Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive and co-chief investment officer at PIMCO, responds to the Federal Reserve chairman’s speech at the Jackson Hole conference.
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Congressional leaders have failed to strike a deal on the federal budget, making it more likely that the government will enter a shutdown from midnight on Friday, the Washington Post says. President Obama was more optimistic that a compromise will materialise before that deadline, according to the NYT: “I’m not yet prepared to express wild optimism, but I think we are further along today than yesterday,” he told reporters. FT Alphaville looks at the economic impact of federal workers being furloughed during the shutdown. Read more
Tuesday’s bond bloodbath has really made some people’s day — see Jefferies’ ‘Crash in Treasuries – BUY THE MARKET!‘ call, inter alia.
But it’s also causing some head-scratching over the dollar. Read more
President Obama’s chief economic adviser will step down after the midterm elections in November, the FT reports. Larry Summers’ exit marks another high-profile departure from the President’s economic team this year — and removes an advocate of short-term stimulus measures in the White House, the FT also adds. Not only is Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner staying on, but his influence on the President will probably grow once Summers leaves, the NYT says.
Names to replace Summers are already emerging. Former Xerox CEO and Obama adviser Anne Mulcahy is the WSJ’s pick for a leading candidate so far. Reuters names General Electric chairman Jeff Immelt and Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons as possible corporate choices — while Politico joins both Reuters and the WSJ in tipping Laura Tyson, who occupied Summers’ role during the Clinton administration, as another potential pick. Read more
BP managed to avoid further liabilities related to the Gulf spill even as it set up a $20bn compensation fund under White House pressure, officials familiar with the matter have informed the WSJ. The energy giant escaped costs for distress caused when President Obama imposed a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, as well as dodging the bill for restoring the Gulf beyond its pre-spill condition. An internal BP document estimating a worst-case scenario spill of 100,000 barrels per day has been released by Representative Ed Markey, Reuters adds. Read more
There’s been a mixed reaction from City analysts to BP’s decision to halt dividend payments for the rest of the year and pay $20bn into a Gulf of Mexico claims fund, reports FT Alphaville. House broker UBS is hopeful that BP will now be able to normalise its relationship with the White House, while Citigroup says BP has taken a pragmatic decision and the creation of the Independent Claims Fund (ICF) should help calm nerves. Read more
Payments axed for the rest of the year.
Other breaking news: independent claims fund to be administered by Ken Feinberg, head of the 9/11 compensation fund, BP to make initial payments of $3 and $2bn, fund not a cap on BP liabilities, capex to be cut, targeting divestments of $10bn over next 12-months. Read more
Under growing pressure, BP on Wednesday agreed to President Barack Obama’s call to place about $20bn in escrow to pay claims resulting from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the FT reports.
Get full in-depth coverage of the spill, from both an oil and political perspective, here. Check out the Energy Source blog here and catch up with FT alphaville’s number crunching here. Read more
So, the New York Post got this one wrong: the Volcker rule is not, in fact, going to be replaced by a simple requirement that banks hold more capital.
No matter. On Wednesday the White House sent fresh details on the proposed rule, which would significantly affect banks’ proprietary trading activities, to Congress. Read more
No, don’t expect details – but here’s the actual press-release issued in Washington at lunchtime on Thursday:
President Obama joined Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve; Bill Donaldson, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Congressman Barney Frank, House Financial Services Chairman; Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Banking Committee and the President’s economic team to call for new restrictions on the size and scope of banks and other financial institutions to rein in excessive risk taking and to protect taxpayers. Read more
Shucks. Alive to the public’s sensitivities, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman, John Mack of Morgan Stanley and Dick Parsons of Citigroup all choose to take scheduled commercial air services to get to their much-anticipated meeting in Washington with President Obama on Monday.
And now they have been delayed by bad weather, so it seems they’re not going to make the meeting after all. Read more
1About China's capacity to absorb more capital
2Japan's mini crash: Blame China, not just Ben
3Spain's awful unemployment
4The Nikkei: a market abducted by retail
5Everlasting credit, the long view
Show more6Measure it however you like: inflation has been low and falling
7Buyback to enrich
8Everyone's scared of something
9Pessimism and priorities in advanced economies
10Paul Tudor Jones's 'principles' for investing and trading superstardom
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