Posts tagged 'Israel'

Stanley Fischer flying solo

David joined the FT in 2011 as a Marjorie Deane fellow. He covered emerging markets, equities and currencies before making the jump over to FT Alphaville in May 2012.

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| Jan 29 14:10 | Comment |

We don’t know his plans, but the Bank of Israel’s much lauded head, Stanley Fischer, may soon join the increasingly globally poachable mobile labour market for CB heads. He’s a free man from the end of June… and we hear there’s an opening in Canada. Read more

Interesting Israeli easing

Joseph joined FT Alphaville way back in March 2010. He likes all the politically and legally fiddly bits of finance. He also likes credit, rates, global macro, tail risk, and all that stuff. (You should email him story ideas. He’ll take anything.)

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| Jun 25 2012 16:29 | Comment |

Israel’s central bank had just cut interest rates at pixel time on Monday, easing by 25bps to a 2.25 per cent policy rate.

Why’s this one so important, we hear you ask. Read more

Playing the CDS-bomb basis

Lisa joined FT Alphaville in September 2011 after a tour of duty through the guts of the financial industry, having worked as an analyst at a bank and for a financial data company. She's now the Head of New Projects for FT.com.

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| May 02 2012 17:55 | Comment |

After holding our heads in our hands and getting over a wave of nausea, FT Alphaville looked up and realised that yes, we really were looking at a trade idea involving credit default swaps that takes a view on the likelihood of an Israeli missile strike on Iran. It’s a ugly world. Thanks for the reminder, Nomura (emphasis ours):

The probability of a unilateral strike from Israel on Iran over the coming months has now fallen, while global concerns are shifting back towards Europe. We think this presents an opportunity to buy Israel credit against low-beta Europe. Read more

Bursting the MENA credit bubble

| Nov 11 2011 10:55 | Comment |

And now for something completely different..

Middle Eastern credit spreads could soon blow up amid an outbreak of political strife with potentially global consequences. Read more

Citi: EM rate cutters sheathed

| Oct 31 2011 16:12 | Comment |

If you were expecting widespread easing of policy rates across the emerging world, think again.

Since the end of August three EM central banks have cut rates — Brazil, Israel and Indonesia – but don’t go expecting much more monetary easing, Citi has cautioned in a recent report. Read more

Israeli groups’ shares tumble amid protests

Kate is FT AV’s Asia Correspondent. She joined FT Alphaville in mid-2011 after carrying out various roles in the FT’s London office since 2005: interactive editor, companies reporter, and founding editor of the FT’s Energy Source blog.

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| Aug 12 2011 05:37 | Comment |

Shares in some of Israel’s most powerful business groups have fallen dramatically in recent days, amid mounting investor concern that the recent wave of social protests gripping the country will force the government to take action against the country’s “oligarchs”, the FT reports. Business leaders such as Nochi Dankner and Yitzhak Tshuva have already seen the value of their main holdings fall by 20-40 per cent, with losses far outpacing the broader decline in the Israeli stock market. Analysts said the losses reflected the recent surge in market turbulence around the world, and related worries over the large debts amassed by prominent Israeli holding groups such as IDB. However, market watchers argue that at least some of the damage has been caused by the recent eruption of protests across the country.

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Israel’s Stanley Fischer enters IMF race

Tracy Alloway used to be deputy editor of FT Alphaville. Here she learned the details of derivatives, the absurdities of accounting and the various structures of ... erm ... structured finance. She now covers big US banks for the FT paper, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. She pops up on FT Alphaville every once in a while.

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| Jun 13 2011 09:12 | Comment |

Stanley Fischer, the Israeli central bank governor, made a surprise entry to the race to become the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund, as the two existing candidates fight to boost their credibility with emerging market countries, the FT says. Fischer, previously a second-in-command at the IMF, made public his decision on Saturday shortly after nominations closed, to the surprise of several emerging markets. The Jerusalem Post says Fischer’s candidacy is currently seen as a long-shot behind French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. Meanwhile, Fischer noted in an interview with the WSJ that “without having that [economic] training, it’s very hard to know who’s right and who’s wrong” at the IMF. Read more

Iranian navy ships pass through Suez Canal

| Feb 22 2011 21:32 | Comment |

Two Iranian navy ships entered the eastern Mediterranean after passing through the Suez Canal on Tuesday, the first such voyage since 1979 and one that has raised sharp concerns in Israel, reports the FT.  Egyptian officials told Reuters news agency that the two vessels – one frigate and one supply ship – had entered the Suez Canal at 5.45am. They entered the Mediterranean Sea in the late afternoon, according to several reports citing Egyptian authorities. Read more

US forced to rethink Middle East talks

| Dec 09 2010 09:13 | Comment |

The US is reverting to the idea of indirect talks between Israelis and Palestinians, just three months after Barack Obama hailed the beginning of direct negotiations with a ceremony at the White House, the FT reports. The move follows the US’s acknowledgement of defeat in its quest to convince Israel to extend a moratorium on building settlements on the West Bank. With its Middle-East policy in disarray and amid widespread criticism, the administration has now dropped its long-held insistence for a freeze to be in place before peace talks can proceed. Meanwhile Bloomberg reports that the dispatch of US envoy George Mitchell signals the revival of ‘shuttle diplomacy.’ Read more

Nikkei 63,000,000

Joseph joined FT Alphaville way back in March 2010. He likes all the politically and legally fiddly bits of finance. He also likes credit, rates, global macro, tail risk, and all that stuff. (You should email him story ideas. He’ll take anything.)

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| Oct 15 2010 16:55 | Comment |

And to think the market shorthand has always been Japan = deflation.

Trust Société Générale strategist Dylan Grice to think of the Japanese future a little, um, differently. From Friday’s Popular Delusions note: Read more

It’s not easy being a hedge fund in Israel

| Feb 22 2007 09:11 | Comment |

Hedge fund management ought to be big business in Israel, argues Israeli lawyer Menachem Feder at Haaretz.com. But Israeli law makes forming hedge funds with local management so difficult that only a few such funds exist, he says.

Feder’s argument – that the government should instead let hedge funds flourish – comes at a time when politicians in Europe and North America and are calling for greater regulation of the sector, and financial pundits are daily predicting a global hedge fund meltdown.
Feder, a partner at law firm Caspi & Co, which advises on the establishment and management of hedge funds, says the restrictive approach taken by the Israeli government is “blunt and self-defeating,” and undermines the country’s intellectual capital. Read more