Events to watch coming up, Congress, Fannie, Freddie, ECB update, Treasury Sale of $C

Greece - dates to watch coming up

         April 20 - Bond redemption for E8.22 billion

         May 10 - Coupon payment for E2.278 billion

         May 19 - Bond redemption for E8.086 billion.

Events to watch coming up

         Congress Update – this will be the final week for Congress before it recesses for a 2-week break.  The only really major item left on the agenda is financial regulatory reform; Sen Dodd has been pushing to have action taken soon after Congress returns - "It is my hope that shortly after our return, on the second week of April, that we will come to the floor of the United States Senate to debate ... how we reform the financial services sector." (Reuters) 

         Fannie, Freddie - The Obama administration will seek public comment starting April 15 on how to remake the nation's housing finance system and mortgage-giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  DJ

         J.P. Morgan REIT Conference; Thursday, April 1, 2010; 383 Madison Avenue, New York City 

         J.P. Morgan Securitized Products Research Conference; April 15, 2010  

         Daylight-saving time begins Sunday in Europe

         Rio Tinto/China – Rio's employees on trial in China for receiving bribes and obtaining commercial secrets will be sentenced Monday (DJ)

         Iceland - A much anticipated report delving into Iceland's financial collapse in October 2008 will be published April 12 – DJ

         Bank of America Merrill Lynch Inaugural New York Auto Summit – Wed Mar 31 

         General Motors - General Motors Co. expects to make a $1 billion loan repayment to the U.S. Treasury on Wednesday as part of its plan to repay the government ahead of schedule (WSJ)  

         C – Treasury intends to unload its 27 percent stake in Citi using a preset trading plan that will lock the government into a schedule for selling its shares; an announcement from the Treasury could come as soon as next month.  The Treasury would be able to issue instructions on how many shares to sell, when to sell them and at what price while eliminating concern that the sales are based on non-public information.  Bloomberg

         Speakers - New York Fed Executive Vice President Brian Sack speaks Saturday at the World Forex Congress in Sydney, and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks Wednesday in Hartford, Conn.  Also, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair will speak Monday at the Treasury's Women in Finance Symposium in Washington (DJ). 

         ADBE - On April 12, the co will host an online event to launch CS5 which is on track to ship in major languages late in Q2. 

         General Growth – the co's attorneys says they expect to file this week coming up a proposal to emerge from bankruptcy as a standalone company. 

         ECB update – watch for more details on the ECB's collateral rules at the next meeting on Apr 8.  Trichet made this announcement on Thurs Mar 25: "It is the intention of the ECB's Governing Council to keep the minimum credit threshold in the collateral framework at investment grade level (BBB-) beyond the end of 2010. In parallel, we would introduce, as of January 2011, a graded haircut schedule, which will continue to adequately protect the Eurosystem. I will provide the technical details when reporting on the Governing Council decisions of our next meeting on 8 April."

         China & the yuan – there is growing pressure for the Treasury to officially label China a currency manipulator in its next semi-annual report; the next such report is due Apr 15. 

         China will begin trading of stock- index futures on April 16 – Bloomberg

         China said Tuesday that the next round of high-level strategic and economic talks with the United States would be held in Beijing in late May - DJ

         Treasuries – we will hear about the size of the next round of coupon sales on Thurs Apr 1.  The next coupon sales are: 10yr TIPS Mon Apr 5, 3yrs Tues Apr 6, 10s Wed Apr 7, and 30s on Thurs Apr 8.  http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/debt-management/auctions/auctions.pdf  

         G20 - The G20 summit at the end of June will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (DJ)

         AAPL - will hit US on Apr 3 for WiFi models and "late Apr" for 3G; Will be available in int'l markets in late Apr.

         French President Nicolas Sarkozy Meets U.S. President Barack Obama – Mar 30

         Meeting of Foreign Ministers of The G8 countries – Mar 29-30