United States

• U.S. readies bank rule on shell companies amid 'Panama Papers' fury (Reuters)
• Co-Founder of Mossack Fonseca Defends Law Firm at Center of ‘Panama Papers’ (WSJ)
• Fed's Cautious Approach on April Rate Hike Raises Stakes for June (BBG)
• Dollar sinks again after Fed remains cautious (Reuters)
• New Tax Rules on Inversion Deals Are Met With Protest (WSJ)
• Fed Chairs Since 1979 Offer Peek Into Central-Bank Philosophy (BBG)
• Election stirs debate about Fed's handling of political pressure (Reuters)

Two days after stocks slid in a coordinated risk-off session, and one day after a DOE estimate of US oil inventories sent US stocks surging while the failed Allergan-Pfizer deal unleashed torrential hopes of a biotech M&A spree leading to the single best day for the sector in 5 years, sentiment has again shifted, this time due to a violent surge in the Yen as the market keeps testing the resolve of the Japanese central bank to keep its currency weak, and so far finding it to be nonexistent.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook has begrudgingly admitted that terrorist groups Al-Qaeda and Al-Nusra are one and the same. In reply to persistent questions from reporters at a Pentagon press briefing, as to whether the two terrorist groups that are being targeted by the U.S. are somehow distinct from one another, Cook gave up and said: “Yeah, ok, ok! Al-Nusra and Al-Qaeda are one and the same! There I said it.” Russia Insider reports: Well what do you know.

The FOMC minutes from the uberdovish March meeting were just released. Here are the highlights:

By Dana Lyons of My401kPro.com

In terms of global reach, the post-February equity rally has been a fairly broad advance. Some markets, most notably the U.S., have resumed their former relative strength while other regions, like emerging markets and Latin America, have seen strong mean-reversion bounces from very oversold levels, One region conspicuously lagging during this rally, however, has been Europe.