Weekend Links 29th-30th March 2014

Global Macro / Markets:

• Bitcoin stumbles on fears of China clampdown -CNBC , Bloomberg
• Whoa Did Warren Buffett Get This Massively Important Prediction Wrong – Matt Stoller , The Brooklyn Investor
• The top ten hedge funds by assets – CBNC
• Pimco Total Return Fund behind 87 percent of its peers so far this year – Reuters

North America:

• Fed should start rate hikes in first quarter 2015, Bullard says – Reuters
• BLS: State unemployment rates were “little changed” in February – Calculated Risk
• Final March Consumer Sentiment at 80.0 – Calculated Risk
• U.S. House Poised to Clear Sanctions Called Putin Warning -Bloomberg
• Official warns EU-US trade deal at risk over investor cases – FT
• Population continues to shift towards urban areas. – US Today
• Fed feels backlash over stress tests – FT
• Designed in California, taxed in never never land – FT
• Americans Must Adjust to a World Dominated by China – Fed’s Bullard – WSJ
• The great 1960s bowling bubble was so awesome – Quartz
• Inflation Slows Again, Bouncing Around Four-Year Low – WSJ

Europe:

• Schäuble revives push for eurozone integration – FT
• Intesa Sanpaolo Posts Massive Loss – WSJ
• Ukraine bail-out delivers windfall to hedge funds and Russian banks – Telegraph UK
• Crimea Resolution Backed by U.S. Barely Gets UN Majority – Bloomberg
• Russian Buildup Stokes Worries – WSJ
• Bank of England says may revive securitisation to aid recovery – Reuters

Asia:

• China’s Developers Face Shakeout as Easy Money Ends – Bloomberg

Local:

• House prices enter danger zone – AFR
• NDIS trial costs blow out by 30pc – The Oz
• Qantas puts loyalty at risk – Business Day
• Flight Centre fined $11m for attempted price fixing – AFR
• Paper bag keeps union boss in power – The Oz
• Building firms uncover dodgy deals – The Oz
• Canberra to pay sweeteners to states for selling off assets – AFR
• Plan for over-55s to work for dole – The Oz
• Insider trading jail terms too low, says ASIC head – AFR
• Hockey fund to help ‘infrastructure hole’ – Business Day

Other:

• Meet the manic miner who wants to mint 10% of all new bitcoins – Ars technica
• Candidacy of former general polarizes Egypt – DW
• New iPhone likely out in September, Nikkei daily says – AFP
• Humans suck at driving, leave it to the robots – WaPo
• Google begged Steve Jobs for permission to hire engineers for its new Paris office. Guess what happened next… – Pando
• The G7 and the limits of Russia’s ‘political isolation’ – Reuters