Press Review: ECB's Coeure says union without risk sharing is vulnerable

BLOOMBERG

American CEOs Most Bearish on Earnings Since 2008 Crisis

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. chief executive officers are more pessimistic about corporate earnings than any time since the financial crisis, according to research from Bespoke Investment Group LLC.

The percentage of companies cutting profit forecasts during this earnings season has outpaced those with upward revisions by 8.6 percentage points, the widest margin in six years, according to data compiled by Bespoke. Consumer companies and drugmakers are the most bearish among 10 major industries, with at least 18 percent of each group providing lower guidance, the data show.

Plunging oil and a strengthening dollar are wreaking havoc on earnings this month as Procter & Gamble Co. to Caterpillar Inc. and Pfizer Inc. joined an increased number for companies to announce disappointing forecasts. While the reduction in projections sets a lower bar for companies to exceed, the dismal outlook undermines the bull market where five years of profit expansions have helped the Standard & Poor's 500 Index triple.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-30/american-ceos-most-bearish-on-earnings-since-2008-crisis

REUTERS

ECB's Coeure says union without risk sharing is vulnerable

(Reuters) - European Central Bank money printing has giveneuro zone governments the chance to make structural reforms, a senior policy maker said on Monday, warning that a union without risk sharing was vulnerable.

"Our recent decision to expand our asset purchases ... has opened a unique window of opportunity for euro area governments to act together, remove structural obstacles to growth, and pull our economy out of the low growth, low confidence trap," Benoit Coeure, a member of the ECB's Executive Board, said in the text of a speech.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/02/us-ecb-coeure-idUSKBN0L60KD20150202

REUTERS

Deflation the danger as China's factories struggle

(Reuters) - The risk of global deflation looms large for 2015 as surveys of China's mammoth manufacturing sector showed excess supply and deficient demand in January drove down prices and production.

While the pulse of activity was livelier in Japan, India and South Korea, they shared a common condition of slowing inflation that argued for yet more policy stimulus ahead.

"The slide in global oil prices and inflation has turned out to be even bigger than anticipated," said David Hensley, an economist at JPMorgan, and central banks from Europe to Canada to Indiahave responded by easing policy.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/02/us-global-economy-idUSKBN0L60AT20150202