Asia

"Forgive the macros – they know not what they do."

• The Fed Is Meeting in April to Talk About June (BBG)
• Global stocks, oil prices climb as investors ready for Fed (Reuters)
• Apple Results to Show How Far iPhone Sales Have Fallen  (BBG)
• On Election Eve for five states, Trump rips Cruz and Kasich (Reuters)
• President Xi Jinping’s Most Dangerous Venture Yet: Remaking China’s Military (WSJ)
• Oil's Recovery Inches Higher as 'Fracklog' Awaits Price Trigger (BBG)
• Malaysia’s Reputation Takes Another Hit as State Fund Defaults  (BBG)

With the Fed decision just one day away, followed the very next day by the increasingly more irrational BOJ, stocks had no desire to make significant moves and overnight's boring session was the result, as European stocks and U.S. index futures rose modestly but mostly hugged the flatline while Asian declined 0.2% for a third day as raw-material shares declined and Tokyo equities slumped before central bank meetings in the U.S. and Japan this week. China’s stocks rose the most in almost two weeks, up 0.6% but failed to rise above 3000 on the Shanghai Composite, in thin trading.

Submitted by Andrew Zeitlin of Moneyball Economics

Semiconductors Tell the Real Story of Global GDP

The industrial slowdown predicted by semiconductors is coming true.

Russia has ordered an acceleration of troop movements in the Eastern Military District following reports that a global catastrophe is on its way.  Around 25,000 troops have been deployed since the 19 April, 2016, in a “drill framework” designed not to arouse fears in the general population. Troops have been told to be on full alert for a possible mega-earthquake any day now, should the Pactific Plate begin to fracture.