February, 2009
Sirius XM weighs up offer
Sirius XM is weighing up a financing offer from Liberty Media ahead of a Tuesday deadline to repay $175m in bonds in a potential transaction seen as thwarting EchoStar’s attempt to take over the US satellite radio company.
White House scraps ‘car czar’ idea
The Obama administration will not name a “car czar” to help oversee the auto industry’s restructuring and will instead create an inter-agency task force to deal with the issue, reports the WSJ. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Lawrence Summers,
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories:
Lloyds hit by £10bn HBOS losses
Investor confidence in Lloyds Banking Group was shaken further Friday after it warned that the newly acquired HBOS had suffered a £10bn loss in 2008,
Overnight markets: Sober start
Asian stocks mostly fell on Monday, led by finance and material stocks, as Japan’s economy shrank the most since 1974 and G7 finance chiefs said the economic slowdown will persist through most of 2009.
The Weekender
On FT Alphaville this week,
- On Monday, Lex versus Wolf on the banker bonus debate.
- Moody’s calls a bottom in US housing.
- Barclays’ exploding balance sheet.
- On Tuesday, the Geithner bailout plan.
SELL: Insurers
This is a reader appeal.
FT Alphaville has been unable to locate the upside to investing in the insurance industry. Surely its somewhere… after all, the insurance sector has fared relatively well of late.
The curious case of Lloyds/HBOS
It’s Friday the 13th — that seems as apt a date as any for Lloyds to unleash a £7bn writedown in HBOS’s corporate division.
A key question is why this bit of news was released during lunchtime on Friday (when FT Alphaville was conveniently ensconced at the Boot and Flogger).
HBust
Special Friday afternoon delivery from Lloyds Banking Group (our emphasis).
Since its 12 December 2008 trading update, HBOS’s 2008 trading has been further impacted by increasingly difficult market conditions,
CDS report: Germany weighs on sentiment, Air France swings into loss
Credit markets were mixed on Friday morning. While news of the US government’s plan on Thursday to subsidise mortgage payments provided a slight boost to sentiment, it was overshadowed by gloomy economic news from Germany earlier this morning.
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville this morning,
- The Eurozone recession intensifies.
- Equity lives! Expounding the value of stocks and shares.
- Two views on equities and bonds.
- Failing the stress test:
Failing the stress test; or, in the long run, we’re all dead
Earlier this week, Andrew Haldane, the Bank of England’s director for financial stability gave a speech to the Marcus-Evans Conference on stress testing.
While that doesn’t exactly sound particularly enticing,
Markets live transcript 13 Feb 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:07 on 13 Feb 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Bryce Elder (BE) PM:Welcome! PM:It’s 11.04
Equities and bonds, two views
Amid the growing debate about the outlook for equities and bonds and the world’s growing search for yield (do “equities live” as we noted earlier?), here are the latest views from two seasoned market watchers and analysts – Andrew Smithers,
Esoteric headline du jour
From Bloomberg, while waiting for the eurozone fourth-quarter GDP numbers.
Economists? Where?! When?! Why?! Should we be worried?!
Recessionary Europe, intensifying
Recession has well and truly come to Europe. These snaps coming across the wires now:
10:00 *EURO-AREA 4Q GDP DROP BIGGEST SINCE DATA SERIES STARTED IN 1995
10:00 *ECONOMISTS ESTIMATED 4Q GDP DOWN 1.3% QUARTER;
Equity lives!
We found this note, “Keeping faith with stocks”, from Credit Suisse, lurking on the internet (HT RGE). It’s filled with charts, like the one below, expounding equity as an asset class. Click to enlarge and view a brief explanation,
Irish hospitality in action
From the Irish Life & Permanent statement (emphasis ours) detailing its loans to Anglo Irish:
Friday 13th February 2009. The Board of Irish Life & Permanent plc met last evening to discuss transactions which took place during 2008 between companies in the Group and Anglo Irish Bank.
Australia’s stimulus redux, this time it’s for real
Okay, okay, so we spoke too soon. Australia’s Senate on Friday pulled a swiftie to pass a A$42bn ($27.4bn) economic stimulus package that it had blocked the day before, following frantic overnight negotiations that landed a vital extra vote to enable the government to override opposition from conservative parties.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- 25 people to blame for the current mess.
- Man up! Hedge-Fund Man’s advice for Wall Street
- Shock’n'outrage: The banking hearing’s best lines.
- Pessimism Porn: The New Depression.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
Comment: ‘Bad bank’ insights from the rescue of Lloyd’s
Lloyds chairman Lord Levene writes: As Alistair Darling, the chancellor, and his Treasury team take an urgent look at whether a “bad bank”
Snap news
The latest on Friday,
- Irish Life & Permanent discloses dealings with Anglo Irish Bank — statement.
- London Stock Exchange appoints Xavier Rolet next CEO — statement.
- Beazley announces 2008 results and £150m rights issue — statement.
Rio fights back on Chinalco
Rio Tinto on Thursday defended its planned $19.5bn capital injection from Chinalco, the Chinese state-owned metals group, as criticism intensified among Rio’s UK shareholders. Heavily indebted Rio has agreed to sell minority stakes in some top mine assets to Chinalco for $12.3bn and raise $7.2bn through an issue of convertible bonds that could double Chinalco’s stake to 18%.
Chrysler faces equity carve-up
Chrysler’s restructuring plan could see the combined equity of owners Cerberus and Daimler shrink to less than 10%, with the rest of the company divided between the US government, the United Auto Workers’ union,
France plans hedge fund controls
France on Friday will press for tighter controls on hedge funds, urging other industrialised nations to strengthen regulation of the industry and compel banks that lend them money to hold more capital.
TPG’s Aleris files for Chapt 11
Aleris International, a US-based aluminium processor bought by TPG in 2006, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its US operations on Thursday. TPG paid $3.3bn, including debt, for Aleris. With the bankruptcy filing,
Redstone nears $1.6bn debt deal
Media mogul Sumner Redstone is close to reaching an agreement with creditors to restructure $1.6bn of debt from National Amusements, a holding company that owns cinema chains and his controlling stakes in Viacom and CBS.
Platinum Equity eyes GM unit
Platinum Equity, a US private equity firm that buys distressed assets, is among the potential buyers of General Motors’ Hummer sport utility vehicle unit, reports Bloomberg. Platinum is vying with a Chinese company.