Alibaba note 2: Tencent for $187 mn has bought 11% of the Shenzhen-listed shares of NavInfo, a maker of mobile map aps. There are rumors it will buy the rest and block Baidu's access, just as Alibaba has blocked its dealing with larger rival AutoNavi. TCTZF shares are up 6%+ on the news.

Publicom will not see the light of day. The $35 bn merger of ad agencies Publicis and Omnicom has been cancelled. The idea that bigger is better in the advertising business seems to me to have been misguided from the start.

We examine the underlying reasons for the Russian withdrawal from the eastern Ukraine border region and the delay allowed for Ukraine to pay its gas bill.

Perhaps the most important "news" of the day is that it is non-Tuesday. Yes, there was actual news news, like German factory orders dropping -2.8% on expectations of a 0.3% increase, French industrial production down -0.7% on expectations of a 0.3% increase...

Think about how many companies pin their hopes and dreams on the infinite possibilities of selling stuff in China.

The Euroland eleven who want to tax financial transactions are still grappling with definitions. While all of the European Union countries agree on taxing stock and bond sales they are in disarray over derivatives.