CUT TO SELL VS HOLD AT BERENBERG
*CAIXABANK CUT TO UNDERPERFORM VS NEUTRAL AT MEDIOBANCA
*DANAHER CUT TO MARKET PERFORM AT BERNSTEIN
*FRAPORT CUT TO SELL VS NEUTRAL AT UBS
*ILIAD CUT TO REDUCE VS HOLD AT KEPLER CHEUVREUX
*IMI CUT TO NEUTRAL VS BUY AT NOMURA
*INTESA CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OUTPERFORM AT MEDIOBANCA
*POPULAR CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OUTPERFORM AT MEDIOBANCA
*ROLLS-ROYCE CUT TO UNDERPERFORM VS NEUTRAL AT CREDIT SUISSE
*UBI CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OUTPERFORM AT MEDIOBANCA
*UNICREDIT CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OUTPERFORM AT MEDIOBANCA

>>> PT Change


>>> Initiation
*BPOST ASSUMED AT NEUTRAL AT NOMURA; PT EU24.40

>>> Call
>> Country
*CREDIT SUISSE CUTS JAPAN EQUITIES TO BENCHMARK, ADDS TO GEM
>> Sector
*EUROPEAN BANKS CUT TO NEUTRAL VS OUTPERFORM AT MEDIOBANCA

>>> Balmain receives EUR 500m pre-emptive offer from Valentino owners; two other

Balmain receives EUR 500m pre-emptive offer from Valentino owners; two other bidders also interested 

Pierre Balmain, the French fashion house controlled by the heiresses of Alain Hivelin, is understood to have received pre-emptive offers from three potential buyers, French daily Les Echos reported.

The report, which did not reveal its source of information, said that the Qatari state-owned agency, which owns Italian fashion house Valentino, is believed to have made an offer valuing the target at EUR 500m; Two other pre-emptive offers have also been made, one by a financial investor from the USA and another by a Chinese group.

According to the report, the offer from Qatar is believed to be in pole position. The report noted that the auction for Balmain, which has yet to be launched, was expected to fetch between EUR 300m and EUR 400m originally.
Balmain generates annual revenues of EUR 120m.

Les Echos

>>> Asian Update

Asian Market Update: Abe plans to front-load stimulus; Aussie drops on flat retail sales

***Economic Data***
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB RETAIL SALES M/M: 0.0% V 0.4%E; Y/Y: 3.7% (weakest since Sept 2013)
- (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB BUILDING APPROVALS M/M: 3.1% V 2.0%E; Y/Y: -9.0% (4th straight decline) V -9.0%E
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR ANZ JOB ADVERTISEMENTS M/M: 0.2% V -1.2% PRIOR
- (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR TD SECURITIES INFLATION M/M: 0.0% V -0.2% PRIOR; Y/Y: 1.7% (7-month low) V 2.1% PRIOR
- (JP) JAPAN MAR MONETARY BASE Y/Y: 28.5% v 29.0% PRIOR; MONETARY BASE END OF PERIOD: ¥375.7T v ¥358.8T PRIOR
- (KR) SOUTH KOREA Q1 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) Y/Y: 19.3% V 82.5% PRIOR
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q1 WESTPAC EMPLOYMENT CONFIDENCE INDEX: 104.8 V 101.5 PRIOR

***Index Snapshot (as of 03:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 +0.2%, S&P/ASX +0.6%, Kospi +0.1%, Shanghai Composite closed, Hang Seng closed, Jun S&P500 +0.1% at 2,066

***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Jun gold -0.4% at $1,219/oz, May crude oil -1.1% at $36.38/brl, May copper -0.2% at $2.16/lb
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall 1.2 tonnes to 818.1 tonnes; 3rd straight decline
- SLV: iShares Silver Trust ETF daily holdings rise to 10,344 tonnes from 10,276 tonnes prior; Highest since Dec 2014
- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥350B in 1-3year JGBs, ¥440B in 3-5yr JGBs,¥220B in 10-25year JGBs and ¥180B in JGBs with maturity over 25-year

***Market Focal Points/FX***
- Asian equity markets are modestly higher with limited participation, as China/Hong Kong indices are closed for holiday. Investors are digesting a fairly solid US jobs report on Friday that saw the change in non-farm payrolls beat, hourly wages recover from prior month's poor showing, and unemployment to tick up on a slight expansion in labor force. S&P/ASX 200 is leading the way despite the selloff in key mining/energy names while Nikkei225 is sustaining gains despite the late-session rally in JPY. Among FX majors, USD/JPY was down nearly 50pips from the highs around 113.30, EUR/USD was rangebound around 1.14, and AUD/USD sold off some 40pips to 0.7630 on weak Aussie retail sales data.

- Australia retail figures came in flat m/m and up 3.7% y/y - the weakest annual growth rate since mid-2013 - with the most pronounced gains coming in clothing/footwear segment. Other Aussie data were more benign, as building approvals sequential growth topped consensus and ANZ Jobs ads returned to positive. Going into tomorrow's RBA rate decision, market consensus is firmly in expectation of a rate hold, however futures markets still anticipate more easing later this year because of recent dovishness out of the FOMC boosting AUD currency against the greenback.

- In Japan, more data from the BOJ's Tankan survey revealed corporates reducing their expectations for inflation with a 1-year time horizon to just 0.8% from 1.0%. 3-year outlook was cut to 1.1% from 1.3% and 5-year to 1.2% from 1.4%. Govt spokesperson Suga reiterated that only a calamity on the scale of global financial crisis or a natural disaster would lead to postponing the 2nd round of consumption tax increase, even with a Yomiuri poll indicating that 65% of respondents do not support the sales hike to 10% scheduled for April of next year. Later in the session, PM Abe was reportedly preparing to outline the specifics of frontloading FY16 budget at a cabinet meeting tomorrow. Among notable developments in the M&A landscape, Sharp was up nearly 5% headed toward close after reports late on Friday that it reached an agreement with banks on loan terms as part of the Hon Hai bailout.

***Equities***
US equities / ADRs:
- VA: Follow Up: Alaska Air deal to buy Virgin America thought to be for $2.5B cash - financial press
- SPLS: Said to have offered to freeze prices for 3 years in order to secure $6.3B takeover of ODP - NY Post
- PBR: Announces new voluntary layoff program as part of overall cost-cutting initiative; Expects 12K workers to leave (about 21% of workforce) - financial press

Notable movers by sector:
- Sharp 6753.JP: Reaches agreement with banks on loan terms as part of Hon Hai bailout; Plans to reduce borrowing costs by ¥7.4B in FY16/17; +4.8%
- Posco 005490.KR: Said to consider building a wire-rod processing plant in the US - Korean press; +2.1%
- MQG.AU: Reaffirms FY16 to be higher y/y; As expected H2 to be lower than H1; FY16 H2 lower y/y - slides; +1.3%
- Eisai; 4523.JP: Halaven(Eribulin) Receives Positive CHMP Opinion in Advanced Liposarcoma Following Significant Phase III Data; +0.9%
- Investa IOF.AU: Mirvac said to be less interested in Investa Office bid - Australian press; +0.5%
- 005380.KR: Hyundai/Kia group reports Mar US sales -0.2% y/y to 133.6K units v 130.6Ke; -3.0%

FT : National Grid accused of energy ‘panic’ over coal deals

National Grid accused of energy ‘panic’ over coal deals

National Grid’s decision to grant lucrative contracts to two large British coal-fired power plants, helping keep them open, shows it is in a “blind panic” about electricity supplies next winter, according to industry insiders.
At the end of last week, National Grid, which runs the UK electricity network, granted two services contracts — one to Fiddlers Ferry in Cheshire the other to Drax in North Yorkshire.

The deals will ensure in an emergency the power stations are able to start up again without electricity from the grid, which would be essential in a national power outage.
But industry insiders believe that with electricity supplies looking tighter than ever, the contracts are designed to make sure the plants stay open over next winter. National Grid denies this, saying the companies won a competitive bidding process.
Fiddlers Ferry owner SSE said last week that the deal had been an important factor in its decision to keep the plant open, having previously said it could close.
As ageing coal plants shut, hit by low electricity prices and tough new emissions rules, government ministers have struggled to incentivise companies to replace them. Amber Rudd, energy secretary, has said she wants all coal-fired power to close by 2025.
Energy experts say it is unusual for such “black start” contracts to be given to coal-fired generators. Coal plants are generally the largest power stations but it takes longer to get them running — four hours, according to one industry executive, compared with just minutes for a hydroelectric pump storage plant.
An executive from one of the “big six” energy suppliers said: “We would not normally expect these contracts to be given to coal stations, and for enough money to make sure an entire power plant stays open. This looks like blind panic from National Grid.”
Another called the move “suspicious”, saying he believed the grid had simply run out of capacity to get the country through next winter. National Grid denied this and said it will update the market later this year with what it expects supply margins to be.
National Grid did not say how much the contracts were worth, but analysts said they expected Drax’s revenues to be £10m higher as a result.
Deepa Venkateswaran, an analyst at Bernstein, said: “National Grid would have awarded these contracts anyway. But the timing of them [just before Fiddlers Ferry was due to close], and their recipients, suggest they did not want any further plant closures.”
Others have complained that the bidding process was conducted in secret, meaning that companies trading wholesale electricity were blindsided by SSE’s decision to keep Fiddlers Ferry open.
Sara Bell, chief executive of Tempus Energy, which provides electricity through the wholesale markets, has asked the competition watchdog and Ofgem, the energy regulator, to investigate.
“This is a bilateral, behind closed doors transaction, in support of a coal plant that only a few weeks ago stated it could not continue to operate,” she said.
“Worse still, the sudden nature of the deal announcement has moved the market, to the detriment of other market participants.” She said Tempus was also considering a legal challenge.
National Grid denies the allegations. It said the contracts were not unusual and the two companies had won a fair bidding process. “A competitive process was launched for these services in February with the relevant information sent to all industry participants,” it said.
“Contractual terms are commercially confidential, but we can confirm that the contracts are structured in such a way as to minimise any potential market distortion.”

Le Figaro:M.B. «Pourquoi je n'ai pas vendu Bouygues Telecom à Orange»

Martin Bouygues : «Pourquoi je n'ai pas vendu Bouygues Telecom à Orange»

Martin Bouygues, PDG du groupe Bouygues.

EXCLUSIF - Le projet de mariage de Bouygues Telecom avec Orange a été enterré vendredi soir. Dans un entretien au Figaro, Martin Bouygues explique l'échec du projet.

«Certains ont cru que je bluffais et que je négociais dos au mur. C'était stupide et même puéril de le penser». Comme à son habitude, Martin Bouygues ne mâche pas ses mots. Dans un entretien au Figaro, le PDG du groupe Bouygues s'explique sur les raisons de l'échec des négociations qui avaient été entamées trois mois plus tôt avec Orange, et qui auraient abouti à un partage des actifs de Bouygues Telecom entre Orange, SFR , et Free.
» À LIRE - Martin Bouygues: «Nous étions quatre à la table des négociations, mais seulement trois à vouloir aboutir»
«Ma première préoccupation, essentielle, était le maintien des emplois et du statut des salariés de Bouygues Telecom. La deuxième, c'était que je crois dans l'avenir du secteur des télécoms et que je souhaitais que le groupe Bouygues demeure un acteur dans ce secteur, et donc qu'il trouve sa place d'actionnaire chez Orange. Ensuite, je demandais que le montant de l'opération soit proche de l'offre que nous avait faite Patrick Drahi il y a un an. Enfin, Bouygues ne devait pas assumer seul le risque d'exécution. Toutes ces conditions, je les ai exposées, très clairement, dès le départ. Il n'y avait aucun malentendu possible», explique Martin Bouygues. «Si nous étions quatre à la table des négociations, nous n'étions que trois à vouloir aboutir. Manifestement, l'un des protagonistes nourrissait l'ambition d'avoir le maximum en payant le minimum, tout en gardant la possibilité de se retirer». Martin Bouygues refuse d'en dire plus. Cependant, l'histoire de la négociation (dans Le Figaro du 2 avril) atteste du fait que Free, détenu par Xavier Niel, aurait cherché à obtenir un maximum de garanties en cas de réalisation de l'opération.
Les exigences «très étranges» de Bercy

Pour Martin Bouygues, en tout cas, l'absence d'accord entre les quatre opérateurs a pesé plus lourd dans la balance que les exigences de l'État. «Si nous étions parvenus à un accord entre les quatre opérateurs, ce sujet-là aurait fini, je l'imagine, par trouver sa solution», dit-il, tout en convenant avoir «trouvé très étranges» les exigences de Bercy.
Pour l'avenir, le PDG du groupe Bouygues s'affiche serein. «La consolidation du marché français avait du sens. Mais puisqu'elle n'a pas lieu, nous allons continuer d'évoluer dans un marché à quatre opérateurs. (...) S'agissant de Bouygues Telecom, je ne suis pas inquiet. L'entreprise est parfaitement viable dans un marché à quatre. Elle est la première à avoir fait des efforts de rationalisation, considérables. Sa structure de coûts est une des plus basses du marché, et elle a l'un des meilleurs réseaux mobiles. Le premier trimestre témoignera de notre croissance à la fois dans le fixe et dans le mobile. Nous avons, avec les cash-flows et la puissance du groupe Bouygues, les moyens nécessaires pour investir et continuer de développer Bouygues Telecom.»y

WSJ : A Warning for Gold Bugs: This Rally Won’t Last

A Warning for Gold Bugs: This Rally Won’t Last

The enthusiasm surrounding gold’s big first-quarter rally suggests its shine is set to dull sooner rather than later

Gold investors should enjoy the party while they can. The good times are probably coming to an end.

Bullish headlines following gold’s 16.5% first-quarter surge were in full force last week. CNBC claimed there was still upside ahead following the biggest quarterly rally in three decades. Bloomberg said even the bulls were stampeded by gold’s sharp move. And The Wall Street Journal touted the growing number of bullish bets on the metal.

Such enthusiasm and unanimity suggests gold’s shine is set to dull sooner rather than later.

Gold often thrives as a haven in times of turmoil, or acts as a hedge against inflation. Devotees love pointing to negative interest rates around the globe as evidence that has recently made gold glitter more than usual.

The problem is these theories don’t take into account a fundamental analysis of gold’s intrinsic value: It doesn’t really have any. Unlike many financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate and others, gold doesn’t generate any income. Valuing it is virtually impossible.

At least in the short run, sentiment tends to be the driver. It looks overextended. As Mike Dragosits of TD Securities puts it, bullish exchange-traded-fund inflows and sanguine net speculative positioning have reached extreme levels. Those historically have been contrarian signals. Gold is now facing “near-term correction risk,” he says.

And the turbulent times that helped push gold higher at the beginning of the year have largely dissipated. Most of gold’s first-quarter gains came during the first six weeks of the year, when fear about China and the global economy was paramount.

Financial markets have calmed, economic data have been better and overseas action has steadied, including Friday’s optimistic report on Chinese manufacturing activity. Gold already has fallen about 4% since last month’s peak, largely a result of those improving trends.

And even amid a strong first quarter, gold is still off about 35% from its peak of 2011 just shy of $1,900 an ounce.

A return of market panic can never be ruled out, of course. Barring that, it is last call for gold bulls. As much of the past five years have shown, the hangover isn’t pleasant.

WSJ : Leaked Call Shows Continued Strains Between Greece and Its Creditors

Leaked Call Shows Continued Strains Between Greece and Its Creditors

IMF officials’ conversation highlights risk that bailout program could be headed for more drama

ATHENS—A leaked phone call held by International Monetary Fund officials is exposing strains between Greece and its international creditors, highlighting the risk that the country’s bailout program could be headed for more drama this summer.

A transcript of the March 19 phone call, involving IMF officials in Washington and Athens, was published by the Wikileaks website on Saturday and shows how IMF officials are struggling to persuade Germany and other eurozone countries to give Greece the debt relief and easier fiscal targets that the IMF thinks are needed.

In the call, the head of the IMF’s European department, Poul Thomsen, discusses with his colleagues how the Washington-based fund wants German Chancellor Angela Merkel to make a choice by this summer: ease Greece’s debt burden or lose the IMF’s participation in its bailout.

“Look, you Mrs. Merkel you face a question, you have to think about what is more costly: to go ahead without the IMF…or to pick the debt relief that we think that Greece needs in order to keep us on board,” Mr. Thomsen tells his colleagues, according to the Wikileaks transcript.

A German government spokesman declined to comment.

Germany isn’t keen on debt relief, which would mean taking a hit on its loans to Greece. But Berlin has made clear to Athens—which would like to get rid of the IMF—that the fund has to stay involved, for the credibility of the program.

An IMF spokeswoman declined to comment on the leak. It isn’t clear who tapped and leaked the conversation, held between Mr. Thomsen in Washington and the IMF’s Greek mission chief Delia Velculescu, as well as another IMF official, at a room in Athens’s Hilton Hotel.

The IMF’s hope of forcing Germany to confront the tortured math of the Greek bailout isn’t new. Nor is the IMF staff’s unwillingness to continue lending to Greece if the bailout deal doesn’t add up, in its view.

But Greece’s government seized on the leaked conversation to support its claim that the IMF is the main obstacle to completing the current review of the bailout program and securing fresh rescue loans, which Greece needs to repay large debts falling due in July.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sent a letter to IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Saturday, demanding to know whether the IMF officials’ views expressed on the leaked phone call were the fund’s official position, according to Greek government officials.

The officials said Mr. Tsipras had spoken to Greece’s president, whose role is largely ceremonial, and to other Greek party heads about the call, and would also seek to speak with other European leaders including Ms. Merkel.

Greek officials presented the leaked conversation as evidence that the IMF wants to push Greece to the brink of bankruptcy in order to force the country and Europe into accepting IMF demands.

“The Greek government is demanding explanations from the Fund on whether its official position is to create default conditions in Greece,” government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said.

Mr. Tsipras and his top aides have identified the IMF as their chief adversary in bailout talks—despite the IMF’s support for Greek debt relief—because the fund is demanding unpopular austerity measures from Athens, including pension cuts and a lower tax-free threshold for person income tax.

Mr. Tsipras is eager to complete the bailout review with only milder fiscal measures. The European Commission, which represents eurozone governments in bailout talks with Athens, appears more willing to soften the austerity measures.

In the leaked phone call, Ms. Velculescu accuses the commission of “backtracking” on an agreement with the IMF to press Greece for budget savings worth 2.5% of gross domestic product in the current review.

A commission spokesman said the commission doesn’t comment on leaks.

The IMF officials discuss how—similarly to past years—difficult decisions about the Greek bailout are likely to be put off until Greece is on the verge of bankruptcy this July. Mr. Thomsen expresses surprise that Germany didn’t resolve the issue earlier this spring to get it out of the way, given that Europe is also grappling with the migration crisis.

Mr. Thomsen tells his colleagues that the U.K.’s referendum in June on whether to stay in the European Union is likely to occupy Europe’s attention for a month, further delaying a resolution of the latest Greek problem.

WSJ : Corona Brewer Constellation Struggles With Supply Chain

Corona Brewer Constellation Struggles With Supply Chain

Recent recall traced to Anheuser-Busch InBev supplier

With Mexican beer sales soaring in the U.S., the biggest hurdle facing Corona brewer Constellation Brands Inc. is its own supply chain.

The company, which reports fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday, issued a recall of Corona in March, its second in the last two years. Distributors scrambled to pull select 12-packs and 18-packs of the top-selling Mexican beer from U.S. stores before consumers drank from bottles containing glass particles.

The recall isn’t expected to affect earnings next week because the fourth quarter ended Feb. 29, but it will raise questions from analysts about the cause, cost and possibility of future recalls.

Constellation’s ability to avoid another incident hinges in part on ramping up production at its brewery in Nava, Mexico, so it can reduce its dependency on Anheuser-Busch InBev NV. That is because the recently recalled Corona came from AB InBev breweries in Mexico.

Constellation has been relying on AB InBev for beer production since the brewers struck an agreement in 2013 with the U.S. Justice Department, allowing AB InBev to close its acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo by selling Constellation the U.S. rights to Modelo beers and the Nava brewery.

AB InBev said it discovered the glass defect and traced it back to a glass manufacturing plant owned by a third-party supplier, Fevisa.

An AB InBev spokeswoman said the brewer had since reviewed Fevisa’s compliance and control measures to make sure it meets AB InBev’s “strictest internal quality standards.” She added, “We always aim to respect the highest production and safety standards.”

But as long as Constellation isn’t controlling its supply, CLSA analyst Caroline Levy said “there’s a small risk” of another recall happening.

Constellation planned to double production capacity at the Nava brewery to 17 million barrels this year, but sales of Modelo and Corona have been so strong they have outpaced the expansion. The company’s beer shipments have increased 23% to 16 million barrels from 13 million barrels in 2013, according to industry tracker Beer Marketer’s Insights.

To meet demand, Constellation said earlier this year that it extended its supply agreement with AB InBev through mid-2017. It also plans to increase the Nava brewery capacity by 4.2 million barrels, bringing total annual production to 21 million barrels.

Analyst Ms. Levy projects Constellation will be handling 90% of its production by next year.

Until then, Constellation will continue to rely on AB InBev to supply Corona, a situation that is awkward at best since Constellation’s beers are competing with Budweiser and Bud Light in the U.S. Last month, AB InBev introduced a Mexican beer of its own—Estrella Jalisco—to compete with Constellation.

On Wednesday, Constellation Chief Executive Rob Sands will seek to assure investors the company’s brewery expansion is proceeding as planned. A spokeswoman said Mr. Sands would address the recall on Wednesday but what he plans to say remains unclear.

Analysts currently expect the company to report fourth-quarter earnings of $1.14 a share, according to Thomson Reuters, compared with last year’s $1.06 a share.

>>> Barrons weekend update: positive on TWX, UTX; cautious on BAM

Barrons weekend update: positive on TWX, UTX; cautious on BAM 

Cover story: Though Republican leaders are pressing Ohio governor John Kasich to drop out of the race, it's unlikely he will do so-and for investors that's a good thing; "Kasich's policy prescriptions, experience, and temperament make him the GOP's best bet to reassure a nervous marketplace," and he would be better for investors than Hillary Clinton in the White House. 

Feature: 1) Picks from participants in Barron's energy roundtable, featuring Barry Kupferberg of Trilogy Capital Management (Rockies Express Pipeline, Permian Resources), Robert Thummel of Tortoise Capital Advisors (EPD, SXL, LNG, PXD), Harlan Cherniak of KKR (SLCA, DYN bonds, CPN bonds) and Richard Daskin of RSD Advisors (SEP, MMP, PSXP); 2) Positive on TWX: Shares are up following the success of Batman v Superman, which bodes well for nine more DC Entertainment movies to be released during the next five years, while the company's TV and game production is thriving; 3) Positive on UTX: Shares have fallen 15% over the past two years, but increased cost-cutting, stronger results in its U.S. air-conditioning business, and a new commercial jet engine could send earnings up; shares could return 20% during the next year; 4) Cautious on BAM: Company specializes in illiquid properties whose values it calculates from "unobservable inputs," such as the discount rate applied to a property's projected cash flow, a process that raises some questions for investors. 

Tech Trader: The cloud-computing sector continues to undergo a transformation, with shares of pure-play stocks such as CRM and WDAY down, while traditional software makers like ORCL and IBM have risen because of efforts to highlight the parts of their businesses that contain cloud-computing elements. 

Trader: Investors "want to see interest-rate hikes that indicate the U.S. economic engine is revving strongly to withstand higher rates," says John DeClue of the Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank; Positive on CELG: Shares of the managed-care health provider are down as investors lose interest in the sector, but the company stands to benefit from expansion and the ACA's push to insure more people; Positive on HAIN: Slower revenue growth is partly the result of the company growing larger and struggling to maintain momentum, but it stands to benefit from growing sales in organics and efforts to reduce expenses-and insiders have increased their holdings. 

Profile: Justin Thomson, portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price International Discovery fund, has taken advantage of weakness in foreign markets to buy (top 10 holdings: Victrex, Eurofins Scientific, Axiare Patrimonio Socimi, Playtech, Norma Group, Partners Group Holding, Nippon Seiki, Ambu, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, MercadoLibre). 

Small Caps: Positive on MTW: Industrial crane maker, formed only a month ago as a spinoff of parent company MFS, will undergo a restructuring that will improve margins and could lead to higher profitability. 

Follow-Up: Barron's says robo advisors are legitimate competitor-at the mass-affluent level-to traditional financial-services firms, which are weighed down by legacy software code and human advisors.

European Trader: Positive on ENDP: Specialty pharma company's shares are down, but it should undergo a recovery over the next 12 to 24 months, and shares could rebound by more than 50%. 

Asian Trader: Sinagpore's recently announced budget will boost spending by 7% this year, which could bolster stocks in banking, consumer staples, healthcare, and transport. 

Emerging Markets: Some investors in Brazil are looking to put profits elsewhere, given the country's mounting problems, and are looking to China, which has projected GDP growth of 6-7% (Positive on Kweichow Moutai, JD). 

Commodities: A seasonal shortage boosted lumber prices, but slowing U.S. housing construction and a weak Canadian dollar should bring them back down again. 

Streetwise: With the markets rallying, companies may see a window of opportunity for IPOs, but it remains unclear how eagerly investors will embrace them.