United States

Following yesterday's modest drop in US crude production and yuuge build in inventories, headlines about possible Venezuela meetings sent algos into panic-buying mode. This morning the headlines are from Nigeria, whose Petroleum Minister "expects a dramatic price move" claiming a meeting between OPEC and NOPEC will happen on March 20th. Combine that idiocy with significant US Dollar weakness this morning and the surge in Oil ETF share creation and the perfect storm of higher prices in oil (as hedgies pile in).

Less than 24 hours ago we presented the latest reason by JPM's Mislav Matejka explaining why the equity strategist refuses to buy this market, to wit: "equities are down ytd, but notably the ’16 P/E is not much cheaper today than it was at the start of the year. In fact, for the US, the P/E multiple is currently higher than it was on 1st January, at 16.8x vs 16.6x then."

While revised modestly higher from preliminary levels, US non-farm productivity plunged 2.2% in Q4 2015 - the biggest drop since Q1 2014.

Economists are gnashing their teeth to explain this "plunging productivity paradox" - we think it is rather simple...

While only modestly tongue in cheek, here is what is really going on...

The US Vice President will be meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv next week to discuss a new military deal. Joe Biden’s office announced his upcoming two-day trip on Wednesday, saying that he will also meet with the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Press TV reports: Moreover, the VP would pay a visit to the city of al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the West Bank city of Ramallah in the occupied lands, as part of a broader Middle East tour that includes stops in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

• Global stocks, oil dip, but markets calm down as growth fears ease (Reuters)
• Greece cannot carry migrant burden on its own: PM Tsipras (Reuters)
• New Migrant Crisis Flares in Greece (WSJ)
• Qatar's BeIn Media buys U.S. film studio Miramax (Reuters)
• Nanny who beheaded Russian girl cites revenge for Putin's Syria strikes (Reuters)
• Elliott Management’s wager on Argentinian government bonds has yielded $2.4 billion (WSJ)
• Tesla's Getting More Rivals as VW Scandal Clouds Diesel Outlook (BBG)