Posts from Wednesday Jul 18 2012

The return of auto subprime lending

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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| Jul 18 2012 22:45 | Comment |

We were intrigued to discover on Wednesday that we are subscribed to something called the Moody’s Auto Navigator report.

When it showed up in our inbox Tuesday, we were intrigued further by what it said: Read more

The Closer

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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| Jul 18 2012 22:26 | Comment |

ROUND-UP

The S&P 500 edged up to its highest level in two and a half months. The index closed up 0.67 per cent at 1,372.78, emboldened by a steady earnings season. Honeywell led S&P industrials after its results, gaining 6.7 per cent (Reuters). Read more

US economic momentum, bullet-point-y version

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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| Jul 18 2012 20:40 | Comment |

Since we found it a useful exercise, here’s a quick, simplisticfied snapshot of the US recovery. Or non-recovery, whatever it is. Not all of these carry equal weight, naturally:

Stuff that looks good Read more

Nehmerländer!

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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| Jul 18 2012 19:25 | Comment |

That’s one unhappy Minister-President of Bavaria venting on Tuesday. Read more

M-euro, a lesson in money supply from Kenya

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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| Jul 18 2012 19:00 | Comment |

If Europe = yesterday, the stuff that’s going on in Kenya right could very well = the future.

Here’s an extract from a speech by Njuguna Ndung’u, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, talking about the exciting developments hitting Kenya’s financial sector. Especially when it comes to “mobile money” developments and how they are impacting growth. Read more

Eurozone seniority, needling du jour

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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| Jul 18 2012 17:36 | Comment |

A one-liner, but from one preferred creditor to another…

Directors agreed that the ECB will have to continue to play a role in the crisis response, including through liquidity provision and securities purchases. A few Directors also noted that clarifying the seniority status of sovereign debt holdings by the ECB would help address market concerns. Read more

Happy 2nd Birthday, Dodd-Frank

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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| Jul 18 2012 17:15 | Comment |

A year ago, give or take a couple of days, former FT Alphavillian John McDermott asked the question: is it worth giving a one year-old a birthday present?

Davis Polk clearly thinks so — another year has passed and the law firm has a birthday present for the now two-year old Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Holding itself out as a maker of infographics, this gem was offered up, excerpts of which are below. Read more

The yield negativity is spreading…

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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| Jul 18 2012 16:54 | Comment |

Here’s an interesting factoid by way of Bartosz Pawlowski from BNP Paribas’ CEEMEA team — Eurozone yields aren’t the only ones being haunted by negativity.

As it turns out, euro-denominated non-eurozone debt is also treading perilously close to the zero mark. Read more

We told you negative rates were a big deal

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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| Jul 18 2012 15:14 | Comment |

Okay. It’s true. We’ve become slightly obsessed with negative yields at FT Alphaville. Especially with regards to what they signify for the financial industry.

Though, for a long time we’ve felt very much alone with this obsession. Weirdly enough, nobody else has seemed too bothered about it. (Note, we even had to go to the ECB directly to ask Draghi what he thought about it.) Read more

US Markets Live transcript 18 Jul 2012

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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| Jul 18 2012 15:02 | Comment |
This is a Markets Live transcript. Read more

Live markets commentary from FT.com 

The capital spending crisis, miner 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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| Jul 18 2012 11:21 | Comment |

An interesting column from Clyde Russell at Reuters (H/T John Kemp) pointing out the key problems facing miners today. They can’t get sufficient returns on capital invested, so should they even bother trying?

From Russell: Read more

Markets Live transcript 18 Jul 2012

| Jul 18 2012 11:00 | Comment |
This is a Markets Live transcript. Read more

Live markets commentary from FT.com 

The terminal disease afflicting banking

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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| Jul 18 2012 10:46 | Comment |

Finding out that you are dealing with a terminal disease is never easy.

The natural reaction is to seek out a cure, no matter how bleak your chances. You will, for the most part, do almost anything to live. That includes changing your habits, your lifestyle, your friends, your profession or, for that matter, doing things you never previously considered doing. Whatever it takes to get just one more day of life. Read more

The (early) Lunch Wrap

| Jul 18 2012 10:45 | Comment |

Good morning New York…

FT ALPHAVILLE Read more

Bob Diamond may not have been Banker of the Year, but…

| Jul 18 2012 10:30 | Comment |

This is just too easy. Like killing-dodos-with-a-automatic-machine-gun easy. (Not that we ever could, or would, do that!)

The banking industry’s PR arm(y) is the opposite of Britain’s forces, for it only continues to grow and grow, not unlike bacteria. Lob in auxiliary PR, ie industry “awards”, and frankly we’d be surprised if a disgraced chief executive didn’t have at least one “Banker of the Year” accolade to his name by the time of his (or dare we say “her”?) fall. Read more

A back office failure to put right

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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| Jul 18 2012 09:05 | Comment |

Or, “More power to the cupcake police”. (Bear with us)

How is pricing within banks, and in markets more generally, policed? Read more

China’s transmission mechanisms in a knot

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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| Jul 18 2012 08:50 | Comment |

One of the enduring arguments about China is that the government has ample firepower to sort out the country’s economic challenges. All that fiscal surplus, all those USD reserves. Firepower to burn.

Yet it’s looking increasingly difficult for policymakers to ward off a hard landing without re-igniting inflation and of course, enhancing the country’s already extreme concentration on investment rather than consumption. Read more

It’s that margin-less EFSF again

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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| Jul 18 2012 08:29 | Comment |

ERVV: n marginaali on nykyisin 0 korkopistettä

Which roughly translates from the Finnish as: Read more

Further reading

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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| Jul 18 2012 08:10 | Comment |

Elsewhere on Wednesday,

- Monetary policy: a blunt club or a surgeon’s scalpel? 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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| Jul 18 2012 05:35 | Comment |

Asian stocks swung between gains and losses on hopes for more US monetary stimulus and fears about China’s growth. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned of a “severe” jobs outlook, fueling concern the economy has yet to bottom. Earlier, US stocks closed higher after initial disappointment in Bernanke’s testimony. (Bloomberg)(Financial Times)

China’s falling house price trend arrested. New home prices rose in 25 out of the 70 cities surveyed by the government in June. This is the largest number of cities recording a rise in 11 months. (Bloomberg) Average prices were flat, month-on-month, after eight consecutive months of decline. (Wall Street Journal) Read more