Helen Thomas
Snap news
The latest on Friday,
- The FSA on shorts, or bank robbers – not yet online otherwise we’d link, any moment now we’re told voila!
- RBS had sold Angel Trains to a consortium led by Babcock & Brown – statement,
Markets live transcript 12 Jun 2008
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:04 on 12 Jun 2008. Participants in this chat were: Helen Thomas (HT) Neil Hume (NH) HT:good morning and welcome to Markets Live
Shanghai’s slide
The Chinese market’s February 2007 hiccough feels so long ago. The Shanghai Composite index topped the 3,000 mark and then retreated 9 per cent the next day. Cue hysteria around the globe.
Small beans now.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- “So that means that Citi in effect paid $800 million to secure the services of Vikram Pandit.”
- “In hard times, investors need hard information. If they don’t get it, investors will rightly continue to look skeptically at the firms’ finances,
Man and the ‘hurricane spider’
Man marches on. This time the hedge fund group has snapped up a 25 per cent stake in Nephila Capital, as part of its strategy of buying into smaller rivals.
This one’s eye-catching for two main reasons. And it’s not the price – teeny for Man at $50m.
The BoE’s crunch quango
Oh bravo. As a response to these tumultuous times the proposal to install a group of City figures on the shoulder of the Bank of England governor, to raise the alarm should signs of financial instability appear on the horizon,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- “Perhaps I am jaded, but…”. The Lehman debate rages on.
- The bank’s prime detractor does CNBC
- Spinning the jobs numbers – “it takes 150,000 jobs to keep up with birthrate”
The FSA does youf finance
Try not to snigger at the back.
FSA launches ‘can do’ money website inspired by young adults for young adults.
The site – www.whataboutmoney.info – is designed to be a one-stop shop for young adults as part of the regulator’s “National Strategy for Financial Capability.”
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Updating margin requirements, as S&P downgrades Wall St.
- More bad news for the driving season.
- The latest Vodadeals talk.
- Breaking Kazakh raw and more on the banks,
Investing, Oxbridge-style
Follow the lead of Clare College. Smithers & Co pass on the advice they gave to the Cambridge college in their latest report. As you might expect from the upper educational echelons, Clare is somewhat unusual as an investor:
Merger of Equals = three HQs
Beware the ‘merger of equals.’ Details released on Tuesday on the tie-up between Taylor Nelson Sofres and German rival GfK showed one reason why. The combined company (which, granted, will operate in 111 countries) is to have three head offices.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Tuesday,
- The return of the Dow Chemical non-buyout.
- “…investors have gotten locked into a compensation paradigm that no longer fits portfolios that have become increasingly chocka-block with illiquid assets.”
Blogging the B&B analyst call
Kick off is scheduled for 9.30am, as B&B faces a doubtless hostile group of City analysts.
9.31 – we’re being thanked for our patience. Waiting for more participants to join the fray.
9.33 – nothing yet.
B&B&B&B – outlook unstable
We’ve now had time for a proper read of Bradford & Bingley’s statement on Monday. Here’s a few observations.
Pricey business this restructuring lark. B&B will raise a total of about £400m, net of expenses.
B&B: the analysts’ first take
In the absence of a B&B statement, here’s the first analyst comment on Monday.
Bruce Packard at Pali International,
No announcement out yet from the company but newspapers appear to be the best source of information on banking announcements,
Snap news
The latest on Monday,
- Still waiting for official news from Bradford & Bingley…..apparently it “hopes” to have something out by 8am BST.
- Here’s the FT story.
- And Peston’s blog last night.
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Oil prices – someone’s called in the investigators.
- But are they just chasing shrewdies?
- Waiting for Libor.
- Employees and the public bid bye-bye to Bear.
Waiting for the BBA verdict
We know you’re all on tenterhooks. But it sounds like the BBA statement/report/musings on Libor is unlikely to be available until the latter part of the afternoon, after the committee has met. We’re told that the meeting kicks off at 1.30pm.
Suspended and stranded
Business-class no more. A week after its shares were suspended, Silverjet has pulled the operational plug – with immediate effect.
Those on Y7254 are OK. The flight from New York to London Luton will arrive at 3pm on Friday.
Selling in May
A few nuggets jump out from the latest Thomson Reuters blurb on deal making and fund raising in May.
Amid a slump om M&A volumes (down 45.5 per cent), the average premium paid in deals thus far in 2008 is about 25 per cent above the target share price four weeks prior to announcement – the highest level since 2002.
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Doing the twist – The crucial detail on Ambani’s move to control MTN.
- More on the $70bn Alliance/MTN merger plan in Markets Live
- Stand by. The Alt-A downgrades have landed.
Cliff dive? UK edition
Remember this gradient? We may be headed for a home-grown variant.
Nationwide’s latest house price data revealed the largest monthly drop in the survey’s 17-year history, and marked the seventh successive monthly fall in house prices.
Snap news
The latest on Thursday,
- Stanley Fink will step down from Man’s board in July, after 21 years with the hedge fund group – statement
- Man’s funds under management reached $74.6bn at the end of March,
ABS on the up?
Look to the world of credit cards. As of mid-May, issuance was about $42bn, marginally higher than the same period last year. With every other segment of the ABS market well down, it is notable that credit card paper is still attracting demand.
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Project Barium. Or tentative talks about £15 a share for SAB Miller.
- More attention for the monolines.
- A visit from the holidaying Hume, in Markets Live.
- Barclays amends its consensus earnings figures,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Wednesday,
- Yet more on Bear: “Bear Stearns’s financing team — whose job it was to replenish the firm’s operational funding by making new lending agreements each morning — began dutifully dialling creditors.
UKForeclosures.com, coming soon!
More bad housing news. More than a fifth of UK homebuyers who have a chequered credit history have fallen behind on their mortgage payments and even those with top-quality ratings have seen a statistically significant rise in delinquencies in the first three months of the year.