March, 2009
CDS report: Pressure eases on insurers, carmakers
The European credit markets started the week on strong footing and consolidated on the rally that began last Wednesday as the insurers and carmakers especially among the companies that had led investment grade market wider saw much better performance.
Point counter point: AIG, Goldman and the NYT
Does anyone care to remember this story on AIG, from the New York Times, back in September? More to the point, does anyone remember the trouble it caused?
It was one of a series of articles that appeared in the mainstream press contemporaneous to AIG’s bailout that dissected just what the insurer had been doing that made it so risky,
Sovereign CDS: It’s not (just) the economy, stupid
Felix Salmon points us in the direction of this post, from A Credit Trader, discussing the recent blow-out of US CDS to above 100bps.
Conventional commentary will tell you that this means the market thinks the chance of a US default is increasing.
Markets live transcript 16 Mar 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:11 on 16 Mar 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM: NH:beautifilly observed.
Barclays – spinning out of control
One of the benefits of this new meeja approach to blogging the news is that we can tell the whole story, warts and all. Pixels are cheap and plentiful, and if we strain the patience of the reader they can simply click away.
Esoteric headline of the day
Comes courtesy of Bloomberg.
Amazing that almost 300 years later Henry Hoare still manages to have such strong opinions on Britain’s banks. Or any opinions at all.
(It is of course, not Henry H.
China plays it not-so-SAFE
So China clearly wants it to be known that it is – well, “worried” about its US investments, as per last week’s widely reported remarks by Premier Wen Jiabao.
At the close of China’s National People’s Congress last Friday,
Mortgage bubbles
Bubbles, in the current climate, are generally not the best way to illustrate the results of government economic initiatives.
Nevertheless, JP Morgan’s UK economy team makes a good point on the British mortgage front with these two charts.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Monday,
- Bernanke on 60 Minutes: The end is near.
- On traders behaving badly and cognitive bias.
- Where’s Jimmy Cayne now?
- Whither markets, according to three ‘wise men’.
- Greenspan and the blame game.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Wolfang Münchau: Collective action on the crisis is our best hope
Münchau writes: While global leaders disagree about what to do, the world economy tumbles at accelerating speed.
Snap news
The latest on Monday,
- Barclays confirms it’s held discussions on potential disposal of iShares and is talking to the Treasury and FSA about potential participation in the government’s Asset Protection Scheme — statement.
G20 focuses on twin-track strategy
Ministers and officials of G20 countries at the weekend played down policy differences in efforts to appear united ahead of the G20 summit on April 2. The move comes amid transatlantic tensions fuelled by US pressure on Europe for bigger tax cuts and spending increases.
Hedge funds may sue Porsche
Hedge funds are considering possible legal action against Porsche, the German carmaker, over its involvement in an extreme share price spike in Volkswagen that led to billions of dollars of losses for the funds.
Opec rules out supply cuts
Opec decided on Sunday against more supply cuts, signalling that it would delay its goal of boosting oil prices to $75 a barrel at least until next year. The decision marks a significant shift in the policy of the oil cartel,
Investors warn on Rio-Chinalco deal
Rio Tinto’s UK shareholders may act to raise the bar required for shareholder approval of Rio’s proposed deal for a $19.5bn investment from Chinese miner Chinalco, reports the FT. Steps could include tabling the proposed deal as a special resolution requiring 75% shareholder approval rather than a simple majority,
Lloyds investors threaten to sue
Small investors in Lloyds Banking Group are considering taking legal action against the government following the bank’s acquisition of HBOS. The UK Shareholders Association, which represents private shareholders,
Citic in venture with Evercore
Citic Securities, China’s largest securities company, is forming a joint venture with Evercore Partners, the US investment bank, to invest directly and advise clients on both sides of the Pacific. The new company,
China ‘lost billions’ on investments
China has lost tens of billions of dollars of its forex reserves through a poorly timed diversification into global equities just before world markets collapsed last year. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange,
Centaurus goes back to basics
Centaurus Capital, the UK hedge fund, is trying to make a comeback with a new low-fee, back-to-basics fund to woo investors. Centaurus – run by former BNP Paribas traders Bernard Oppetit and Randy Freeman – began pitching its new merger arbitrage fund to investors last week,
JPMorgan takes top fund slot
JPMorgan was the top-selling mutual fund group in the US in the past year, with investors sending it $140bn in new money. However, excluding money market funds, JPMorgan recorded outflows of $1.3bn from its mutual funds in the 12 months to end-February,
UBS to cut 5,000 more jobs: report
Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS plans to cut up to 5,000 senior and management jobs in the next few weeks, Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung said on Sunday, reports Reuters. Up to 2,500 management positions could go in UBS’s dominant and profitable wealth management division,
Downturn hits US earnings
Top US listed companies suffered their first collective quarterly loss since at least 1935 in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to S&P. Based on Q4 results from 98% of companies in the S&P 500 index,
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories from the Weekend FT:
- RBS starts Asian asset sale
RBS, the stricken UK bank, started the divestment process for many of its Asian assets on Thursday, distributing an official sale document covering businesses in 12 countries.
Overnight markets: Happy Monday
Asian stocks rose on Monday, led by financial companies and automakers, as G20 finance ministers vowed to combat the global recession and Opec decided against cutting output quota. Futures on the S&P 500 fell 0.6% after the benchmark gauge rose 0.8% on Friday,
The Weekender
This week on FT Alphaville,
- eParental Careers.
- All about bottoms.
- Jim Cramer capitulates.
- AIG FP MANIAC!!!!
- Mysterious ETF NAVs.
- Nouriel Roubini is a Ponzi.
- QE is expensive.
CDS update: Rally notwithstanding, it’s bleak out there
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan”As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” The Scots-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie was certainly a man of action.