(Reuters) - Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne plans to take the top spot at Chrysler LLC after the automaker emerges from bankruptcy, he told Bloomberg in an interview on Wednesday.
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009
House panel to ask BofA CEO to testify: report
(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's (BAC.N) chief executive and top federal officials will be asked by a Congressional panel to testify next month about claims that the bank was pressured by the government to complete its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the investigation.
Investigators with the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform spent the last week looking at documents and notes from telephone conversations involving Federal Reserve officials, the Journal reported the person as saying.
Their findings suggest "there's fire there," the newspaper quoted the source as saying.
The panel is chaired by New York Democrat Edolphus Towns, who could not be immediately reached for comment. A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment
Lawmakers on the House panel have not yet determined which U.S. officials will be called to testify under oath, the person familiar with the investigation told the Journal.
Top Treasury and Fed officials could be called to appear under oath, according to the Journal, citing the person familiar with the investigation.
The probe could touch a number of prominent government officials. In addition to former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, top aides for each could also face scrutiny as part of the investigation, the newspaper said on its website.
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Investigators with the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform spent the last week looking at documents and notes from telephone conversations involving Federal Reserve officials, the Journal reported the person as saying.
Their findings suggest "there's fire there," the newspaper quoted the source as saying.
The panel is chaired by New York Democrat Edolphus Towns, who could not be immediately reached for comment. A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment
Lawmakers on the House panel have not yet determined which U.S. officials will be called to testify under oath, the person familiar with the investigation told the Journal.
Top Treasury and Fed officials could be called to appear under oath, according to the Journal, citing the person familiar with the investigation.
The probe could touch a number of prominent government officials. In addition to former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, top aides for each could also face scrutiny as part of the investigation, the newspaper said on its website.
Raed more here
S.Africa banks stable but households a risk: c.bank
(Reuters) - South African banks remain well capitalised and stable despite a recent deterioration but high levels of household debt pose a potential threat to the financial system, the central bank said on Wednesday.
The Reserve Bank said in its latest Financial Stability Review local banks had been largely protected against the direct effects of the global financial crisis.
However, spill-over effects from the global turmoil had hit the local stock market, portfolio investment flows had reversed and bad loans had increased over recent months.
"South African banks maintained levels of capital well in excess of the already prudent regulatory environment, and their degree of leverage as well as off-balance sheet risk exposures were much lower than those of the failed banks of other countries," it said in the twice-yearly report.
South Africa's banks have avoided the worst of the international credit crunch, partly due to exchange controls that limited outside exposure, and fairly conservative lending practices.
The downturn has hit the broader economy, though, knocking manufacturers and miners, with the economy likely to already be in its first recession in 17 years.
The central bank has responded by cutting its repo rate by 350 basis points to 8.5 percent since December to try and boost growth and the government and its utilities are to spend 787 billion rand over the next three years on infrastructure.
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The Reserve Bank said in its latest Financial Stability Review local banks had been largely protected against the direct effects of the global financial crisis.
However, spill-over effects from the global turmoil had hit the local stock market, portfolio investment flows had reversed and bad loans had increased over recent months.
"South African banks maintained levels of capital well in excess of the already prudent regulatory environment, and their degree of leverage as well as off-balance sheet risk exposures were much lower than those of the failed banks of other countries," it said in the twice-yearly report.
South Africa's banks have avoided the worst of the international credit crunch, partly due to exchange controls that limited outside exposure, and fairly conservative lending practices.
The downturn has hit the broader economy, though, knocking manufacturers and miners, with the economy likely to already be in its first recession in 17 years.
The central bank has responded by cutting its repo rate by 350 basis points to 8.5 percent since December to try and boost growth and the government and its utilities are to spend 787 billion rand over the next three years on infrastructure.
Read more here
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Porsche, Piech Families Said to Discuss Volkswagen Combination
(Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE’s controlling shareholders, the Porsche and Piech families, plan to meet in Salzburg, Austria today to hash out how to combine the sports-car maker with Volkswagen AG and reduce 9 billion euros ($12 billion) of debt, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The proposals under consideration include merging the carmakers and finding an investor to buy a stake in the combined company or selling the Porsche AG automotive unit to Volkswagen in return for cash and shares, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private.
“Structural changes in Porsche’s makeup are inevitable,” said Marc-Rene Tonn, an analyst at M.M. Warburg in Hamburg. “No one at the Porsche-Piech families is under any illusions about the size of the debt.”
The Porsche and Piech families together control half of Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche, which has accumulated 51 percent of Volkswagen since 2005 to protect ties to the company, its largest supplier. Porsche Supervisory Board Chairman Wolfgang Porsche has struggled to raise financing to increase the stake to 75 percent and is at loggerheads with Ferdinand Piech, his counterpart at Volkswagen, about how to unite the companies.
Volkswagen spokesman Michael Brendel and Porsche spokesman Frank Gaube declined to comment on the meeting.
The Porsche and Piech families failed to reach an agreement on how to lower Porsche’s debt and combine the automakers at a gathering on April 29, one person said. Hans Michel Piech, Hans- Peter Porsche and Oliver Porsche may join Ferdinand Piech and Wolfgang Porsche at today’s meeting, the person said.
Arab Investors
Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking is pushing a proposal to merge the two carmakers and allow Arab investors to bid for a stake, a person said. The plan may also require members of the Porsche and Piech families to acquire new preferred shares, the person said.
On the other hand, Volkswagen Supervisory Board Chairman Ferdinand Piech wants to transfer Porsche’s car unit to VW, a plan opposed by Wolfgang Porsche, according to the person.
Porsche, the maker of the 911 sports car, has been in talks for weeks with Arab investors including Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the person said.
Qatar may invest in German carmakers, Qatar News Agency reported on April 28, citing Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber al-Thani. Meetings have been held on the subject, though a decision hasn’t been made, he told QNA. A press officer for the prime minister didn’t respond to calls seeking comment yesterday.
Read more here
The proposals under consideration include merging the carmakers and finding an investor to buy a stake in the combined company or selling the Porsche AG automotive unit to Volkswagen in return for cash and shares, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private.
“Structural changes in Porsche’s makeup are inevitable,” said Marc-Rene Tonn, an analyst at M.M. Warburg in Hamburg. “No one at the Porsche-Piech families is under any illusions about the size of the debt.”
The Porsche and Piech families together control half of Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche, which has accumulated 51 percent of Volkswagen since 2005 to protect ties to the company, its largest supplier. Porsche Supervisory Board Chairman Wolfgang Porsche has struggled to raise financing to increase the stake to 75 percent and is at loggerheads with Ferdinand Piech, his counterpart at Volkswagen, about how to unite the companies.
Volkswagen spokesman Michael Brendel and Porsche spokesman Frank Gaube declined to comment on the meeting.
The Porsche and Piech families failed to reach an agreement on how to lower Porsche’s debt and combine the automakers at a gathering on April 29, one person said. Hans Michel Piech, Hans- Peter Porsche and Oliver Porsche may join Ferdinand Piech and Wolfgang Porsche at today’s meeting, the person said.
Arab Investors
Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking is pushing a proposal to merge the two carmakers and allow Arab investors to bid for a stake, a person said. The plan may also require members of the Porsche and Piech families to acquire new preferred shares, the person said.
On the other hand, Volkswagen Supervisory Board Chairman Ferdinand Piech wants to transfer Porsche’s car unit to VW, a plan opposed by Wolfgang Porsche, according to the person.
Porsche, the maker of the 911 sports car, has been in talks for weeks with Arab investors including Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the person said.
Qatar may invest in German carmakers, Qatar News Agency reported on April 28, citing Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber al-Thani. Meetings have been held on the subject, though a decision hasn’t been made, he told QNA. A press officer for the prime minister didn’t respond to calls seeking comment yesterday.
Read more here
Monday, May 4, 2009
Banks may need more capital but AIG won't: reports
(MarketWatch) -- The U.S. government may order an estimated 10 banks to boost their capital levels, but beleaguered insurer American International Group Inc. won't need further help from Washington, according to media reports Monday, all citing unnamed sources.
U.S. officials are expected to direct about 10 of the 19 banks undergoing government stress tests to boost their capital, a move they hope will quell fears about the solvency of the financial sector, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The exact number of banks affected remains under discussion, the report said, though possible candidates for capital-raising could include Wells Fargo & Co. , Bank of America Corp. , Citigroup Inc. and several regional banks, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
At one point, officials believed as many as 14 banks would need to raise more funds to create a stronger buffer against future losses, the report said, but that number has fallen in recent days.
If multiple banks are being directed to boost their capital, that could make the process seem less daunting than if the government singled out a few companies as weak, the report said.
Meanwhile, several banks are expected to have shown themselves to hold enough capital to weather a worsening economy, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , it said.
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U.S. officials are expected to direct about 10 of the 19 banks undergoing government stress tests to boost their capital, a move they hope will quell fears about the solvency of the financial sector, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The exact number of banks affected remains under discussion, the report said, though possible candidates for capital-raising could include Wells Fargo & Co. , Bank of America Corp. , Citigroup Inc. and several regional banks, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
At one point, officials believed as many as 14 banks would need to raise more funds to create a stronger buffer against future losses, the report said, but that number has fallen in recent days.
If multiple banks are being directed to boost their capital, that could make the process seem less daunting than if the government singled out a few companies as weak, the report said.
Meanwhile, several banks are expected to have shown themselves to hold enough capital to weather a worsening economy, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , it said.
Read more here
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Buffett: Berkshire looking to deal
Berkshire Hathaway is ready to make a deal at the right price, but it has nothing in its shopping cart right now, CEO Warren Buffett said Sunday.
Buffett, the billionaire investor who runs the conglomerate, said Berkshire has $20 billion in cash and is "perfectly willing to make a deal that's compelling" should one arise. The comments come after Berkshire spent the second half of 2008 scooping up assets at reduced prices as a result of last fall's financial panic.
Neither Buffett nor Vice Chairman Charlie Munger would specify any industries or geographic regions where Berkshire might be particularly inclined to do a deal. Both said the company isn't currently planning to issue new shares or bonds to pay for a big acquisition.
The comments come as Berkshire wrapped up its annual shareholder meeting, which Buffett and Munger spent explaining the company's performance last year and how they see its prospects for coming years. Both said they expect the troubles that laid the markets low last year to pay off for Berkshire shareholders in the future.
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Buffett, the billionaire investor who runs the conglomerate, said Berkshire has $20 billion in cash and is "perfectly willing to make a deal that's compelling" should one arise. The comments come after Berkshire spent the second half of 2008 scooping up assets at reduced prices as a result of last fall's financial panic.
Neither Buffett nor Vice Chairman Charlie Munger would specify any industries or geographic regions where Berkshire might be particularly inclined to do a deal. Both said the company isn't currently planning to issue new shares or bonds to pay for a big acquisition.
The comments come as Berkshire wrapped up its annual shareholder meeting, which Buffett and Munger spent explaining the company's performance last year and how they see its prospects for coming years. Both said they expect the troubles that laid the markets low last year to pay off for Berkshire shareholders in the future.
Read more here
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Berkshire’s 31% Decline Spurred by Derivatives Buffett Derided
(Bloomberg) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders have a chance this year to do something that’s rare among the Sage of Omaha’s followers: count their losses.
Despite Berkshire’s reputation as a bear market bulwark, its stock has been walloped. The Class A shares are down 31 percent since September, to $90,000 as of yesterday, exceeding the 26 percent drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
One reason: Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett’s increasing use of derivatives -- contracts whose value is based on the performance of stocks or bonds or the outcome of a specific event. That Buffett once called derivatives “time bombs” doesn’t calm investors.
Berkshire held contracts with a combined notional value of $67.3 billion at year-end. While this figure is used mostly for reporting purposes and isn’t indicative of potential losses, it dwarfs the company’s $25.5 billion in cash.
Buffett himself has warned of an increasing possibility he might have a loss from one type of contract on Berkshire’s books. Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service have lowered their credit ratings on Berkshire, partly because of the derivatives.
“People have become uncomfortable with financial investments that they don’t understand, especially anything related to derivatives,” says Charles Bobrinskoy, a manager at Ariel Investments LLC in Chicago.
Equity Index Puts
Berkshire’s derivatives fall into four categories. Because they carry the greatest notional value, at $37.1 billion, most attention is on put options that Buffett sold on stock indexes in the U.S., U.K., euro zone and Japan that expire from September 2019 to January 2028. Berkshire has to pay at expiration if any of the indexes are lower than they were when the puts were written.
While analysis of these bets shows big losses are unlikely, Buffett, 78, hasn’t provided sufficient information on the derivatives to keep some investors from hitting the sell button. Bobrinskoy says he hasn’t been scared away: Of the $250 million he co-manages at Ariel, 5.6 percent was invested in Berkshire as of March 31.
To lose the full $37.1 billion on the equity puts, the indexes would have to fall to zero -- an unlikely event. Berkshire received $4.9 billion in premiums, which together with what the company earns on it, may offset any eventual payments.
Market Scenarios
Citigroup Inc. analyst Joshua Shanker in a March 16 report examined several scenarios to gauge the likelihood of Buffett’s losing money on the puts. Using the S&P 500 as a proxy for all the indexes and assuming a 5 percent annualized return on the premium, the market would have to suffer a cumulative decline of at least 32 percent across the 15- to 20-year life of the contracts for the seller to lose money. In the U.S. market back to 1800, the only way to do that would be to start the bet just prior to the 1929 crash.
Some economists compare today with the Great Depression, and some of the puts may have been written near the U.S. market’s all-time high in late 2007, according to information Buffett has disclosed. The S&P 500 in March was down 57 percent from its peak.
With that in mind, Shanker looked at scenarios that begin with a 50 percent drop in the S&P 500. From that nadir, if the index rose 6 percent annualized over 14 years, Buffett still would not owe any money when the puts expire -- even without consideration of the $4.9 billion in premiums.
Read more here
Despite Berkshire’s reputation as a bear market bulwark, its stock has been walloped. The Class A shares are down 31 percent since September, to $90,000 as of yesterday, exceeding the 26 percent drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
One reason: Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett’s increasing use of derivatives -- contracts whose value is based on the performance of stocks or bonds or the outcome of a specific event. That Buffett once called derivatives “time bombs” doesn’t calm investors.
Berkshire held contracts with a combined notional value of $67.3 billion at year-end. While this figure is used mostly for reporting purposes and isn’t indicative of potential losses, it dwarfs the company’s $25.5 billion in cash.
Buffett himself has warned of an increasing possibility he might have a loss from one type of contract on Berkshire’s books. Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service have lowered their credit ratings on Berkshire, partly because of the derivatives.
“People have become uncomfortable with financial investments that they don’t understand, especially anything related to derivatives,” says Charles Bobrinskoy, a manager at Ariel Investments LLC in Chicago.
Equity Index Puts
Berkshire’s derivatives fall into four categories. Because they carry the greatest notional value, at $37.1 billion, most attention is on put options that Buffett sold on stock indexes in the U.S., U.K., euro zone and Japan that expire from September 2019 to January 2028. Berkshire has to pay at expiration if any of the indexes are lower than they were when the puts were written.
While analysis of these bets shows big losses are unlikely, Buffett, 78, hasn’t provided sufficient information on the derivatives to keep some investors from hitting the sell button. Bobrinskoy says he hasn’t been scared away: Of the $250 million he co-manages at Ariel, 5.6 percent was invested in Berkshire as of March 31.
To lose the full $37.1 billion on the equity puts, the indexes would have to fall to zero -- an unlikely event. Berkshire received $4.9 billion in premiums, which together with what the company earns on it, may offset any eventual payments.
Market Scenarios
Citigroup Inc. analyst Joshua Shanker in a March 16 report examined several scenarios to gauge the likelihood of Buffett’s losing money on the puts. Using the S&P 500 as a proxy for all the indexes and assuming a 5 percent annualized return on the premium, the market would have to suffer a cumulative decline of at least 32 percent across the 15- to 20-year life of the contracts for the seller to lose money. In the U.S. market back to 1800, the only way to do that would be to start the bet just prior to the 1929 crash.
Some economists compare today with the Great Depression, and some of the puts may have been written near the U.S. market’s all-time high in late 2007, according to information Buffett has disclosed. The S&P 500 in March was down 57 percent from its peak.
With that in mind, Shanker looked at scenarios that begin with a 50 percent drop in the S&P 500. From that nadir, if the index rose 6 percent annualized over 14 years, Buffett still would not owe any money when the puts expire -- even without consideration of the $4.9 billion in premiums.
Read more here
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