June, 2009
Further reading
Elsewhere on Monday,
- Debating the CRA, ad infinitum.
- Regulation and distrust.
- On moving averages and the end of the recession.
- Lunching with the Oracle of Omaha.
- “Economists suffer from a deep psychological disorder that I call ‘physics envy’.”
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Clive Crook: Obama is choosing to be a weak president
As he promised, Barack Obama has brought climate change and healthcare reform to the centre of the nation’s attention,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Candover Investments says potential offer talks have now ceased — statement.
- Corporate: Rolls-Royce, Asos, Premier Foods, Informa, Hargreaves Lansdown, SDL,
Vodafone eyes T-Mobile UK bid
Vodafone is considering an offer to buy T-Mobile UK, in an audacious move that would have huge impact on the UK mobile phone market. The world’s largest mobile operator by revenue is looking at the case for acquiring T-Mobile UK,
Porsche rekindles dispute with VW
The power struggle over Porsche was reignited on Sunday when the chairman of the German sportscar maker accused Volkswagen of attempting to blackmail it into accepting a reworked merger plan. Wolfgang Porsche,
Anglo American seeks Brazil stake buyer
Anglo American is sounding out potential investors for its Brazilian ore assets as it prepares a detailed response to Xstrata’s £40bn merger proposal and steps up the search for a new chairman. The UK-based miner has held informal talks with Gulf Industrial Investment Company,
KB switches banks for $2bn share sale
KB Financial, owner of South Korea’s largest bank, has appointed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to arrange its $2bn share sale, replacing banks including JPMorgan amid a dispute over fees, reports Bloomberg.
Blackstone eyes European property
US buyout group Blackstone is to return to the traditional commercial property market in Europe for the first time since 2004 after the closing on Monday of a larger-than-expected €3.1bn (£2.6bn) real estate fund.
Valentino hits Permira’s pockets
Private equity’s costliest excursion into haute couture risks turning into a flop as Permira, the UK buy-out house, nears completion of talks with lenders to Valentino, the Italian fashion house, about renegotiating its €2.5bn (£2.1bn) debt.
Bullish BofA to expand Asia unit
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Asia-Pacific unit has begun a recruitment drive because sentiment surrounding the bank has “turned a corner”, according to Jayanti Bajpai, BofA’s regional co-head of global corporate and investment banking.
Record fund-raising buoys banks
Buoyant capital markets activity underpinned US banks’ second-quarter earnings, with a boom in equity and debt issuance helping offset continued losses on toxic assets. With two days to go before the end of the quarter and a fortnight before they report results,
Indices to track sovereign default risk
Spiralling government debt around the world has prompted the creation of the first tradeable indices tracking the risks of countries defaulting. Markit , the data provider, will announce plans on Monday to launch four indices of credit default swaps – used as insurance against bond defaults – as investors demand more information about the dangers of the growing debt mountain.
UK’s National Express snubs bid
National Express has rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from its larger rival FirstGroup in a surprise development likely to put further pressure on the UK bus and rail operator. News of the board’s rejection of the offer comes ahead of a Wednesday trading update and just a week after the company agreed a deal with bankers to ease restrictions on its £1.2bn debt.
Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt to merge
Two of the largest US human-resources consulting firms, Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, are to merge in the latest sign of consolidation in the consulting industry, reports the WSJ.
Microsoft puts Razorfish up for sale
Microsoft has appointed Morgan Stanley to find a potential buyer for Razorfish, its Seattle-based digital agency. Publicis, the French marketing company, is thought to be a possible bidder. Microsoft acquired Razorfish,
Kumho to sell Daewoo stake
Daewoo Engineering and Construction, South Korea’s largest builder, was put up for sale on Sunday, three years after it was sold to Kumho Asiana Group for $5bn. The move follows pressure on Kumho to find fresh investors in Daewoo to ease a liquidity crunch.
Hercules trust secures cash injection
The UK’s largest retail park fund, the £1.5bn Hercules unit trust run by British Land and Schroders, has secured vital funding from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the largest North American pension funds,
Madoff to be sentenced
His victims have called him a “monster” and want him jailed for life. On Monday, Bernard Madoff, architect of the world’s biggest financial fraud, a $65bn “Ponzi” scheme that ruined thousands of investors,
Overnight markets: Mixed
Asian stocks mostly rose on Monday, led by electronics makers after economic reports in the region bolstered confidence about global demand. Japan’s Daiwa Securities led financial shares lower after announcing a share sale.
The Weekender
This week on FT Alphaville,
- Market serfs unite!
- No apology, no explanation, at UBS.
- Dual partite regulation.
- Goldman and AIG, redux.
- Smoke, mirrors and Treasury sales.
- Slackers at the Fed.
Presenting Sibir Energy MkII
It’s actually a company called Cadogan Petroleum, which was floated by UBS and Fox-Davies Capital at 230p just a year ago. But the similarities are striking.
From a statement released after the market closed on Friday,
Forget Latvia, what about Spain?
While crisis-related attention has mostly befallen Latvia and emerging Europe of late, there’s more reason than ever to cast one’s eyes to the South of Europe – towards Spain to be specific.
Aside from horrific unemployment figures,
Goldman and AIG, redux
From Rolling Stone magazine:
. . . Goldman used two methods to hide the mess they were selling. First, they bundled hundreds of different mortgages into instruments called Collateralized Debt Obligations.
UBS own credit confusion
Own credit returns again — this time in UBS’s late-night announcement that it will post a net loss in the second-quarter of 2009.
Here’s the relevant bit of the press release:
Based upon preliminary results for April and May and estimated results for June,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Friday morning,
- Never apologise, never explain at UBS.
- ‘Market serfs’ of the world unite.
- Dual partite regulation.
- Smoke, mirrors and Treasury sales.
- Adventures in muppet M&A.
Slackers at the Fed
The statement from the FOMC’s most recent meeting contained one striking change to the previous statement, released in April:
The prices of energy and other commodities have risen of late. However, substantial resource slack is likely to dampen cost pressures,
Markets live transcript 26 Jun 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:04 on 26 Jun 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Hello PM:Welcome to Markets Live
Duel partite regulation
From the Memorandum of Understanding between HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority – the Tripartite Authorities system agreed between Gordon Brown as chancellor, Mervyn King at the Bank of England and Sir Callum McCarthy,
More hollowing out in Tokyo
Landlords of large, swanky apartments so favoured by expat bankers are heavily discounting rents and enrolments at international schools are dwindling in Tokyo, as the slow-trickle exodus of Japan’s foreign financial community picks up ahead of the summer holiday season.
Smoke, mirrors and Treasury sales
In Friday’s FT, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan writes (our emphasis):
Excess capacity is temporarily suppressing global prices. But I see inflation as the greater future challenge. If political pressures prevent central banks from reining in their inflated balance sheets in a timely manner,