April, 2009
Chrysler bankruptcy imminent
Chrysler will seek bankruptcy almost immediately, according to a crop of wire reports citing a senior administration official (which is Washington speak for “a press conference was held, but we aren’t allowed to name the spokesman”).
“People are loss averse and short sighted”
John Authers has decamped to Orlando, Florida (more precisely, Disneyworld) for this year’s Chartered Financial Analysts conference. The FT agreed to pay for his flights and accommodation, with the caveat that he had to prove he was working and not merely impressing Minnie Mouse with his formidable knowledge of Bloomberg shortcuts.
It’s not a liquidity crisis, it’s an energy crisis stupid
While the world’s best brains work furiously to alleviate the current financial crisis by employing all sorts of monetary and fiscal measures — tending to the liquidity nature of the problem — Michael Lardelli,
Continuing US jobless claims at fresh record high
The green shoots brigade will focus on the unexpected decline in the number of US workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits, but the bears will rightly note the number of people making continued claims for aid has reached 6.3m.
Bull market Britain
Anthony Bolton‘s right! The FTSE 100 is up 21.6 per cent from its March low.
Which gives us an excuse to break out this JPEG:
Hedge fund hate du jour
Who is this man? And what does he have against hedge funds?
In this video, his main contention seems to be that about 75 per cent of hedge fund assets have been liquidated and this is a good thing for the markets since “the collapse of the highly leveraged and very lightly regulated hedge fund industry caused most of the extreme volatility that we saw this winter”,
CDS report: go go credit markets
Credit derivative markets in Europe were just a touch tighter on Thursday morning following stocks as traders squared up positions for the end of the month and the holiday weekend.
Jim Reid, credit strategist at Deutsche Bank said the pace of contraction appeared to have eased in the US,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville on Thursday morning,
- More than 100 fund managers apply to PPIP.
- The importance of trade credit insurance, DSG edition.
- George Magnus, the green shoot weed-whacker.
- Anthony “The Bull” Bolton.
External debt shrinkage
Some interesting trends are emerging in the land of external debt figures. The latest international banking statistics from the BIS released Wednesday showed banks’ external claims shrank by 5.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008 to $31,000bn.
Markets live transcript 30 Apr 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:09 on 30 Apr 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Hi there PM:Welcome to Bull Market Live
Guest post: Mohamed El-Erian on the bumpy journey to a ‘new normal’
For a while now, US economic policymakers have been dealing with the challenge of driving a car with a sputtering engine up a hill, says El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco and author of ‘When Markets Collide:
Anthony “The Bull” Bolton
Sorry, but we could not resist this insight, from Fidelity’s finest.
From Bloomberg on Thursday morning:Anthony Bolton, president of investments at Fidelity International, said a bull market in equities has already begun and financial shares are poised to drive recent gains higher.
The importance of trade credit insurance
Much has been written about the withdrawal of trade credit insurance, but for a graphic illustration of what this really means for a retailer look no further than Thursday’s fund raising statement from DSG International,
More than 100 fund managers apply to PPIP
Applications to participate in the investment side of US Treasury sec Tim Geithner’s Public-Private Investment program have now closed. But hey, it’s good to know that “minorities, veterans and women” have been actively “encouraged”
George Magnus, green shoot weed-whacker
“Recession’s end”, Bloomberg commentators included in their headlines on Wednesday night, while others noted that inventory reductions indicate that the economy is nearing a bottom. Green shoots, green shoots,
The return of yield?
Some not so dovish Fed comments and yields are creep, creep, creeping higher….
Standard Chartered writes (our emphasis):
The UST curve bearish steepened significantly with the 10Y yield approaching five-month highs after the Fed was less dovish than expected.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- Dealing with the supercharged rumour-mill.
- “Being a contrarian doesn’t mean much when the other side is shooting blanks.”
- The end of hedge fund activism.
- Nouriel Roubini:
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
John Gapper: Madison Avenue feels the squeeze
The face-off between the people in suits — this time in media planning agencies — and the creatives is back again.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Nationwide UK house prices fall 0.4 per cent in April — statement.
- Standard Life Q1 life and pension sales 20 per cent lower at £3.6bn — statement.
- DSG announces £310.6m rights issue and renegotiation of bank facilities — statement.
Lewis ousted as BofA chairman
Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis was stripped of his role as chairman on Wednesday after rebellious shareholders forced BofA’s normally quiescent board to replace him with long-time director Walter Massey.
Fed expects weakness to persist
The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, noting that the US economic outlook had “improved modestly” since its March meeting. However, while the pace of decline had slowed,
Chrysler teeters on the brink
Chrysler slid on Wednesday to the brink of bankruptcy as it negotiated with debtholders and the US government ahead of Thursday’s government-set deadline for a restructuring plan. People involved in talks between Chrysler and the government said there was a chance Chrysler could avoid bankruptcy.
Goldman bond sale raises questions
Goldman Sachs, one of the 19 banks given preliminary results of the US government’s stress tests on Friday, on Wednesday sold $2bn of bonds without a federal guarantee to investors. The debt offering,
Hedge funds warn on EU plans
Hedge fund and private equity executives say that the European Commission’s plans for sweeping new regulation of their industries, published on Wednesday in Brussels, could cripple businesses that managed €2,000bn of assets.
3i’s investors attack £700m rights issue
Three of 3i’s top 20 investors have attacked the UK private equity company’s proposals to launch a rights issue of up to £700m, raising doubts that the group will pursue the plans. Members of 3i’s board were briefed last week about the plans of Michael Queen,
Taiwan’s stocks rise most since 1991
Taiwan’s stock index rose the most since 1991 and the currency rallied after the island allowed Chinese investments for the first time since a civil war ended six decades ago, reports Bloomberg. Far EasTone Telecommunications,
SocGen chairman Bouton to resign
Daniel Bouton is to resign as chairman of Société Générale, one of France’s biggest banks, next week, ending the controversy over his decision to remain following last year’s rogue trading affair that cost the bank €4.9bn ($6.5bn).
Banks cut overseas lending: BIS
Banks retreated from foreign lending at the fastest rate since records began 30 years ago in the final quarter of last year, the Bank for International Settlements said Wednesday. The BIS report is the first comprehensive picture of the scramble to repatriate funds and reduce leverage amid the financial chaos of late 2008.
Santander beats expectations
Santander of Spain, the eurozone’s biggest bank, on Wednesday reported a 5% yoy decline in Q1 net profit to €2.10bn. The fall was smaller than analysts expected and confirmed Santander’s position as one of the world’s strongest banks amidst the global economic crisis.