FED: US TSY TO SELL $70.000 BLN 5Y NOTES MAR 25, SETTLE MAR 31

Belgium has announced it will be looking to sell the following at its auction next Monday, February 23:

• the 3.00% Jun-33 OLO (ISIN: BE0000357666)
• the 3.40% Jun-36 OLO (ISIN: BE0000366758)

Belgium will likely confirm the auction size on Friday, February 20.

0NZ6 97.00/97.40 call spread, bought for 5.5 in +10k

• Albusaidi, "Today’s indirect negotiations between [Iran and US] concluded with good progress towards identifying common goals and relevant technical issues. The spirit of our meetings was constructive. Together we made serious efforts to define a number of guiding principles for a final deal... Much work is yet to be done, and the parties left with clear next steps before the next meeting."
• The statement suggests the two sides may be getting closer to defining the shape of a new nuclear deal, if not the substantive details. As we noted previously, Iran has appeared primarily focused on the parameters of talks. SECURITY: Second Round Of Indirect US-Iran Nuclear Talks Underway In Geneva
• Indeed, Ali Vaez, Director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, notes: "We seem to have moved from Washington and Tehran talking about talks to talking about what talks should address. If that's the case, it would constitute a step forward because of how divergent their positions have been on what an agreement should cover."
• Laurence Norman at WSJ puts a more pessimistic spin on the same post-talks statements: "I think we should be very careful in over-interpreting this. It sounds very much to me as if they have agreed the scope of what needs addressing in a deal. Not what the content of that scope will be."