“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” — Winston Churchill
1. CBO slashes deficit estimate — WSJ, The federal deficit will narrow to $642B in the fiscal year ending in September, the CBO reported — a meaningful improvement from February’s projection of $845B. The revision comes courtesy of higher tax receipts and dividend payments to the Treasury from Fannie (FNMA.OB) and Freddie (FMCC.OB).
2. Buffett Latest 13F Filings (Dated May 15, 2013) Holdings — Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A) 13F filing shows Warren Buffett’s conglomerate upped its equity holdings by nearly $10B Q/Q in the January-March period. Notable moves include a new 6.5M share position in Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI) worth ~$400M, divestitures of stakes in Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and General Dynamics (GD), and additions to existing stakes in Wells Fargo (WFC), IBM, Davita Health Care (DVA), and DirecTV (DTV).
3. Hedge Funds Dump Apple, Jump into Hess in Q1 — CNBC, based on the latest 13F filing, David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management reduced its stake in the iPhone maker by 40% during Q1 while Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management sold-off its entire position. Meanwhile, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital boosted its stake by 84%.
4. Eurozone Slump Dragging On — the currency union’s economy fell 0.2% in Q1, easing from Q4’s 0.6% drop but marking the 6th straight sequential contraction. Germany barely rebounded from a prior fall with a 0.1% uptick. France fell back in recession while Italy and Spain extended their downturns.
5. Nikkei rallies to New Highs — the yen (FXY) continued its slide early last week, falling to a new four-and-a-half year low against the dollar (before recovering), helping the Nikkei (NKY) post another triple-digit gain on the session, rising 1.2% to 14782, its highest level since January 2008. The weak yen comes on the heels of the G7’s reportedly amicable meeting over the weekend.
6. Gold down nearly 5% for week — Marketwatch, the precious metal is down 4.8% as the week comes to a close, having dropped under $1,390 an ounce this week, the lowest level since April 17. Multiple factors have conspired to weigh on prices, including comments from San Francisco Fed Chief John Williams regarding a possible late summer pull back in the pace of the Fed’s asset purchases and data showing George Soros was a seller in Q1.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: