(BN) Gore, Pharrell Williams Plan Biggest Music Event for Climate

and all that announced in Davos...Pharrell in Davos...!!!! Davos is not so Davos anymore...
Gore, Pharrell Williams Plan Biggest Music Event for Climate (1)
2015-01-21 11:35:01.237 GMT


(Updates with comment from Gore, Unilever from eighth
paragraph.)

By Stefan Nicola
(Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, musician
Pharrell Williams and producer Kevin Wall are putting together a
music event dubbed Live Earth -- Road to Paris to build support
for protecting the climate.
The intention is that the event on June 18 will be the
biggest ever campaign, including concerts on all seven
continents, Wall told a panel with Gore and Williams at the
World Economic Forum in Davos today.
The goal is to bring together “1 billion voices” from
around the globe demanding climate action, said Gore, who has
made the environment a personal mission since he left office in
2001. The organizers wish to boost political momentum toward a
deal on reining in greenhouse gases that the United Nations is
seeking to adopt in Paris in December.
“We literally are going to have humanity harmonize all at
once,” said Williams, whose upbeat song “Happy” became a
worldwide hit last year.
The Live Earth locations include China, Sydney, Cape Town,
Rio de Janeiro, New York City and Paris, Wall said. Gore said a
band made up of scientists will play at a research station in
Antarctica. “More than a hundred of the greatest, most famous
artists of the world will be on these big stages around the
world,” Gore said.

Following Geldof

The event is to be broadcast in more than 190 countries and
recalls the Live Aid event promoted by musician Bob Geldof in
1985 to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia.
A year earlier, Geldof had founded a charity supergroup
called Band Aid featuring artists including George Michael, Phil
Collins and David Bowie. Their song “Do They Know It’s
Christmas?” became a Number 1 hit and raised millions of
dollars for the cause. Similarly, Farm Aid concerts have been
held almost every year in the U.S. since 1985 to channel support
for farmers living in poverty.
Gore along with Paul Polman, chief executive officer of the
consumer goods maker Unilever NV are using discussions in Davos
to push for limits on fossil-fuel emissions that scientists say
are warming the planet.
Last year was the warmest on record, and temperatures are
on track to rise 3.6 degrees Celsius by the end of the century,
a course that would cause irreversible damage to the planet and
spark more floods, droughts, water shortages, extinction of
species and ocean acidification.

Business as Usual

“The cost of not acting is starting to be higher than the
cost of acting,” Polman said at a press conference with Gore.
“We need to set clear targets. We need a price on carbon.”
Lord Stern, the former U.K. Treasury adviser who authored
an influential paper setting out the costs of climate change,
said this year’s decisions on the issue starting with the UN
move on sustainability goals in September and culminating with
the talks in Paris in December will shape the next two decades.
“These are the 20 years when we have to tackle climate
change,” Stern said. “What we do in the next 20 years will be
transformational. It can be the best of centuries. Or if we
dither around for the next 20 years we can make it the worst.”

For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:TOP<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story:
Stefan Nicola in Berlin at +49-30-70010-6246 or
snicola2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-3525-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
Randall Hackley

>>> OPEC Sec Gen El-Badri: think oil price will stay around current level; do no

OPEC Sec Gen El-Badri: think oil price will stay around current level; do not see it dropping to $20 or $25; reiterates the price will rebound - TV interview 
- Reiterates non-OPEC producers have higher production costs than us. When non-OPEC producers start losing money they will cut their production.
- No pressure to hold an extraordinary OPEC meeting
- Demand is slow because the global economy is weak.

WSJ : ECB Executive Board’s QE Proposal Calls for Roughly €50 Billion in Bond Bu

ECB Executive Board’s QE Proposal Calls for Roughly €50 Billion in Bond Buys Per Month
European Central Bank Purchases Would Last for a Minimum of One Year, According to People Familiar With the Matter

FRANKFURT—A proposal from the European Central Bank’s Frankfurt-based executive board calls for bond purchases of roughly €50 billion ($58 billion) per month that would last for a minimum of one year, according to people familiar with the matter.

The ECB’s executive board met Tuesday to decide on the proposal, which will form the basis of deliberations by the entire 25-member governing council on Thursday. The final number and details could change after the full board weighs in on the plan.

Still, the executive board’s proposal indicates that the ECB could move more aggressively than financial markets have expected. Forecasts among analysts have recently centered on a figure of around €500 billion or higher for a quantitative-easing program, but the executive board’s proposal suggests that bond purchases could amount to at least €600 billion.

(TWT) Financial Times: .@fastFT: ISS: Vote no to GFI-CME deal on.ft.com/1usx



From: LAURA ANREDER (OSCAR GRUSS & SON IN) At: Jan 21 2015 15:38:02
To: LAURENT CHEKROUN (MAKOR SECURITIES LLP)
Subject: Fwd:(TWT) Financial Times: .@fastFT: ISS: Vote no to GFI-CME deal on.ft.com/1usxVnA
http://www.ft.com/intl/fastft ISS, the US proxy voting advisory service, has recommended shareholders of GFI Group, the interdealer broker, to vote against the deal to be purchased by CME Group, the US futures exchange operator.
Financial Times: .@fastFT: ISS: Vote no to GFI-CME deal on.ft.com/1usxVnA
2015-01-21 14:36:18.633 GMT

.@fastFT: ISS: Vote no to GFI-CME deal
on.ft.com/1usxVnA
Financial Times @FinancialTimes
 
Sent With: SocialFlow
  Click here to see the original
tweet on the Twitter web site.

Twitter profile information as of January 21, 2015

Description: Headlines from the FT. Follow us on @FT for news stories,
features and updates. Our customer service team is @FTcare.

Tweets: 92,080  Following: 648  Followers: 2,545,367  Tweeting Since:
4/16/2007  Twitter Verified

-0- Jan/21/2015 14:36 GMT

(BoA-ML) ECB - More on ECB Announcment

ECB - ECB Executive Board proposal circulated to Governing Council foresees asset purchases of 50 billion euros a month through the end of 2016, according to two euro-area central-bank officials who have seen the document.urchases would be focused on sovereign bonds and would not start before March. OUR GOVIES TEAM JUST SAID Big lifts and buying in periph on ECB headlines

(BFW) ECB Said to Propose QE of 50 Billion Euros a Month Through 2016

ECB Executive Board proposal circulated to Governing Council foresees asset purchases of 50 billion euros a month through the end of 2016, according to two euro-area central-bank officials who have seen the document.
  • Purchases would be focused on sovereign bonds and would not start before March, according to one official
  • Officials asked not to be identified because proposal is confidential
  • ECB spokesman declined to comment
  • NOTE: Policy makers due to begin meeting later today; ECB President Mario Draghi to announce Governing Council decision at press conference tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Frankfurt time
ECB Said to Propose QE of 50 Billion Euros a Month Through 2016
2015-01-21 14:36:05.537 GMT


By Alessandro Speciale
(Bloomberg) -- ECB Executive Board proposal circulated to
Governing Council foresees asset purchases of 50 billion euros a
month through the end of 2016, according to two euro-area
central-bank officials who have seen the document.
* Purchases would be focused on sovereign bonds and would not
start before March, according to one official
* Officials asked not to be identified because proposal is
confidential
* ECB spokesman declined to comment
* NOTE: Policy makers due to begin meeting later today; ECB
President Mario Draghi to announce Governing Council
decision at press conference tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Frankfurt
time


For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story:
Alessandro Speciale in Frankfurt at +49-69-9204-1201 or
aspeciale@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Fergal O’Brien at +44-20-3525-7152 or
fobrien@bloomberg.net
Jana Randow, Jeff Black

(The Economist) The sad consequences of the fear of QE


Paul De Grauwe, John Paulson Chair in Political Economy at the London School of Economics, gives his thoughts on the ECB meeting this Thursday, where Mario Draghi is expected to announce a programme of quantitative easing.

IT APPEARS that the European Central Bank (ECB) is ready to start a large programme of “quantitative easing” (QE): it will buy government bonds and in so doing will put money base into circulation.

There is still a lot of disagreement on the necessity of QE in the euro zone. I see two reasons why the case for QE is overwhelming. First, QE is merely a correction for what happened during the last two years. During that period, the ECB withdrew about €1 trillion out of the euro-zone economy. Admittedly this was the result of banks repaying loans they had taken during the height of the debt crisis. But surely central banking is more than passively reacting to decisions taken by banks.

Second, the euro-zone economy is not getting off the ground. This contrasts with America, Britain and the non-euro EU countries. More importantly, the ECB fails to achieve the only objective it takes seriously, ie, an inflation target of 2%. Since the end of last year inflation in the euro zone has become negative.

Since Milton Friedman we have all become monetarists. In order to raise inflation it will be necessary to increase the growth rate of the money stock. This requires that the ECB increase the money base. And to achieve the latter there is only one practical instrument, ie, an open-market purchase of government bonds. There is no other way to raise inflation than through an increase in the money base and a bond-buying programme is the time-tested way to achieve this.

But as stressed by many observers, QE alone may not do the job. It is necessary but not sufficient. The fact that it is not sufficient, however, should not lead to the conclusion that it can be dispensed with. Even if little else is done, QE should have a significant effect on the exchange rate of the euro. By increasing the supply of money base the ECB will contribute to a further weakening of the euro vis-à-vis other currencies such as the dollar, the pound and the yuan, thereby increasing exports and boosting inflation.

There is much misunderstanding and fear regarding QE, especially in Germany. There is the fear that if the ECB buys government bonds from countries like Greece, Italy and Portugal, German taxpayers risk having to foot the bill. This, the argument goes, will happen if one or more of these countries defaults on their debt. Such a default will create a loss on the balance sheet of the ECB. The other member countries in the euro zone, especially Germany, will then have to step in to cover the loss. The fear that taxpayers may be forced to cover future losses of the ECB has become the main reason why the ECB has waited so long to begin QE.

What to think of this fear? I think it is unfounded. In fact it is surprisingly easy to implement QE without creating risks for taxpayers of the "strong" countries of the euro zone. The way to do this is as follows: the ECB buys a portfolio of government bonds in proportion to the economic weight of each country in the euro zone, as represented by the equity share of these countries in the ECB. Thus, the ECB buys 27% German bonds, 20% French bonds, 18% Italian bonds, etc. As long as these bonds are kept on the ECB’s balance sheet the governments of these countries pay interest to the ECB. The ECB could then apply a rule of “juste retour”, ie, it reimburses the same amounts to each of these governments. No fiscal transfers between member-states occur.

If one of the governments, say the Italian government, were to default on its bonds, the Italian government would stop paying interest but at the same time (applying the “juste retour”) it would not get any interest refund. Again there would be no fiscal transfers.

What about the need for the ECB to write down the Italian bonds? Would that not lead to a fiscal transfer? The answer again is negative. Such a write-down is purely an accounting operation, without any implication for the taxpayers of other countries.

This is not often well understood. When the central bank writes down the Italian bonds, the value of its assets declines. The counterpart on the liabilities side of the central bank’s balance sheet is a decline in equity. A central bank, however, does not need equity. It can easily live with a negative equity. When the equity of the central bank declines there is no need to call upon taxpayers “to foot the bill”. There is no bill to be paid.

Unfortunately, the ECB (and many other central banks) keep this fiction of the need for equity alive, by asking the participating governments to “recapitalise” the bank. But such a recapitalisation is also a purely accounting convention without implications for taxpayers. It implies that governments place bonds on the ECB’s balance sheet. These bonds then create the same circular movement of interest payments, ie, the governments make interest payments to the ECB and the latter refunds these back to the same governments. No taxpayers are involved.

This confusion between accounting losses and real losses is unfortunate. It has led to long hesitation to act. It also leads to bad ideas and wrong proposals. The compromise the ECB is now likely to move towards, whereby each national central bank buys its own government bonds is such a bad idea. One can argue that from the point of view of risk sharing it is equivalent to our “juste retour” proposal. But in going into that direction the ECB creates a perception that the unity of action in the monetary policy field is lost. This is not good news for the future of the euro zone.

The sad thing about this likely solution is that one can achieve the same objective, ie, preventing fiscal transfers between member-states, without compromising the unity of action of the ECB.

>>> GAZPROM RETHINK TO A CORRIDOR TO TURKEY AFTER STOP A SOUTH STREAM

-->Could be seen as +ve for Saipem, as they can get a part of this contract

THE STREETS OF GAS ARE INFINITE - GAZPROM RETHINK TO A CORRIDOR TO TURKEY AFTER STOP A SOUTH STREAM - AT THIS POINT SAIPEM FALLS IN GAME
The idea is to build a gas pipeline under the Black Sea to Turkey arrives and there it stops. It would then be the task of the Europeans are interested to join the network in Turkey. Saipem would be entitled to penalties for 1.5 billion for South Stream, but could return to the game. At the time the mechanism of sanctions on Russia not hinder the maxi-order

The super-pipeline South Stream can rise from the ashes. And the Italian Saipem could lay the pipe work replacement submarines working for the same client (Russia's Gazprom) and in the same area (the Black Sea). The South Stream would have to connect the Balkans (and therefore the whole of Europe) directly with the Russian Caucasus, making transit natural gas under the Black Sea, no longer pass for Ukraine. But in late 2014 political disagreements between Moscow and Brussels have blocked everything. This does not mean that the situation remains frozen.

A few days ago Gazprom sparigliato cards: did you know that it will build an alternative pipeline under the Black Sea, but this time in the direction of Turkey. And it will be called Turkish Stream. It will be a mega work, capable of the same 63 billion cubic meters per year of the late South Stream. But the idea is not to sell all this natural gas to Turkey. Moscow says that when the new pipeline will be operational, will close forever the one through Ukraine. Then the Europeans are warned: if they want to continue to receive Russian gas, will have to go to get it in Turkey, and they think they connect with the network of pipes Turkish. How comes Saipem in this speech? The Italian company would have to lay the South Stream gas pipeline and collect 2.4 billion committed. Now that the contracts have been canceled (suspended, to be more precise) the same Saipem is entitled to 1.5 billion penalties payable by Gazprom, which has bought back the shares of the company South Stream belonging to the Western shareholders. But this point: who will lay pipes Turkish Stream?
The identikit is easy. A few years ago, Saipem made ​​(coincidentally) a submarine pipeline between the Russian Caucasus and Turkey; called Blue Stream and has a range of about ten billion cubic meters per year. Now for the Saipem it would build a second pipeline in the same waters (with prospecting already made ​​and the technologies that Saipem has already developed) but six times larger. By Gazprom choose Saipem as operator would lead to a financial settlement of contracts and penalties that make everyone happy, as if the South Stream was made. What could prevent this solution? No European sanctions for the crisis in Ukraine, because they hit so the export of oil technology to Russia, but not the laying of gas pipes, for which Saipem had the go-ahead to Rome the Ministry of Development, which automatically meant that of the EU. In fact, until a few days before the South Stream project is suspended, Saipem continued to work as if nothing had happened, and when it arrived the stop anyone (either in Brussels or in Moscow) indicated as a reason sanctions.

Confirmation Alberto Clo, former board member and director of Eni Magazine Energy of Rie: "There is a bit 'of legal uncertainty on the scope of the sanctions, I asked some legal advice, but it seems that the prohibitions are limited to strike oil projects in the Arctic and in off-shore. " So David Tabarelli, president of Nomisma Energia, "I'm involved the drilling equipment, and those to build the marine platforms. But those to install the hoses do not think so. " If anything, Western sanctions may pose a problem of indirect access to credit, but Gazprom is a solvent, and if he wants to implement the project the money finds them - the rest is money that, for the most part, however, should turn to Saipem . If one plus one equals two, the future is written.

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: NFLX +17.6%, WWD +12.4%, CREE +6.7%, SMCI +6%, ASML +2.5%, UNH +1.2%, ADTN +0.9%, CLS +0.7%, AMTD +0.6%

Select metals/mining stocks trading higher: AU +2.6%, ABX +2.5%, GFI +2.1%, HL +2.1%, SLV +1.9%, GDX +1.5%, NEM +1.4%, SLW +1.4%, HMY +1%

Other news: SCOK +31.6% (announces that the Henan Pingdingshan Shilong District Science and Technology Bureau has approved the company's Underground Coal Gasification program) NLST +6.2% (USPTO examiner reconfirms patentability of Netlist's LRDIMM patent claims), NSP +6.1% (Starboard Value disclosed 13.2% active stake in 13D filing; suggests that co should consider share repurchases and explore a potential sale in letter to Board), SNE +4.7% (still checking), RLH +3.2% (announced formation of a joint venture; refinanced debt to accelerate execution of national growth strategy), DAN +3.2% (to replace CBST in the S&P MidCap 400), CALL +2.8% (announced that it is in beta testing on two APPs in the U.S. and Mexico, respectively), TKMR +2.1% (RA Capital Management discloses 9.9% passive stake in 13G filing) ADHD +1.7% (Great Point Partners disclosed 5.6% passive stake in 13G filing), BHP +1.2% (provides operational review for the half year ended 31 December 2014)

Analyst comments: MPG +5.7% (initiated with a Buy at BofA/Merrill), RCPT +5.2% (initiated with a Buy at Evercore ISI), FXCM +4.4% (upgraded to Mkt Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette), GTE +3.8% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity), ESPR +2.9% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill), KORS +1.9% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen ), WFM +1.1% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Sterne Agee), AMAT +1% (assumed with an Outperform at Credit Suisse), HZNP +0.9% (initiated with a Buy at Citigroup ), LOW +0.8% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)