August, 2009
Shandong Steel closes in on Rizhao
A hostile takeover of one of China’s largest non-state steel groups by a state-owned competitor could be finalised as early as next week in a deal that has heightened concerns about creeping renationalisation.
BPCE throws Natixis a lifeline
Natixis, the troubled French investment bank, has been thrown a lifeline by its parent company BPCE that could help it avoid government aid and pave the way for its long-overdue restructuring. BPCE, the newly created retail banking group formed from the merger of Natixis’s two largest shareholders,
GM and Berlin in Opel stalemate
Talks between General Motors and a German government task force on the future of Opel on Tuesday failed to end the stalemate over the spin-off of the US carmaker’s European arm. John Smith, GM’s chief negotiator,
RBS to scale back pension benefits
Royal Bank of Scotland, the part-nationalised bank that controversially gave Sir Fred Goodwin, its former chief executive, a pension pot valued at £16m, is scaling back pension benefits for about 62,500 employees.
Temasek eyes listing prospects
Temasek Holdings, the Singapore state investment company, would be prepared to list some of its biggest holdings, including port operator PSA, Singapore Power, asset manager Fullerton Fund Management and Fullerton Financial Holdings,
Canberra approves $42bn LNG project
Australia’s Chevron-led A$50bn ($42bn) Gorgon liquefied natural gas venture cleared a significant hurdle on Wednesday when Canberra gave environmental approval to the project, which will supply the fuel to China,
Clinton fundraiser accused on Citi loan
A prominent Democratic fundraiser who served as a national finance chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has been accused in an alleged $74m scheme to defraud Citigroup. Hassan Nemazee was accused of using false documents to secure a loan of $74m from Citi.
Overnight markets: Up
Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday, lifting the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its highest level in more than a week, after US consumer confidence gained and US home prices fell less than economists estimated.
Volume magnets
As the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column reported on Tuesday, there has been astounding trade – on a volume basis – in Uncle Sam’s ‘ward’ stocks for the past week or so:
How much is the stock market driven by Washington? Forget bailouts,
Guest post: Mohamed El-Erian – Bernanke’s four point ‘to-do’ list
Pimco’s chief executive comments on Ben Bernanke’s reappointment for a second term at Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
President Obama’s announcement reappointing Fed Chairman Bernanke for a second four-year term does,
Sympathy for the money market funds
What’s this? Obama’s economic adviser and former Fed chairman Paul Volcker wants to regulate money market funds like banks.
Via Bloomberg:
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who is an adviser to President Barack Obama,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Tuesday morning,
- The new Cairn Energy.
- Deutsche bonds with the retail investor.
- On commercial real estate watch.
- Valuing Spanish property.
- The great commodity ETF unwind.
Markets live transcript 25 Aug 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:07 on 25 Aug 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Hiyya PM:Welcome to Torchedville.
Commercial real estate watch
Here’s a useful update on the CRE front, from the American Bankers Association, and courtesy of Barry Ritholtz at the Big Picture.
It’s a list of 150 US bank holding companies, ranked by their commercial real estate loans.
The new Cairn Energy?
That will doubtless be the view of some of the more excitable brokers following the latest drilling update from Gulf Keystone Petroleum, the curious Kurdistan-focused oil company that has been causing a bit of stir in London during these quiet summer months.
Deutsche bonds with the retail investor
Deutsche Bank’s bond forays seem never too far from controversy these days.
To wit, this story, from the FT:
Deutsche Bank has become the latest big European institution to tap retail investors for funding,
On the matter of Spanish property valuations
Research house Variant Perception highlighted last week how Spanish property prices might be being artificially supported via the role banks play in the valuation process in Spain — the report essentially raising questions over whether assets were being fairly valued or not.
Goldilocks peers through the green shoots
Much of the optimistically herbivorous talk about “green shoots” has died down, thankfully. But amid the still-heated debate between bulls and bears about near and medium-term scenarios, it is refreshing to read a tempered view such as that from BlueGold’s Stephen Jen,
ICBC and Chinese banks — the path to ‘temporary greatness’
As (most) western banks struggle to get back on their feet, it’s hard not to look — and marvel — at the extraordinary expansion and robust earnings of China’s big banks. But factors driving the world biggest bank (by market value),
Banking on blame
It’s rather amusing to imagine the thought process that must have gripped the minds of the BBC producers who devised “Can you bank on me?” :
BBC Producer One: You know this credit crunch thing deserves some prime time viewing.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Tuesday,
- Fun with derivatives.
- Oil, the long goodbye.
- How big is $9 trillion?
- Ben Bernanke’s incomplete version of history.
- The next credit bubble is… now.
- Look for an ‘X’-shaped economic recovery.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Tuesday’s FT,
Why the Fed should be given more powers
Roger Altman, chairman of Evercore Partners, writes that motivations for opposing a wider Fed role are all over the place.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Court orders Federal Reserve to disclose emergency loan details — Bloomberg.
- Austrian bank BAWAG, owned by Cerberus Capital, will get a planned €550m of state aid soon — Reuters summary.
RBS sale of China assets faces hurdle
The sale of Royal Bank of Scotland’s retail and commercial assets in China has hit a stumbling block that could derail negotiations with preferred bidder Standard Chartered. StanChart entered exclusive talks with the UK lender last month to acquire assets in China,
GM considers shelving Opel plan
General Motors is looking at shelving a German-backed bailout of its Opel European car arm amid growing fears that long-running talks on the deal will end in failure. The US carmaker and its advisers are instead considering raising about €3bn ($4.3bn) of rescue funds for Opel and its British Vauxhall brand from the US and other European governments,
Santander to buy back €16bn of bonds
Debt markets gained a boost on Monday when Santander, Spain’s largest bank, launched a programme to buy back securitised bonds with a face value of €16.5bn ($23.6bn). The deal, the biggest of its kind,
Obama to tap Bernanke for second term
President Barack Obama on Tuesday will nominate Ben Bernanke to a second term as Fed chairman, reports Reuters. Analysts said financial markets would welcome the early move by Obama – before Bernanke’s four-year term ends on Jan 31,
Deutsche Bank taps retail investors
Deutsche Bank has become the latest big European institution to tap retail investors for funding, as it announced plans to sell up to €500m ($717m) in new hybrid bonds. The German bank shocked bond