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’CDS update: Credit markets outperform equities
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
European credit indices outperformed their equity counterparts today, continuing the trend from yesterday. The Markit iTraxx Europe index tightened 152bp,
VW eyes move on Porsche
Volkswagen is considering an audacious bid for Porsche’s automotive business, a move that would up-end Porsche’s takeover of VW, which started three and a half years ago. VW’s management is weighing the option of buying Porsche AG,
Baaaaaaafin: No surprises here
GERMAN FINANCIAL WATCHDOG BAFIN SAYS HAS ENDED SHORT-SQUEEZE PROBE INTO VOLKSWAGEN SHARES NO EVIDENCE OF WRONG DOING.Indeed. Nothing unusual. At. All.
FRANKFURT, March 31 (Reuters) – Porsche landed a €6.8bn ($8.99bn) windfall from its share options in Volkswagen during the first half,
Hedge funds may sue Porsche
Hedge funds are considering possible legal action against Porsche, the German carmaker, over its involvement in an extreme share price spike in Volkswagen that led to billions of dollars of losses for the funds.
Porsche triggers Scania offer
Porsche on Tuesday neared its goal of controlling a €130bn ($175bn) European car and truck empire as it increased its stake in Volkswagen to more than 50%, sparking a mandatory takeover offer for the truckmaker Scania.
VW tries to tap bank bail-out fund
Volkswagen became the first German carmaker to seek to tap the country’s €500bn ($650bn) government-backed banking rescue plan on Tuesday, highlighting the global spread of the auto industry’s woes.
Auto de fé
In the US, the debate is hotting up over the automobile industry’s access to state aid. The WSJ reports today that Dems are seeking to outflank the immobile Republican administration with a broadside from the Hill;
Porsche LLP
Results out from the leading German hedge fund/luxury car group. Remarkably full year pretax profits will be above sales.
How do they do that?
The above-average jump in profit was again due to special influences in connection with the holdings in Volkswagen AG,
Time to go convertible?
While everyone tries to determine exactly who lost what in the great VW squeeze, it might be useful to refocus attention on one of the great hedge-fund strategies that may have presented shorting VW common stock as a good idea.
Regulator probes VW share trades
An investigation into possible market manipulation in Volkswagen stock was launched yesterday by Germany’s financial regulator after a huge swing in the carmaker’s market value. The probe follows sharp
If history repeats, Porsche will now go bust
John Hempton at Bronte Capital has a wonderful account of the Stutz corner – a market scandal in the 20s with remarkable similarities to the current farce surrounding Volkswagen.
Stutz made legendary sports cars,
So how many hedgies did Porsche really kill?
Difficult to say, of course, but we’d be sellers of the €30bn figure being banded about by newspapers as they struggle to explain how speculators borrowed shares in Volkswagen, not knowing they belonged to Porsche,
Volkswagen.com(edy) – the 911 price target
Consider this “buy” recommendation on Volkswagen from analysts at Germany’s DZ Bank:
Even if the VW share is overvalued from the fundamental point of view, after Porsche’s announcement yesterday, we expect massive covered short-selling.
The disreputable market in Volkswagen
Taking the concept of excellent cornering to a new level, Porsche casually announced at the weekend that it had amassed a holding of 74.1 per cent in that other piece of German financial engineering, Volkswagen.
Car crash in Germany
Shares in Volkswagen closed 22.6 per cent lower at 277p on Monday.
Has the German regulator, BaFin, got a handle on this?
Related links:
Porsche LLC? – the VW fruit machine explained – FT Alphaville
Porsche LLC? – the VW fruit machine explained
We like an analyst that takes a view. We like it even more when they put their proverbials on the line – in their first week in a new job.
So we should applaud Max Warburton, who has popped up at Sanford Bernstein and instantly provided a hair-raising explanation for the extraordinary rise in Volkswagen stock over recent months.
Malaysia’s Proton ends partnership talks
Proton, the Malaysian carmaker, said Tuesday it had ended partnership talks with Volkswagen and General Motors, raising doubts about the long-term survival of the troubled state-owned venture. Foreign investors saw the proposed sale of a large stake in Proton as a test of the government’s ability to restructure Malaysia’s sizeable state-owned industrial sector.
It’s a Porsche — no, it’s a hedge fund
Porsche on Monday revealed it earned three times as much money from trading derivatives as it did from selling cars, prompting accusations it was acting more like a hedge fund. The German luxury sports carmaker said €3.6bn ($5.2bn) of its €5.86bn pre-tax profit in the year to July was from share options.
VW takeover law is swept aside
A 47-year-old German law that protects Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest carmaker, against hostile takeovers, was overturned on Tuesday in a blow against time-honoured European shareholding practices. A decision by the European Court of Justice opens the door for a likely formal takeover by Porsche,
Spotlight falls on WestLB over Daimler stake
WestLB, the German regional bank, threw markets into confusion on Thursday when it suddenly disclosed it had become the biggest shareholder in DaimlerChrysler. The bank’s abrupt disclosure of a 14 per
Hermes moves against Volkswagen’s Piëch
Hermes, the influential UK activist investor, has tabled a counter-motion highly critical of Volkswagen’s supervisory board chairman, Ferdinand Piëch, to ensure there will be discussion at the carmaker’s annual meeting later this month of what it sees as one of the worst corporate governance situations in recent German history.
WestLB’s $134m loss is every trader’s worst nightmare
WestLB has suffered a heavy blow after the German bank lost €100m ($134m) in one day by speculating on share movements at Volkswagen, according to people close to the bank. The Landesbank’s in-house trading department had speculated on the price difference between the carmaker’s common shares and preference shares.
Behind the mystery of Volkswagen’s pref shares
An interesting theory about rocketing volumes in Volkswagen’s non-voting shares over the past six weeks comes from Breaking Views, which asks why Volkswagen’s preference shares have suddenly become such hot property.
Porsche could teach those locusts a thing or two
Is Porsche a locust, in the (German) sense of “asset stripping capitalist villain”, as commonly applied to hedge funds and buyout groups? It may seem an ironic tag to hang round the neck of the world’s most profitable carmaker by margins – even more so when Porsche has launched a takeover offer for the much bigger Volkswagen to protect it from the “locusts”,
Porsche races into top slot as European carmaker
Porsche is to become Europe’s largest car and truck manufacturer after it increases its stake in Volkswagen above 30 per cent on Monday and prepares to launch a low-ball €35bn ($47bn) takeover offer.
Porsche poised to take control of VW
Porsche is set to take total control of fellow German carmaker Volkswagen after the biggest opponent of Porsche’s ambitions at VW threw in the towel and European lawmakers called for an end to a law protecting VW from takeover.
MAN pulls out of Scania battle
German truckmaker MAN has withdrawn its €10.3bn hostile bid for Scania, handing Sweden’s Wallenberg family victory in one of Europe’s most bitter recent takeover battles. All parties to the bid saga said they now hoped to conduct friendly discussions to see if a tie-up would be possible between the two truckmakers,
Stage set for MAN-Scania breakthrough
The chairmen of Volkswagen, Investor and MAN will meet this week to begin “friendly and constructive” negotiations over a merger of MAN and rival truckmaker Scania. The breakthrough follows months of escalating tension after MAN made a €10.3bn hostile bid to take over Scania last September.
MAN’s takeover battle with Scania reaches final lap
The players involved in one of the bitterest European takeover battles in recent history are preparing for the end game this month. MAN’s hostile €10.3bn offer for Swedish truck maker Scania expires at the end of the month and,
VW shapes up for historic proxy fight
The state premier of Lower Saxony, the second-largest shareholder in Volkswagen, is to meet leading institutional investors in the carmaker early next year to gauge whether to launch the largest proxy fight in German corporate history.