April, 2009
Big numbers, derivatives edition
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s quarterly report on bank trading and derivatives activities for Q4 2008 is out.
Somewhat counterintuitively, the notional value of derivatives held by US banks increased 14 per cent in the period,
The invoicing crunch
There’s a hidden credit crunch going, according to UBS economists Paul Donovan and Larry Hatheway — a crunch relatively unreported because it is occurring within the more opaque realms of inter-company credit.
M2M Change = Time to buy banks?
The FASB’s amendment to mark-to-market accounting rules looks set to be approved today — giving US banks more flexibility to value their assets.
Time to buy banks then? Not quite.
While FAS 157-e,
ECB rate-decision reaction
Euro/Sterling reaction to the ECB’s rate cut decision:
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will explain the rationale for Thursday’s rate cut at 13:30 BST. All eyes, however, are likely to be on any comments on the possibility of Eurozone QE.
ECB cuts interest rates by 25bps
The ECB’s taking a very slow road to Zirp, cutting rates by just 25bps to 1.25 per cent, instead of the 50bps widely expected.
No word yet on changes to the all-important deposit facility.
CDS report: Baltic blues continues for Latvia
Credit default swaps written on the sovereign debt of Latvia rose sharply on Thursday after its Prime Minister said it had missed out on a €200m payment from the International Monetary Fund. Latvia, which already has a €7.5bn rescue package from the Washington-based IMF,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Thursday morning,
- Rejoice! UK houseprices rise!
- The FTSE’s back over 4,000.
- Comparing the Swedish timeline.
- The G20 goodie bag.
- Gordon greets…
- RALLY TIME in Markets Live.
The G20 goodie bag
As every good party planner will tell you, you can’t stage a high-profile London event without the compulsory giveaway of end-of-the-night goodie bags.
So what might the G20 leaders expect from their goodie bags as they leave London’s Excel centre?
By way of precedence,
Markets live transcript 2 Apr 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:15 on 2 Apr 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) Bryce Elder (BE) PM:hi there PM:This is FT Alphaville’s daily markets related chat.
FTSE 100 back over 4,000
Yes, it is true. The FTSE 100 has broken through 4,000 for the first time since late Feb. So will it last?
Related links:
Dead cat splat! – FT Alphaville
Dead cat bounce factoids - FT Alphaville
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Rejoice! – UK house prices rise
…in March, for the first time since October 2007 , according to the latest survey from the Nationwide.
But is this just a dead cat bounce or something more significant?
Nationwide is hedging its bets.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- Don’t blame free markets and free trade.
- Gross on the future of investing.
- Comparing bear markets.
- Re-analysing the Geithner plan — don’t despair, Paul.
- Macroergonomic.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
John Gapper: It’s good to get behind the wheel
Barack Obama this week did what shareholders of General Motors, even the renowned Kirk Kerkorian,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Telefonica, Vodafone said to be preparing bids for Hansenet – Bloomberg.
- Nationwide reports surprise bounce in March house prices – statement.
- National Express appoints John Devaney as chairman – statement.
IMF chief accuses G20 leaders
G20 leaders are avoiding the critical issue of cleaning up banks’ toxic assets and could prolong the global recession, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the FT ahead of Thursday’s G20 summit in London.
G20 protests leave one dead
Anti-capitalist protesters are set to march on Thursday on the G20 summit being held in London’s heavily-guarded Docklands conference centre, after the Bank of England was besieged on Wednesday and one person died amid violent protests,
China, US agree to co-operate at ‘G2′
US president Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, agreed on Wednesday to strengthen the financial system and establish a “strategic and economic dialogue” group to meet in Washington later this year.
KPMG sued for ‘negligent’ auditing
KPMG is being sued for $1bn by the liquidators of New Century, the subprime lender that collapsed in April 2007, in the first big case against an auditor arising from the current financial crisis. In a court filing on Wednesday,
China extends banks lock-up
Foreign investors in Chinese banks will in future have to accept a lock-up period of at least five years, Liu Mingkang, China’s top banking regulator said, after US and European financial institutions including Bank of America,
Dow in $1.7bn sale of Morton Salt
Dow Chemical, the biggest US chemical maker, will sell its Morton Salt unit to Germany’s K+S Aktienesellschaft, Europe’s largest salt producer, for $1.67bn in cash to help finance the acquisition of Rohm & Haas,
Lotte rejoins bid for InBev unit
Lotte Group, the South Korean retail conglomerate that was a favourite to acquire Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Oriental Brewery unit, has rejoined bidding for the asset after being briefly ejected from the process.
Key shareholders hit Lloyds bosses
Institutional shareholders of Lloyds Banking Group have told the UK government they want to see the departure of the group’s top two executives well before it is sold back to investors, reports The Times.
Highbridge signals upturn for funds
After a dismal 2008 for hedge funds that saw record losses and record withdrawals, investors are tentatively returning to the sector, drawn by signs that some funds have made money this year even as markets plunged.
Fairfield Greenwich accused on Madoff
In the first regulatory action against one of the big so-called “feeder” funds that channelled money to Bernard Madoff, the top securities authority in Massachusetts on Wednesday accused Fairfield Greenwich – which lost more than $7.9bn in investments with Madoff – of deliberately ignoring the former broker’s Ponzi scheme.
Banks exploit junior debt discounts
European banks are boosting their capital bases by repaying billions of euros worth of junior bonds at hefty discounts to face value and booking the difference as profits to add to core equity. Crédit Agricole offered to buy back £750m of junior debt at a 28% discount on Wednesday,
Taylor Wimpey nears debt revamp
Taylor Wimpey, the troubled UK housebuilder, has struck a deal with a group of its main creditors, nearing completion of protracted talks to restructure its debt after its failed capital-raising last summer.
UK’s Cattles warns of more provisions
The future for UK lender Cattles looks increasingly bleak after the company said it may have to take a further £850m of impairment provisions. Cattles has suspended six executives as it reviews its bad debt policies.