“I’m not nearly so concerned about the return on my capital as I am the return of my capital.” Will Rogers (American Humorist and Celebrity, 1879-1935)

1. G-20 Defers Move On Aid for Europe — G-20 officials met. Issues raised were the potential of rising oil prices to hurt a global recovery and the need to change the part of the Volcker Rule which bans prop trading of foreign sovereign debt. Ministers delayed consideration of new international support for Europe until the G-20’s next gathering in April.
2. Blackstone bets on natgas — Blackstone (BX) announced $2B investment in Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) that will allow the company to build a gas-liquefaction plant in Sabine Pass, La., the first of its kind in the continental U.S.
3. Warren Buffet Posted 2011 Annual Letter — click here for the link to Buffet’s annual letter.
4. ECB allots $713 billion to banks in LTRO — The European Central Bank on Wednesday allotted a larger-than-expected 529.5 billion euros ($713.4 billion) in loans to euro-zone banks in its second and possibly last three-year long-term refinancing operation. The ECB said a total of 800 banks were allotted funds under the LTRO.
5. China slashes dollar reserves — WSJ reported that China has sharply cut the share of its foreign reserves held in dollars, Dow Jones calculates. Although the exact composition of China’s $3.2T reserves has always been a mystery, the portion of dollar holdings appears to have dropped to a decade-low 54% as of June 2011 from 65% in 2010 and 74% in 2006.
6. Banks Park $1 Trillion of Cheap Money Back at ECB — reported by CNBC, Commercial banks parked a record 777 billion euros ($1.03 trillion) with the ECB overnight, roughly three-quarters of the money the central bank has shovelled into the financial system in two injections of ultra-cheap three year funding since December. The deposits at the ECB highlight the continued lack of trust between European banks.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: