August, 2009
Citadel seeks Lehman-linked funds
Citadel Investment Group filed a claim with the US bankruptcy court seeking to recover as much as $470.5m that the hedge fund believes it is owed from derivatives contracts tied to Lehman Brothers Holdings before its collapse,
SEC adamant on BofA bonuses
The SEC on Monday defended its decision not to charge individuals in Bank of America’s alleged failure to disclose bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch employees before the companies merged, blaming the omission largely on attorneys.
Centrica takes controlling stake in Venture
Centrica, the UK’s largest utility, on Monday took a controlling stake in Venture Production, all but securing its £1.3bn proposed takeover of the North Sea oil and gas producer. Centrica increased its shareholding in Venture by 25.2m shares,
China exports edge ahead of Germany
China’s exports narrowly edged ahead of Germany’s in the 2009 first half, figures showed on Monday, in a fresh sign that Germany’s status as the world’s top exporter is at risk. China exported goods worth $521.7bn in the 2009 first half,
TeliaSonera in Baltic buy-outs
TeliaSonera launched a SKr4.9bn ($670m) bid on Monday to take full control of affiliates in Estonia and Lithuania, despite economic turmoil in the Baltic countries. The Nordic telecoms operator aims to take advantage of reduced asset prices and cash-strapped minority shareholders to buy up remaining stakes in Eesti Telekom of Estonia and Lithuania’s TEO.
Yahoo renews vow to fight Microsoft
Yahoo showed on Monday that it intends to keep fighting Microsoft on multiple fronts, demonstrating improvements in the way it presents search results and other offerings. The rival companies announced an alliance last month aimed at competing with Google,
Court keeps Stanford in jail
A federal appeals court in New Orleans said on Monday that accused swindler Allen Stanford must stay in jail until his fraud trial, reports Reuters. Stanford, accused of leading a $7bn fraud involving certificates of deposit issued by his Antigua bank,
McCann files suit against BofA
Bob McCann, former head of Merrill Lynch’s “thundering herd” of wealth management advisers, filed suit on Monday against Bank of America over the terms of his departure to enable him to accept a job elsewhere.
Overnight markets: Dip
Asian stocks declined on Tuesday, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific Index from a one-week high, after Chinese commodity companies reported lower profits and SunTrust Banks said US lenders face more credit losses.
Goldman’s VIP-list
Nice and timely as ever, Goldman Sachs is out with a list of 50 stock recommendations on Monday based around the names it sees hedge funds currently buying in the US equity space.
Dubbed its ‘VIP list’,
The interest rate disconnect
The world’s central bankers gathered at Jackson Hole over the weekend. What a party that must have been.
The foremost topic of discussion: low interest rates and associated unconventional monetary policy — quantitative easing by any other name.
Chasing the Dragon (Oil)
Last week, this intriguing story popped up on Reuters:
LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch has dropped Dubai state-controlled Dragon Oil as a client because of its ties with Iran,
Glug, glug, glug…
Come help us celebrate our Webby Awards win — as well as FT Alphaville editor Paul Murphy’s imminent move to New York.
Find out more about the Bleeding Heart here.
Hybrid security (or not)
The market for the hybrid debt of British banks was rather roiled last week
First there was news that Northern Rock would be deferring payment of its suboordinated debt coupons. Then then there was a mass-downgrade of the hybrid debt of banks including Lloyds and RBS,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Monday morning,
- European credit is back to normal.
- Goldman’s preferiti.
- Bove is braced for more bank failures.
- Can banks’ share prices double again?
- Warner Chilcott and the good old (leveraged) days.
Warner Chilcott harks back to the good old (leveraged) days
Who said leveraged loans are dead? There were echoes of the good old days of highly leveraged deal-financing with news that specialty drug maker Warner Chilcott is expected to announce as early as Monday the acquisition of Procter & Gamble’s prescription-drug business for more than $3bn.
Markets live transcript 24 Aug 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:02 on 24 Aug 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Hi PM:11.03 PM:Welcome to Markets Live
Can banks’ share prices double again?
That is the title of Icap’s latest cycles strategy report — and the answer to the broker’s self-posed question is, perhaps unsurprisingly, an emphatic yes.
Here’s the thrust of the thesis, as put forward by Icap’s Bijal Shah (emphasis ours):
Bove braced for (many) more bank failures
What fun. Another 150-200 US banks are in line to fail in coming months, according to Rochdale Securities’ Dick Bove (formerly of Ladeburg Thalmann). Furthermore, according to the banking analyst’s latest note,
Goldman’s preferiti
Oh dear. Another week, another negative Goldman Sachs story.
The Wall Street Journal does the honours this time, in the shape of a story by Susanne Craig shedding light on the bank’s more dubious research practices.
Back to ‘normal’…
European corporate and household credit standards — courtesy of UBS and sourced from the ECB lenders survey:
Further reading
Elesewhere this Monday,
- More on those underperforming bond funds.
- Goldman clients given early heads-up.
- The super-rich are now slightly less super-rich.
- Banks and the beauty of cheap deposits.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Nouriel Roubini: The risk of a double-dip recession is rising
The global economy is starting to bottom out from the worst recession and financial crisis since the Great Depression,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Westcity receives initial approach from largest shareholder, Chapman International Investments — statement.
- Corporate: Bovis Homes, Kingspan, Petrofac, G4S,
Warner Chilcott to buy P&G unit for $3bn
Warner Chilcott, a specialty drug maker, is acquiring Procter & Gamble’s prescription drug business for about $3bn, reports Reuters. A transaction could be announced on Monday. Six lenders led by Bank of America and JPMorgan will provide up to $4bn of financing,
Bank bail-outs weigh on some states
Governments around the world except for Switzerland and the US are sitting on combined losses of $10.8bn from their direct shareholdings in banks, despite the recent rally in equity markets. However, Switzerland sold its 9% UBS stake for a SFr1.2bn ($1.1bn) profit last week,
Close Brothers moves in on Kleinwort
Close Brothers, the UK-based investment bank, has emerged as a bidder for Kleinwort Benson, the private bank that has been put up for sale by Germany’s Commerzbank. Close Brothers is understood to be among the potential buyers to reach the second round of the auction process.
Berlin irked by GM’s Opel delay
Germany’s government has expressed irritation at General Motors’ failure to decide on a preferred bidder for a controlling stake in Opel/Vauxhall, heightening tensions over the future of the European carmaker.
Central bankers happy with low rates
The world’s central bankers on Sunday signalled their belief that interest rates could stay at ultra-low levels for some time without generating excess inflation, as they left the US Federal Reserve’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole,
Bad loans to hit Landesbanken
Some of Germany’s biggest public-sector banks are likely to reveal steep rises in loan loss provisions this week despite optimism about German economic recovery. BayernLB and Landesbank BadenWürttemberg,