>>> ECB - Draghi Letter see texy below or pdf attached

Honourable Member of the European Parliament, dear Mr Fernández,
Thank you for your letters, which were passed on to me by Mr Roberto Gualtieri, Chairman of the Committee
on Economic and Monetary Affairs, accompanied by a cover letter dated 17 February 2016.
Regarding your questions on possible further monetary policy measures, at its meeting in early March the
Governing Council will review and possibly reconsider its monetary policy stance. There is good evidence that
the monetary policy measures taken since June 2014 are working as intended. However, the review has to
be seen against the background of increased downside risks to the earlier outlook amid heightened
uncertainty about emerging market economies’ growth prospects, volatility in the financial and commodity
markets, and geopolitical risks. In this environment, euro area inflation dynamics continue to be weaker than
expected.
At its next meeting, the Governing Council will benefit from a more comprehensive picture of the economic
situation and of the medium-term price outlook, including the new staff macroeconomic projections, which will
also cover the year 2018 and include a more in-depth analysis of potential second-round effects. In
preparation for the meeting, work is being carried out to ensure that all the technical conditions are in place to
make the full range of policy options available for implementation, if needed.
2
Address Postal Address
European Central Bank European Central Bank Tel. +49-69-1344-0
Sonnemannstrasse 20 60640 Frankfurt am Main Fax: +49-69-1344-7305
60314 Frankfurt am Main Germany Website:www.ecb.europa.eu
Germany
As I have mentioned before, the Governing Council has a variety of instruments at its disposal to respond, if
warranted, and there are no limits to how far we are willing to deploy our instruments within our mandate to
achieve our objective of inflation rates below, but close to, 2% over the medium term.
Yours sincerely,
[signed]
Mario Draghi

REuters - Bayer rejects EPA request to pull insecticide from U.S. market

Bayer rejects EPA request to pull insecticide from U.S. market

The agricultural unit of German chemicals company Bayer AG said on Friday it will fight a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) request to pull one of its insecticides from the marketplace amid concerns that it could harm organisms in streams and ponds.

Bayer CropScience will instead ask for an administrative law hearing from the EPA's Office of General Counsel to review the registration of flubendiamide, the active ingredient in Bayer's Belt pesticide.

The registration, granted in 2008, was a limited-time conditional registration that could be canceled if additional studies found the chemical to be damaging, the EPA said in a statement.

"EPA concluded that continued use of the product will result in unreasonable adverse effects on the environment," the agency said.

Flubendiamide products are used to control yield-damaging moths and worms in more than 200 crops including almonds, oranges and soybeans.

Bayer's own tests have found that the pesticide is toxic in high doses to invertebrates in river and pond sediment. The organisms can be an important food source for fish.

However, the company's field studies showed that doses in waters near agricultural fields never reached high enough levels to be toxic.

But the EPA's risk assessment disagreed so the agency sent Bayer the request on Jan. 29.

"We are disappointed the EPA places so much trust on computer modeling and predictive capabilities when real-world monitoring shows no evidence of concern after seven years of safe use," said Peter Coody, Bayer vice president of environmental safety.

The EPA said after Bayer's refusal that it will issue a formal request to cancel the pesticide's registration. After a comment period mandated by U.S. pesticide regulation law, Bayer will ask for a formal hearing to determine the pesticide's fate.

Belt will remain on the market throughout the process.

Bayer reported 471 million euros ($527.5 million) in insecticide sales globally in its most recent quarter. The company declined to provide sales details of Belt.

The EPA's move follows the agency's unsuccessful attempt to withdraw its registration for Dow Chemical Co's Enlist Duo weed killer.

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: OPWR -34.7%, RMTI -33.9%,DPLO -26.3%, NLST -13.2%, ZLTQ -11%, TERP -7.8%, BCS -7.4%, ANAC-5.9%, NVCR -5.8%, KITE -5.5%, CODI -5%, MDT -3.7%, TNET -2%, CROX-1.9%, FSIC -1.8%, JUNO -1.2%, PTCT -1%


Other news:: SUNE -24.7% (files to delay its 10-K; also downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer), MRO -4.6% (upsizes and prices 145 million shares of common stock at $7.65 per share), EYES -2.1% (still checking), PRGN -1.3% (announced 1:38 reverse stock split, to trade split-adjusted on Mar. 1), AR -0.9% (block trade yesterday after the close)


Analyst comments: LLTC -2.8% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill), TMH -1.8% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies),CBPO -1.3% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse ),PTCT -1% (downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen; to Neutral at Wedbush)