July, 2009
Recruiter sees grim future for London’s out-of-work bankers
If you are 35 years old, have only ever worked in the City and have lost your job, then the chief executive of Britain’s biggest listed recruitment company has a grim message for you on the prospect of a recovery in financial sector employment:
BAIC plans Opel China plant
Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation aims rapidly to expand its operations in China if it wins the race to acquire General Motors’ Opel business in Europe. In a last-minute bid for GM’s European operations,
Ex-Goldman employee accused of cyber-theft
US officials arrested former Goldman employee and computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov over the weekend, accusing him of stealing sensitive automated trading codes and uploading them to a server based in Germany,
US earnings season brings ‘green shoots’ hunt
Investors will be looking for US companies to start providing evidence that “green shoots” of recovery have begun sprouting on their bottom lines when they start reporting second-quarter results on Wednesday,
Fitch cuts California’s bond rating close to junk
Fitch slashed its rating on California’s general obligations bonds to triple B – two notches above junk – on Monday, after the state was forced to issue IOUs for certain payments while it frantically tries to agree a budget,
Overnight markets: Still down
Japanese equity markets tumbled for a fifth consecutive session on Tuesday, amid persistent concerns over the likely strength of any economic recovery, while exporters were dragged lower by worries over a strengthening yen.
Goldman Black Box heist latest
Courtesy of Reuters.
18:30 06Jul09
RTRS-GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC SEES NO IMPACT ON CLIENTS OR BUSINESS AFTER COMPUTER PROGRAMMER HELD FOR STEALING SECRET TRADING CODES – SOURCE.
and from the same source a little earlier.
CDS report: Spreads widen as investors await earnings season
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
Credit spreads on both sides of the Atlantic widened today as investors await earnings season with trepidation. Last week’s US jobs report has knocked investor confidence,
It’s like Christmas Eve
…and here’s the evidence – Monday’s most actives’ on the London Stock Exchange.
Across the London market (ex-Aim) just 950m shares have changed hands – that’s not even half an average day’s trading volume.
Woof. Britain’s sleepy accounting watchdogs
The financial press is regularly castigated for its failure to spot problems before innocent people get burnt. But what happens when the press does spot a big problem and alerts all concerned?
Witness the MG Rover saga.
In defence of EMH
Marco Annunziata, chief Economist at UniCredit Group, has fired a couple of rounds at critics of efficient markets hypothesis, including Soc Gen’s GMO’s James Montier and the FT’s Gillian Tett.
He says simplistic attempts to throw EMH out of the window will not help improve our understanding of financial markets or strengthen institutions to limit the risk of future crisis.
Lex: Samsung
Does the upbeat second quarter earnings forecast from Asia’s biggest technology group signal a broader tech recovery?
As the country’s biggest exporter, what is good for Samsung Electronics is good for Korea – and the prospect of a fivefold increase in consolidated operating profit from the first quarter is indubitably good.
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Monday morning,
- Fixing China’s fixed asset investment data?
- Trebles all round! FSA fights deflation!
- Some Cattle-prodding.
- The Great Goldman Black Box Heist.
- In Memoriam,
On fixing China’s fixed asset investment data
You would think China would not need to exaggerate numbers associated with its startling stimulated investment boom.
But the analysts at Standard Chartered nevertheless present a compelling case for that suggestion — specifically with regards to fixed asset investment.
Markets live transcript 6 Jul 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:11 on 6 Jul 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Hi there PM:Welcome to ML
Trebles all round! FSA fights deflation
The new plans reflect the FSA’s determination to change behaviour and address concerns that firms are repeatedly failing to improve standards (e.g. in relation to mis-selling to consumers and market misconduct).
Cattle-prodding
A statement Monday morning:
CATTLES PLC
£400,000,000 7.125% bonds due 2017, ISIN: XS0308397149 (the “Bonds”), issued pursuant to a Trust Deed dated 5 July 2007 (as amended from time to time) (the “Trust Deed”
Smug LLP – Markets Live at 11am
Yep, H&M Capital Management are getting a re-brand…
Stocks were headed sharply lower in London on Monday, with thin volumes exacerbating price movements. The miners were under pressure, along with insurers and a few second-line financials.
The Great Goldman Black Box Heist
There’s a film in here somewhere.
Straight-to-DVD, perhaps. But a film nevertheless.
Sergey Aleynikov, a Russian computer programmer, living in New Jersey and who previously worked for Goldman Sachs, has been nicked by the FBI after allegedly stealing a batch of proprietary programme trading code from his former employer. According to the FBI’s affidavit,
In Memoriam, Coffee Republic
Back in the boom years - October 2006 to be precise - a couple of property developers took control of Coffee Republic after ousting chairman and founder Bobby Hashemi.
They had big plans for this underperforming company.
The culpability of central bankers?
(H/T Sean Corrigan of Diapason Commodities).
Related links:
What the Bank does - BoE pamphlet
One kind of debt replaces another – FT
Latvia’s lenders will even take your soul
If this Reuters’ “odd” story is to be believed, Latvian bankers will accept pretty much anything as collateral these days – including intangible and hard to value assets like, erm, your immortal soul:
RIGA (Reuters) – Ready to give your soul for a loan in these difficult economic times? In Latvia,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Monday,
- “Did someone try to steal Goldman Sachs’ secret sauce?”
- Sweden, negative interest rates and QE.
- CDS is not insurance.
- “Short-sellers are the messengers.”
- The scariest jobs chart ever is all squiggly.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Wolfgang Münchau: Liquidity injections alone are not enough
Monetary policy’s various guises from near-zero short-term interest rates, to massive liquidity injections,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Cattles says it will not make coupon payment on £400m 7.125 per cent bonds due 2017 — statement.
- Carpathian announces debt restructuring in relation to facilities with Anglo Irish Bank — statement.
Wall Street gears up to trade California IOUs
Wall Street is gearing up to trade the registered warrants – de facto IOUs – issued by cash-strapped California, which last week declared a fiscal emergency amid a legislative stalemate over how to close a $24bn budget gap.
CBI calls for ‘alternative to redundancies’ in UK
The CBI, a top UK business lobby group, is urging the government to adopt an “alternative to redundancy” scheme this autumn that it said could stem job losses as unemployment heads towards three million,
Saudi fund eyes £700m UK real estate deal
An investment manager part-owned by the Saudi royal family is planning to invest a chunk of its assets in UK and US commercial property, according to Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, its chairman.For Jadwa Investment,