Posts from Friday Apr 27 2012

Weekender

| Apr 27 2012 22:30 | Comment |

Further weekend reading,

- Kai Ryssdal’s interview with Tim Geithner. Read more

Finland’s got a [redacted]

Joseph joined FT Alphaville way back in March 2010. He likes all the politically and legally fiddly bits of finance. He also likes credit, rates, global macro, tail risk, and all that stuff. (You should email him story ideas. He’ll take anything.)

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| Apr 27 2012 21:53 | Comment |

‘Greece Pays Finland Collateral Money,’ goes the Bloomberg headline.

Well, that’s broadly true we suppose. Technically, Greek banks which cannot be named have transferred €311m of Greek government bonds which then moved into the custody of an international investment bank which cannot be named which (at some point) will sell them, put the revenues in safe assets, and release the collateral to the Finnish government if Greece does things which cannot be named to its EFSF bailout loans of which Finland provides a portion. (Finland pays a fee as part of its end of an exchange of cash-flows.) Read more

The EU budget: no solidarity during austerity

Masa joined the FT in 2009 and has worked on a number of desks across the paper, including Companies, Markets and Comment. She spent much of 2010 in New York covering the US equity markets. But earlier this year she finally saw the light and moved to Alphaville.

She started her career in the investment banking division at Lehman Brothers in the summer of 2007, timing it perfectly with the beginning of the credit crunch.

She studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

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| Apr 27 2012 17:19 | Comment |

Earlier this week the European Commission’s proposed a whooping 6.8 per cent increase for next year’s EU budget. Cue outrage and fury. Finance minsters around Europe stamped their feet while their assistants dialled journalists to explain just how outraged and furious they were.

This is how the FT reported it (emphasis ours): Read more

From more Russians, with longer life expectancy

Lisa joined FT Alphaville in September 2011 after a tour of duty through the guts of the financial industry, having worked as an analyst at a bank and for a financial data company.

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| Apr 27 2012 15:01 | Comment |

In this quad of graphs, can you spot the odd one out?

 Read more

Markets Live transcript 27 Apr 2012

Joseph joined FT Alphaville way back in March 2010. He likes all the politically and legally fiddly bits of finance. He also likes credit, rates, global macro, tail risk, and all that stuff. (You should email him story ideas. He’ll take anything.)

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| Apr 27 2012 15:00 | Comment |
This is a Markets Live transcript. Read more

Live markets commentary from FT.com 

US Markets Live! 10am EST, 3pm London

Joseph joined FT Alphaville way back in March 2010. He likes all the politically and legally fiddly bits of finance. He also likes credit, rates, global macro, tail risk, and all that stuff. (You should email him story ideas. He’ll take anything.)

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| Apr 27 2012 14:54 | Comment |

Join us at the usual place for FT Alphaville’s US edition of Markets Live at 10am New York Time — we’ll be talking that disappointing(?) US GDP number, those Amazon earnings (and something on Exxon)… and reflecting on a confusing week for Fed-watching.

See you there! Read more

US GDP: slacking off but let’s not get too dramatic

David joined the FT in 2011 as a Marjorie Deane fellow. He covered emerging markets, equities and currencies before making the jump over to FT Alphaville in May 2012.

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| Apr 27 2012 14:26 | Comment |

First quarter GDP in the US rose 2.2 per cent, coming in slightly under estimates for a 2.5 per cent increase and well below the 3 per cent recorded in the last quarter of 2011.

From Reuters: Read more

Finally, a truly Popular bailout!

David joined the FT in 2011 as a Marjorie Deane fellow. He covered emerging markets, equities and currencies before making the jump over to FT Alphaville in May 2012.

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| Apr 27 2012 13:19 | Comment |

Cyprus is apparently preparing a bailout for its second biggest bank which could come in at near 10 per cent of GDP.

This is from the Cypriot press (poorly Google-translated – sorry – and now apparently removed and replaced by a much blander article; although Reuters looks like it saw the same thing so we are not going mad): Read more

Three European equities trends to watch

Masa joined the FT in 2009 and has worked on a number of desks across the paper, including Companies, Markets and Comment. She spent much of 2010 in New York covering the US equity markets. But earlier this year she finally saw the light and moved to Alphaville.

She started her career in the investment banking division at Lehman Brothers in the summer of 2007, timing it perfectly with the beginning of the credit crunch.

She studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

Learn more

Subscribe to Masa's posts
| Apr 27 2012 12:00 | Comment |

Fund managers have been shunning European bank and retail stocks for quite some time now, but there are signs that things are beginning to change. At least that’s what the global equity strategy team at HSBC found when they looked at the latest (March 2012) data on international fund holdings. Three European trends stood out.

Amazingly, European banks are coming back into favour. Well… more like slightly less out of favour (emphasis ours): Read more

Famous last words, Spanish edition

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Apr 27 2012 11:40 | Comment |

History is scattered with examples of hubris.

Take the story of King Croesus of Lydia who arrogantly asked the well-known wise man Solon the Athenian who he believed to be the happiest man in the world, fully expecting that the answer would be none other than himself, the King. Read more

Markets Live transcript 27 Apr 2012

| Apr 27 2012 11:02 | Comment |
This is a Markets Live transcript. Read more

Live markets commentary from FT.com 

Pop ya collar, don’t let the S&P sweat ya

Lisa joined FT Alphaville in September 2011 after a tour of duty through the guts of the financial industry, having worked as an analyst at a bank and for a financial data company.

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| Apr 27 2012 10:40 | Comment |

Are you pleased with how your stock portfolio has performed this year? And are you concerned that your gains may get wiped out? Not to worry! A simple option strategy recommended in BNP Paribas’ Daily Lens on Friday morning might be able to help you hedge your downside risk.

Before we get to that though, let’s get a bit of perspective: Read more

The (early) Lunch Wrap

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Apr 27 2012 10:23 | Comment |

Good morning, New York…

FT ALPHAVILLE Read more

Another repeat from the BoJ

Izabella Kaminska joined FT Alphaville in October 2008. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP's internal magazine.

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| Apr 27 2012 09:15 | Comment |

We love the BoJ’s no-nonsense approach to amendments. If you’re doing something wrong, or not doing enough, just cross it out and change it:

 Read more

Downgrading a eurozone sovereign: you know the drill

Joseph joined FT Alphaville way back in March 2010. He likes all the politically and legally fiddly bits of finance. He also likes credit, rates, global macro, tail risk, and all that stuff. (You should email him story ideas. He’ll take anything.)

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| Apr 27 2012 08:19 | Comment |

We liked the reaction of Societe Generale’s Sebastien Galy to S&P’s two-notch Spain rating cut:

1. A belated recognition of reality, this typically leads to some competition amongst rating agencies to capture headlines. Read more

Further reading

David joined the FT in 2011 as a Marjorie Deane fellow. He covered emerging markets, equities and currencies before making the jump over to FT Alphaville in May 2012.

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| Apr 27 2012 08:01 | Comment |

Elsewhere on Friday,

-Fairness and taxation try to get along while top tax rates have fallen. Read more

The 6am Cut London

Kate is FT AV’s Asia Correspondent. She joined FT Alphaville in mid-2011 after carrying out various roles in the FT’s London office since 2005: interactive editor, companies reporter, and founding editor of the FT’s Energy Source blog.

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| Apr 27 2012 05:39 | Comment |

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates at zero to 0.1% and said it would expand its asset-purchase fund to 40tn yen from 30tn, reports Bloomberg. Earlier, industrial production data for Q1 showed a lower rise than had been expected, reports Bloomberg separately.

Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s credit rating by two notches, from A to BBB-plus, and put a negative outlook on the country’s credit. The ratings agency cited expectations the government finances will deteriorate even more than previously thought as a result of a contracting economy and an ailing banking sector, reports Reuters. Read more

Overnight markets: Up

Kate is FT AV’s Asia Correspondent. She joined FT Alphaville in mid-2011 after carrying out various roles in the FT’s London office since 2005: interactive editor, companies reporter, and founding editor of the FT’s Energy Source blog.

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| Apr 27 2012 05:31 | Comment |

Asian shares inched up on Friday, gaining ground for a third consecutive session, says the FT, amid signs of a US economic pickup and strong corporate earnings, although gains were curbed by lingering nervousness about Europe’s debt problems.

Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +83.03 (+0.87%) at 9,645
Topix up +1.21 (+0.15%) at 811.31
Hang Seng up +104.90 (+0.50%) at 20,915 Read more

The comms problem

Cardiff writes mostly about US macroeconomic issues, with daily excursions into other topics about which he claim no expertise. Before Alphaville, Cardiff spent a little more than two years as a reporter at Dow Jones Financial News covering investment banking, asset management, and private equity. Along the way he has written freelance pieces on a variety of other topics from behavioural psychology to Muay Thai, the latter also being a personal interest that involves frequently getting kicked in the shins (and torso, and head).

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| Apr 27 2012 01:12 | Comment |

Here’s one visual way to see the disconnect between the hawkish shift in the FOMC’s new federal funds rate projections and the steadfast dovishness of the statement itself, which preserved the late-2014 language.

From Credit Suisse: Read more