June, 2009
Cramer doesn’t get the UNG
Jim Cramer, the over-excited host of Mad Money on CNBC, has finally stumbled upon the problems affecting some ETFs – namely the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG). And as can be expected, he’s outraged.
Creatine finance
What brawn-building potion are the world’s central bankers on? Is it legal? We suspect a urine-test may be in order – certainly in the Alps.
Witness this declaration on Thursday by Philipp Hildebrand,
US says $134bn Treasury bonds seized in Italy are fake — or are they?
At last, after a deafening official silence since Italy’s arrest three weeks ago of two Japanese men smuggling what appeared to be about $134bn worth of US Treasury bond certificates across the border to Switzerland,
Tchenguiz wins Bramdean vote
So says Reuters reporting from Bramdean’s EGM in Guernsey.
In a shareholder vote carried out in Guernsey on Thursday, Tchenguiz secured 55.59 percent support to install his candidates to the board, with 44.41 percent voting against,
Latvia: More parallels with Argentina
As Ambrose Evans Pritchard recently wrote in the Telegraph, there are some real parallels emerging between the financial crises of Latvia and Argentina. On the subject of Argentina, he reminded readers (our emphasis):
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville on Thursday morning,
- EMH – The Dead Parrot of Finance.
- A very bullish oil presentation from Goldman.
- Coming round to compartflation.
- The Tripartite Memorandum of Mis-understanding.
So, China believes in a strong dollar does it?
In which case, why is it cutting Treasury purchases? — as these charts from Standard Chartered very poignantly demonstrate:
The analysts do warn, however, that one month’s data might not be enough to change their view that China ultimately remains and will remain a significant buyer of treasuries in the future.
Markets live transcript 18 Jun 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:13 on 18 Jun 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Hello and welcome PM:Lovely day again in London.
Coming round to compartflation
Dennis Gartman, of the Gartman Letter, is one of the latest market watchers to advance the idea of both an inflationary and deflationary environment in the future.
This follows nicely in the footsteps of Gregor Macdonald’s recent “compartflation”
EMH – The Dead Parrot of Finance
Europe’s top strategist has weighed into the debate about efficient markets.
Soc Gen’s James Montier wants Efficient Markets Hypothesis (EMH) and all its offshoots consigned to the dustbin of history before they inflict any more damage on investors.
A very bullish oil presentation from Goldman
Jeffrey Currie, head of energy research at Goldman Sachs, made a very bullish case to investors in a presentation on Wednesday. He sees oil at $95 per barrel by December 2010. Even more interesting though were his views on the market’s current inflation expectations,
Unusual dollar correlations
Here’s an interesting chart from Bespoke Investment Group:
As they state, the chart shows the S&P 500 and dollar have moved in opposite directions regularly since the 1970s, which is when daily pricing of the greenback began.
S&P takes a stick to banks, investors fear more beatings to come
Standard & Poor’s is on a roll this week. First it issued a European “report card” on Tuesday warning of “vanishing prospects for a quick rebound” for banks in the eurozone, pointing to mounting bad debts on corporate and consumer lending and estimating that credit losses this year among the largest 50 European banks will nearly double from last year’s €128bn ($177bn).
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- Cramer jumps on the UNG story.
- Are ETFs too easy to sell?
- Hyperinflation casualties of yore.
- Reverse convertibles are back.
- “We would like to take it a step further and call them what they are:
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
The hidden cost of giving away vaccines
Giving products away free, from browsers to newspaper articles, is commonplace in the technology and media industries.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Air France-KLM issues 575 mln euro convertible bond – story.
- GKN announces £423 million rights issue – statement.
- Marston’s Rights Issue To Raise GBP176M Of Gross Proceeds – statement.
US face sweeping regulatory revamp
President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed one of the biggest regulatory revamps of the US business environment since the 1930s. The plan, which requires congressional approval, would give the Federal Reserve powers to oversee companies whose failure could endanger the banking system – including companies such as General Electric.
Obama plan omits regulator merger
A notable omission from US regulatory proposals announced on Wednesday is any proposal to merge the two US market regulators. The SEC, which regulates the securities market, and the CFTC, which oversees futures,
US banks slide on S&P ratings cuts
US lenders slid on Wednesday after S&P reduced its credit ratings on 18 banks, including Wells Fargo, Capital One and KeyCorp, citing tighter regulation and increased market volatility, reports Bloomberg.
10 US banks repay TARP funds
Ten of the largest US banks said on Wednesday they had repaid more than $68bn of bailout funds, as they race to extract themselves from government restrictions on executive pay and other areas, reports Reuters.
China hits at BHP-Rio iron ore deal
A senior Chinese official on Wednesday attacked the planned iron ore joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, raising expectations that Beijing may use its antitrust law to try to scupper the “monopolistic” deal.
Quattrone in Data Domain battle
A bidding war over data storage company Data Domain has put Frank Quattrone, once Silicon Valley’s most prominent banker, back at the centre of controversy, raising questions about how Data Domain, advised by Quattrone’s Qatalyst Partners,
Cantillon to close hedge funds
Cantillon Capital Management, a $4.5bn asset-management firm run by William von Mueffling, is closing its two hedge funds to focus on traditional investing, reports Bloomberg.The firm plans to return money to clients of its $2.7bn Cantillon World fund and $800m Cantillon Europe fund by end-September and is offering clients the option of moving into its long-only strategies.
KPMG rushes to sell Lehman property
The liquidators of Lehman Brothers’ Chinese property portfolio have moved swiftly to divest the bulk of the holdings amid concerns over the outlook for commercial real-estate values in Shanghai. KPMG revealed on Wednesday it had disposed of seven out of nine Chinese property-related loans and bonds,
Iberdrola to raise funds to retain rating
Iberdrola, Spain’s largest energy utility, on Wednesday announced plans to raise at least €1.25bn ($1.73bn) in new capital through a share issue as part of a drive to reduce debt and maintain its credit rating.
Oppenheim cuts stake in Arcandor
Sal Oppenheim, the German bank, on Wednesday cut its stake in Arcandor and said it would decide whether to remain its second-biggest shareholder only when the insolvent retailer presented a restructuring plan.
Greenberg admits ‘anger’ over AIG
Hank Greenberg, AIG’s ex-chief executive who was ousted in 2005, told a US federal court on Wednesday he had been “angry” and “unhappy” about his ouster from the stricken insurer, as AIG’s attorney sought to draw links between Greenberg’s exit and termination of AIG’s $4.3bn retirement plan,