August, 2009
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Monday morning,
- The Paulson-Blankfein phone-fest
- Combining a technocrat’s virtues with those of the politician
- Van der Moolen, HFT’s loss
- Lloyds’ possible cash call in Markets Live
- Further reading
On FT.com,
Markets live transcript 10 Aug 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 11:44 on 10 Aug 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy (PM) Miles Johnson, FT (MJ) PM:Hi PM:Welcome to ML
Too ‘Bernanke’ to fail?
The FT on Monday wades into the escalating debate over the future of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke with a strong argument in favour or reappointing the bearded one – a “Bernanke booster” that is bound to rile legions of his critics out there.
Paulson-Blankfein phone-fest fuels more ‘squid’ outrage
It’s hard for us to tell if this is getting more boring, or more fascinating. Perhaps a bit of both. The latest disclosure about the seemingly endless tentacles and influence of “Goldman Squid”, as FT Alphaville dubbed Goldman Sachs after writer Matt Taibbi’s recent takedown of the US investment bank in Rolling Stone (a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity”) ,
A bad week for China’s facts and figures
One never really knows when it comes to the veracity of supposed “facts” in China, though China-watchers can usually guess when a supposed “error” or misunderstanding is deliberate or genuine.
But few clues emerge from developments in the past week,
Van der Moolen, HFT’s loss
Dutch trading and brokerage firm Van der Moolen on Monday sought creditor protection and permission to suspend payments from an Amsterdam court due to what it called ‘a weak liquidity’ position. The company also released second half results,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Monday,
- “Paulson just keeps on calling”
- Three cheers for the short-sellers.
- Six impossible things before breakfast, or how EMH has damaged our industry.
- CNBC slides as viewers get crunched.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Clive Crook: Why Obama will have to raise taxes
During his run for the White House, Barack Obama promised that taxes would not rise for families making less than $250,000 a year.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Friends Provident confirms revised Resolution proposal – statement.
- Van der Moolen requests suspension of payments – statement.
- Corporate: Blacks, Valiant,
Overdraft fees hand US banks $38bn
US banks stand to collect a record $38.5bn in fees for customer overdrafts this year, with the bulk of the revenue coming from the most financially stretched consumers, according to new research. The fees are nearly double those reported in 2000.
China: Rio spying ‘cost $100bn’
China has accused Rio Tinto of spying on its steel industry for six years, costing the country Rmb700bn ($102bn) in excessive charges for iron ore and highlighting the need for Beijing to overhaul the way it deals with state secrets.
Bischoff plans Lloyds fundraising
Sir Win Bischoff, chairman designate of Lloyds Banking Group, is believed to be pushing for the bank to raise up to £15bn from the stock market to keep down the cost of insuring toxic debt with the government,
Publicis lands Razorfish for $530m
Publicis Groupe, the French marketing and communications business, has beaten rivals including WPP and Dentsu in the race to acquire Razorfish from Microsoft. The deal, which values the digital agency at about $530m,
UBS tax talks stall: Report
US-Swiss talks to settle a tax evasion row against UBS have stalled as the two states have yet to agree legal details on how to allow the transfer of some bank client data to Washington, according to Swiss media reports on Sunday,
Buffett’s Berkshire buys corporate debt
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is buying corporate debt and non-US government securities as the billionaire investor’s spending on stocks falls to the lowest in more than five years, reports Bloomberg.
Blackstone mulls Hilton debt shake-up
Blackstone is exploring options for a debt restructuring of Hilton, the hotel group it bought for $26bn in mid-2007. The US buyout group has ruled out asset sales but is looking at options to alter Hilton’s capital structure,
Carlyle in Greek buy-back row
Carlyle Group is locked in a dispute with one of Greece’s richest entrepreneurs over Neochimiki, an Athens-based chemicals distributor which fell into deep loss soon after it was bought by the US private equity group for €749m ($1.06bn) last year.
New ventures boost for City
The number of new financial companies seeking UK regulatory authorisation rose 10% in the second quarter, the first quarterly increase since early 2008, while those cancelling slowed by 18%. The single largest groups among the 282 new registrants with the FSA were independent financial advisers and financial advisory services.
UK’s Cowdery closes in on Friends
Clive Cowdery’s Resolution is inching towards a takeover of Friends Provident after the two sides neared an agreement over the valuation of the life assurer over the weekend. Both sides are trying to reach agreement before the time Friends announces its interim results on Tuesday,
Iceland’s FSA lines up more cases
Iceland’s top financial regulator is preparing to hand over more cases of suspected market manipulation to a special prosecutor as the probe into last year’s bank crash intensifies. Gunnar Andersen,
Bharti moves to sweeten MTN bid
Bharti Airtel has approached the State Bank of India for a $2bn loan in a move to sweeten a $23bn tie-up with South Africa’s MTN. India’s largest mobile operator is understood to have requested the $2bn loan in order to increase the cash component of the deal by 5-10% to about $5bn,
Hang Seng eyes China expansion
Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong’s largest bank by market value, said it is considering raising its stake in China’s Industrial Bank Co and may also make acquisitions to expand in the mainland, reports Bloomberg.
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories
- AIG reports first quarterly profit since 2007
AIG reported its first profit in seven quarters on Friday, helped by large accounting gains, in a partial reversal of the huge mark-to-market losses that led to the rescue of the stricken insurer.
Overnight markets: Up
Asian stocks rose on Monday, led by auto makers and consumer companies, after the US jobless rate dropped and Japanese machinery orders increased, boosting confidence that the world’s two largest economies are emerging from recession.
The Weekender
On FT Alphaville this week,
- Barclays’ monoline burn.
- Joy!The worst of the New York dating scene has returned.
- Kaupthing’s Wikigeysir.
- HSBC’s fair-value.
- Northern Rock’s capital cracks.
Payrolls not so bullish after all, Rosenberg says
Gluskin Sheff’s chief economist David Rosenberg poured cold water over the market’s enthusiastic response to the non-farm payroll data released on Friday.
By his reckoning, “while the numbers represented by far the best jobs performance of the year,
CDS wrap: Green shoots and earnings have been driving the recent rally
This CDS week in review was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
Has the global economy cleared the last hurdle? Is it leaving the rocky terrain of the last two years behind and beginning a journey down a more verdant path? If the economics profession has learnt one thing in the recent crisis it is that forecasts claiming certainty are at best unwise and at worst unhinged.
Fannie Mae still bleeding money
With “results” like this, is it any wonder the future of the government sponsored entities is in doubt?
From the statement, released late on Thursday (emphasis FT Alphaville’s):
WASHINGTON, DC — Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) reported a loss of $14.8 billion,
From beta to alpha – playing the summer rally
Some might think that the current rally gripping stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic takes us back to 2006/07.
It doesn’t. The focus now is not on alpha – but beta. And some analysts are getting very excited about it.
US July non-farm payrolls fall by 247,000
US non-farm payrolls fell by 247,000 jobs in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. That compared to a general consensus figure for a loss of 320,000 jobs, according to Reuters. Figures for June,