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’Barclays disappoints
Posted by Neil Hume on Apr 27 09:20. Comment.Barclays has kicked off the first quarter reporting season for the UK banking sector on Wednesday.
But its trading update hasn’t gone down too well in the City of London.
That’s because headline revenues were lower than expected, More…
Snap news
Posted by Neil Hume on Apr 27 07:56. Comment.Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- Barclays Capital revenues down 15 per cent in three months to end March; to purchase Protium’s investment manager for $83m — statement.
- Johnson & Johnson to buy Synthes for Sfr159 per share, More…
Today’s energy statistics were brought to you by…
Posted by Izabella Kaminska on Apr 21 12:35. Comment.The US Energy Information Administration, distributor of the world’s most scrutinised and transparent energy statistics, is facing tough budget choices on account of the government’s ongoing debt ceiling fiasco. More…
A Libor lawsuit
Posted by Tracy Alloway on Apr 19 12:27. Comment.It’s compensation culture at an interbank level, natch.
On Monday, Bloomberg reported that a group of investment funds has banded together to collectively sue banks accused of manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, More…
ICB miscellany
Posted by Neil Hume on Apr 11 12:59. Comment.A couple of interesting datapoints from John Vickers & Co’s interim report on the UK banking industry:
First up, the value of implicit government support for Too Big too Fail Banks (emphasis throughout ours): More…
How to ring-fence a TBTF
Posted by Neil Hume on Apr 11 09:58. Comment.How – and how much does it cost – to ring-fence the retail banking operations of systematically important, or Too-Big-to-Fail UK banks?
Well, here’s what it might look like.
From the interim report of the Independent Commission on Banking: More…
Lloyds lags behind after ICB report
Posted by Neil Hume on Apr 11 08:51. Comment.No doubt which bank comes out worst (relatively speaking) from the eagerly awaited report from the Independent Commission on Banking, published on Monday…
That’s right it’s Lloyds Banking Group, which will probably have to sell even more of its branch network if it wishes to avoid a referral to those nasty competition regulators. More…
[FOW Amsterdam] Vix up, look Sharpe*
Posted by Guest writer on Apr 07 12:07. Comment.By Theo Casey, a columnist at Futures & Options World, blogging live from FOW’s European Equity Options conference in Amsterdam.
(*With apologies to Dizzee Rascal.)
Later today, I will be serving as moderator of a discussion panel on trading volatility. More…
Last man standing at the TSLF
Posted by Izabella Kaminska on Apr 01 15:25. Comment.There’s still much to look through in the Fed’s data dump from Thursday. But here’s one chart we found interesting.
It shows the share of market value of collateral pledged at the Fed’s Primary Credit Dealer Facility and Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF) by dealer. More…
Barclays – Too big for Britain
Posted by Neil Hume on Mar 29 16:14. Comment.We’d assumed Diamond Bob and John Varley were bluffing when they said Barclays might quit Britain for the US.
Perhaps not.
UBS bank analysts John-Paul Crutchley and Alastair Ryan reckon Bank of Bob could be the first to leave British shores – ahead of even HSBC and Standard Chartered. More…
Libor highballs?
Posted by Tracy Alloway on Mar 25 15:59. Comment.There are two ways to manipulate Libor, the interbank lending rate that acts as a reference point for about $350,000bn worth of financial products.
Low-ball your quote to the BBA.
High-ball your quote to the BBA. More…
More Protium indigestion at Barclays
Posted by Tracy Alloway on Mar 15 10:35. Comment.Protium (Pantoprazole) is used to treat or prevent indigestion — A feeling of discomfort or pain within the lower chest or abdomen caused by gastric acid irritation within the upper part of the gut namely the oesophagus, More…
Accounting for Egg
Posted by Neil Hume on Mar 01 09:27. Comment.Compare and contrast Tuesday’s statements from Barclays and Citigroup on the sale of the Egg UK credit card portfolio.
First, Barclays:
Barclays Bank PLC (“Barclays”) has agreed to acquire Egg’s UK credit card assets. More…
Snap news
Posted by Joseph Cotterill on Mar 01 07:52. Comment.Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- HMV issues another profits warning; expects to breach banking covenants; chairman Robert Swannell steps down — statement and statement.
- Barclays to acquire Egg credit card assets from Citigroup — statement. More…
Britain’s banks on the (upward) run
Posted by Tracy Alloway on Feb 17 09:50. Comment.Well, the lobbying seems to be paying off…
On Thursday morning, Britain’s banks are dominating the FTSE 100 leaderboard (Barclays +2.08, RBS +4.09 and Lloyds +2.96 per cent at pixel time) on the back of this front-page FT story: More…
A brilliant cut (Bob) Diamond
Posted by Neil Hume on Feb 15 16:16. Comment.Diamond Bob has sparkled at his maiden results presentation as Barclays CEO.
At pixel time its shares were trading 15.5p higher at 326.25p.
Analysts say his performance was extremely polished and among the best they have ever seen. More…
Protium-powered no longer at Barclays
Posted by Tracy Alloway on Feb 15 12:16. Comment.Barclays has been burned by monolines. Again.
Some particle finance from Tuesday’s 2010 results announcement:
This time, however, the death of the financial guarantors might be slightly more uncomfortable for the British bank. More…
Snap news
Posted by Neil Hume on Feb 15 07:50. Comment.Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Barclays to target 13 per cent return on equity; details compensation — statement and statement.
- Yell warns on profits; details new strategy – statement. More…
Through a ratings loophole, allegedly
Posted by Tracy Alloway on Feb 10 14:37. Comment.Another subprime lawsuit currently slugging its way through the courts is Cassa di Risparmio della Repubblica di San Marino SpA (CRSM) vs Barclays Plc.
The case concerns some Barclays-structured and triple A-rated CDO Squareds that were sold to the Italian bank around 2004. More…
BarCap’s looong-term investment themes
Posted by Joseph Cotterill on Feb 10 13:26. Comment.
Out now — 144 pages of the Barclays Equity Gilt Study 2011 (56th edition).
The long-term investment themes from this year’s tome…
Super-loose central banks are so 2008:
… we believe the costs of super-easy policy may outweigh their benefits. More…
A 75bps rate rise could cost consumers £6.2bn, Deutsche says
Posted by Tracy Alloway on Jan 18 12:13. Comment.With UK inflation trending above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target (yet again), attention is now turning to the possibility of interest rate increases this year, and their potential impact on British mortgages and banking losses. More…
Universal banking [updated]
Posted by Joseph Cotterill on Jan 18 11:06. Comment.The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Barclays Bank plc (Barclays) £7.7 million for failures in relation to the sale of two funds. Barclays will contact customers and pay redress where appropriate… More…
The wonder years – Diamond Bob edition
Posted by Neil Hume on Dec 01 14:58. Comment.Warning: this Bloomberg hagiography of Diamond Bob is only for those with a cast-iron constitution. Here’s a taster:
As 1,100 managing directors from Barclays Capital descended on the Grosvenor House hotel near London’s Hyde Park in late September, More…
European banking binary bet
Posted by Neil Hume on Nov 23 09:53. Comment.European banking stocks are under pressure again on Tuesday morning as investors continue to fret about the eurozone sovereign debt crisis:
So what is being priced in?
How about the eventual collapse of the euro? That’s the view of Arturo de Frias, More…
A curate’s egg for Barclays
Posted by Neil Hume on Nov 09 10:35. Comment.Barclays is not joining its peers and promising a pick up in investment banking activity in the remaining months of 2010.
Diamond Bob could, of course, be low-balling expectations but the tone (and figures) of Tuesday’s third quarter results statement from Barclays suggests this isn’t the case. More…
Snap news
Posted by Izabella Kaminska on Nov 09 07:51. Comment.Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Barclays Q3 underlying pretax profit £1.27 bn – statement.
- Legal & General says to hit FY cash target – statement.
- Munich Re Q3 net income €764m, More…
Who’s partial to a VXX reverse stock split?
Posted by Izabella Kaminska on Oct 27 20:36. Comment.Just in case you missed it, Barclays announced on Tuesday that it would indeed be conducting a reverse stock split — also known as a stock consolidation in the UK — in the shares of its VXX volatility exchange traded note (ETN). More…
Stump it up, Bob
Posted by Joseph Cotterill on Oct 13 10:44. Comment.
Related link:
Standard Chartered is off to the capital races – FT Alphaville
Exploring the Bank of Bob hedging trade
Posted by Neil Hume on Oct 08 17:10. Comment.Citigroup has a different take on the Bank of Bob hedging trade.
Analyst Leigh Goodwin reckons it is actually Nomura and not Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi that is seeking to hedge its exposure. More…
Hedging Bank of Bob [updated with house broker comments]
Posted by Neil Hume on Oct 08 09:35. Comment.Why has Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan moved to protect himself against a fall in the value of his £2.4bn investment in Barclays Bank of Bob?
PCP Gulf Invest 3 Ltd (“PCP3″) More…