June, 2009
Mervyn’s FA-style
We can’t remember the last time Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England did an interview with a leading UK newspaper, wire or broadcaster — outside of official conferences that is.
But he does talk.
Poland: not so strong after all?
Most analysts maintain that Poland stands to ride the financial storm better than any other country in emerging Europe. The country in some ways seen as the quasi China of Europe. Yet indicators suggesting the opposite are mounting up.
Lunch wrap
On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Listing options for Glencore.
- More on Glencore in Markets Live.
- ETF fun with the USO: asking for position limit exemptions.
- The US bond-smuggling mystery thickens.
Markets live transcript 19 Jun 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:05 on 19 Jun 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH)
PM:
Hello
PM:
11.04
Candover sells Wood Mackenzie in the nick of time
Shares in Candover Investments jumped 12 per cent on Friday morning to 300p after the troubled UK private equity group gained some badly-needed breathing space on Friday with a deal to sell Wood Mackenzie,
Listing options for Glencore
There’s just one thing missing from Friday’s news that Glencore, the ultra secretive Swiss trading house, is exploring a stock market flotation, and that’s a concrete sense of where it might list.
London is mentioned in passing but we wonder if a dual listing here and in Switzerland is the most likely option.
Bond-smuggling mystery thickens — like a lumpy stew
The statement by a US official this week that $134bn of Treasury bills seized in Italy earlier this month are fake has only raised more questions in a case that, as one commentator noted earlier this week,
USO/UNG ETF managers ask CFTC for exemption on position limits
Filed with the CFTC on June 16th (H/T Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix), emphasis FT Alphaville’s:
Read the full document here.
Related links:
Cramer doesn’t get the UNG – FT Alphaville
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
So much for not letting a crisis go to waste.
The Green Lantern theory of financial deregulation.
Hedge fund wives on hard times.
So who trades the Vix and VXX?
More financial innovation.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
What is needed for a lasting recovery
Olivier Blanchard, chief economist of the IMF writes: sustained recovery requires decreased domestic US spending and increased domestic spending in China and much of the rest of the world,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- Taylor Wimpey says housing market seeing stability – statement.
- John Lewis weekly dept store sales up 0.4 per cent – statement.
- Porsche 9-month sports car earnings decline – statement.
Glencore explores IPO
Glencore, the privately-held Swiss-based trading house renowned for its far-reaching influence on global commodity markets, has had preliminary talks with bankers about an IPO as it reviews its partnership structure.
China SWF eyes Blackstone fund
China Investment Corp, the country’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, is poised to invest $500m in a Blackstone Group hedge-fund unit, reports the WSJ. A hefty injection from China would signal that some big money is stepping off the sidelines as global markets stabilise.
PetroChina eyes UK investment
PetroChina, China’s biggest oil company, is among companies involved in talks about making its first move into refining in Europe, discussing an investment in the Ineos refinery at Grangemouth in Scotland.
KKR reconsiders NY listing
KKR is considering scrapping its plan to list in New York. The US buyout firm had planned to merge its operations with its Euronext-listed KKR Private Equity Investors (KPE) and then list the whole operation on the New York exchange.
Goodwin hands back part of pension
Sir Fred Goodwin, former CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland, has agreed to hand back more than a third of the pension he was paid after leaving the stricken bank last year. Sir Fred was pilloried for accepting a £703,000 annual pension from RBS,
Scrushy hit with $2.8bn penalty
Richard Scrushy, former CEO and chairman of US healthcare company HealthSouth, was hit on Thursday with a staggering $2.88bn civil judgment in a suit brought by HealthSouth shareholders, one of the largest findings ever from the era of massive corporate scandals,
Swiss open Santander probe
Geneva’s public prosecutor said he has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Banco Santander’s hedge-fund unit misled investors when it funneled their money into Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme,
Ex-Merrill trio discussed buying bank
Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis was approached by three former Merrill Lynch executives this year to discuss buying back some or all of their old company, but he politely rebuffed them, the FT has learnt.
Stanford surrenders in Virginia
Sir Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire, surrendered to US authorities in Virginia on Thursday night after a warrant was issued for his arrest, reports Reuters. He is expected to appear in court Friday morning to face criminal charges,
Senate attacks Geithner reforms
US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner met immediate resistance in Congress to his regulatory reform package on Thursday as senators from both parties questioned the Obama administration’s plan to grant new systemic risk powers to the Federal Reserve.
Relaunch for Madoff trading unit
The market-making portion of Bernard Madoff’s business, which he ran for years alongside the Ponzi scheme for which he has been convicted of fraud, has been relaunched under the name Surge Trading. The business will be led by Frank Petrilli,
GE reassures over finance unit
General Electric on Thursday sought to allay fears that the Obama administration’s plan for financial regulatory reform would force a spin-off of its finance arm, reiterating its commitment to “retaining GE Capital”.
Tchenguiz ousts Bramdean board
Vincent Tchenguiz, the UK property entrepreneur, has overthrown the board of Bramdean Alternatives, the listed hedge fund and private equity fund of funds, in a move that is likely to see the liquidation of its assets.
Dutch to sell Fortis tax arm
The arm of Belgian-Dutch group Fortis now owned by the Dutch government is pressing ahead with plans to sell Intertrust, a tax administration and structuring business. Several first-round offers have been made for Intertrust close to its €350m ($490m) asking price,
Switzerland looks at shrinking banks
Switzerland upped the ante in a global regulatory assault on the banking industry on Thursday as its central bank warned that Zurich was examining the forced shrinkage of banking groups such as UBS and Credit Suisse to contain the risks posed by their size.
SEC to focus on ‘dark pools’
The increasingly popular trading venues known as “dark pools’’ are to come under fresh scrutiny from US regulators concerned about the emerging risks they pose to the wider markets, Mary Schapiro,
Overnight markets: Up
Asian stocks rose on Friday, paring the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s biggest weekly decline since March, as better-than-estimated US economic reports boosted the dollar. The S&P500 climbed 0.8% after a similar gain for the gauge on Thursday,
CDS report: Europe ends flat as green shoots wither
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
The Markit iTraxx Europe index finished the day flat at 122bp, However, this masked a session of considerable volatility, with nervous investors looking for direction.
Lex: Let bickering commence on US regulatory reform
The 90-page white paper on US regulatory reform has something for everyone – to argue over, that is.
Elsewhere, the white paper wades into classic US schisms – including the separation of banking from commerce (possibly signalling the end of retailers’ store cards,