July, 2011
It’s the end of the World as we know it
But seriously, shares in Trinity Mirror up more than 10 per cent on the death of the Sunday Mirror’s biggest rival?
Daily Mail and General Trust shares were up 2.37 per cent, while Johnston Press was up 4.76 per cent.
Battle of the BTPs and Bonos
It’s Europe’s least-loved debt, after Greek, Irish and Portuguese of course. It puts the ‘I’ and ‘S’ in the porcine periphery acronym we’re not supposed to say. It’s Italian BTPs versus Spanish bonos.
And Italian government debt,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- Once Greece goes…
- So what happens in August?
- Warren Buffett says he “could end the deficit in five minutes.”
- You could also use a 1 oz. $1,000bn coin.
- “The eurozone is a eurozone in name only.”
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
Philip Stephens: Nemesis chases Murdoch’s hubris
The game is up for Rupert Murdoch, says the FT’s Philip Stephens. The head of News Corp has held sway over Britain’s media industry for a generation.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- News Corporation files Form 8k to the SEC – statement.
- Smiths News expects “significant buyer substitution” to mitigate impact of News of the World closure – statement.
Further further reading
For the commute home,
- BBC Newsnight’s NOTW special is also on CSPAN at 5:30pm New York time.
- Can the NOTW records now be destroyed?
- Why stock options lead to more risk taking.
- A profile of Morgan Stanley’s yoga-loving quant guru.
The debt ceiling: break in case of emergency
Reuters has found details of the US treasury’s not-so-secret plan should Congress fail to raise the debt ceiling in early August.
In an article published on Thursday, Richard Cowan identifies the three options treasury officials have been exploring as part of their contingency plan.
Chart du jour, US long-term unemployment edition
We’ll be dissecting tomorrow’s employment report on US Markets Live at 10am in New York (3pm in London).
Hacking the messenger
Not actually a hack — a URL script trick.
Afonso and his sword were not seen when Portugal took its IMF bailout earlier this year, strangely enough.
Northern Crock(ed) liability management
Bad bank, bad behaviour?
A timeline of recent events at debt-ish Northern Rock Asset Management:
June 8, 2011 – We refer to the PROVIDE GRAPHITE 2006-1 Credit Linked Notes (the Notes) issued by Graphite Mortgages plc (the Issuer),
The Sun also rises
News Corp stock up 1.6 per cent at pixel time, after shutting down the corporation’s most profitable newspaper under a dark cloud of scandal:
(Does killing the News of the World really inoculate
News of the Screwed
How’s this for lancing the boil?
And now get ready for the Sun on Sunday…
Latin America safe from Europe’s debt crisis, Nomura says
It’s a shame the internet doesn’t do smell-o-vision, as there’s a rich, warm waft of historical irony hanging over this post.
It’s about Latin America being secure from Europe’s debt troubles, especially in terms of its exposure to Spanish banks should they go under.
Bahrain: the “most improved” sovereign
CMA Datavision on Thursday released its Q2 2011 report on the world’s best and worst sovereign debt performers.
There are few surprises in its top 10 most risky sovereigns, with Pakistan making a new entry due to further instability,
Trichet on rating requirement for Portugal: whatever, don’t worry about it
UPDATE: Yep, looks like the ECB now accepts promises as high-quality collateral (we say in jest… somewhat).
Here’s the official announcement:
7 July 2011 – ECB announces change in eligibility
Default as a state of normalcy
As one senior banker has pointed out to FT Alphaville, it’s very rare for a country to simply grow its way out of excessive debt. Far more common, historically, is a restructuring or straight-out default.
When Italy is already priced to wreck the eurozone, redux
As we’ve said, it’s a ‘Greek’ crisis, but the shadow is being cast across Italian government bond yields to an increasing extent. (The 10-year benchmark keeps coming in north of 5 per cent nowadays. Its
Markets Live transcript 7 Jul 2011
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 11:32 on 7 Jul 2011. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT bryce.elder NHHola NHand welcome to Markets Live
The new trend in corporate earnings
Ouch.
That’s the price action in electronics parts distributor Premier Farnell on Thursday morning.
The adverse reaction was triggered by this statement.
As a result of the rapid change in the global business environment since our last statement,
Goldman Sachs is hot for soybeans
The latest ‘Commodity Watch’ note from Goldman Sachs continues to paint a bullish picture for most of the commodities complex in 2011 and 2012.
The usual Goldman arguments about how global growth, fueled by Asia,
Dark clouds gather over BSkyB buyout
Next stop 800 pence?
As we said on Wednesday, the likelihood of the BSkyB buyout being blocked is very slim.
In theory Ofcom, which has a responsibility to ensure that holders of broadcasting licenses are “fit and proper”,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- More on those built-to-fail CDOs.
- Portuguese corporates ejected from the credit indices.
- “The curse of negativity can be an albatross around your investment neck.”
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
John Gapper: Fleet Street is not above the law
Standards on British tabloids have been diluted over decades by the distorted incentives on editors and reporters,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Thyssenkrupp to sell $2.45bn of treasury stock to pay down debts — statement.
- Goldman Sachs placing 12 per cent of Hammerson for Ontario Teachers Pension Plan — report.
Further further reading
For the commute home,
- Why we care about the price of water in China.
- Monkey steals camera to snap himself (H/T Heidi Moore).
- Manufacturing debate hosted by The Economist.
- How rising interest rates affect home prices.
All going to plan. Argentina’s plan that is
Business Week, 29 October 2001 (annotations from… another time and place):
Just about the only thing left standing between Argentina and default is the country’s strong-willed Economy Minister, Domingo Cavallo.
NOTW Bene? [updated]
For the first time in the News of the World phone hacking scandal the share price of the mother ship is under pressure.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic…
With the exception of Pestowire,
Germany isn’t about exports anymore
Here’s an interesting turn of events.
The German Economy Ministry announced on Wednesday that manufacturing orders rose 1.8 per cent in May – which was an unexpectedly large rise, given that analysts were looking for a fall of 0.5 per cent.
Sino-Forest holidays — cancelled
Here is what Sino-Forest said, in its first quarter 2011 earnings call, 14 June:
Operator: And your first question comes from the line of Richard Kelertas from Dundee Capital Markets. Your line is open.