Posts from Wednesday Jun 6 2012

The Closer

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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| Jun 06 2012 22:48 | Comment |

ROUND-UP

Today’s markets overview from the FT: “Equities, the euro and commodities rallied amid increasing hopes for another potential round of stimulus measures by the world’s largest central banks to stimulate the failing global economy. Benchmark stocks indexes in the US posted their biggest gains for the year as Brent crude oil regained the $100-a-barrel level and the euro held steady above $1.25.” (Financial Times) Read more

The euro and the “hope” trade

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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| Jun 06 2012 21:54 | Comment |

One other thing from Wednesday’s SocGen Hedge Fund Watch that’s worth noting, especially given the ECB’s decision to hold rates steady earlier today:

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Record bond ETP inflows last month (shocking, we know)

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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| Jun 06 2012 19:58 | Comment |

From “The LTROs have saved Europe and US jobs are coming back!” to “Never mind, we might be even closer to econo-tastrophe than we were last year” in just five months — via Credit Suisse Trading Strategy:

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Hedgies reposition on the long bond

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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| Jun 06 2012 18:41 | Comment |

From the latest SocGen Hedge Fund Watch, this is new:

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This one is for you, sports fans

| Jun 06 2012 15:44 | Comment |

The tension in Europe is unbearable. Everyone is afraid of the outcome amid scandal, upset and intrigue. This week, after months of summits, meetings and planning — it’s finally going down. We are, of course, talking about the 2012 European Championship.

With so much at stake, it’s only natural that bank analysts have a thing or two to say (because they’re the true football experts, obviously). Read more

Let’s all play a game of “Soros says”

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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| Jun 06 2012 15:21 | Comment |

(Alternate Game of Thrones title: A Storm of Soros)

It’s got a lot of attention so we thought we should throw it up so… here, in its summarised glory, is George Soros’ speech from the Festival of Economics at Trento, Italy. Read more

When strategy is mistaken for stupidity, the curious case of eurozone politicians

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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| Jun 06 2012 12:04 | Comment |

Have you ever ridden a bike to work in a major metropolitan city? If so, you’ll understand the importance of predictability. It’s best to stick to the cycle lanes, signal when turning, obey traffic signals, and not stop or swerve suddenly.

FT Alphaville wonders how many European politicians commute to the office this way. It would seem to be a good lesson on how predictability leads to positive outcomes and the importance of deciding which direction to go and then sticking to it. Read more

Markets Live transcript 6 Jun 2012

Paul Murphy is the founding editor of FT Alphaville.

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| Jun 06 2012 11:01 | Comment |
This is a Markets Live transcript. Read more

Live markets commentary from FT.com 

The (early) Lunch Wrap

| Jun 06 2012 10:36 | Comment |

Good morning, New York…

FT ALPHAVILLE Read more

Debt jubilee for one and all — love, the Queen

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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| Jun 06 2012 10:01 | Comment |

Did the Queen miss a bit of a trick this weekend?

The origins of a jubilee celebration, after all, come from the festivities that follow the completion of a 50-year debt forgiveness cycle, as referenced in scripture and ancient Babylonian tradition. Read more

How to think about… reprofiling Italian debt

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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| Jun 06 2012 08:34 | Comment |

All right. Imagine you’re a sovereign debt manager…

Picture yourself back in the pre-LTRO days of late 2011. Two-year Italian bonds yield 7 per cent, buyers are gone, foreign holders are rushing to sell. Read more

Rejoice! Or something…

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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| Jun 06 2012 07:54 | Comment |

Welcome back, UK readers!

So the weekend that some folk were predicting things would have to get real for the eurozone came and… nothing much happened. Except that Spain really came out and said its banks need help, by which it most definitely did not mean the kind of help that might be construed as a ‘bail-out’. Oh and G7 finance ministers had a chat on the phone and… nothing much happened. Read more

Further reading

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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| Jun 06 2012 07:49 | Comment |

Elsewhere on Wednesday,

- Seasonality, jobs and what the Fed should do. 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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| Jun 06 2012 05:40 | Comment |

Spain explicitly called for aid recapitalising its banks, with prime minister Mariano Rajoy warning on Tuesday that the country was in a situation of “extreme difficulty”, reports the FT. The ECB  meanwhile saw demand for seven-day liquidity surge on Tuesday to €120bn – more than double the previous week’s figure.

The G7 finance ministers’ conference call yielded little in the way of firm action on the eurozone crisis, 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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| Jun 06 2012 05:26 | Comment |

Asian stocks gained for a second day and oil climbed, while the Australian dollar rallied after higher than expected GDP data and positive US services data, reports Bloomberg. Aluminum rose as metals in London resumed trading after a holiday.

The MSCI Asia Pacific was 1.1% higher at 12:55pm in Tokyo. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.7%. The Australian dollar rose 1.2% against the US dollar and the euro rose 0.4%. Read more

Fed(wire) to the rescue

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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| Jun 06 2012 01:15 | Comment |

From the WSJ’s Jon Hilsenrath:

Disappointing U.S. economic data, new strains in financial markets and deepening worries about Europe’s fiscal crisis have prompted a shift at the Federal Reserve, putting back on the table the possibility of action to spur the recovery. Read more