REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
Groom Roongroj Walailuk and bride Vina Wichan jump into the pond as they are chased by men dressed as pirates during a wedding ceremony ahead of Valentine's Day in Prachin Buri province, east of Bangkok February 13, 2014.
- Comcast, the country's largest cable company, has agreed to buy Time Warner Cable, the country's second-largest cable company, for $45 billion. The deal will face heavy government scrutiny, BI's Jay Yarow writes. "This would create the biggest pay-TV business by a mile. There's not exactly a ton of competition in the world of cable, but this would effectively make it nonexistent."
- Disruptive weather continues to grip the southern and eastern U.S. Yesterday the entire city of Atlanta basically shut down to avoid trapping themselves downtown again, as snow and freezing temperatures hit the region. In North Carolina, folks were forced to abandon their cars in place. A civil emergency was declared in parts of Alabama after the storm smacked the region. And now it's all moving up the eastern seaboard.
- Economists are already coming in with warnings about the weather impacting data releases. Here's Morgan Stanley on this morning's pending retail sales report from the Census: "For ex-auto ex-gas, our model suggests a flat vs. consensus of +10 bps. Our primary data sources - which include a nationwide consumer spending panel - suggest that severe weather impaired retail spending, especially in the Northeast and Midwest." BI's Matt Boesler has previously covered what impact extreme weather has had on recent weakening market performance and economic data, and concluded doesn't necessarily explain everything.
- But it does explain why Janet Yellen's scheduled appearance today before the Senate banking committee has been postponed.
- At 8:30 we get both the aforementioned sales report, as well as jobless claims, which are expected to remain largely unchanged at 330,000. At 10 a.m. we get the latest business inventories report from the Census. Economists expect them to climb by the same pace seen last month, about 5%.
- Markets are in the red, with the Nikkei down most at 1.79%.
- Pepsi, AIG, and Kraft release earnings today.
- Greek unemployment rose to a record 28% in November, and it remains more than double the average for the Eurozone.
- The Nigerian naira plummeted the most since 2011, and to levels not seen in at least two decades, on devaluation rumors stemming from the central bank's dwindling currency reserves. "While Nigeria has become a darling of international investors in recent years, thanks to its oil revenue and demographic potential, the emerging markets turmoil has caused money to seep out of the country and spurred locals to hoard more dollars in case of a deeper devaluation - as happened in 2008," the FT says.
- Indonesia's central bank left rates unchanged after a string of solid economic data, and the FT says it's a sign one of Morgan Stanley's "fragile five" emerging market countries is in better shape than feared.