December, 2010
Non, je ne regrette rien Mr Fox? [updated]
Simon Fox must regret the day he decided not to take the top job at ITV….
….because things are going from bad to worse at HMV.
Thursday’s price action.
Today’s half year results from the struggling music,
Fortune favours Diageo (and Bacardi)
Time for some fantasy M&A.
How might Diageo go about constructing a bid for the alcoholic drinks business of Fortune Brands? It’s up for grabs after the US conglomerate announced plans to split in three.
Beware dynastic billionaires, Warren wants YOU…
With the latest outbreak of Buffett and Gates-inspired philanthropic good cheer, it’s almost getting to the point where any billionaire who is not giving away a chunk of his or her fortune will be portrayed as the ultimate Grinch.
To the Japanisation of bonds, and back again
What a bad week for G7 bonds.
Gapping yields. Lacklustre US Treasury auctions. Failed German ones. And now news reaches us that the Bank of Japan started selling international bonds last week.
Via BNP Paribas’ currency strategists:
What fresh basis the ECB hath wrought
Fresh from Markit — an update on the basis in eurozone peripherals.
Quick explainer –The above chart shows five-year CDS-bond bases for various European countries against the European Central Bank’s Securities Markets Program (SMP) debt purchases.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- Don’t put Jean-Claude Trichet on a poker table…
- … and blame not speculators for the euro crisis.
- No one likes Ben.
- What’s hiding in consumer credit?
- ‘You need a portfolio that is diversified across a number of lives…’
- Piratical incentives,
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and offerings from Thursday’s FT,
John Gapper: China takes a short-cut to power
To travel on one of China’s high-speed trains is to experience China’s rapid industrial advance,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Standard Chartered expects to post record income and profit for 2010 — statement.
- PPR in exclusive talks to sell Conforama division for €1.2bn — statement.
Further further reading
For the commute home,
- We might have to start worrying about oil prices again soon.
- It is strange that there haven’t been more financial crisis prosecutions.
- Its work for the government has taken Morgan Stanley to the top of the league tables.
More ABS outlooks
‘Tis the season for 2011 predictions, and Moody’s has just released three more of them — one for credit card asset-backed securities and two for student loan ABS.
Emphasis ours in all excerpts. First,
Insider trading frat dorks
An announcement from the SEC on Wednesday, emphasis (and a bit of chuckling) ours:
Washington, D.C., Dec. 8, 2010 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Baltimore-based business consultant and his uncle with insider trading in the stock of two biotechnology companies based on material,
Rub-a-dub-dub in a $21bn Treasuries tub
Investors sloshed and splashed in a $21bn bloodbath on Wednesday.
An auction of $21bn worth of US Treasuries at 3.34 per cent was the highest bid since May, and well past the 2.64 per cent yield at last month’s auction.
Kate and Wills disturb interbank markets
No really. Sort of. A little bit.
The British Bankers’ Association has amended its fixing calendar to take into account the public holiday scheduled for April 29, the day of the UK’s royal wedding.
Simon says… the game is up
Hopes of a bid for Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) are fading fast.
The reason is the aggressive press release and letter Simon Property Group fired off to the board of CSCG, the largest retail property owner in the UK,
Looking ahead, looking down
Talk about kicking US Treasuries when they’re down.
From Li Daokui, academic member of the Chinese central bank’s monetary policy committee, via Reuters:
“For now, market attention is still on Europe and for the coming 6-12 months,
More burdensharing for Irish bondholders
Surprise! More burdensharing for Irish bank bondholders is here.
Only, it’s rather softer. The considerate side of burdensharing, if you like.
Hot on the heels of the bailed-out Anglo Irish’s discounted exchange offer comes the below from Bank of Ireland.
Spot the difference
A prize for the first to find the odd PIIGS out.
Charts from a Fitch survey of European fixed income (mostly non-bank) investors. What was that about a dying asset class?
Related link:
If not the ECB,
Eschatology in the market
Who knows: 2011 might just be an all right year for risk assets, especially if there’s a second stimulus goin’ round.
But how about that 2012 thing, eh?
This rang a little odd in an otherwise ‘stay overweight’ equities call from Credit Suisse strategist Andrew Garthwaite and his team:
Paper Tiger, Hidden Trichet
Mr. Trichet is known to keep a data terminal on his desk and speak frequently with the bank’s 20 in-house bond traders. He also occasionally visits them on a lower floor of the bank’s headquarters…
Sei (nicht) ein Schatz!
To fail one German bond auction is a coincidence…
To fail two is a bad sign…
To fail three is, well, we’re not sure what.
On Wednesday the German government re-opened the 1 per cent December 2012 Schatz with the planned auction of up to €5bn worth of the short-term debt.
Europe’s America bonds
Think the Build America Bonds story is just about the US?
Think again.
One of the very reasons the subsidised bond scheme was created as part of the $787bn 2009 American Recovery and Investment Act,
Markets Live transcript 8 Dec 2010
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:02 on 8 Dec 2010. Participants in this chat were: bryce.elder Neil Hume, FT BEGood morning BEAnd welcome to Markets Live
Blood-stained dollars
Tuesday’s bond bloodbath has really made some people’s day — see Jefferies’ ‘Crash in Treasuries – BUY THE MARKET!’ call, inter alia.
But it’s also causing some head-scratching over the dollar.
The Dollar Index was one of the best performing assets in November,
ChinaIPO.com
So is China leading the charge into a new Asian-style dotcom bubble era?
Certainly the strong New York debuts on Tuesday, of E-Commerce China Dangdang and Youku.com — among a wave of year-end IPOs that bankers are trying to cram in — would suggest surging interest in Chinese internet companies.
For sale – one FT Alphaville editor
Yes, it’s true. As part of the FT’s charity seasonal appeal, a lunch with FT Alphaville editor Neil Hume — at legendary London restaurant Koffmann’s — is up for auction.
Visit this page for details and to bid.
Bloodbath of the bonds
Tuesday’s rally on the S&P 500 turned out to be unimpressive.
A sharp rise in US Treasury yields — the 10-year increased 21 basis points and the 30-year 21bps — dampened investor euphoria, leading the S&P to close just 0.05 per cent up on the day.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Wednesday,
- Money base growth ≠ deflation.
- The muni-bond pitch: “General obligation bonds do not default.”
- And is it “reasonable to compare California to Italy?
- So should states be allowed to go bankrupt?
- Letter to a young analyst.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and offerings from Wednesday’s FT,
Martin Wolf: Is there will to save the eurozone?
Will the eurozone survive in its current form?, asks the FT columnist. To address this question,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- Simon Property Group will sell stake in Capital Shopping Centres if Trafford Centre deal proceeds — statement.
- ArcelorMittal to spin off stainless steel division — statement.