May, 2010
Volcker speaks, but knows when to shut up
As almost every banker around the world knows, Paul Volcker is living proof that, long past an ex-Fed chairman’s usual sell-by date, an octagenarian banker can maintain his relevancy.
In a series of speeches in London on Thursday,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- Goldman Sachs — the musical.
- The dark magic of structured finance.
- Dead cat bounces, ECB liquidity edition.
- Chinese tightening: ‘I think we are stuck’.
- The awe-inspiring Flash Crash.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
Gillian Tett: The risks posed by get-rich geeks
An entire week has now passed since the extraordinary, tumultuous crash and rebound of the US equity markets,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- SEB confirms talks to sell German retail business – statement.
- Fortis blocked from early note redemption by European Commission.
- EADS says Q1 EBIT €83m,
Behold – the dollar swaps
Fresh from the Fed — $9.2bn of US dollar liquidity:
Which means the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet now stands at a cool $2,318bn. It reached an all-time high of $2,343bn on April 14, and had been shrinking for the past few weeks.
SOCA – does the ‘C’ stand for clowns?
This must be one of the most laughable pieces of cop ploddery ever seen in Britain.
The country’s Serious and Organised Crime Agency, fresh from helping the FSA supposedly smash an alleged high class City insider dealing ring,
Ackermann’s curious Greek-speak
Attention Josef Ackermann: you’re confusing us.
According to a Reuters report on Thursday, the Deutsche Bank chief executive is not so sure that Greece will be able to repay its debts. He’s also somewhat skeptical about Portugal,
Contrary indicators, US regulator edition
Investigators have put the entirety of Wall Street on the naughty step over subprime securities in recent days — and tough financial reform is zipping through the Senate.
But fear not, banks — everything will be fine.
Delphic oracles of debt
Interesting Greek-related results from a Reuters poll of economists, on Thursday.
First, a vote of confidence in the eurozone’s fresh new bailout guarantee:
The $1 trillion financial safety net announced for the euro zone this week will give financial markets “lasting confidence”
Now, about those DEM rumours
Sovereign CDS spreads have been tightening.
As have financials’.
Italy’s bond auction was a success.
Even Greek bond spreads have been relatively calm.
And yet…the euro keeps tumbling.
So what’s troubling the market?
For one thing,
The Wolfpack returns
Or maybe not.
RBS’s Alan Ruskin reckons the euro is now the funding currency of choice:
On the global stage, the stakes are even larger: to buy time for countries as far flung as the UK, US, Japan and India to get their fiscal house in order.
[CFA in Boston] Adding value through corporate governance
From Robert Monks, founder of Lens Governance Advisers, who is presenting at the CFA Institute 2010 Annual Conference, which begins on Sunday in Boston…
Extract:
In recent decades, the debate over the role of CEO’s has broadened to include executive pay,
[CFA in Boston] Ten easy lessons in cooking the books
From Howard Schilit, founder and CEO of Financial Shenanigans Detection Group, who is presenting at the CFA Institute 2010 Annual Conference, which begins on Sunday in Boston…
Recently I had the opportunity to address a group of graduating accounting and auditing students and asked them a question they had never discussed in any of their classes.
[CFA in Boston] Enhancing returns by watching the legals…
From Philip Marcovici chief executive officer of LawInContext, who is presenting at the CFA Institute 2010 Annual Conference, which begins on Sunday in Boston…
Investment professionals are under increasing pressure to produce investment returns of more than 5 percent or 10 percent,
[CFA in Boston] Enhancing returns with attention to tax
From Philip Marcovici chief executive officer of LawInContext, who is presenting at the CFA Institute 2010 Annual Conference, which begins on Sunday in Boston…
Cross-border investment involves various tax issues requiring careful navigation if risk is to be appropriately evaluated and returns maximized.
[CFA in Boston] Carbon exposure and strategic opportunities in energy markets
From John Parsons, a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management who is presenting at the CFA Institute 2010 Annual Conference, which begins on Sunday in Boston…
Earlier this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidance on disclosure requirements pertaining to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.
[CFA in Boston] ‘Eyes fixed firmly on the rearview mirror’
From Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and author of The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?, who is presenting at the CFA Institute 2010 Annual Conference, which begins on Sunday in Boston…
[CFA in Boston] Annual conference time for the Institute
There’s an interesting line up of speakers for this year’s CFA Institute annual conference, which gets underway in Boston on Sunday evening.
A handful of those speakers have provided FT Alphaville with a preview of what they will be saying next week,
Australia’s super-controversial mining super-tax
The Australian government has not given up insisting that pigs fly that a planned 40 per cent tax on “super” profits generated by all resources operating on its soil is a Really Great Thing.
Even senior bureaucrats are now weighing in,
Quick, to the VATmobile
Chris Giles, the FT’s economics editor, is not impressed with the ConDem coalition agreement:
“Deficit reduction and continuing to ensure economic recovery is the most urgent issue facing Britain,” states the coalition agreement between the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats.
Markets Live transcript 13 May 2010
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 13:58 on 13 May 2010. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT Bryce Elder NHGood morning NHand welcome to Markets Live
When is a market maker not a market maker?
A key Goldman Sachs defence in the civil lawsuit being brought against it by the SEC is that the institution was only fulfilling its role as a security market maker.
The firm’s CEO Lloyd Blankfein, for example,
Digging for gold in London
Not everyone thinks gold is a quasi currency and heading to $3,000 an ounce.
Some people are expecting a pull back from its record high.
Take Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics,
First Harrods, then Sainsbury? (updated)
Here’s an interesting snippet from Thursday’s annual results statement from J Sainsbury, the UK’s third-biggest food retailer:
At 20 March 2010, the value of our freehold property estate was estimated at £9.8 billion.
Keep calm and carry on cutting
Worried about the UK’s AAA credit rating, in light of its post-election fiscal crisis?
Well, here’s an optimistic view of what Dave and Nick’s new coalition can achieve.
Lombard Street Research’s Charles Dumas argues that the Liberal Conservative government will benefit from somewhat underrated ‘economic freedom of action’:
What the ECB has been buying
Europe’s central banks began buying peripheral European debt on Monday.
Yields almost immediately dropped on Greek, Portuguese, Spanish and Irish debt. But what have the central banks been buying exactly,
Dead Presidents in detail
Want to know more about Dead Presidents?
Detail on Morgan Stanley’s Dead Presidents deals, the synthetic CDOs reportedly being investigated by US prosecutors, are slightly more difficult to come by than Goldman Sachs’ Abacus.
XXL liquidity and a side of inflation, says MOST
Inflation or deflation post global liquidity-injections?
That’s a question that’s been plaguing the minds of investors and market-watchers for some time now. With the European Central Bank now engaging in near-quantitative easing,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- How macro-gloomy can it get?
- US deficit: ‘I think the danger is zero’.
- The limits of Fed reform.
- “ETFs simply are disproportionately impacted by program trading.”