China headed for first onshore corporate-bond default.

China's $1.5T publicly traded corporate-bond market is set to experience its first ever default after Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology said it may not be able to fully meet an 89.8M yuan ($14.6M) interest payment that is due on Friday. Until now, the government has bailed out at-risk companies. The news of the expected default weighed on Chinese stocks, although market strategist Chris Weston said it would be a good thing, as "a normal economy needs defaults to better price bonds and other debt products."

Eurozone business activity better than initially estimated.

Eurozone services PMI increased to 52.6 (flash 51.7) in February from 51.6 in January, while composite output rose to 53.3 (flash 52.7) from 52.9. The data suggests that eurozone GDP is on track to grow 0.4-0.5% in Q1, which would be the "best performance for three years." Meanwhile, retail sales blew past expectations with a rise of 1.6% on month in January - the largest increase since November 2001 - after falling 1.3% in December.

World stocks recover as Putin eases tensions a bit.

Global equity markets have rallied from sharp losses yesterday while gold and oil have fallen following what could be interpreted as a de-escalation of tensions by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered some military units back to their bases after a surprise training exercise that began last week. Some of the drills took place near the border with Ukraine, exacerbating fears about a possible Russian invasion of its neighbour. At a press conference, Putin said his country has no need to use force against Ukraine but retains the right to consider all its options, and it has no intention of annexing Crimea.

There is always one risk associated with MNC companies operating in the Indian market either through listed subsidiaries or joint ventures. That they will form another 100% owned unlisted venture and divert profits to that subsidiary thereby robbing minority shareholders of the listed entity. The latest company to face the ire of the investing community is Maruti Suzuki and its plans of setting up of the Gujarat plant. As per Equity Masters, it was Maruti Suzuki which was to set up the Rs 40 bn plant in Gujarat. But on the day it declared its 3QFY14 results, the management came out with a completely different strategy with respect to how this plant was to be set up.

As per the new plan, the promoters of the company, Suzuki will form a 100% subsidiary in India solely with the aim of setting up the Gujarat manufacturing plant. This means that the funds required to set up the plant will be brought in by Suzuki into the subsidiary. Maruti Suzuki will source cars from this subsidiary to be sold not only in the Indian market but also for exports. The company has assured that the unlisted subsidiary will not make any profits and that Suzuki will benefit only though its stake in the listed entity i.e. Maruti Suzuki. But this so far does not seem to have soothed various investors who claim this to be an act against the interest of minority shareholders. Whether that is actually the case will depend a lot on the fact that the parent company sticks to its word and uses the subsid iary for the objectives that it has stated up front. Do you think Maruti Suzuki's shareholders are being taken for a ride? 

Eurozone manufacturing PMI weakens.

Eurozone manufacturing PMI slipped to 53.2 in February from 54 in January, with the German print slipping but staying in growth territory. The French reading surprisingly improved but the sector contracted again. The overall survey is consistent with eurozone industrial output growing at 1% in Q1, while GDP is set to rise 0.4-0.5%, "With new orders and backlogs of work still rising at reasonable rates, further ongoing expansion is signalled for coming months."

Buffett hints at bigger deals as Berkshire profit rises.

 Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) Q4 net profit climbed almost 10% to $4.99B, or $3,035 per class A share, helped by gains at the company's insurance units. Berkshire's annual letter indicated that the conglomerate could make more major deals. "NV Energy will not be MidAmerican’s last major acquisition," Warren Buffett wrote of last year's $5.6B purchase. Berkshire ended 2013 with $48.19B in cash and equivalents, which gives the company a sizable war chest.

Chinese manufacturing, services PMIs diverge.

China's HSBC manufacturing PMI fell to a seven-month low of 48.5 in February from 49.5 in January, while the official reading slipped to 50.2 from 50.5. In contrast, official non-manufacturing PMI rose to 55 from 53.4. "We are seeing a higher share of services in GDP, and we cite that sometimes as one of the signs of rebalancing in the economy," says BBVA economist Stephen Schwartz. "If that's part of a longer-term trend, that's somewhat encouraging."