Monday, August 12, 2013

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
  • Recovery Belied by Slowest Debt Sales in 17 Months: China Credit. Optimism that the world's second-largest economy is stabilizing isn't shared by the treasurers of riskier Chinese companies, judging by the weakest debt sales by non-AAA issuers in 17 months. Offerings by corporates rated at AA+ or below by Dabong Global Credit Rating Co. fell to $1.3 billion in July, the least since February 2012, Bloomberg data show. Global issuance of all ratings rose to $257 billion from $205 billion the previous month. 
  • State Bank of India Profit Drops on Rising Bad Loans. State Bank of India, the country’s largest by assets, posted first-quarter profit that dropped more than analysts estimated as bad loans climbed amid a slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy. Net income fell 14 percent to 32.4 billion rupees ($534 million), or 47.38 rupees a share, for the three months ended June 30, from 37.5 billion rupees, or 55.91 rupees, a year earlier, the Mumbai-based lender said in an exchange filing today. That compared with the 34.2 billion-rupee average of 42 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. 
  • Germany Trims Planned Bond Sales Amid Spending Cuts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government expects to cut planned 2014 bond sales, predicting increased tax collections and reduced spending will help keep its budget balanced, a draft federal spending plan shows
  • European Stocks Close Little Changed at a 10-Week High. European stocks closed little changed at a 10-week high as a rally in mining companies offset slower-than-forecast economic growth in Japan. Fresnillo Plc soared 6.6 percent to a two-month high as precious metals gained. Prudential Plc climbed to the highest in more than two decades after posting a 22 percent jump in profit. Telekom Austria AG dropped 1.6 percent after reporting second-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ projections. Ladbrokes Plc slid 2.6 percent as JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the U.K. gambling company. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased less than 0.1 percent to 306.08 at the close of trading, having earlier risen as much as 0.2 percent ad declined 0.6 percent.
  • Gold Futures Gain Most in Three Weeks on Higher Chinese Demand. Gold futures advanced the most in three weeks as demand surged in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the precious metal after India. Silver rallied to a seven-week high. Domestic purchases of gold jumped 54 percent to 706.4 metric tons in the first half of 2013, compared with a year earlier, the China Gold Association said today. Buying of gold-bar purchases surged 87 percent and jewelry demand increased 44 percent. Last month, gold prices jumped 7.3 percent, partly on increased physical buying. Gold futures for December delivery rose 2.1 percent to $1,339.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York at 10:18 a.m., heading for the biggest gain for a most-active contract since July 22. Earlier, prices touched $1,343.70, the highest since July 24.
  • Bond Hubris Overwhelms Fed in Riskiest Credit-Market Sectors. Bond investors trying to divine when the Federal Reserve will reduce its unprecedented monetary stimulus are increasingly looking to the riskiest parts of the debt market, which are booming like before the financial crisis. The amount of loans made this year that lack standard protections for lenders exceed the all-time high set in 2007, and only one other time have investors pumped more money into funds that buy lower-rated loans than they did last week. Bonds rated in the lowest category of junk accounted for the greatest percentage of speculative-grade offerings last month since 2011.
  • N.Y. Subpoenas Bitcoin Firms in Probe on Criminal Risk. New York’s top banking regulator sent subpoenas to 22 digital-currency companies, including BitInstant LLC and Dwolla Corp., to determine whether new regulations should be adopted to govern the emerging industry, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Fox News:
MarketWatch:
CNBC:
  • SAC-linked Parameter fund closes as shrinkage sets in. An affiliated fund of Steven A. Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors has shut down as the $14 billion hedge fund begins to shrink in the wake of a criminal indictment filed against it in July, according to two people familiar with the unit's closure. 
  • Tech rebound drives housing frenzy in Silicon Valley. For the last four months, the average price of a single-family home in Santa Clara County—the heart of Silicon Valley—has been more than $1 million, according to recent data from MLS Listings, a service for real estate agents.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
Telegraph:

No comments: