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| | | | | | |  Good morning. Here's what you need to know.
- Markets in Asia were mixed in overnight trading, with the Japanese Nikkei advancing 0.4 percent and the Shanghai Composite down 3.7 percent. European markets are mostly in the red, with Italy leading the way lower, currently down 1.0 percent. In the United States, futures point to a negative open.
- Chinese property stocks got slammed in overnight trading after the government announced a new 20 percent tax on any home sold. The move represents a tightening of liquidity in the sector. Coincidentally, the announcement came on the same night that CBS 60 Minutes aired an investigative report on the Chinese property market during U.S. primetime viewing.
- Australian markets got dragged down in the Chinese property sell-off as well, indicating that concerns over the decision out of China reflected concerns over broader economic growth. Australia is a big commodity exporter to China, and the performance of the two economies is thus closely linked.
- Over the weekend, rising politician Beppe Grillo, leader of Italy's anti-establishment Five-Star Movement, told German newspaper Bild that he supports an online, non-binding referendum on euro membership in Italy. Nearly half of Italians think they would be better off without the euro.
- During incoming Bank of Japan chief Haruhiko Kuroda's confirmation hearing last night, Kuroda said he would do "whatever it takes" to end deflation. Using this phrase, Kuroda borrowed from ECB President Mario Draghi's playbook. Draghi famously said these words in July 2012, reversing the course of upward-spiraling government borrowing costs in the euro area. However, the Japanese yen did not continue its downward trajectory against the U.S. dollar on the news.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech on long-term interest rates on Friday night at 10 PM ET. In the speech, Bernanke sought gave an explanation of why interest rates are so low and sought to re-assure that the Fed is not looking to tighten monetary conditions any time soon.
- In an interview with CNBC this morning, Warren Buffett said he was buying stocks now, but not because he thought they would keep going up. Instead, he said he was buying them because they were a good value. The comments follow the release of Buffett's annual shareholder letter after the closing bell on Friday.
- Sentix euro zone investor confidence tumbled to -10.6 from -3.6 in January. Economists were only predicting a much smaller drop to -4.3. According to Sentix (via the Guardian), "The reason for this setback is obvious: it is the outcome of the election in Italy which has caused uncertainty over the country's future development to skyrocket....This has had a negative impact on the whole euro zone."
- U.K. construction PMI fell at the fastest rate in three years in February, to 46.8 from 48.7, highlighting the challenges that U.K. policymakers face in an economy with both the lowest growth and highest inflation in the G10. The British pound dropped against the dollar on the news.
- The lone U.S. economic data point of the day is the ISM New York manufacturing index, due out at 9:45 AM ET. Last month, the index clocked in at 56.7, indicating a moderate pace of expansion. Follow the data LIVE on Business Insider >
- BONUS: Lindsay Lohan is not interested in Charlie Sheen as a mentor, reports TMZ.
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