Monday, December 03, 2012

Today's Headlines

Posted by Gary .....at 3:28 PM
Bloomberg: 
  • Euro-Area Manufacturing Contracts for 16th Straight Month. Euro-area manufacturing output contracted for a 16th month in November, adding to signs a recession in the currency bloc may extend into next year as leaders struggle to tackle the sovereign-debt crisis. A gauge of manufacturing in the 17-nation euro area rose to 46.2 from 45.4 in October, London-based Markit Economics said today. That’s in line with an initial estimate on Nov. 22. A reading below 50 indicates contraction. The euro-area economy has shrunk for two successive quarters and economists foresee a further decline in gross domestic product in the final three months of the year. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last week forecast contractions of 0.4 percent and 0.1 percent this year and next. “The ongoing steep pace of manufacturing decline suggests that the region’s recession will have deepened in the final quarter of the year, extending into a third successive quarter,” Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at Markit, said in the report. “The rate of GDP decline is likely to have gathered pace markedly on the surprisingly modest 0.1 percent decline seen in the third quarter. With euro-area unemployment at a record, economists project the region’s GDP will decrease 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median of 25 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
  • Greece Offers 10 Billion-Euro Debt Buyback to Unlock Aid. Greece offered 10 billion euros ($13 billion) to buy back bonds issued earlier this year as the bailed-out nation attempts to cut a debt load that may threaten future international aid. Greek bonds rallied after the so-called modified Dutch auction was announced today by the Athens-based Public Debt Management Agency. The prices offered for bonds maturing from 2023 to 2042 averaged 33.1 percent of face value, based on information in a statement from the debt agency today, higher than euro-area finance ministers indicated would be paid. The offer runs until 5 p.m. London time on Dec. 7. 
  • ECB Can’t Deliver Spain Spread Rajoy Wants, Wellink Says. Former European Central Bank policy maker Nout Wellink said Spain can’t realistically expect officials to narrow the bond spread with Germany to as little as 200 basis points, as he predicted “execution problems” with the ECB’s bond program. If Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy envisages “that the maximum difference with the Germans is 200 basis points, then he makes a mistake,” Wellink, the former Netherlands central bank governor who retired from the post in 2011, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Nov. 30. “Two hundred basis points seems to me too much” to hope for, he said.
  • Berlusconi Mulls Comeback as Italian Bonds Rally: Euro Credit. The four-month rally in Italian bonds risks stalling as former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ponders a comeback that will further shake up the political landscape before next year’s election. Berlusconi’s possible return, a month after he said he wouldn’t run, comes as the extra yield investors demand to hold Italian 30-year bonds instead of similar-maturity German bonds fell to the lowest since August 2011. The market signals investor confidence is returning after the European Central Bank offered a bond-buying backstop to defend the euro and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti implemented an economic overhaul to contain the region’s second-biggest debt.
  • China Stocks Drop to Lowest Since 2009 on Consumer Staples Rout. Chinese stocks fell, dragging the benchmark index to its lowest level in almost four years, as liquor makers and coal producers plunged. A gauge tracking consumer-staple companies sank the most in three years. Kweichow Moutai Co. (600519), the world’s second-largest distiller by market value, tumbled the most since 2008 on concern demand for high-end liquor is decreasing. Datong Coal Industry Co. dropped 4.1 percent after the benchmark price for thermal coal decreased. “The macroeconomic data may indicate that the economy is improving but people don’t feel that on the ground,” Li Guangming, an analyst at Dongxing Securities Co., said in a telephone interview from Beijing today. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) dropped 1 percent to 1,959.77 at the 3 p.m. local-time close, with about seven stocks declining for each that gained.
  • IMF Officially Endorses Capital Controls in Reversal. The International Monetary Fund endorsed nations’ use of capital control measures in certain circumstances, making official a shift in the works for almost three years that will guide the fund’s advice to member countries. In a reversal of its historic support for unrestricted flows of money across borders, the Washington-based IMF said controls can be useful when countries have little room for economic policies such as lowering interest rates or when surging capital inflows threaten financial stability. Still, it said the measures should be targeted, temporary and not discriminate between residents and non-residents. 
  • Obama's New Fiscal Cliff Ally: Your Local News Station. What I mean is that Obama’s greatest point of leverage over Republicans is public fear and anger that, if successfully directed against his opponents, will force them to accept a deal he likes. The media love stoking public fear and anger. Especially local television news.
Wall Street Journal:
MarketWatch.com:
CNBC:
  • One-Time Hedge Fund Wiz Faces Second Abysmal Year. One of the hedge funds run by John Paulson, whose prescient bets against housing where chronicled in the book "The Greatest Trade Ever," is on track to be the second worst performer of 2012 among the universe of funds tracked by HSBC. Last year, it was the worst. Paulson's Advantage Plus fund, which uses additional leverage than his other funds, is down 19 percent through the end of October, following a 53 percent loss last year. The fund bests just the Conquest Macro Fund, which is down 27 percent through the end of November. The firm's other flagship fund, the Paulson Advantage Fund, is down 13 percent this year, putting it among the top 10 losing funds in the HSBC universe this year as well.
  • Four Reasons Why Companies Are Still Reluctant to Hire. 
  • General Motors(GM) November Auto Sales Below Estimates Up 3.4%. General Motors sales fell short of estimates, rising up 3.4 percent in November. Ford Motor sales rose more than expected, up 6.5% in November. Chrysler Group and Hyundai Motor on Monday both reported strong U.S. new-vehicle sales in November, as the industry rebounded from a storm-ravaged October while also benefiting from pent-up demand.
  • Morici: Soaking the Rich Won’t Solve Much.
Reuters:
  • Singapore concerned over China's South China Sea rule. Singapore expressed concern on Monday over China's plan to board and search ships sailing in what it considers its territory in the South China Sea, as tension grows over Beijing's sovereignty claims in busy Southeast Asian waters. "Singapore is concerned about this recent turn of events," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response to a recent Chinese media report on new rules that will allow police in the southern Chinese province of Hainan to board and seize control of foreign ships which "illegally enter" its waters from January 1.
  • US says climate plan on track, EU wants more. The United States said on Monday it was on track to meet its own target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, a plan many scientists say is still too weak to avert damaging global warming. 
  • That fiscal cliff? Dow Chemical(DOW) says China's a bigger worry.
Telegraph:
Handelsblatt:
  • Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told euro-area finance ministers including Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble that he plans to retire from the post early next year, citing EU diplomats.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)