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ThirstyMarketGuzzlesOil Bonds

EUROPE’S CENTRAL BANKBETS BIG ON STIMULUS

Continent’s recovery, legacy of ECB’s Draghi on line as bond buying starts

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CONTENTSArts in Review.......... D5Business News..... B2-4CFO Journal................. B8Global Finance............ C3Health & Wellness D2,3Heard on the Street C8

Home & Digital........ D4Opinion................... A11-13Sports.............................. D6Technology............... B5-7U.S. News................. A2-6Weather Watch........ B8World News..... A7-9,14

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What’sNews

Obama chastised 47 SenateRepublicans whowrote toIran’s leaders to criticize nu-clear talks, saying themove un-dermines his foreign policy.A1 Islamic State is strugglingtomaintain unity and disciplineamid corruption and ideologi-cal discord, say defectors andcivilians in areas it controls.A7The Joint Chiefs chairmanruled out immediate airstrikesto stem themilitants’ destruc-tion of Iraqi antiquities.A7The CBO cut its cost projec-tion for insurance provisions ofthe Affordable Care Act, reduc-ing the taxpayer tab by $142billion over the next decade.A3Americans overall feelmorepositive toward Hillary Clintonthan Jeb Bush, aWall StreetJournal/NBC poll found. A6 Clinton will speak publiclythis week about using a pri-vate email account during herstint as secretary of state. A6Putin gave an award to thegovernor of Chechnya, a day af-ter the regional chief praisedthe accused killer of Russianopposition leader Nemtsov.A9Obama declaredVenezuela anational-security threat andfroze the assets of seven officialsover alleged rights abuses. A8 The U.S. Supreme Courtagreed to review Florida’scapital-punishment system. A4 Justices ordered a review ofNotre Dame’s suit on the healthlaw’s contraceptionprovision.A4Missouri’s Supreme Courtreassigned all municipal courtcases in Ferguson to a state ap-peals court judge.A3

Credit Suisse is poised toreplace CEO Brady Dougan

and has lined up TidjaneThiam, the head of U.K. insurerPrudential, to succeed him. A1Simon launched a $16 billionunsolicited bid for rival Macer-ich, aiming to gain scale in achanging retail landscape.B1GM disclosed a $5 billionstock buyback, the latest firmto return money to sharehold-ers amid activist pressure. B1 The ECB launched its pro-gram of buying over $1.1 tril-lion in bonds in a bid to bol-ster Europe’s economy. A1Bonds rallied around theglobe as the move began rip-pling through debt markets. C1 Investors are snapping upenergy producers’ new stocksand bonds, looking for bargainsamid tumult in the sector. A1Prescription-drug spendingrose over 12% in 2014, drivenby expensive hepatitis C treat-ments and price increases. B1U.S. stocks climbed after Fri-day’s selloff. The Dow gained138.94 points to 17995.72. TheS&P 500 and Nasdaq rose. C4Apple made its case for con-sumers to buy its smartwatch,which goes on sale April 24.Prices will start at $349. B1Apple signed on as exclusivepartner for HBO’s forthcomingstreaming-video service. B5 Gross’s Janus fund saw in-vestors pull $18.5 million inFebruary, the first monthlywithdrawal since he joined. C3 Alcoa said it would acquireRTI, a maker of titaniumproducts for aircraft. B3

Business&Finance

World-Wide

Credit Suisse Group AG ispoised to replace long-servingChief Executive Brady Dougan,according to people familiar withthe matter, capping a turbulent,eight-year tenure during whichthe American saw the Swiss banksafely though the financial crisisbefore it was hit by a series oflegal and regulatory obstacles.

Zurich-based Credit Suissehas lined up the current CEO ofU.K.-based insurer PrudentialPLC, Tidjane Thiam, as Mr. Dou-gan’s successor, according to oneof the people familiar with thematter.

Mr. Dougan, 55 years old,didn’t respond to a request forcomment. A related announce-ment is expected on Tuesdaymorning in Zurich.

Mr. Dougan first joined whatwas then Credit Suisse First Bos-ton a quarter century ago. Heworked his way up to the topspot at Credit Suisse’s invest-ment-banking division, beforebecoming CEO in 2007.

At the time of his appoint-ment, Mr. Dougan was regardedby some within the bank as asecond choice to Swiss nationalWalter Berchtold, who was run-ning Credit Suisse’s private-banking business, according to aperson familiar with the matter.Mr. Berchtold eventually left thebank in 2012.

Mr. Dougan’s departure meansthat of all the major bank CEOsheading into the financial crisis,only J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’sJames Dimon and GoldmanSachs Group Inc.’s Lloyd Blank-fein are still in place.

Despite his long service withthe bank, Mr. Dougan was insome ways an odd fit for what iswidely deemed a national insti-tution. Shareholders gathering at

Please see SUISSE page A2

BY JOHN LETZINGAND DUNCAN MAVIN

CreditSuisse CEODouganTo Depart

WASHINGTON—The alreadyheated battle between Congressand the White House over U.S.-lednuclear talks with Iran got nastier

Monday as President BarackObama chastised 47 Senate Re-publicans who wrote directly toIran’s leaders to criticize U.S.-lednuclear talks.

After Republicans invited Is-raeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu to lay out his case againstan emerging nuclear deal in a con-gressional speech last week, thenearly four dozen GOP senatorswrote to Iran’s leaders to warnthat any agreement between theWhite House and Tehran could be

quickly nullified or changed onceMr. Obama leaves office.

Mr. Obama, firing back, saidthe lawmakers were effectivelyaligning themselves with Iranianhard-liners who oppose an inter-national nuclear deal.

The unusual Republican moveto send a direct message fromCongress to a top U.S. adversary—over one of the administration’scentral foreign-policy priorities—highlights tensions between for-eign treaties that must be submit-

ted for approval by the Senate andincreasingly common executiveagreements negotiated by thepresident but not approved byCongress.

The White House denouncedthe action by the Senate Republi-cans. Late Monday, Vice PresidentJoe Biden said in a long, blisteringstatement that the letter not onlyundercut presidential authority,but was “beneath the dignity” ofthe Senate.

“In thirty-six years in the

United States Senate, I cannot re-call another instance in which sen-ators wrote directly to advise an-other country—much less alongtime foreign adversary— thatthe President does not have theconstitutional authority to reach ameaningful understanding withthem,” Mr. Biden said.

Sen. Tom Cotton, the freshmanPlease see IRAN page A4

BY MICHAEL R. CRITTENDENAND BYRON TAU

GOPIranLetterDrawsObamaRebukeRepublicans sayCongresscould nullify nuclear deal,White House likens themto Tehran hard-liners

Iraqi Forces Go on the Offensive Against Islamic State

Thaier

Al-S

udani/Re

uters

INTO BATTLE: Security forces and militias advance against militants north of Tikrit on Monday, amid signs of discord within Islamic State. A7

BUSINESS & TECH. | B1

Is Watch SmartFor Apple?

Apple serves up its newsmartwatch as a fashion

accessory delivering bite-sizechunks of information.

PERSONAL JOURNAL | D1

Spring Forward,Argue More

The change to daylight-savingtime isn’t good for your

relationships.

OPINION | A13

Military Cuts at aDangerous Time

Sen. John McCain and Rep.Mac Thornberry say currentcaps on defense spending

jeopardize national security.

Inside

Gerald F. Seib: Could Congressblow up the negotiations?...... A4

FRANKFURT—The European Central Bank onMonday launched a high-stakes test of its abilityto bolster Europe’s struggling economy, challeng-ing the conservative bank’s traditions with astimulus program that expands its influence butalso risks taking pressure off governments to ad-dress the region’s problems with fiscal reform.

The bank’s move to start buying more than €1trillion ($1.1 trillion) in bonds by September2016—a massive stimulus program that followsquantitative-easing programs launched in theU.S. and U.K. at the height of the global financialcrisis—coincides with sharply lower oil prices,providing a double-barreled boost to a Europeaneconomy that has been slow to recover from theglobal recession in 2009.

If the bond buying succeeds in lifting growthacross the 19-country eurozone, from powerfulGermany to struggling Greece and Italy, thebank will have bolstered its powers for dealingwith future crises. If it fails to spur new activityor exposes the ECB to financial losses ulti-mately borne by taxpayers, the program will beseen as a risky endeavor that widened the gapbetween rich and poor, added to social strainsand allowed governments to avoid taking diffi-cult moves to make their economies more com-petitive.

A lot rides on the program, both for theeconomy and the legacy of ECB President MarioDraghi, who played a central and sometimes

Please see DRAGHI page A10

BY BRIAN BLACKSTONE

A Navel, Yet-Not-So-Novel, Idea:Male Belly Dancers Shake Up Istanbul

i i i

Ottoman tradition is hip once againin city’s night clubs; no brassieres

ISTANBUL—In the dimlylighted and smoke-filled cornersof this ancient city, the erotic artof belly dancing is enjoying amasculine makeover.

Dressed in skirtsdecorated with coinsand shimmering tas-sels, male belly danc-ers are back invogue, jerking theirhips and tremblingtheir abs to hypnoticTurkish rhythms.Known as “zennes,”the performers wereonce a mainstay atthe courts of Otto-man sultans, butthey have been largely out ofsight for decades. Their renewedpopularity comes amid a broaderrevival of Ottoman-era culture

that has spread to television,fashion and politics.

Lithe, athletic and often sport-ing designer stubble, zennes cannow be seen dancing at clubs andprivate gatherings—birthday par-ties, weddings, circumcision cere-

monies, traditionalbridal showers andeven to “celebrate” adivorce.

Their costumesare almost identicalto those worn bytheir female counter-parts: bejeweledbelts, flowing satinskirts and cloaksmade of sheer fabric,which extend withtheir arms likewings. One excep-

tion: The men don’t wear bras-sieres.

Zenne Segah, a chiseled 26-Please see BELLY page A10

BY JOE PARKINSONAND AYLA ALBAYRAK

Zenne Segah

Investors are snapping up newstock and bonds from energyproducers as they search for bar-gains amid the tumult caused bythe plunge in oil prices.

The buyers are betting thesecompanies can ride out theslump in crude and natural gas.Meanwhile, by selling stock now,companies are signaling theydon’t see a quick rebound incommodity prices that wouldease their funding woes and lifttheir shares.

U.S. and Canadian publiclytraded exploration-and-produc-tion companies have sold morethan $8.4 billion of new stocksince the start of the year, a pacefast approaching the $10.5 billionof stock the group sold during allof 2014, according to aWall StreetJournal analysis of data from Dea-logic and investment banks.

Meanwhile, some companiesare taking on new debt, oftenpaying high rates. Junk-rated oil-and-gas exploration and produc-tion firms have sold about$4.7 billion of bonds in the U.S.so far this year, up from $2.7 bil-lion at this time last year, ac-cording to Dealogic.

The companies need to raisecash partly because another cor-ner of Wall Street is gettingmore tightfisted: banks.

Twice a year, typically in thespring and fall, banks reassessthe value of energy producers’oil and gas reserves, which areused as collateral for asset-backed credit lines. The lendersadjust companies’ borrowinglimits accordingly, moves thathave some companies now onthe hunt to replace funds.

On Monday, U.S. crude rose 39cents to $50. It has droppedmore than 50% since June.

Some investors are lured bycheap prices, while others arehoping to prop up companies in

Please see OIL page A8

By Corrie Driebusch,Ryan Dezember

and Mike Cherney

Government bonds rally in the the U.S., Europe...... C1

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