The markets are freaking out about a 'dangerous experiment'

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Scientist experiment hong kong china

Reuters

Professor Hiroyuki Hiraoko poses with his university experiment which is used to make diamonds from plastic in Hong Kong.

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Negative interest rates, which have been implemented around the world in a bid to catalyze economic growth, are doing more harm than good.

They are a "dangerous experiment" for banks, according to Morgan Stanley analysts, who said they incentivize banks to shrink, erode profits and discourage cross-border lending.

In other news, Wall Street's engine room is spluttering. The equities business, which had a stellar year in 2015, has gotten off to a lousy start this year.

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And private equity firms are getting warmed up. They're deploying more cash as they spy an opportunity amid the market chaos.

Hedge funds filed their 13F filings, shedding a bit of light on what they've been buying and selling. Here are the top headlines:

In other hedge fund news, Point72 Asset Management's president, Doug Haynes, said the firm would consider taking on outside money in the future if it was necessary to meet its long-term goals.

"We are not capital constrained - we are talent constrained," Haynes said.

Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday:

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Short sellers ducking for cover has sent stocks ripping higher in the last 2 days - The recent stock market rally has been all about short sellers running for cover.

Oil is so cheap even pirates don't want it anymore - Crude oil is no longer a major economic boon for many of the world's producers. And now, even pirates don't want it.

All the bad news for stocks is starting to disappear - Stocks have been plagued by bad news since mid-December.

Oil industry legend Rich Kinder thinks we're in a 'sky is falling' market that makes no sense - It seems that stocks have been plummeting on a crashing wave of bad news all year.

Saudi Arabia is using the Frank Underwood playbook - Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar, and Venezuela agreed to freeze oil production at the level of supply produced in January.

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