March, 2009
Pru in landmark CEO choice
Tidjane Thiam, a French national who was forced to flee a coup in the Ivory Coast less than 10 years ago, was on Thursday named chief executive of UK life assurer Prudential in a move heralded as the first appointment of a black CEO by a FTSE 100 company.
Overnight markets:Fresh doubts
Asian stocks fell on Friday after the benchmark index’s biggest weekly rally since August 2007 drove valuations to the highest in more than a year. Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell 0.7% after the gauge dropped 1.3% on Thursday,
CDS update: UBS stands out in strong financial rally
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
European credit markets rallied strongly following the Federal Reserve’s dramatic intervention yesterday. The Markit iTraxx Europe index was trading around 184.5bp,
Nowhere to run…
… Nowhere to hide for the US government. Greenbrier Hotel Corporation has filed for Chapter 11 (HT Alea).
The Greenbrier resort was, of course, outed as a secret government bunker by the Washington Post in 1992.
Ch-ch-changes
What a difference one little statement makes. From UBS, click to enlarge.
Related links:
Analysts react: Dollar dead, Fed credibility shot – FT Alphaville
QE and the ECB?
With the US and UK now decisively engaged in quantitative easing, you have to ask, will the Eurozone be next?
The ECB has so far lagged behind other central banks in terms of expansionary fiscal and monetary policies,
Do bankers ever learn?
A rhetorical question, obviously.
From Bloomberg. (emphasis ours).
Citigroup Inc. plans to spend about $10 million on new offices for Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit and his lieutenants, after the U.S.
Citi’s reverse-sense re-deconsolidation stock thingy
As far as we’re aware, a “potential reverse stock split” is a consolidation. But who are we to confuse matters:
Related links:
Call to make English a ‘predictor of beaconicity’ – FT
Citigroup
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Early reactions to the Fed’s shock and awe plan.
- Analysts: Fed credibility shot.
- Currency gyrations: the ugly contest.
- Shock and awe, in graph form.
CDS report: European credit prices tighten on US Fed decision
European credit derivatives prices tightened on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve said it would buy $300bn of government debt.
The Markit iTraxx Crossover index of mainly high-yield names tightened to 1,125 basis points,
Markets live transcript 19 Mar 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:21 on 19 Mar 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Welcome to Markets Live PM:This is FT Alphaville’s daily markets related chat.
Charting global fragility, 1997 and now
UBS is looking at country risk based on an aggregate of economic indicators.
The data includes credit/GDP ratios, loan/deposit ratios, current account balances, export exposure, public and external debt and FX reserves.
The US dollar, the Norwegian krone and the ‘ugly contest’
All eyes have been on the Fed in the past 24 hours – and all currency gyrations, particularly the dollar’s sharp depreciation – have been attributed to the Fed’s move to spend $300bn on buying long-term Treasuries,
Citigroup burns hedgies
That’s the recent price action in Citigroup.
Undoubtedly, the Pandit memo, which talked of Citi enjoying a great start to 2009, has played part in that move.
But so has a painfull short squeeze,
QE in motion, pictorial edition
10-year US treasury.
Euro/dollar.
Gold.
S&P 500.
Related links:
Analysts react: Dollar dead, Fed credibility shot – FT Alphaville
Early reactions to the Fed’s ’shock and
Analysts react: Dollar dead, Fed credibility shot
Well, those are the most dramatic of the analyst community’s reactions to the Fed’s Wednesday announcement that it plans to start buying US Treasuries.
First, we hear from Deutsche Bank with a slightly more staid summary of the move.
Early reactions to the Fed’s ‘shock and awe’ plan
Accrued Interest was on the money ahead of the Federal Reserves dramatic action late on Thursday. Here’s a quick quick round up of other comment…
NakedCapitalism, Yves Smith:
While some deemed the Fed’s move today to expand its balance sheet by as much as a trillion dollars plus as “shock and awe”,
A surprise departure at the Pru
Intrigue at the Prudential, which on Thursday announced chief executive Mark Tucker would be standing down in September. He will be replaced by hot shot finance director Tidjane Thiam.
To be sure, everything looks amicable.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- Outrageous AIG provokes outrage from outraged Americans.
- The slow (but steady) death of merger arbitrage.
- The Seinfeld stock rally.
- Are democracy and capitalism incompatible?
- Why people make market forecasts.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
Opinion: AIG reinvents the trader’s option
The FT’s John Gapper writes: If there is one thing everyone should have learnt about Wall Street by now,
Snap news
The latest on Thursday,
- Prudential operating profit up 12 per cent, Tidjane Thiam to succeed Mark Tucker as CEO — statements.
- UK Competition Commission orders BAA to sell Gatwick, Stansted and Glasgow or Edinburgh within two years — statement.
Fed plan stuns investors
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday stunned investors with a plan to buy $300bn of US government debt, triggering a plunge in bond yields and the dollar. The Fed also said it was more than doubling its purchases of securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $1,450bn,
Short View on the Fed’s ‘shock and awe’
The Federal Reserve is on a war footing and is using the Powell doctrine – only go to war as a last resort, and do so with overwhelming force, says the FT’s Short View column. It also had the element of surprise.
China blocks Coke bid for Huiyuan
China on Wednesday rejected a $2.4bn Coca-Cola deal that would have been its biggest foreign takeover after its commerce ministry ruled against Coke’s proposed acquisition of Huiyuan Juice, China’s top juice maker,
Turner unveils overhaul of rules
The UK’s FSA watchdog on Wednesday announced a sweeping overhaul of the UK’s financial regulatory regime, marking a break with its previous “light-touch” approach. Lord Turner, FSA chairman, set out plans to force banks to hold more capital and increase their holdings of liquid assets and cash,
AIG chief urges return of bonuses
Edward Liddy, chief executive of AIG, on Wednesday urged employees to return the $165m in bonuses that have sparked public anger against the troubled insurer. He told legislators he had asked staff at AIG Financial Products – the arm that brought AIG to the brink of collapse – to “do the right thing”.
IMF warns on ‘longer’ UK recession
Britain’s recession could be deeper and longer than in most other parts of the world, according to draft IMF forecasts that cast a shadow over Gordon Brown’s election hopes for next year. The IMF will on Thursday tear up global economic forecasts it made just weeks ago and predict a more severe slump,
IBM in $6.5bn move for Sun
IBM is in advanced talks to acquire rival Sun Microsystems for roughly $6.5bn in cash, in a deal that could trigger wider consolidation in the technology industry. The two companies were in talks Wednesday on the deal – which would value Sun at about $10 per share,
Citi rally hits hedge funds
Some hedge funds have suffered losses on a trade they thought would be easy money based on the latest bailout of Citigroup, reports the WSJ. Hedge funds rushed in to buy preferred shares of Citi in the hope of turning a quick profit after the group announced last month it would convert preferred shares into common stock.
Goldman to bid for Universal Japan
Goldman Sachs is poised to announce an offer on Thursday for the rest of USJ, operator of the Universal Studios Japan theme park, reports Bloomberg. Goldman, which owns 41% of USJ, is seeking to purchase the remainder of the company.