The Day Today

* Le Pen adviser: would convert 2trn EUR of govt debt into a new french franc

* German Economy Minister on Trump: “What we are witnessing over the past 10 days is alarming and irritating. This is going in a totally wrong direction”

* 76% of French voters are not convinced by Fillon’s attempts to explain why he paid his wife for an alleged non-existent job

* Ireland business minister expects more businesses to move there in first half of this year

* Apple misses deadline to pay the Irish govt its “missing” 13bn of tax

* January was 2nd biggest month on record for US corp bond issuance

* Hedge fund bosses are now getting upset with Trump

* Trump chooses Gorsuch for Supreme Court, he apparently favours a literal application of the Constituion

* Republican Senator Corker on the Travel ban: “There may well need to be a legislative fix”

* BOC Poloz: Canada will be “some ways behind” the US on rates

* Japan Cabinet Sec: we will explain to the US that BOJ policy is not currency manipulation

* Trump fires the attorney general, Sally Yates, as she disagreed with the travel ban
* US companies line up to denounce the ban, including Ford and Goldman Sachs
* new BIS chief on all central banks: “I would certainly advocate for going back to a regime that is more in line with what we consider to be a ‘normal monetary policy’”
* Le Pen on Macron as her challenger: “It is a duel of patriots against globalists”
* European Banking Authority calls for an EU Asset Management company to sort out bad loans
* Microsoft Sells $17bn in Second Bond Deal in Six Months
* Cautious BOJ raises growth forecast as economy shows flickers of life

* Trump visa ban to resume after 90 days of checks, “This is not about religion – this is about terror and keeping our country safe”

*  judges in some states start to overrule it

* ECB Visco: “There are as yet no clear indications of any inversion of trend in the core components driving developments in consumer prices and wage growth”

* ex-ECB Stark: “think the unthinkable” and “re-set” the EU by taking power from Brussels

* Macron gaining ground against Fillon as the latter faces several scandals

* Austria coalition averts snap election

* Germany FinMin admits “mistakes” in refugee policy

* Fitch cuts Turkey to junk, S&P downgrades outlook

* Japan retail sales disappoint

* S&P put / call ratio at lowest levels since 2009, usually associated with a market bottom

* ECB Villeroy: “we clearly did not discuss tapering”

* PM May: “we – our two countries together – have a responsibility to lead. Because when others step up as we step back, it is bad for America, for Britain and the world”

* Trump considering 20pc border tax

* Dutch Justice Minister resigns, unhelpful ahead of March 15 election

* new SPD leader Schulz draws level with Merkel in latest poll

* IMF points out Germany might need inflation above ECB target for whole euro area to achieve that target

* new US Defense Sec stresses commitment to NATO to germany

* Japan govt to release new CPI measure as the old one eases out of deflation

* Intel and MSFT beat estimates, Google doesn’t

* CIO of Norway SWF: “It is a continuous challenge to source the liquidity both on the fixed income side and on the equities side… Also on the cash management side, the repo market is getting more challenging liquidity-wise as well. So being able to execute efficiently is my main concern … We see there is less liquidity out there. It is more costly to do the trades”
* UK car output 17yr high but investment drops by 33%
* Italian Court Boosts Renzi’s Push for Early Elections
* Trump expected to block entry to US for anyone from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen
* Ryan: We will replace Obamacare, cut taxes and fund Wall by August
* Mexico President may scrap Jan 31 Trump meeting over Wall executive order
* Trump wants “at least a 40 percent overall decrease” in US funding to certain international groups, eg the UN
* China Industrial Profits Increase at Slowest Pace in a Year – inflation bites
* China Said to Require Banks to Curb New Loans in Q1
* NZ Inflation Back on Track After 2-Year Undershoot
* ECB Paper: It’s not secular stagnation but “Adverse cyclical factors played a more crucial role in explaining the missing inflation”, so QE works and the Phillips Curve is not dead