November, 2009
[Galleon] Raj Rajaratnam denies allegations of insider trading
Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire founder of the Galleon hedge fund accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of insider trading, has rejected the charges against him.
In a court filing on Tuesday,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville on Tuesday morning,
- The Bank of England’s £61.6bn HBOS, RBS rescue.
- M&A boardroom buddies work both ways.
- JGB murders: A novel and illuminating take on JGBs.
- And now Chinese banks are under-capitalised.
The Bank of England’s £61.6bn HBOS, RBS rescue
We finally have the details of the emergency liquidity assistance, or ELA, provided by the Bank of England to RBS and HBOS at the peak of the crisis last year.
The figures, which were deemed too sensitive to be released at the time,
Gasoline cracks are strengthening
Take out some refinery production in the US amidst weak global demand for distillates, and what happens? The RBOB gasoline crack — the US benchmark measure of the difference between the price of crude and that of gasoline — strengthens to the point it’s trading at par with heating oil.
Markets live transcript 24 Nov 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:14 on 24 Nov 2009. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT (NH) Bryce Elder (BE) NH:hola NH:it’s 11.03 NH:actually 11.02
Gold stocks pricing in $940/oz long-term gold price
Here’s an interesting way to view the potential longevity of $1000-plus gold prices, courtesy of RBC Capital Markets.
Take your top tier gold stocks and calculate the types of price scenarios their share prices are currently pricing in:
M&A boardroom buddies work both ways
Maybe Jorge Cosmen, deputy chairman of National Express, should have waved this paper in front of the board of the UK transport group.
Transactions involving companies sharing board members perform significantly better than other deals,
Memo to Mike Lynch
Please stop clogging up the Regulatory News Service with puffery like this:
Exhibit A Cambridge, UK and San Francisco, Calif. – Nov. 24, 2009 – Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU. or AU.L), a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise,
Now Chinese banks are under-capitalised
What happens when you go on a stimulus-funded lending frenzy? Apparently, you do eventually run out of cash.
As Bloomberg reports on Tuesday:
Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) — China’s five largest banks submitted preliminary plans for raising capital to the industry regulator after they extended unprecedented amounts of new loans this year,
JGB murders: A novel and illuminating take on JGBs
After the highly unusual flurry of excitement and speculation in the normally dull Japanese government bond market through early November, FT Alphaville, among others,recently noted the end of the short-squeeze fest in JGBs.
Leverage and the Lloyd’s List
Here’s a blast from the past.
Remember Informa, publisher of the Lloyd’s List and The Earthmover & Civil Contractor Magazine?
The last time Alphaville wrote about the company it was the subject of a leveraged takeover bid from a private equity consortium,
On the matter of sovereign spreads widening
On Monday, we highlighted how BNP Paribas believed sovereign credit spreads were widening because markets were adjusting to the idea that central banks might soon remove liquidity measures implemented over the crisis.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Tuesday,
- Five suggestions for fixing Wall Street.
- “Roubini’s okay but he’s not as good as me”.
- The world according to Americans.
- Citi: the commodity collapse could be “Subprime Part II”.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Tuesday’s FT,
William Cohan: Goldman Sachs: the case for the defence
Let us now praise Goldman Sachs, for the sole reason that it and it alone among the major,
AV after dark
On FT Alphaville late Monday,
- UBS, Citi and other “below average” banks.
- Edwards on downturns, trade wars and yuan devaluation.
- UK housing snaps into contango.
- Dave’s gonna hit someone.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Lloyds Banking Group announces terms of 1.34 for 1 rights issue, priced at 37p per share – statement.
- Informa confirms it is in discussions about acquiring Springer Science and Business Media – statement.
Lloyds prices issue at big discount
Lloyds Banking Group will on Tuesday launch the UK’s largest rights issue to raise £13.5bn, offering investors new shares at 36p each, a huge discount, ahead of a shareholder vote on Thursday. The rights issue is part of the 43.5% state-owned bank’s £22.5bn capital raising.
Strong demand for Lloyds’ hybrid debt
Lloyds Banking Group is to issue £7bn in enhanced capital notes, a new form of hybrid debt, it announced on Monday, as the first part of its plans for a £22.5bn capital raising. The group also increased the amount it hopes to raise from US investors in the hybrid debt to $986m from $800m.
S&P raises fears over some banks
A study by credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has raised questions over the financial strength of some of the biggest banks ahead of new rules that could require them to raise more funds. The analysis by S&P showed that HSBC is the world’s best capitalised bank,
Informa eyes deal for Springer
Informa, publisher of Lloyd’s List, has held talks with its rival Springer Science and Business Media over buying the German academic publisher whose private equity owners are looking to sell the whole business at a reduced valuation.
HP triples stock buy-back plan
Hewlett-Packard tripled the size of its share repurchase programme to $12bn as China sales and better profit margins on its services boosted quarterly earnings, reports Reuters. The Q4 results, announced on Monday,
Hedge funds could recoup $11bn from Lehman
Lehman Brothers International (Europe), where more than $35bn of hedge fund assets have been frozen since the bank’s collapse last September, could return about $11bn to fund managers by March if enough firms approve a new plan,
US mall investors set for bonanza
Hedge funds and other investors now stand to make billions from their holdings in bankrupt US mall owner General Growth Properties amid the recent rebound in financial markets. Among the biggest potential winners is William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management,
China’s Haitong buys HK rival
China’s Haitong Securities has become the first mainland brokerage to acquire an overseas rival after agreeing to buy Hong Kong’s Taifook Securities for at least HK$1.8bn (US$235m). The deal is likely to be followed by other cash-rich mainland groups,
Kumho selects buyers for Daewoo
A consortium led by an Abu Dhabi investment fund and a group led by a US builder were on Monday selected as preferred bidders for a controlling stake in South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction.
Cosmens raise NatEx stake
The Cosmen family, the biggest shareholder in National Express, has increased its shareholding in the UK transport group ahead of a Friday vote that will decide whether NatEx’s £360m rights issue goes ahead.
Icahn outbids Penn for casino resort
Activist investor Carl Icahn has offered $156.5m to acquire the partially built Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort, which has been stalled in bankruptcy court since June, reports Reuters. At a bankruptcy court hearing on Monday in Miami,
Heritage Oil ditches Genel talks
Heritage Oil has called off its proposed $6bn deal to merge with Turkey’s Genel Enerji in the wake of its agreement to sell its Ugandan oil fields to Eni, the Italian energy group. The UK group on Sunday sealed a deal with Eni worth $1.35bn in cash for the Ugandan assets,
IMF, ECB diverge on stimulus
Stark divisions are emerging among policymakers about the withdrawal by governments and central banks of emergency support measures, with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF’s managing director, warning on Monday about the risks of early exit.
Grant Thornton HK faces new claims
Grant Thornton Hong Kong and the accountant’s international network face potentially damaging fresh claims over an alleged multi-million dollar fraud committed by a former managing partner in the city.