April, 2009
US eyes majority GM stake
US taxpayers would take a majority shareholding in GM under the carmaker’s sweeping debt-for-equity restructuring plan, unveiled on Monday in a bid to avoid bankruptcy. Under the plan, GM said it would shut 13 of 47 plants by end-2010,
GM warns bondholders
GM has asked bondholders to respond by May 26 to its proposal for a debt-for-equity swap but warned on Monday that if the plan failed to go through by June 1 and it filed for bankruptcy, they might receive no “consideration at all”.
Fears grow of swine flu pandemic
Financial markets gyrated on Monday amid escalating fears that a swine flu outbreak that began in Mexico could turn into a global pandemic, as the WHO raised its assessment of the H1N1 virus to a ”significant risk” and increased its alert to an unprecedented phase four.
Ross bids to manage PPIP assets
Wilbur Ross, the billionaire investor, and his firm’s parent company, Invesco, are leading a consortium bidding to manage some of the US government’s $1,000bn in Public-Private Investment Programme assets.
ICBC profits beat expectations
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank by market cap, reported a 6% annual rise in Q1 net profit on Monday, thanks mainly to rising fee income. However, while the results were stronger than that of many of ICBC’s foreign peers,
Allianz, Amex sell $1.9bn ICBC shares
Allianz and American Express on Tuesday sold a combined $1.9bm of shares in ICBC, the world’s largest lender by market cap, as a lockup on half their stakes ended, reports Bloomberg.The sales, to private investors,
KKR leads race for Oriental Brewery
US buyout firm KKR has emerged the clear favourite to acquire Oriental Brewery, the South Korean brewer owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. KKR has been named preferred bidder by AB InBev, after it raised its bid to about $1.9bn,
Allianz, Amex sell $1.9bn ICBC shares
Allianz and American Express on Tuesday sold a combined $1.9bn of shares in ICBC, the world’s largest lender by market cap, as a lockup on their stakes ended, reports Bloomberg. The sales were made at HK$3.86 apiece,
Aviva jumps 5% on capital strength
Aviva’s shares jumped almost 5% on Monday after an unexpected boost to the UK life and general insurer’s capital strength led investors to bet that any chance of a rights issue had been quashed. The company also reported better Q1 sales than expected.
UK broking battle heats up
The dogfight for FTSE 100 brokerage mandates is heating up as rival banks take aim at the clients served by UBS and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, two market leaders that are perceived to be vulnerable.
France fears hedge fund ‘Trojan horse’
France has warned that Europe risks opening the door to a “Trojan Horse” of offshore hedge funds if it adopts plans circulating in Brussels to regulate the industry. Christine Lagarde, French finance minister,
High-yield bonds feel thaw
In a further sign of improving sentiment in credit markets, investors have increased the amount of money invested in the market for risky corporate bonds, and yields in the high-yield or junk bond market have fallen sharply – even as default rates soars to historic highs.
Deutsche’s Ackermann to stay on
Deutsche Bank on Monday night surprised investors and the banking world when it revealed that Josef Ackermann would stay on as chief executive for another three years. The decision to prolong Ackermann’s tenure until 2013 is a sharp reversal of the bank’s repeated indication that the Swiss-born banker was ready to step down when his current contract ends in May next year.
Bear’s Schwartz for Goldman?
Alan Schwartz, who took the role as chief executive of Bear Stearns just two months before the firm collapsed in January 2008, may be headed to Goldman Sachs, reports Fortune magazine, giving a “50-50″
Overnight markets: Uneasy
Asian stocks mostly rose on Tuesday, led by Asian tech and healthcare shares. Futures on the S&P500 Index lost 0.4% after the gauge dropped 1% in New York on Monday as that the swine flu outbreak will hurt travel,
[The Stanford Series] Antiguan financial services providers launch PR offensive
After months of public silence and private hand-wringing, Antigua’s financial services sector finally responded (albeit obliquely) to the small matter of an alleged $8bn Ponzi scheme being operated in their midst.
[The Stanford Series] Frozen-out Stanford investors petition Congress
The Stanford Victims Coalition, a loose coalition of aggrieved investors in the Stanford Financial Group and Stanford International Bank (SIB), has petitioned the US Congress for investor protection under the SIPC insurance program.
Sheila Bair: Bank bankruptcies – and the FDIC – don’t work
…the bankruptcy process simply does not work for large, systemically important financial institutions in a way that can preserve stability and avoid disruptions in the financial system.
And, as we noted earlier…
Quote du jour, FDIC edition
Remarks by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair to The Economic Club of New York on Monday:
The FDIC’s resolution powers are extremely effective when a smaller bank fails. But they fall short when it comes to very large financial organizations.
Swine flu hits the UK
RTRS – UK HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY TWO PEOPLE TEST POSITIVE IN BRITAIN FOR H1N1 SWINE FLU
- In Airdrie, Scotland.
(A Cobra meeting is understood to be in session currently, chaired by Alan Johnson)
Update @19:40 Scottish Health Minister says seven people that have come into contact with the two Airdrie cases are now displaying symptoms of Swine Flu.
Write an editorial for the FT
No experience necessary.
No fee will be forthcoming, either.
Martin Sandbu, one of the newspaper’s economics editorial writers, is conducting a little experiment over at the freshly-minted Arena blog – hosting a virtual editorial conference that will allow readers to shape an FT editorial to appear online and in the paper next Monday.
Irony of the day, Zimbabwe dollar edition
This, by way of the Freakonomics blog over at the NY Times on Monday:
Zimbabwe’s currency has been essentially worthless in-country for months. Now the Zimbabwe dollar is officially worth more on eBay,
No need to worry anyone, but…
From Reuters, Monday afternoon:
RTRS-WHO SPOKESMAN SAYS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE COULD DECIDE TO RAISE PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL TO PHASE 4 OR 5 FROM PHASE 3
RTRS-WHO SPOKESMAN SAYS WORK HAS BEGUN TO PRODUCE A SWINE FLU VACCINE
RTRS-WHO SPOKESMAN SAYS CONFIRMED SWINE FLU CASES — 40 IN US,
The indebtedness of the US to the public
Via Reuters’ prolific columnist John Kemp, comes this grim reminder of the size of US public debt (emphasis ours):
The chart shows the scale of US federal government debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP since 1939 — with forecasts for the fiscal years 2009-2019 based on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)’s analysis of the president’s budget proposals.
Very clever, thanks a lot for that photo op
At approximately 1514 BST on Monday Reuters reports:
F16 JET ACCOMPANYING A COMMERCIAL JET TO A NEW YORK AIRPORT – REASON NOT KNOWN
Evacuations galore proceed – banks, bars, commercial buildings etc.
Don’t forget to worry about the German banks
In the very early days of the crisis – circa August 2007 – Germany’s Landesbanken were daily in the headlines in the financial press. But as the meltdown of the global financial world continued apace, attention shifted from the subprime IKB,
Just how big a problem is falling capacity utilisation?
Former commodity mega-bulls Goldman Sachs are expecting markets to continue to pull back from current levels in the near term as “fundamentals are not yet stable enough to support higher prices”, according to their latest Commodity Watch.
State by state stimulus
From an FRBSF article, showing funds received vs projected 2010 state budget gaps.
Some states, like New York, appear to be making profits while others, like California and Connecticut, look to be in much tighter spots (H/T Econbrowser).
Getting the most out of FT Alphaville – a how-to guide
FT Alphaville is more than a blog – we also offer an RSS feed, a Twitter feed, and two e-briefings, as well as a mobile site for readers on the go. And of course, there’s the Long Room, our members-only comment and analysis area.