Bloomberg:
- Spanish Bonds Fall on Economy Concern; Bunds Yield Record Low. Spanish bonds fell and the extra yield investors demand for holding Greek debt instead of German bunds rose to the most since May on concern flagging growth in nations on Europe’s periphery will crimp the region’s recovery. The yield on the Spanish 10-year bond climbed six basis points to 4.27 percent as of 4:20 p.m. in London. The extra yield, or spread, investors demand to hold Greek 10-year securities instead of equivalent-maturity German debt, Europe’s benchmark, rose 13 basis points to 810 basis points. That’s the most since May 7, before the European Union announced a 750 billion-euro financial backstop for the region’s most indebted nations. The yield on the bund fell three basis points to 2.39 percent, after earlier sliding to 2.37 percent, the lowest since Bloomberg began compiling this data in 1989. “The divergence suggests this is a two-speed economy, and that raises questions about sustainability of German economic growth going forward,” said Orlando Green, a fixed-income strategist at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in London. The drag from “austerity measures will kick in at some point. Rates in the core bond market should remain subdued.”
- Corn, Soybean Futures Rise as Heat May Cut Yields in U.S. Corn and soybeans rose on speculation that a heat wave in the U.S. will cut yields of crops projected to be the biggest ever. Corn futures for December delivery rose 6.75 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $4.285 a bushel at 10:32 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, heading for a third straight weekly gain. Before today, the commodity advanced 23 percent since June 29, the day before the government said farmers planted less this year than they had planned. Soybean futures for November delivery climbed 12.75 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $10.4125 a bushel in Chicago. The most-active contract was up 0.8 percent for the week, after rising 5.2 percent the prior two weeks.
- Washington Post Shorts at 19-Year Highs as Bears Take on Buffett. Bets against shares of Washington Post Co. have increased to the highest level since at least 1991, as the federal government considers rules that could reduce revenue at its Kaplan education unit. Short interest in Post Co. rose to 386,917 shares as of July 30, up nearly three-fold this year, according to New York Stock Exchange data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s the highest level since September 1991, the earliest data in Bloomberg’s database.
- Blackstone(BX) to Buy Dynegy for More Than $540 Million. agreed to acquire Blackstone Group LPDynegy Inc., the Texas power producer that lost 94 percent of its market value in the past three years, for more than $540 million.
- Heebner Fund Exits Investment Banks, Mining Companies. Kenneth Heebner’s Capital Growth Management LP sold stakes in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley and exited its biggest mining holdings during the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing. The firm, based in Boston, sold miners Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc., Teck Resources Ltd. and Cliff Natural Resources Inc. during the quarter, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. The firm’s biggest new purchase was 5.2 million shares of SanDisk Corp., the largest maker of flash-memory cards for digital cameras and phone.
- Hoenig Says Fed Zero-Rate Policy Fans Recovery Doubts. The Federal Reserve’s commitment to keep its target interest rate near zero may backfire by fanning doubts the recovery can be sustained, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig said. “If in an attempt to add further fuel to the recovery, a zero interest rate is continued, it is as likely to be a negative as a positive in that it brings its own unintended consequences and uncertainty,” Hoenig said today in a speech in Lincoln, Nebraska. Keeping the rate after a year of expansion “gives legitimacy to questions about the sustainability of growth.”
- Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Plant to Start Up Aug. 21. Iran’s first nuclear power plant will start operating Aug. 21, with electricity generation to begin “several months later,” said Rosatom Corp., the Russian state nuclear holding company building the facility. “On the 21st, nuclear fuel will be delivered to the reactor storage facility and from that moment on the plant can be certified as a nuclear power installation,” Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov said by phone in Moscow.
- PayPal Said to Talk With Google(GOOG) About Handling Android Payments.
Wall Street Journal:
- Rosenberg: Odds of Double Dip Higher Than 50/50.
- Stabbing-Spree Suspect Agrees to Return to Michigan. The suspect in a three-state stabbing spree that left five people dead and 13 others wounded agreed Friday to return to Michigan to face charges in one of the attacks. Elias Abuelazam, 33, was arrested Wednesday night in Atlanta before a flight to Israel, his native country, and charged with attempted murder in a July 27 knife strike in Flint that put the victim in a hospital for a week.
- Would Cutting Corporate Taxes Jumpstart US Economy?
- Stolen Innocence: Theft of Children's Identity Rising.
- China to Build State-Run Search Engine. In an apparent bid to extend its control over the Internet and cash in on the rapid growth of mobile devices, plans to create its own government-controlled search engine. The new venture would be fresh competition for , a private company that runs China’s dominant search engine. Baidu has seen its market share grow since retreated from the mainland earlier this year.
Zero Hedge:
LA Times:
- News Corp.(NWS) Plans National Newspaper for Tablet Computers and Cellphones. It's the latest bid by a major media company to build readership using new devices such as the iPad. The new publication would offer short, snappy stories and operate under the auspices of the New York Post.
- Greene Indicted on Porn Charge. South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Alvin Greene was indicted Friday on felony charges of showing pornography to a college student. Greene, an unemployed 32-year-old military veteran, had refused to discuss the charges, which surfaced after he was the surprise winner of the state’s June Democratic primary over better-known Charleston City Councilman Vic Rawl.
Reuters:
- Hedge Funds Short Banks After Stress Tests, Results. Hedge funds have started shorting bank stocks again on concerns last month's stress tests were too weak and failed to reveal underlying problems, although many are cautious of taking big bets in such choppy markets. A wave of what some commentators have seen as good news, including a bumper earnings season, an easing of capital reforms and relatively few failures of the high-profile stress tests, have lifted banks' shares, creating an opportunity for short-sellers betting prices will fall. "Some funds have started to put on shorts again after the strong rally," said Ken Kinsey-Quick, who runs funds of hedge funds at Thames River Capital. "(Managers believe that) until they (the banks) come clean they'll be hugely volatile and remain sick for years to come. They're still sitting with a lot of loans that are not performing." Hedge fund Noster Capital has begun shorting five European banks -- Barclays (BARC.L), UBS (UBSN.VX), Intesa SanPaolo (ISP.MI), UBI (UBI.MI) and BBVA (BBVA.MC). Manager Pedro de Noronha criticized the tests for ignoring sovereign debt that banks hold to maturity.
- US Economic Growth Gauge Rises to 9-Week High - ECRI.
Cinco Dias:
- Spain may implement additional austerity measures if it fails to meet its budget deficit targets, citing Deputy Finance Minister Jose Manuel Campa.
- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said in Beijing today that measures to tackle property speculation will be kept in place. The supply of affordable housing should be sped up, he said.
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