March, 2009
Don’t you know that you’re toxic?
Reuters columnist John Kemp points us in the direction of this story.
WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – Financial companies could paint a rosier picture of some assets under a proposal by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board that follows criticism of an accounting rule that has forced billions of dollars of writedowns during the financial crisis.
Rogers turns his sights on the US and many other things
Not content with savaging the battered British economy and its floundering pound, investment guru Jim Rogers has now turned his sites on the US, its ailing banks and most of all, AIG (while his attack on the UK drew some acid responses,
A short history
From Data Explorers, the DESLI 50 tracks short interest in the 50 largest companies in the securities lending market.
Related links:
Bear market rallies – FT Alphaville
Further reading
Elsewhere on Tuesday,
- The new-new Gettysburg address.
- Bear Stearns: A year on, the Fed’s original ‘systemic risk’ sin.
- Infections, turns and bottoms.
- AIG windfalls: Non-US banks have nothing to feel guilty about.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Tuesday’s FT,
Comment: Let fairness triumph over corporate profit
Trevor Manuel, South Africa’s minister of finance, writes: Global growth has slumped and its financing is in disarray.
Snap news
The latest on Tuesday,
- HM Revenue & Customs investigating allegations of tax avoidance schemes at Barclays — The Guardian.
- Collins Stewart posts 2008 loss before tax of £15.2m — statement.
Obama vows to fight AIG bonuses
Barack Obama vowed on Monday to pursue “every single legal avenue” to block $165m in bonus payments by AIG amid mounting anger over the insurer’s use of federal bail-out funds, reports the FT. The US president spoke as Andrew Cuomo,
Goldman held talks to buy Wachovia
Goldman Sachs engaged in talks to buy regional lender Wachovia on the weekend after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September, in a deal that would have given the top Wall Street bank a prominent position on main street. But the potential takeover,
Buy-out funds eye distressed debt
Goldman Sachs is asking investors in its $15bn private equity fund for approval to shift much of its remaining uninvested money into distressed debt, in a stark indication of dysfunctional conditions in the buy-out business.
UK to lose more than 1m jobs
More than a million British workers will lose their jobs over the next two years as the recession takes an unexpected turn, hitting the north and Midlands as badly as the south, a top economic forecaster has warned.
Merrill bonus controversy spreads
The controversy in the US over Merrill Lynch’s reluctance to divulge information about its bonus pool has flared up on the other side of the world – in Hong Kong’s labour tribunal. A tribunal judge on Monday warned the US investment bank,
Losses swell at Fortress
Losses swelled in the fourth quarter at Fortress Investment Group, the first private equity and hedge fund firm to list just over two years ago, on writedowns in its private equity funds. The group lost a bigger-than-expected $140m last quarter,
Alcoa to slash dividend, sell stock
Alcoa, the largest US aluminum maker, plans to sell stock and convertible notes, slash its dividend and cut costs to conserve cash as the company braces for its second straight quarterly loss, reports Bloomberg. The quarterly dividend will be reduced to 3 cents a share from 17 cents,
Mazda to seek government aid
Mazda, burdened with the second-worst credit rating among Japan’s carmakers and a 62% surge in short-term borrowing this fiscal year, plans to apply for government aid as it consumes cash, reports Bloomberg.
Foreign investors slash US holdings
Foreign investors cut their holdings of US long-term securities in January although China and Japan purchased more Treasury bonds, according to Treasury data issued Monday. The latest Treasury International Capital report,
Swiss warn on lifting secrecy
Switzerland has warned countries against expecting swift results from its decision last week to water down bank secrecy laws, saying it could take “years” for the necessary legislation to come into action.
Citi chief awarded $10.82m
Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit was awarded $10.82m in total compensation for 2008, a period in which the group’s shares plunged and it received $45bn from the US government. Pandit, amid growing anger about executive compensation,
Prosecutors eye (both) Madoffs’ assets
US federal prosecutors seeking to recover money from Bernard Madoff are making little distinction between assets held in the name of the convicted former broker and those of his wife Ruth, who has not been charged with any crime.
Overnight markets: Mixed
Asian stocks gained for a third day on Tuesday, led by financial and commodity companies, on optimism bank earnings will recover and metal prices jumped. Futures on the S&P500 index were little changed after the gauge lost 0.4% on Monday after stocks fell sharply after American Express announced higher credit-card delinquency rates in February.
I(r)(c)eland vs CDS, redux
April 2008 (FT):
Details of the investigation are confidential, but the authorities are expected to pay close attention to movements in the credit default swap markets for Iceland’s banks. Spreads in these markets – a proxy for investors’ fears the banks will collapse – have ballooned from about 50 last August to more than 1,000,
Bear market rallies
Inevitable really. A week or so of sharp gains, the S&P up 12 per cent (and counting), and people start talking about equity markets bottoming and bear markets ending.
The bullish case is easy to make.
Add shipping exposure to European banks’ woes
As if European banks didn’t already have enough to worry about, S&P warned on Monday that rapidly deteriorating shipping markets will put yet more pressure on their ratings.
According to the report by Harm Semder and Andreas Kindahl (emphasis FT Alphaville’s):
Banking crisis ☯
Yin and yang. ??. ?. n. (Chinese philosophy) the two fundamental principles.
Related links:
Great recessions: Lessons learned from Japan – Richard Koo CSIS presentation
[The Stanford Series] IRS says Sir Allen owes $200m in back taxes
Not a day goes by without some sort of juicy court filing related to Sir Allen Stanford popping up on the Bloomberg.
Like this one, filed on Friday, in which the IRS asked for permission to seek unpaid back taxes from Sir Allen and his soon-to-be ex-wife Susan:
The talented Mr Rolet
Meet Xavier Rolet. He’s the new chief executive of the London stock exchange, and very talented.
Something of a renaissance man in fact, as these snippets from an interview with the Sunday Telegraph show.
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Is Barclays spinning out of control?
- Valuing iShares.
- AIG discloses counterparties.
- Is Goldman spinning out of control?
- China is “worried” about its US investments.