October, 2010
Dear Vince…
Related link:
Public interest intervention pursuant to Enterprise Act 2002 – Slaughter and May
The 50-for-1 CEO job swap
Here’s a radical idea — fire all the CEOs of Stoxx 50 companies in Europe and replace them with a single president, who will serve as the highest-ranking corporate officer at each firm, with full responsibility for their stewardship.
Not burden-sharing, but ‘mutually advantageous’ talks
We’re sure we’re not the only ones who’ve noticed a wee bit of inconsistency in Ireland’s attitudes towards burden-sharing for Irish bank bondholders.
“It’s unthinkable that Ireland would default on senior debt or that Ireland’s banks would default on senior debt”
Behold, Google’s view on inflation
It was bound to happen.
According to the FT, Google is mid-way through the process of creating its very own consumer price index — based (understandably) on its ability to access real-time price data from across the web.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Tuesday,
- A foreclosure scandal open thread.
- And ‘Foreclosure Fraud for Dummies’ continues.
- The market is moving ahead of the Fed.
- Snapshot of the financial blogosphere.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Tuesday’s FT
Gideon Rachman: Mad as hell but not Mad Hatters
The Tea Party movement that is stirring up US politics means different things to different people.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Punch Taverns says recent trading has improved — statement.
- Halosource announces pricing details for IPO — statement.
- C&C Group says earnings guidance for 2010/11 in line with market consensus — statement.
Forget quality
Jake of Econompic Data on Monday posted a couple of interesting charts emphasizing the remarkably similar performance this year of corporate bonds with different ratings:
He notes that there’s a roughly 4 per cent difference between the top-performing bonds and the bottom-performing bonds,
Mmm, ECB yield stew
Another one for the argument that the European Central Bank buys Irish, Portuguese et al government bonds to combat illiquidity – not high yields.
Divyang Shah of IFR Markets writes on Monday (emphasis ours):
Front-running the Fed
US bond markets are shut for Columbus Day — which means it’s the perfect time to stop and take stock of recent US Treasury yields. Two- and five-year notes both touched record lows last Friday after those dismal non-farm payroll numbers:
Supporting Greece, supporting Europe
The Greek sovereign has, by all accounts, had a good weekend.
As Bloomberg reports, both the IMF’s managing director and a board member of the European Central Bank have said that their institutions might extend the term of loans given to Greece under its EU bailout.
The mother of all (RMBS) tranche warfare
From the foreclosure freeze, to the tranche warfare.
The Wall Street Journal mentioned the issue last week, as does Mike Konzcal over at Rortybomb in his excellent ‘Foreclosure Fraud for Dummies’ piece.
Guess the Britain-wary bank
Competition time.
A curious aside in Richard Lambert’s final speech as head of the Confederation of British Industry on Monday, as reported by the FT:
Mr Lambert excoriated politicians for irresponsibility in caricaturing banks as casinos and demanded an end to what he called “Vince Cable versus Lombard Street” – a reference to the business secretary’s attacks on the banks.
… for their analysis of markets with search frictions
It’s another unexpected and slightly left-of-field decision from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (phew).
The 2010 prize has just been awarded jointly to Peter A.
The curious incident of the 300m bushels of corn
Dennis Gartman, fund manager and author of the Gartman Letter, is generally a very grounded sort of chap when it comes to investing ideas (politics aside).
Yes, he’s recently become bullish on gold.
‘Price-keeping’ at the BoJ
Last week the Bank of Japan announced it would undertake further asset purchases — including the unusual move of buying-up Y500bn worth of ETFs and JReits.
One small problem though — the maths.
Goldman Sachs Japan economist Chiwoong Lee has crunched the numbers behind the BoJ’s latest bank note rule-busting announcement.
Markets Live transcript 11 Oct 2010
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 11:16 on 11 Oct 2010. Participants in this chat were: Tony Tassell Neil Hume, FT TTgood morning all… TTwell it is the blind leading the blind this morning
EasyDividend
EasyJet shares took off at Monday’s open in London:
That’s after the airline announced the resolution of its ‘easy’ brand licensing dispute with founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou — staving off costly High Court litigation later this year — and adding more good news to last week’s upgraded profit expectations.
Man overboard?
Hedge fund manager Man Group was one of the best performers on the London stock market last week.
Its shares rose 15.5 per cent, against a 1.65 per cent gain for the FTSE 100:
The gains were fueled by further spurious bid speculation and the continued strong performance of AHL Diversified,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Monday,
- 60 minutes of high-frequency trading.
- The real flash-crash culprits.
- The state of Spain’s economy.
- Currency wars are necessary if all else fails.
- Who’s checking out “The Plaza Accord”?
- The job loss problem in perspective.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Analysis: Dinner on the edge of the abyss
On a spring evening, a group of the world’s most powerful policymakers sat down to dinner at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- EasyJet and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou settle brand dispute and announce new licensing agreement — statement and statement.
- Alisher Usmanov’s Mail.ru announces intention to float on London Stock Exchange — statement.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Physical metal ETCs are coming soon
A range of exchange traded commodities is being planned to meet demand from investors wanting the reassurance of physically-backed metals.
Further reading, special weekend edition
Administrative duties mean we have to close up shop a bit early today, so we’re passing along a few items from elsewhere to keep you entertained and enlightened.
Mike Konczal is starting a series of explainers on the foreclosure scandal — Rortybomb
When it comes to the currency wars,
Maneater?
Brevan Howard — Europe’s largest hedge fund manager, the world’s 4th — is launching a new fund, the FT reports.
A new computer-driven fund.
Which is, in itself, unusual.
After all, Brevan is a firm where almost all trading is done by people.
Non-farm payrolls: it’s the public sector, stupid?
Marc Ostwald of Monument Securities provides an interesting interpretation of Friday’s much weaker than expected non-farm payroll figures.
In a nutshell, he believes it says more about the state of the US public sector than the private one (our emphasis):