Posts from Wednesday Dec 5 2012

You’re in selective default (again), S&P tells Greece [updated]

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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| Dec 05 2012 23:45 | Comment |

No explanation had been given by S&P at pixel time. [Update: it's pasted below the jump.] But the situation is pretty clear: Greece’s “voluntary” buyback of the PSI bonds is being carried out in distressed conditions (ie it will otherwise lose eurozone financial support). 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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| Dec 05 2012 22:43 | Comment |

ROUND-UP

Apple dragged down the Nasdaq. The tech index fell 1.1 per cent, a drop almost entirely accounted for by Apple. The S&P 500 closed up 0.2 per cent at 1,409.28 (Reuters). Read more

And the most corrupt EU state is…

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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| Dec 05 2012 15:11 | Comment |

Greece, apparently. Closely followed by Italy.

Those are the conclusions by Transparency International in their latest corruption perceptions index,which looks at how the public sees state sector corruption. The index, which this year includes 176 countries, focuses on perceptions of graft rather than empirical data because of the secrecy surrounding such goings on. Read more

FSA takes baton from Wheatley! Sits down, writes questions, hits publish

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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| Dec 05 2012 11:27 | Comment |

Consultation paper from the Financial Services authority, fresh off the printing press on Wednesday morning… Read more

Markets Live: Wednesday, 5th December, 2012

Paul Murphy is the founding editor of FT Alphaville.

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| Dec 05 2012 11:03 | Comment |
This is a Markets Live transcript. Read more

Live markets commentary from FT.com 

Genghis bonds stumble

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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| Dec 05 2012 10:57 | Comment |

Oh dear, Mongolia’s new dollar bonds “tentatively nicknamed Genghis Bonds” (h/t Katie Martin) have been hit by some shocking, hard to predict, political instability.

From Reuters:

One of the members of Mongolia’s fragile coalition government has ordered its ministers to leave their posts, a move that has sent the country’s bonds into a tailspin and could threaten the passage of crucial legislation.

 Read more

The (early) Lunch Wrap

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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| Dec 05 2012 10:45 | Comment |

Republicans in capital gains tax fight || Freeport plans return to energy || Schäuble puts brake on bank union plan || Australian economy loses steam || Tesco signals end of American dream || Paulson blames Europe bet for losses || Markets update || Rogoff’s robots! || The positives in cancelling central banks’ holdings of government debt || Why are Shanghai markets suddenly rising? Read more

Robots! No Robots!

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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| Dec 05 2012 09:51 | Comment |

Rogoff and Shuttleworth versus Theil and Kasparov at the Oxford Martin School. While the video is from November, we felt the need to review it given Rogoff’s op-ed on Tuesday covering the same subject.

Rogoff’s argument, which in part is intended to counter Robert Gordon’s ‘no robots’ thesis, is that… Read more

How cancelling central banks’ holdings of government debt could be a useful thing

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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| Dec 05 2012 08:45 | Comment |

We’ve run a couple of posts here on FTAV recently about how cancellation of QE debt isn’t really such a big deal: more an accounting change than anything material because both treasuries and central banks are part of the public sector.

Here is an argument that this mere accounting exercise could be worthwhile — particularly if the debt-laden developed countries descend into another downturn. Read more

Why are Shanghai markets suddenly rising?

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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| Dec 05 2012 08:15 | Comment |

China’s markets are zooming upwards, and quite honestly who knows why? It could be something to do with the big politburo meeting yesterday, at which various pronouncements about the economic outlook were made. We’re not sure the remarks should be interpreted as meaning that continued large scale, infrastructure-focused stimulus is a certainty.  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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| Dec 05 2012 07:59 | Comment |

Elsewhere on Wednesday,

- Mohamed El-Erian hearts NNT.

- Helicopters or not – doesn’t really matter.

- A happy Krugman is a happy… econblogosphere? 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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| Dec 05 2012 05:00 | Comment |

Asia stocks rise, Shanghai Composite surges || UK austerity set to extend into 2018 || Tesco reconsiders difficult US venture || HSBC sells Ping An stake || Schäuble cools on eurozone banking union || Osborne to announce UK pension accounting review || Fiscal cliff talks set off Republican discord || Freeport returns to energy || Greek hospitals running out of gloves, gowns Read more