June, 2009
Les francais ont une crise de logement aussi
We have become accustomed to house-price watching in the US and the UK, but it may be time to turn our attention more decisively towards the continent.
Julian Callow of Barclays Capital certainly thinks so.
Where next for the world economy?
Bumping along the bottom, according to the latest OECD’s Economic Outlook published on Wednesday.
Fom Reuters. Emphasis ours;
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in its latest economic outlook that the slowdown in its 30 member countries was close to the bottom.
Where there’s muck there’s brass
Forget equities, forex and even fixed income, emissions trading is where it’s at currently.
As a bid battle rage for EcoSecurities, the Intercontinental Exchange has just picked up a 4.8 per cent holding in Climate Exchange,
The Banker’s Top 1000, by Tier 1
Inevitable, but fascinating nevertheless: the benchmark annual rankings by The Banker magazine of the world’s top 1,000 banks bears no relation whatsoever to the 2008 list.
Using broad Tier 1 as a yardstick (common stock,
Twitter for those dirty, alpha-seeking strategies
Hedge fund managers are turning to Twitter in an attempt to steal a march on their rivals, or so The Daily Telegraph tells us on Wednesday.
That’s very interesting, because several hedge fund managers we spoke to dismissed the idea variously as “all twatter”
Further reading
Elsewhere on Wednesday,
- ETFs in the regulatory spotlight.
- Japan exports still in the doldrums.
- In an economic crisis all dogs go to heaven.
- Tracing coincidence.
- Cargo traffic is down.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Wednesday’s FT,
Martin Wolf : Reforming regulation
Bubbles and crises cannot be eliminated from capitalism. Yet it is hard to believe the risks run by institutions had nothing to do with incentives.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- Polar capital sees assets under management fall 52% to $1.5bn – statement.
- Development Securities announces £100m share offer – statement.
- Corporate:
Anglo investors press for Xstrata talks
Anglo American came under pressure from its shareholders on Tuesday to keep the door open to a possible merger with rival miner Xstrata. Some investors and analysts were surprised by the ferocity of Anglo’s initial rejection on Monday of Xstrata’s proposal for a nil-premium,
US set for WTO clash with China
The US and the EU on Tuesday raised the stakes in a growing dispute with China, lodging a joint case at the World Trade Organisation over export quotas on raw materials. It is the latest sign of rising trade friction following the two countries’ controversial “Buy American” and “Buy Chinese” provisions,
Deutche Bank, CS, settle Huntsman case
Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse have agreed to pay $632m in cash and provide $1.1bn of financing to Huntsman to settle the US chemicals group’s lawsuit against the banks for scuppering its private equity-backed takeover last year.
Citi to raise staff salaries
Citigroup plans to raise workers’ base salaries by as much as 50% this year to offset smaller annual bonuses, reports the NYT. Citi’s proposals, discussed internally this week, present a crucial test for the Obama administration,
JPMorgan tops ‘strong bank’ list
JPMorgan tops a list of the world’s strongest banks, while Royal Bank of Scotland suffered the biggest loss of any lender last year, according to new industry rankings on Wednesday, reports Reuters. RBS’s $59.3bn loss last year eclipsed all rivals,
Chaucer rejects Brit Insurance bid
Chaucer Holdings, a Lloyd’s of London insurer, has flatly rejected an all-share offer from rival Brit Insurance and announced that Ewen Gilmour, chief executive, plans to retire. Brit for its part pulled its offer of 0.23 new Brit ordinary shares for every existing Chaucer share after Chaucer’s board voted against recommending the deal.
Setanta switched off in the UK
Setanta Sports’ UK operations were put into administration on Tuesday after a week of talks failed to secure funding to keep the company afloat. Sir Robin Miller, Setanta chairman, said the broadcaster’s backers had invested “hundreds of millions of pounds”
GCL-Poly bets $3.4bn on China solar power
GCL-Poly Energy , a Hong Kong-listed power plant operator, has agreed to acquire its chairman’s polysilicon business in China in a HK$26.4bn ($3.4bn) deal. The group said it would buy Jiangsu Zhongneng ,
Russian market sell-off deepens
Russian equity markets dropped further on Tuesday, extending losses this month to more than 20% in a sell-off that has underscored the country’s record as one of the world’s most volatile markets. Russia’s shares have led a slide across most emerging market assets this month.
China to create Aim-style bourse
China, which is reopening its exchanges to domestic IPOs after a nine-month hiatus, plans to establish an equity market on its Shenzhen stock exchange for small and mid-sized companies, along the lines of London’s Aim exchange.
Japan’s May exports slide
Japan’s export slump deepened in May, casting fresh doubt on the nation’s growth prospects amid its worst postwar recession, reports Bloomberg. May shipments abroad dropped 40.9% from a year earlier and 0.3% on a monthly basis,
Switzerland to dilute bank secrecy
Switzerland emphasised on Tuesday its willingness to dilute bank secrecy, as the US indicated it would continue with legal action to force UBS to reveal the names of its American offshore private banking clients.
Banknote fuels Korean inflation fears
South Korea on Tuesday finally issued a Won50,000 banknote, despite concerns it could stoke corruption and inflation. For over 35 years, the country’s biggest note has been the Won10,000, now worth only $7.80.
Defence requests leniency for Madoff
Bernard Madoff should get 12 years in prison, his attorney said on Tuesday, arguing that the sentence would be sufficient punishment for the former broker at the heart of one of history’s biggest frauds.
Stanford bail hearing set for June 25
Allen Stanford, the Texas financier accused of leading a $7bn fraud, will appear before a US magistrate judge in Houston on June 25, a day later than planned, reports Bloomberg.The hearing will determine whether Stanford can be released on bail or held until his trial on fraud charges related to an alleged Ponzi scheme involving the sale of certificates of deposit at his Antiguan bank.
Overnight markets: Mixed
Asian stocks fluctuated on Wednesday, as gains among technology and energy shares overshadowed declines by finance companies. Futures on the S&P 500 Index lost 0.2% after the gauge added 0.2% on Tuesday,
A two sigma day
A two sigma day on the S&P 500, from Condor Options. Click to enlarge.
Here’s a bit of an explanation from Condor:
The lower part of the chart below shows how far each day’s price movement deviates from its 21-day mean;
The Eurobob effect
Here’s a funny one, just when crude fundamentals actually turn somewhat bullish, what does the price of crude do on Monday? It falls.
So what is going on? A lot of it probably lies in the realms of the gasoline market.
Inflation and the QE exit strategy, an update from the BoE
Wa-oah. The Bank of England has gone weirdly, defensively inflation target crazy.
From a speech by the Bank’s exec director and chief economist, Spencer Dale, released Tuesday afternoon:
. . . The final criticism that I want to address is that the MPC needs to articulate more clearly its exit strategy [from its asset purchase programme/quantitative easing].
Own credit conundrum at the IASB
Profiting from the dismal fortunes of your own credit has hit headlines in recent months, with Citi booking a $30m gain from the accounting rule in its otherwise lacklustre first-quarter results.
Put simply,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Tuesday morning,
- Negative equity hot spots.
- News from 1930 – today.
- Latvia’s Achilles heel: deposits.
- The Lord and Chinese stock transfers.
- Sell the rouble.
- A $3.4bn pay day for GCL-Poly.
The US export problem
IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard has been engaging in some green-shoot whacking of late, not least with his views on what is really needed to propel a US recovery.
In one word: exports.
Bank of New York Mellon flag up this particular quote on Tuesday: