tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54681515654648844572024-02-08T06:28:27.179-08:00Diary of a JSE Stock Operator Edition 14The Longs and the Shorts of my trading on the JSE. My thoughts, actions and rambelings while trading. The thing I love best!Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.comBlogger955125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-79404745106014569302010-04-18T01:28:00.001-07:002010-04-18T01:28:02.029-07:00-Hi-<a href="http://sites.google.com/site/lki8fyudg/vseg5w">http://sites.google.com/site/lki8fyudg/vseg5w</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-63954837577728075002009-05-24T21:28:00.000-07:002009-05-24T21:29:06.128-07:00Thailand’s GDP Contracts as Exports, Spending Slump(Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s economy shrank the most in a decade as exports and spending slumped, pushing the nation into its first recession since the Asian financial crisis. <br /><br />Gross domestic product fell 7.1 percent last quarter from a year earlier, after declining a revised 4.2 percent in the previous three months, the government said today. The median estimate of 17 economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a 6.5 percent drop. <br /><br />“The first quarter should be the worst,” said Rajeev Malik, a Singapore-based economist at Macquarie Group Ltd. “There is a strong likelihood the economy will grow in the fourth quarter.” <br /><br />Exports, Thailand’s main economic driver, sank 16.4 percent last quarter, prompting companies including General Motors Corp. and Seagate Technology Inc. to cut production and fire workers. The central bank said last week there are signs the contraction is moderating, and the stock market is poised for its best quarterly advance since 2003. <br /><br />“We can see light at the end of the tunnel,” Ampon Kittiampon, secretary-general at the National Economic and Social Development Board, said at a briefing on the economic report today. “We hope the government’s second stimulus package can jump-start the economy by the fourth quarter.” <br /><br />The government “will do whatever we can” to ensure economic expansion by this year’s final quarter, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on May 20. The same day, the Bank of Thailand ended its most aggressive string of rate cuts ever, keeping borrowing costs at 1.25 percent even while saying risks to the economy remain. <br /><br />‘Worst is Behind’ <br /><br />Production has picked up in electronic and automotive industries and exports, and consumer demand is recovering, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said May 7. <br /><br />“Orders have started to come back,” said Santi Vilassakdanont, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, a group of manufacturers. “The worst is behind us and things should get better now.” <br /><br />Thailand’s economy will contract less each quarter before returning to growth in the final three months of this year, the median estimate of the economists surveyed by Bloomberg shows. The Bank of Japan on May 22 raised its view of the economy on signs that a record contraction in the first quarter represented the worst of the recession. Singapore and Taiwan last week said their economies may be past the worst. <br /><br />Stocks, Baht <br /><br />Exports have fallen for six months through April, the longest contraction in seven years. <br /><br />Thailand’s SET Index of stocks declined 0.3 percent to 552.42 as of 10:30 a.m., trimming the quarterly advance to 28 percent. The baht slipped 0.1 percent against the dollar. <br /><br />“I don’t see any strong sign of recovery yet,” said Veeravat Kanchanadul, Senior Executive Vice President at Charoen Pokphand Group, Asia’s biggest animal-feed producer. “We can’t be sure about the state of the economy when small players are still struggling.” <br /><br />Manufacturing declined 14.9 percent in the first quarter, compared with a revised 6.7 percent drop in the previous three months. Private consumption fell 2.6 percent. Total investment retreated 15.8 percent. <br /><br />GDP may shrink as much as 3.5 percent this year, the government’s economic adviser, the NESDB, said today. That would be the first annual contraction in 11 years and matches the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The economy grew 2.6 percent last year. <br /><br />Far From Good <br /><br />Consumer confidence is at its lowest level in seven years. An emergency decree was imposed for 13 days in Bangkok last month to quell anti-government riots that left two people dead. <br /><br />“Business was really bad after the riots,” said Doris Gerecht, general manager at Bangkok’s Montien Hotel, adding that occupancy has averaged about 50 percent so far this year compared with 75 percent a year ago. “We’re starting to see a bit of a pickup in corporate bookings, but things are still far from good.” <br /><br />Thailand’s economy hasn’t shrunk for two straight quarters since the first three months of 1999. That was the last of eight quarterly contractions triggered two years earlier, when the nation cut a peg to the dollar that had overvalued the baht and slashed exports. The economic crisis eventually extended to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aAyKEhui7Yfg&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-10067577450475088272009-05-24T21:27:00.000-07:002009-05-24T21:28:22.948-07:00Barclays May Hire Up to 65 Bankers for Europe M&A(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc may hire as many as 65 bankers for its European mergers advisory business this year as Britain’s third-biggest bank seeks to become one of the top three global securities firms. <br /><br />Barclays Capital, the investment-banking unit, plans to add 30 to 40 bankers in Italy, Germany and France, and 15 to 25 in the U.K., Paul G. Parker, global head of mergers and acquisitions, said in an interview on May 21. The firm named Mark Warham and Matthew Ponsonby co-heads of European M&A last week. <br /><br />Barclays Capital, which previously focused on bonds, loans and foreign exchange, surged to fifth in U.S. takeovers after the acquisition of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s North American unit in September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The London-based firm ranks 21st in Europe, where Lehman’s operations were bought by Nomura Holdings Inc. <br /><br />“It makes sense to hire more bankers as they need to improve industry coverage,” said Katsunobu Komizo, chief executive officer of Tokyo-based Executive Search Partners Co. “It will take time and is challenging for Barclays, which used to focus more on debt, to profit from merger advisory because the business requires strong and long-term relationships with top corporate executives.” <br /><br />Barclays Capital advised Pfizer Inc. on its $64 billion acquisition of Wyeth, the biggest takeover this year, and Verizon Communications Inc. on its $5.25 billion sale of phone lines to Frontier Communications Corp. It helped Dow Chemical Co. sell a stake in a Dutch oil-refining venture with Total SA to Valero Energy Corp. for $725 million. <br /><br />Hiring Teams <br /><br />“We aim to be top three across all products and regions” in investment banking, said Parker, who is spending a significant part of his time in Europe, helping recruit bankers. Barclays Capital wants to be a leader in cross-border deals “by combining the firm’s global perspective with local expertise.” <br /><br />Barclays Capital plans to hire teams in the U.K., Germany, France, and Italy, including heads of M&A for the countries, said Parker, 45. The additions will build upon existing coverage of the Iberian region, overseen by Inigo Paneda and a team hired last year from Nomura, Japan’s biggest brokerage. <br /><br />The firm also has about 30 former ABN Amro Holding NV bankers who will continue to focus on mergers and acquisitions in eastern and central Europe, as well as a team of about 15 in Asia, also primarily from ABN Amro, according to Parker. <br /><br />‘Strong Brand’ <br /><br />Barclays Capital has advised on European takeovers worth about $7.7 billion this year, giving it under 3.5 percent of the market, Bloomberg data show. That includes the firm’s agreement to sell its iShares exchange-traded funds business to CVC Capital Partners Ltd. for $4.37 billion. <br /><br />Credit Suisse Group AG is No. 1 in European mergers, followed by Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bloomberg data show. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ranks seventh after Zurich-based UBS AG. <br /><br />“Barclays’s strong brand in Europe coupled with its strong lending and fixed income relationships positions us well to work with existing and new clients globally on transactions,” said Parker, who joined Barclays after the takeover of Lehman, where he ran global mergers with Mark Shafir, now at Citigroup. <br /><br />Jerry del Missier, president of Barclays Capital, said earlier this month that expanding in mergers advisory and stock underwriting in Europe and Asia was the “single-biggest initiative this year.” The firm aims to add about 300 people for European and Asian equities by the end of 2009. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aMiWZGbNueEA&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-71312383516057396962009-05-24T21:26:00.000-07:002009-05-24T21:27:39.802-07:00South Korean Stocks, Won Drop After North Tests Nuclear Weapon(Bloomberg) -- South Korea’s stocks and won slumped after North Korea said it had successfully tested a nuclear weapon, seven weeks after launching a long-range missile. <br /><br />The Kospi index declined for a third day after the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the successful underground test would “bolster its nuclear deterrent for self- defense.” The won fell the most in more than a week as the U.S. Geological Survey detected a 4.7 magnitude earthquake in the northeast of the communist nation. <br /><br />The test would complicate efforts to get North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to return to six-nation talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear weapons program. The U.S., Japan and South Korea have accused the reclusive country of developing long-range missile technology to carry a nuclear device. <br /><br />“This is not a pretty picture, especially with the North’s stern stance,” said Kim Yong Tae, a fund manager at Yurie Asset Management Inc. in Seoul, which manages the equivalent of $1.2 billion in assets. “Investor sentiment will be negatively impacted and it’s going to be difficult to expect big gains in the market in the short-term.” <br /><br />The won fell 1.2 percent to 1,261.80 per dollar as of 12:25 p.m. in Seoul, paring its gains to 20 percent in the past three months. The benchmark Kospi index dropped 2.3 percent to 1,369.46. Share markets across the region fell with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index down 0.2 percent, reversing an earlier advance of as much as 0.8 percent. The Hang Seng Index of Hong Kong shares dropped 0.8 percent. <br /><br />United Nations <br /><br />North Korea launched a rocket that flew over Japan on April 5. It was the second time Kim Jong Il’s regime detonated a nuclear device. The first was in 2006. <br /><br />The Kospi earlier declined as much as 6.3 percent to the lowest this month. All but one of the 19 industry groups in the index declined. About six stocks fell for every one that rose in the benchmark index. <br /><br />Samsung Electronics Co., Asia’s biggest maker of chips and flat screens, retreated 2.2 percent to 538,000 won. Posco, Asia’s third-largest steelmaker, fell 2.5 percent to 388,000. KB Financial Group Inc., the owner of South Korea’s biggest bank, dropped 3 percent to 44,050 won. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipyard, lost 2.9 percent to 221,500 won. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aMrtABwD3NB4&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-81071542469311138712009-05-20T21:26:00.002-07:002009-05-20T21:27:31.478-07:00Greenspan Says Banks Still Have a ‘Large’ Capital Requirement(Bloomberg) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan signaled that the financial crisis has yet to end even as borrowing costs tumble, warning that U.S. banks must raise “large” amounts of money. <br /><br />“There is still a very large unfunded capital requirement in the commercial banking system in the United States and that’s got to be funded,” Greenspan said in an interview yesterday in Washington. He also said that “until the price of homes flattens out we still have a very serious potential mortgage crisis.” <br /><br />Greenspan’s comments suggest he sees a bigger capital shortfall in the banking system than reflected in regulators’ stress tests on the 19 biggest U.S. lenders. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told lawmakers yesterday that banks have issued more than $56 billion in new stock or debt since the tests found 10 firms needed to raise about $75 billion. <br /><br />A lack of capital at banks may inhibit lending to consumers and businesses, tempering any economic recovery. The former Fed chief, who left the central bank in 2006, said that the continued slump in home prices is putting at risk millions of borrowers. <br /><br />“We’re on the edge and if this thing doesn’t get resolved quickly I’m worried,” he said before a meeting with House of Representatives members on financial regulation that was organized by the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center. <br /><br />Home prices will only start to stabilize once the “liquidation” rate of single-family homes has peaked, he said. “I don’t think we’re there yet.” <br /><br />‘Remarkable’ Improvement <br /><br />More broadly, “things have unquestionably improved” across the economy and financial markets, he said. “They’ve improved everywhere in the world. It’s remarkable.” <br /><br />The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three- month dollar loans fell 3 basis points yesterday to 0.75 percent, the British Bankers’ Association said, the 35th straight drop. The Libor-OIS spread, a gauge of banks’ reluctance to lend, narrowed to 55 basis points, the least since February 2008. It was as high as 364 basis points in October. <br /><br />That’s an “extraordinary improvement,” said Greenspan, who last year said that the credit crisis would be at an end once the Libor-OIS spread narrowed past 25 basis points. “Virtually all of the various credit spreads not only in the U.S. but globally have come down.” <br /><br />Alan Blinder, a former Fed vice chairman, also said on Capitol Hill that “if there are no more reversals, history will judge that by May 2009 we will have passed the worst of the crisis.” <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aiOYLnM2WxuA&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-21887946928622645802009-05-20T21:26:00.001-07:002009-05-20T21:26:49.654-07:00Yen Gains to 8-Week High After Fed Projects a Deeper Recession(Bloomberg) -- The yen rose to an eight-week high against the dollar after the U.S. Federal Reserve projected a deeper recession, boosting demand for the Japanese currency as a refuge from the global slump. <br /><br />The dollar fell for a third day versus the yen after minutes of the latest Fed meeting released yesterday showed policy makers may buy more assets to spur a revival in the world’s largest economy. The euro approached a four-month high against the dollar before a European manufacturing and services report that may back the case for the region’s central bank to keep interest rates unchanged. South Korea’s won rose toward a seven-month high against the dollar. <br /><br />“The Fed’s downgrade of growth forecasts, occurring amid an optimistic mood, shocked markets,” said Ryohei Muramatsu, manager of Group Treasury Asia in Tokyo at Commerzbank AG, Germany’s second-largest bank. “This is leading to buying of the yen.” <br /><br />The yen strengthened to 94.47 per dollar as of 11:44 a.m. in Tokyo from 94.88 yesterday in New York after climbing to 94.29, the highest level since March 20. Japan’s currency advanced to 130.34 per euro from 130.77. The euro rose to $1.3801 from $1.3780 yesterday, when it reached $1.3830, the strongest level since Jan. 5. <br /><br />The dollar declined to $1.5817 versus the British pound, the weakest since Nov. 10, before trading at $1.5797 from $1.5755. South Korea’s won strengthened 0.2 percent to 1,248.60 per dollar, after touching 1,225.97 on May 11, the strongest since Oct. 15. <br /><br />Dollar Index <br /><br />The Dollar Index fell for a fourth day after minutes of the Fed’s April 28-29 meeting released yesterday showed some policy makers said “a further increase” in the total amount of asset purchases may be needed to speed a U.S. economic recovery. <br /><br />Fed governors and district-bank presidents also cut their projections for economic growth in quarterly forecasts submitted at the meeting, the minutes showed. They foresaw a deeper contraction in 2009 and a weaker recovery next year, with the unemployment rate projected to remain at 9 percent or higher. <br /><br />“The Fed may expand its asset-purchase program, which would increase the supply of greenbacks in the market,” said Yuji Saito, head of the foreign-exchange group in Tokyo at Societe Generale SA, France’s third-largest bank. “This could undermine the value of the dollar and spur investors in the U.S. to put their funds overseas.” <br /><br />The Dollar Index, used by the ICE to track the U.S. currency versus the euro, yen, pound, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and Swedish krona, declined to 80.931 after yesterday dropping to 80.91, the lowest level since Dec. 31. <br /><br />Record Loss <br /><br />The dollar dropped a record 3.4 percent versus the euro on March 18, when the Fed announced plans to buy up to $300 billion in U.S. government debt to keep interest rates low and stimulate the economy, a measure known as quantitative easing. <br /><br />The yen advanced versus all 16 of the most-traded currencies as a survey published by Barclays Capital today showed Japan’s money managers judge the market’s outlook for the U.S. economy to be too optimistic. <br /><br />About 82 percent of 55 Japanese institutional investors who responded to the poll this week described the market’s outlook as either “extremely” or “somewhat” optimistic, while only 13 percent called it “appropriate.” <br /><br />“The majority of Japanese investors believe the outlook for the economy currently factored into the U.S. markets is overly optimistic,” Yoshio Takahashi, head strategist for non- Japanese debt in Tokyo at Barclays Capital, wrote in a research note today. <br /><br />Yen Call Options <br /><br />Traders are paying a larger premium for yen call options against the dollar, which grant the right to buy Japan’s currency, over puts that provide the right to sell it. The dollar-yen’s one-month 25-delta risk-reversal rate widened to minus 2.44 percent today from minus 2.22 percent yesterday. <br /><br />The euro gained for a fourth day versus the dollar before a European report that may show the region’s manufacturing and services contracted at the slowest pace in seven months. <br /><br />A composite index of activity in both industries rose to 42 in May from 41.1 in April, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. <br /><br />“We could see PMIs come in higher than expected, highlighting the improved sentiment in the region,” analysts at Standard Chartered Bank led by Callum Henderson, Singapore-based global head of currency research, wrote in a research note today. “It looks likely the euro-dollar could establish new highs for 2009 beyond January’s $1.406 high.” <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=abbt5l7AAlb8&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-69118693224252988802009-05-20T21:25:00.000-07:002009-05-20T21:26:00.431-07:00Asian Stocks Decline on Yen Strength, Fed Economy Prediction(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks retreated, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific Index from a seven-month high, as the stronger yen diminished earnings prospects in Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve projected a deeper recession. <br /><br />Toyota Motor Corp., which got 31 percent of its revenue in North America last fiscal year, lost 2.2 percent. Department store operator Takashimaya Co. lost 3.4 percent in Tokyo as the first cases of swine flu were confirmed in the city. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s No. 3 mining company, rose 2.4 percent after the Sydney Morning Herald reported Aluminum Corp. of China may accept a lower stake to win approval for an investment. <br /><br />The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6 percent to 99.64 as of 12:21 p.m. in Tokyo. The gauge closed at its highest level since Oct. 6 yesterday, driving stock valuations to the most expensive since 2003. <br /><br />“We need to see economic fundamentals improve to match the recovery in equity markets,” said Chong Yoon Chou, Singapore- based investment director at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd., which has $27 billion of assets. “An economic recovery will take some time.” <br /><br />Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 1.2 percent to 9,235.15. China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.6 percent as a Credit Suisse Group AG report said a rebound in economic growth won’t be as “strong as many recently have hoped.” Markets in Asia fell except in Malaysia and Vietnam. <br /><br />Brokerage Downgrade <br /><br />Ibiden Co., which makes components for memory chips, slumped 2.5 percent after Nikko Citigroup Ltd. recommended selling the stock, citing weak profit growth. Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp., Taiwan’s No. 2 maker of liquid-crystal displays, surged for a second day after China said it will widen subsidies to include home appliances. Online retailer Rakuten Inc. jumped 3.9 percent on speculation an outbreak of swine flu will push consumers to shop from home. <br /><br />Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.4 percent. The gauge sank 0.5 percent yesterday as American Express Co. said legislation to curb credit-card fees may reduce lending to consumers. <br /><br />Fed policy makers projected a fourth-quarter U.S. contraction of 1.3 percent to 2 percent from a year earlier, according to minutes of an April 28-29 meeting released yesterday. That compares with January projections for a contraction of 0.5 percent to 1.3 percent. <br /><br />U.S. unemployment surged to 8.9 percent in April, a level not seen since 1983. <br /><br />Yen Strength <br /><br />The yen strengthened versus the dollar to as much as 94.29 today from 95.52 at the 3 p.m. close of stock trading in Tokyo yesterday, as the Fed said it considered buying more assets, a move that could devalue the U.S. dollar. A stronger local currency diminishes the value of overseas sales for Japanese manufacturers. <br /><br />“Should the yen continue to strengthen, people will likely start doubting whether companies’ rather optimistic outlooks are justified,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $632 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo. <br /><br />Toyota sank 2.2 percent to 3,580 yen. Sony Corp., the maker of the PlayStation 3 game console, declined 1.6 percent to 2,465 yen even after the company said it plans to reduce procurement costs by a fifth. <br /><br />The MSCI Asia benchmark rallied as much as 42 percent from a more-than five year low reached on March 9. Stocks included in the MSCI gauge now trade at 43 times trailing earnings, the most expensive since 2003. <br /><br />Oil, Copper <br /><br />Rio gained 2.4 percent to A$66.37. Aluminum Corp., known as Chinalco, is open to letting Rio sell convertible bonds to other shareholders and would be prepared to accept a stake of 15 percent, the Sydney Morning Herald said. That would potentially avoid a breach of foreign ownership limits. <br /><br />Commodity producers also climbed as crude oil for July delivery jumped 3.2 percent to $62.04 a barrel in New York yesterday, the highest settlement since Nov. 10. Copper futures added 1.8 percent. Both prices fell today. <br /><br />Takashimaya slipped 3.4 percent to 575 yen. Aeon Co., Japan’s second-largest retailer, declined 3.1 percent to 856 yen. Rakuten jumped 3.9 percent to 52,800 yen. <br /><br />Two 16-year-old high school students have been confirmed as the first cases of swine flu in the Tokyo area, according to statements from the Tokyo and Kawasaki city governments. Japan said 234 people have the virus, which has sickened more than 10,000 people worldwide. <br /><br />“Retail, restaurant and leisure businesses will be affected,” Ichiyoshi’s Akino said. “As people are likely to stay in their house, online retailers and mail-order companies will benefit.” <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aZQ3tREnOU_U&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-34486843512596235262009-05-19T21:25:00.001-07:002009-05-19T21:25:53.646-07:00Japan Economy Shrinks Record 15.2% as Exports, Spending Plunge(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s economy shrank by a record last quarter as exports collapsed and consumers and businesses slashed spending, a decline that probably marked the low point in the country’s worst recession since World War II. <br /><br />Gross domestic product fell an annualized 15.2 percent in the three months ended March 31, following a revised fourth- quarter drop of 14.4 percent, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The economy contracted 3.5 percent in the year ended March 31, the most since records began in 1955. <br /><br />Exports plunged an unprecedented 26 percent last quarter, forcing companies from Toyota Motor Corp. to Hitachi Ltd. to cut production, workers and wages. Stocks have gained 32 percent since reaching 26-year low in March on speculation worldwide interest-rate reductions and spending by governments will halt the slide in the world’s second-largest economy. <br /><br />“There was a collapse across the board,” said Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. Still, he added, there’s “light at the end of the tunnel” and the economy will resume growing this quarter as companies replenish inventories and stimulus plans at home and abroad take effect. <br /><br />The yen traded at 95.59 per dollar at 12:56 p.m. in Tokyo from 96.16 before the report was published. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.3 percent. Economists surveyed predicted the economy would shrink 16.1 percent. <br /><br />Worse Than U.S. <br /><br />GDP fell 4 percent on a non-annualized basis, more than double the U.S.’s 1.6 percent slide. It’s also worse than Europe’s record 2.5 percent contraction. Without adjusting for price changes, Japan shrank 2.9 percent last quarter. <br /><br />Weaker domestic demand was the biggest contributor to the decline, shaving 2.6 percentage points off GDP, the most since 1974. Net exports -- the difference between exports and imports -- was responsible for 1.4 percentage points of the drop. <br /><br />Consumer spending slid 1.1 percent and business investment plunged a record 10.4 percent. Economists say companies will keep cutting spending because the decline in demand has left factories and workers underused. <br /><br />“There is a huge problem of over-capacity,” said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo. “That means capital spending is not likely to pick up.” <br /><br />Hitachi, a maker of nuclear reactors, home appliances and hard-disk drives, will trim costs by 500 billion yen ($5.2 billion) this fiscal year to minimize losses after a record 787.3 billion yen deficit last year. The Tokyo-based company said in January it plans to cut 7,000 jobs. <br /><br />May Grow <br /><br />Still, reports in the past month suggest the world’s second-largest economy may grow for the first time in a year this quarter, albeit from a low point, as exports stabilize and Prime Minister Taro Aso’s 15.4 trillion yen stimulus plan, announced in April, takes effect. <br /><br />Consumer confidence climbed to a 10-month high in April. Exports increased in March from a month earlier, and factory output rose for the first time since September. <br /><br />“Japan, first of all, will get a big boost from fiscal stimulus,” Thomas Byrne, senior vice president of Moody’s Investors Service, said in an interview in Tokyo. “Second, if the global economy picks up a little bit, that will help tremendously in Japan because of its dependence on exports.” <br /><br />Byrne said Moody’s is unlikely to cut Japan’s debt rating over the next year because investors are willing to buy bonds that will fund the stimulus plans. Moody’s unified Japan’s ratings at Aa2 this week, raising the local-currency assessment from Aa3 and lowering the foreign-currency view from Aaa. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aeZ_K.uTF0bs&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-80317353002353024372009-05-19T21:24:00.000-07:002009-05-19T21:25:12.079-07:00Asian Stocks Advance, Led by Mitsubishi; T&D Slumps on Loss(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, led by commodity companies, as Goldman, Sachs & Co. recommended buying Mitsubishi Corp. shares. Finance companies declined. <br /><br />Mitsubishi Corp., a trading company that gets 47 percent of its revenue from metals and energy products, climbed 4.5 percent. T&D Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest life insurer, slumped 13 percent after posting a wider-than-estimated full-year loss. Billabong International Ltd., Australia’s largest surfwear maker, tumbled 16 percent after a share sale. <br /><br />The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent to 99.82 at 12:04 p.m. in Tokyo, set for its highest close since Oct. 6. Through yesterday, the gauge had surged 41 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9. Concern that stock valuations had overpriced earnings prospects gave the measure its biggest weekly decline in two months last week. <br /><br />“People are buying and selling stocks for quick returns, driving the market up and down like a carnival,” said Yoshihiro Ito, senior strategist at Tokyo-based Okasan Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $9.3 billion. <br /><br />Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.4 percent to 9,330.46 as a government report showed the economy contracted an annualized 15.2 percent in the three months ended March 31, less than some economists predicted. Most markets rose, except for Singapore and Hong Kong. <br /><br />James Hardie Industries NV, the biggest seller of home siding in the U.S., declined 2.3 percent in Sydney after profit slumped in the fourth quarter. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan’s No. 3 shipping line, added 2.9 percent as commodity shipping rates gained for a 13th-straight session. <br /><br />Brokerage Upgrade <br /><br />Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.3 percent. The gauge dropped 0.2 percent in New York yesterday as a Commerce Department report showed housing starts sank 13 percent in April, while economists had expected an increase. Financial shares slumped after Moody’s Investors Service said commercial property values have tumbled. <br /><br />Mitsubishi jumped 4.5 percent to 1,736 in Tokyo. Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi’s closest rival, added 4.4 percent to 1,160 yen. Goldman Sachs raised its view on Japan’s trading house sector to “attractive” from “neutral.” The brokerage upgraded Mitsubishi to “buy” from “neutral.” <br /><br />“Demand for resources looks likely to rebound and investors are willing to buy commodity-related companies on expectations for an earnings recovery,” said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at Nikko Cordial Securities Co. <br /><br />Crude oil futures in New York rose 1.1 percent to $59.65 a barrel yesterday, the highest settlement since Nov. 10. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqnY55joxkKQ&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-30585088962546957902009-05-19T21:22:00.000-07:002009-05-19T21:24:18.225-07:00Bank of America Raises $13.5 Billion After Stress-Test Verdict(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, raised about $13.5 billion in a sale of common stock after U.S. regulators determined it needed more cash to weather an extended recession. <br /><br />The bank issued 1.25 billion shares at an average price of $10.77 each, according to a statement yesterday. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company plans to boost common equity capital by $17 billion through the sale of stock and by converting preferred shares mostly held by institutional investors, Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis said May 7. <br /><br />“The worst is over for Bank of America and it will have absolutely no problem raising more capital,” said Kim Yong Tae, head of overseas investment at Yurie Asset Management Inc. in Seoul, which manages $2 billion in assets. “The minute the U.S. government started pumping taxpayer money into lenders its financial-system risks started easing, and now are completely gone.” <br /><br />Regulators told Bank of America to raise $33.9 billion after conducting stress tests, the largest amount among the 19 banks examined. Other banks ordered to raise capital include Wells Fargo & Co., which made an $8.6 billion offering, and Morgan Stanley, which raised $4 billion, both on May 8. <br /><br />“We are pleased to have this portion of our capital plan completed,” Bank of America Chief Financial Officer Joe Price said in the statement. “This strengthens and diversifies our capital structure.” <br /><br />Bank of America declined 48 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $11.25 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. It has dropped 20 percent this year. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aV9Shulz6m1M&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-20904824791680850982009-05-18T21:10:00.001-07:002009-05-18T21:14:58.413-07:00Asian Stocks Rise on Growth Optimism; BHP, Toyota Motor Gain(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose as higher confidence among U.S. homebuilders, a surge in oil prices and a drop in bank borrowing costs stoked optimism the global economy is recovering. <br /><br />Toyota Motor Corp., which gets a third of its sales in North America, rose 3.1 percent as the yen weakened versus the dollar. BHP Billiton Ltd., Australia’s biggest oil producer, climbed 3.4 percent after crude-oil futures rose to a six-month high. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Ltd. gained 5.9 percent as the London interbank offered rate fell the most in two months. Indian stocks were poised to advance after election results triggered a surge in their American depositary receipts. <br /><br />“The housing market is the most important factor in predicting the direction of an economy,” said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a strategist at SMBC Friend Securities Co. “When we look back on these times, we’ll see the global economy bottomed out in the April-June period.” <br /><br />The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 2.2 percent to 98.97 at 11 a.m. in Tokyo. Through yesterday, the gauge climbed 40 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9. <br /><br />Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 2.8 percent to 9,293.09. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 2.1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index rose 2 percent. Trading in India is due to resume trading today as a 17 percent surge in the Sensitive Index triggered a suspension yesterday. <br /><br />Weaker Yen <br /><br />Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The gauge climbed 3 percent yesterday, the most in two weeks, as analysts recommended Bank of America Corp. and Lowe’s Cos. beat earnings projections. Separately, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builders’ confidence advanced in May to the highest level since September. <br /><br />Toyota rose 3.1 percent to 3,670 yen in Tokyo. Honda Motor Co., which makes 51 percent of its revenue in North America, added 0.9 percent to 2,705 yen. Japanese exporters also rose on speculation a weaker yen will boost the value of overseas sales. <br /><br />The surge in equities signaled investors are more willing to take risk, making the yen less attractive as a haven. The yen depreciated against the dollar to as much as 96.40 today from 95.03 at the 3 p.m. close of stock trading in Tokyo yesterday. The Japanese currency weakened versus the euro to as much as 130.68 from 127.91. <br /><br />BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company and Australia’s largest oil producer, rose 3.4 percent to A$34.01. Inpex Corp., Japan’s largest oil explorer, climbed 4.6 percent to 702,000 yen. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ar6v093yOmzg&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-60012248244046954342009-05-18T21:10:00.000-07:002009-05-18T21:14:10.369-07:00Goldman, Morgan Stanley Said to Apply for TARP Exit(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley applied to repay the combined $45 billion they received in October from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, said people familiar with the matter. <br /><br />The three New York-based banks need approval from the Federal Reserve, their primary supervisor, to return the money, according to the people, who requested anonymity because the application process isn’t public. Spokesmen for the three banks declined to comment, as did Calvin Mitchell, a spokesman for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. <br /><br />If approved, the refunds would be the biggest yet to the $700 billion TARP program established by Congress last year during the investor furor that followed the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Banks are keen to repay the money to shake off restrictions on compensation and hiring that were imposed on TARP recipients in February. <br /><br />“It really is a way for them to break from the herd,” said Peter Sorrentino, a senior portfolio manager at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati, which holds Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan shares among the $13.8 billion it oversees. “It’s a great way to attract customers, personnel, capital.” <br /><br />JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley were among nine banks that were persuaded in mid-October by then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to accept the first $125 billion of capital injections from the TARP program to help restore stability to the financial markets. <br /><br />Stress-Test Results <br /><br />The refunds would be the first by the biggest banks that participated in the program. As of May 15, 14 of the smaller banks that received capital under the program had already repaid it, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. <br /><br />The 19 biggest banks were waiting for the conclusion earlier this month of so-called stress tests to determine whether they would require additional capital to withstand a further deterioration of the economy. <br /><br />Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, the fifth- and second-biggest U.S. banks by assets, were found not to need any more money. Morgan Stanley, the sixth-biggest bank, raised $4.57 billion by selling stock this month, exceeding the $1.8 billion in additional capital the regulators said the bank may require. <br /><br />Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on April 21 that he would welcome firms returning TARP funds as long as their regulators sign off. He added that regulators will consider whether banks have enough capital to keep lending and whether the financial system as a whole can supply the credit needed to ensure an economic recovery. <br /><br />‘Wrong Time’ <br /><br />While executives at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have expressed a desire to repay their TARP money for months, Morgan Stanley Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Mack told employees on March 30 that he thought it was “the wrong time” to repay the money. <br /><br />Morgan Stanley, which reported a first-quarter loss, also slashed its quarterly dividend 81 percent to 5 cents. On May 8, when the company sold stock, it also sold $4 billion of debt that didn’t carry a government guarantee. Selling non-guaranteed debt is a prerequisite for repaying TARP money. <br /><br />The banks will also have to decide whether to try to buy back the warrants that the government received as part of the TARP investments. The warrants, which could convert into stock if not repurchased, would add to the cost of repayment. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5XKm1xjWNfI&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-49024984783492618002009-05-17T21:15:00.002-07:002009-05-17T21:16:28.558-07:00AIG to Accelerate Separation of AIA, Seek IPO in Asia(Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S. government, is accelerating the separation of American International Assurance Co. and will list it on an Asian exchange. <br /><br />AIG has hired Blackstone Group LP to advise on the reorganization and initial public offering of its Asian life unit, which operates in 13 markets in the region with more than 20 million customers and over $60 billion of assets, it said in a statement issued through Business Wire today. <br /><br />AIG, based in New York, is selling property and businesses after being bailed out four times by the U.S. government. The company has tapped about $45.5 billion from a U.S. credit line as of earlier this month. <br /><br />“At this stage, we believe that a public listing for AIA would be in the best interests of all stakeholders, including U.S. taxpayers, policyholders, employees and distribution partners,” AIG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy said in the statement. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ah5RH.qSUgb0&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-2337579905947816382009-05-17T21:15:00.001-07:002009-05-17T21:15:40.985-07:00Treasuries Advance as Stocks Fall, Fed Prepares to Buy Debt(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose, adding to last week’s gain, as Asian stocks extended losses and the Federal Reserve prepared to buy 10-year notes today. <br /><br />Benchmark 10-year yields will fall about 40 basis points by mid-year and the U.S. economic recovery may stall, according to a report from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the 16 primary dealers that trade directly with the Fed. The central bank also plans to buy Treasuries on May 20 and May 21 as part of its plan to cap borrowing costs and combat the steepest U.S. recession in 50 years. <br /><br />“The economy is still in trouble,” said Takashi Yamamoto, chief trader in Singapore at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp., part of Japan’s biggest bank. “Yields will go down.” <br /><br />The yield on the 10-year note fell three basis points to 3.11 percent as of 10:10 a.m. in Tokyo, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The price of the 3.125 percent security maturing May 2019 gained 1/4, or $2.50 per $1,000 face amount, to 100 1/8. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. <br /><br />Ten-year yields declined 15 basis points last week, as prices posted the first seven-day gain since the period that ended March 20. <br /><br />The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional shares dropped 1.6 percent today, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 1.1 percent on May 15, helping fuel demand for the relative safety of government debt. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBII6SLy_WFs&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-19033385024733643632009-05-17T21:14:00.001-07:002009-05-17T21:14:58.507-07:00VW Calls Off Porsche Talks, Says Atmosphere ‘Not Constructive’(Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker, called off talks with Porsche SE about a combination less than two weeks after the sports-car manufacturer’s controlling families agreed to pursue a merger. <br /><br />“There is currently no atmosphere for constructive talks,” Christine Ritz, a spokeswoman at Volkswagen, said yesterday in a telephone interview. In a statement, Porsche said that while a meeting scheduled for today had been canceled, negotiations will resume. It didn’t give details. <br /><br />The Porsche and Piech families, which together control half of Porsche, agreed May 6 to create an “integrated” carmaker that would put Porsche alongside VW brands including Skoda and Audi. Within a week, VW Supervisory Board Chairman Ferdinand Piech said that Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche must first trim its 9 billion euros ($12 billion) in net debt before a merger, and that Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking and Chief Financial Officer Holger Haerter were partly responsible. <br /><br />“War has erupted again between Volkswagen and Porsche,” said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Dudenhoeffer was head of marketing strategy and research at Porsche from 1987 to 1990. “Piech is behind that.” <br /><br />Porsche owns about 51 percent of Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen, whose automotive division had 10.7 billion euros in net cash as of March 31. The maker of the 911 sports car had been accumulating Volkswagen shares since 2005 to protect ties to its largest supplier. <br /><br />First Strike <br /><br />Porsche Supervisory Board Chairman Wolfgang Porsche was struggling to raise financing to boost the stake to 75 percent and had been at loggerheads with Piech about how to unite the carmakers. The May 6 agreement between the families effectively put on hold Porsche’s plan to further bolster its stake in Volkswagen by acquiring VW shares. <br /><br />The Porsche family is upset over Piech’s remarks and is concerned that they may hurt the value of the carmaker, Der Spiegel said on its Web site. When asked whether Volkswagen would pay 11 billion euros for Porsche AG, the operating unit of Porsche SE, Piech said that amount is “definitely a few billion too high,” according to the magazine. <br /><br />Porsche workers will hold their first-ever strike today to protest the merger plan, Focus magazine reported. On May 7, a day after the initial pact, Porsche fell the most in at least 13 years on the Frankfurt exchange. <br /><br />The stock has fallen 21 percent this year, cutting Porsche’s market value to 7.2 billion euros. Volkswagen has declined 12 percent, valuing the carmaker at 69.6 billion euros. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBwP97W8K9g0&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-20146479294110828892009-05-14T21:44:00.002-07:002009-05-14T21:45:14.119-07:00Barclays Said to Discuss Sale of BGI With BlackRock, BNY Mellon(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc, the U.K.’s third- biggest bank, is in talks to sell its Barclays Global Investors asset management unit to potential buyers including BlackRock Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter. <br /><br />A sale of Barclays Global Investors, with 1.04 trillion pounds ($1.6 trillion) of funds under management, would derail an agreement announced last month to sell BGI’s iShares unit to CVC Capital Partners Ltd. for $4.4 billion, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. <br /><br />Barclays has until June 18 to look for better offers for the iShares exchange-traded fund business and related units under the terms of the agreement with CVC, a London-based buyout firm. BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Laurence Fink said on an April 21 conference call that he’d be interested in expanding the firm’s position in retail mutual funds through acquisitions. <br /><br />“Barclays deliberately structured the deal with a go-shop clause” to attract additional bidders, Simon Maughan, an analyst at MF Global Securities Ltd. in London, who has a “neutral” rating on Barclays stock, said on May 11. <br /><br />Officials at San Francisco-based BGI, New York-based BlackRock and BNY Mellon declined to comment. The Financial Times, which reported the talks earlier, said BGI may sell for about $10 billion.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ae7Su7ggPNgw&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-4188372888721696622009-05-14T21:44:00.001-07:002009-05-14T21:44:38.701-07:00Asian Stocks Advance on Sony Forecast, Bank Borrowing Costs(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks climbed, paring the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s first weekly decline in three weeks, after Sony Corp. forecast a smaller loss than analysts expected and bank borrowing costs plunged. <br /><br />Sony, the world’s No. 2 maker of consumer electronics, jumped 5.8 percent after the company said it will close factories as part of restructuring efforts. HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest lender by market value, rose 2.8 percent as the London interbank offer rate slumped. Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest property insurer, gained 4.8 percent after a person familiar with the matter said six U.S. insurers will receive government bailout funds. <br /><br />“Optimism lifts the market, and the gain in equities further lifts optimism,” said Kiyoshi Ishigane, a senior strategist a Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $61 billion in Tokyo. “Like a drunkard waking up with a hangover, investors will eventually be hit with the reality that things haven’t improved overnight.” <br /><br />The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.8 percent to 96.97 as of 12:38 p.m. in Tokyo. It declined 1 percent this week as the most expensive valuations since 2004 raised concern a two-month stock rally had outpaced earnings prospects. <br /><br />Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1.7 percent to 9,249.48. All markets in Asia rose except China. <br /><br />Tokyo Electron Ltd. climbed 6.1 percent after saying orders for semiconductor equipment will rise this quarter. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, surged 8 percent in Sydney after saying it remains committed to a $19.5 billion investment from Aluminum Corp. of China. Singapore Airlines Ltd., the world’s second-biggest carrier by market value, gained 2.1 percent on plans to spin off a unit. <br /><br />Sony Earnings <br /><br />Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent. The benchmark rose 1 percent yesterday, snapping a three-day losing streak, as declining funding costs boosted bank shares. CA Inc., the world’s second-largest maker of software for mainframe computers, led gains by technology companies after reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates. <br /><br />Through yesterday, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 35 percent from a five-year low on March 9 amid speculation the worst of the financial crisis had passed. Shares on the gauge are valued at 32 times trailing earnings, the highest level since 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. <br /><br />Sony jumped 5.8 percent to 2,540. The company forecast yesterday it will post a 110 billion yen ($1.1 billion) operating loss this year, better than the median 135.6 billion yen loss estimate in a Bloomberg survey of nine analysts. <br /><br />The company also said it will close a further five factories in addition to three that have already been announced as part of the company’s restructuring plan. <br /><br />Borrowing Costs <br /><br />Hitoshi Kuriyama, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co., lifted his price target on Sony by 200 yen to 2,800 because the company “is making steady progress with structural changes and ramping up new business models,” according to a report. <br /><br />Tokyo Electron, the world’s second-largest supplier of semiconductor production equipment, rallied 6.1 percent to 4,330 yen after saying orders are likely to rise this quarter. <br /><br />HSBC jumped 2.8 percent to HK$3.33 on optimism central bank efforts to unlock credit markets are bearing fruit. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s biggest publicly traded lender by value, added 3.2 percent to 607 yen. Tokio Marine gained 4.8 percent to 2,945 yen. <br /><br />Libor for three-month dollar-denominated loans fell almost three basis points to 0.85 percent yesterday, according to the British Bankers’ Association. <br /><br />The rate surged as high as 4.8 percent in October in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as banks became reluctant to lend to each other amid collapsing financial markets. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0dX9VydqPxg&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-4199746299860059912009-05-14T21:43:00.001-07:002009-05-14T21:43:59.814-07:00Singapore’s Temasek Sells Stake in Bank of America(Bloomberg) -- Temasek Holdings Pte, a Singapore state-owned investment company that bought stakes in Merrill Lynch & Co. and Barclays Plc amid the global financial crisis, sold its stake in Bank of America Corp. <br /><br />Temasek received shares in Bank of America after the biggest U.S. bank by assets bought Merrill Lynch this year. The investment company had paid about $5.9 billion for a 14 percent stake in Merrill Lynch since December 2007, which was converted into Bank of America stock following the completion of the acquisition. <br /><br />“We have divested our shares in Bank of America,” Temasek said in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg News queries. The company declined to say how much it sold the stake for or when the sale was conducted. <br /><br />Temasek had 31 percent wiped from the value of its global portfolio in the eight months through November amid the slump in financial markets. The company had sold assets including power generators and Singapore Food Industries Ltd. over the past year while increasing its investments in companies such as CapitaLand Ltd. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. through rights offers. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aUY063JtjfFI&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-73413328327108741452009-05-13T21:14:00.000-07:002009-05-13T21:15:08.123-07:00JPMorgan’s China Chairman Charles Li Said to Quit After 6 Years(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. China Chairman Charles Li is leaving after six years with the New York-based firm, two people with knowledge of the matter said. <br /><br />Li, 48, will quit the investment banking industry and take up a senior position with a Hong Kong company, the people said, asking not to be identified before an announcement is made. He plans to leave around September, one of the people said. <br /><br />Local newspaper Ming Pao today reported Li is the preferred candidate to replace Paul Chow as chief executive officer of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., operator of Asia’s third-largest stock market, citing unidentified people. <br /><br />Marie Cheung, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman at JPMorgan, declined to comment. Hong Kong Exchanges spokeswoman Lorraine Chan declined to comment on the Ming Pao report. The bourse is in the “final stage” of choosing a new CEO, she said. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acp4ciXDvwsg&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-40262039541159542232009-05-13T21:13:00.000-07:002009-05-13T21:14:01.129-07:00Mitsubishi UFJ Purchase of Citigroup Bank Unit Said to Falter(Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. may back out of an agreement to buy a Citigroup Inc. banking unit after failing to purchase other Japanese assets from the U.S. bank, two people with knowledge of the matter said. <br /><br />Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp., a unit of Japan’s biggest lender, may scrap the commitment it made in December to buy NikkoCiti Trust & Banking Corp. for 25 billion yen ($262 million), said the people, who declined to be identified as they haven’t been authorized to discuss the matter publicly. <br /><br />Citigroup, the recipient of a $52 billion U.S. government bailout, is auctioning off assets to raise capital and agreed to sell its Japanese retail brokerage and parts of its investment bank to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. for 545 billion yen this month. The New York-based bank is also seeking bidders for its local asset-management unit, four people familiar with matter said last month.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEIqwT32xZ.o&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-45848937114462975482009-05-13T21:12:00.001-07:002009-05-13T21:12:35.193-07:00Wolfensohn Says ‘No Quick Fix’ for Global Economic Slowdown(Bloomberg) -- The global economy will likely stay mired in a protracted slowdown, said James Wolfensohn, former World Bank President and chairman of Citigroup Inc.’s international advisory board. <br /><br />“The debate will continue on whether it’s going to be a V, U or L-shaped recession,” Wolfensohn, who left the World Bank in 2005, said at a forum in Shanghai yesterday evening. “My own judgment is that it’s more likely the latter. I don’t believe we’ll get a quick fix any time soon.” <br /><br />Wolfensohn’s views echo those of Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, who said this week in Shanghai he considered a V-shaped recession “extremely unlikely.” Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped in April for a second month, according to the Commerce Department yesterday, indicating that rising unemployment is prompting consumers to conserve cash. <br /><br />Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the financial crisis, said last week that analysts expecting the U.S. economy to rebound in the third and fourth quarter were “too optimistic.” He estimated a total of $3.6 trillion of loan and securities losses in the U.S. <br /><br />Losses “won’t go as far as” Roubini’s estimates, said Wolfensohn, who was giving a talk in a restored building on Shanghai’s historic Bund. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aaMHuN38EXXI&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-79968655890281656852009-05-12T21:28:00.002-07:002009-05-12T21:29:08.409-07:00Citigroup’s Primerica Is Said to Seek Bids for Marketing Arm(Bloomberg) -- Executives at Citigroup Inc.’s Primerica Financial Services unit have approached private-equity firms including J.C. Flowers & Co., Blackstone Group LP, and TPG Inc. to gauge their interest in buying the division’s 100,000- person sales arm, said four people familiar with the matter. <br /><br />The executives started the talks after Citigroup failed to find a buyer for the entire life insurance company in the past year, said the people, declining to be identified because the talks aren’t public. Citigroup, the recipient of a $52 billion government bailout, hasn’t endorsed the plan, the people said. <br /><br />Citigroup canceled Primerica’s annual sales convention and a trip to the Bahamas for top agents after the government rescue last year. Primerica is part of Citi Holdings, created by Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit to house “non- core” units that he wants to eventually sell or wind down as he undoes the legacy of former CEO Sanford “Sandy” Weill. <br /><br />Citigroup spokesman Stephen Cohen declined to comment. Blackstone and TPG declined to comment through spokespeople, and J. Christopher Flowers, founder of the private equity firm that bears his name, didn’t return a call seeking comment. Primerica’s co-CEOs, John Addison and Rick Williams, declined to comment through spokesman Mark Supic. <br /><br />Addison told employees in January that he planned to remove any reference to the parent company on Duluth, Georgia-based Primerica’s business cards, brochures, and marketing materials. <br /><br />New Insurer <br /><br />In one plan under discussion, the marketing arm would split from Citigroup and start selling policies backed by a new insurer, while Citigroup would retain assets and liabilities from Primerica policies that have already been sold, two of the people said. A transaction wouldn’t yield Citigroup much cash because there are few tangible assets associated with the marketing arm, they said. <br /><br />Founded in 1977 by Arthur L. Williams, Primerica sells life insurance and investment products such as mutual funds through a mostly part-time sales force of independent agents. Weill’s Commercial Credit Corp. took control of the firm in 1988, using it as a platform to assemble the financial-services titan eventually known as Citigroup. <br /><br />The division had $2.2 billion of sales last year and net income of $355 million, according to a fact sheet provided by the company. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aA1BzhzHy8e0&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-12221137789262697862009-05-12T21:28:00.001-07:002009-05-12T21:28:33.420-07:00Fed Views Jump in Treasury Yields as Sign of Better Outlook(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve considers the recent jump in Treasury yields more as a reflection of a better economic outlook than a signal it needs to step up purchases of U.S. government debt, according to central bank officials who declined to be identified. <br /><br />It’s too early to judge the effectiveness of the Fed’s $300 billion plan to buy Treasuries even after 10-year yields climbed 0.65 percentage point since the initiative began in March, the officials said. They added that the goal is to stimulate private lending, rather than to target government- bond rates. <br /><br />The Fed officials’ stance contradicts the view of firms including BlackRock Inc. that have predicted the rise in yields will prompt the central bank to announce an increase in the size of the program as soon as next month. <br /><br />“It would be very different if the economy still appeared to be in freefall and yields were backing up, but it’s not,” said John Ryding, founder of RDQ Economics LLC in New York and a former Fed researcher. Increasing Treasury purchases would “fight against what is in my opinion a recovery signal, or a signal that the recession is drawing to a close.” <br /><br />Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said May 11 that the danger of deflation, or prolonged declines in consumer prices, is “receding” and earlier this month cited evidence the economy’s contraction is easing. The Treasuries market, along with stocks and some commodities, have reflected those shifts. <br /><br />Inflation Expectations <br /><br />Ten-year note yields closed at 3.18 percent late yesterday, up from as low as 2.46 percent after the March 18 announcement of the plan to buy long-term government debt. The gap in yields between the notes and 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, a gauge of the inflation rate expected by investors, hit a seven-month high of 1.64 percentage points last week. <br /><br />The Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index closed at 908.35 yesterday in New York, up 21 percent from two months before. Crude-oil futures reached $60.08 yesterday, the highest level since November. <br /><br />Fed policy makers committed to buy as much as $300 billion of Treasuries over a six-month period in their March 18 Open Market Committee statement. The aim was “to help improve conditions in private credit markets,” the FOMC said. <br /><br />“The statement is pretty clear,” Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, who was the first FOMC member to vote for buying Treasuries this year, told reporters May 8. “It doesn’t say anything about a U.S. Treasury yield” as a target, he said after a Washington speech. “I would urge people to take it at face value.” <br /><br />Fed’s Campaign <br /><br />The Fed has bought $101.7 billion under the initiative so far, part of its campaign to cut borrowing costs by purchasing assets with the benchmark interest rate near zero. Policy makers in March also decided to boost purchases of mortgage securities this year to $1.25 trillion from $500 billion and buy $200 billion, double the previous amount, of federal agency debt. <br /><br />Stuart Spodek, BlackRock’s co-head of U.S. bonds in New York, said in an interview last week the Fed “needs to consider increasing its purchases of Treasuries” to “stabilize” long-term yields. He told Bloomberg Television May 11 officials may announce an increase as soon as the June 23-24 meeting. Spokeswoman Melissa Garville declined to comment further. <br /><br />Another fund manager, James Platz of Mountain View, California-based American Century Investments, expects the Fed to announce further purchases “at some point.” <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJnfutPdQJhc&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-47018158932471883992009-05-12T21:27:00.001-07:002009-05-12T21:27:57.743-07:00China’s Factory Output Grows Less-Than-Estimated 7.3%(Bloomberg) -- China’s industrial production grew less than economists estimated in April as electricity output fell and exports tumbled. Retail sales climbed. <br /><br />Output rose 7.3 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today, after gaining 8.3 percent in March. That was less than the 8.6 percent median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Retail sales grew 14.8 percent from a year earlier. <br /><br />The data adds to evidence that a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus plan is buoying domestic growth, while the global recession takes a toll on exports and related industries. Urban fixed-asset investment grew a more-than-expected 30.5 percent in the first four months of this year, while an export slump deepened in April, reports showed yesterday. <br /><br />“The recovery is still quite fragile -- exports are still very weak,” said Isaac Meng,’’ a senior economist at BNP Paribas SA in Beijing. <br /><br />Retail sales grew more than the economists’ median estimate of 14.5 percent, after climbing 14.7 percent in March. <br /><br />The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7 percent as of 10:53 a.m. local time. The yuan traded at 6.8224 against the dollar, from 6.8226 before the data was released. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arYk5xkcv_60&refer=home">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468151565464884457.post-62776663582407278312009-05-11T22:01:00.002-07:002009-05-11T22:02:26.743-07:00Kohn had Board backing for NY Fed waiver: official(Reuters) - A waiver granted by Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn that allowed the chairman of the New York Fed's board of governors to stay in his job had the full backing of the Fed's Board of governors, including Chairman Ben Bernanke, a Fed official said on Monday.<br /><br />The controversial waiver allowed Stephen Friedman to stay in his job as chairman of the board of governors of the New York Federal Reserve despite owning shares in Goldman Sachs (GS.N) ,which the Fed began regulating in September.<br /><br />Friedman, a retired chairman of Goldman Sachs, resigned last week after it was reported in The Wall Street Journal that he had bought more Goldman shares.<br /><br />The Wall Street Journal called in an editorial on Monday for Kohn's resignation, and said he had shown a tin political ear by allowing Friedman to stay at the New York Fed.<br /><br />Goldman converted into a bank holding company last September in order to secure access to Federal Reserve lending facilities.<br /><br />The U.S. central bank is comprised of a seven-member Board of Governors in Washington, and 12 regional Fed banks.<br /><br />The Board of Governors selects some of the directors on the boards of each regional Fed, including Friedman, and these directors are banned from owning shares in Fed-regulated banks.<br /><br />The Fed official said that it was unfair to single out Kohn, who had fully consulted with his board colleagues, including Bernanke, before the waiver was granted on January 21. It fell to Kohn because he heads up the committee on Federal Reserve bank affairs.<br /><br />In addition, the Board of Governors in January voted to confirm Friedman as New York Fed chairman, the official said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE54B0FR20090512">Read more here</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-0021639428589566";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
google_ad_format = "728x90_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//2007-01-07: Normal Blog
google_ad_channel = "0839699958";
//--></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Corne'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05816045260396984179noreply@blogger.com0