Archive for Finance
Gambling on Ronaldo and Madonna Made This Man a Billionaire
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MTG founder Matsushita got the stars to represent his brands
- His stake is worth $1.7 billion after IPO in Japan in July
Tsuyoshi Matsushita didn’t know Cristiano Ronaldo or Madonna at all, but he somehow got in touch with them and persuaded them to be the faces of his products.
By doing so, the Japanese entrepreneur built his company into a $2.3 billion firm, making himself a billionaire in the process. It was made possible, he said, because his little-known business gambled on trying to get the superstars to endorse its brands.
Serena Williams’s Racket Maker Gets $5.5 Billion Chinese Bid
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Anta Sports offers to buy Finland’s Amer for 40 euros a share
- Anta gearing up for Tokyo, Beijing Olympics in next four years
China’s Anta Sports Products Ltd. is gearing up for the Olympic Games in Asia with a 4.7 billion-euro ($5.5 billion) approach for one of the world’s biggest athletic gear makers.
Anta said it and Chinese buyout firm FountainVest Partners made an indicative offer for Amer Sports Oyj of Finland, which makes the Wilson tennis rackets used by Serena Williams as well as the Atomic and Salomon ski equipment. Under the non-binding approach, which is subject to due diligence and other conditions, shareholders would receive a cash consideration of 40 euros a share, Anta said in a statement Wednesday…
Trillion-Dollar Investors Don’t Mind Billion-Dollar CEO Awards
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BlackRock, Fidelity funds backed pay at Tesla, Axon Enterprise
- More outlier executive stock grants may follow, advisers say
Some of the world’s biggest money managers backed two unprecedented executive awards this year, emboldening other corporate boards to make colossal bets on their CEOs.
Funds run by BlackRock Inc., Fidelity and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. cast votes in favor of special grants for Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Axon Enterprise Inc.’s Rick Smith, regulatory filings show. Musk and Smith will each reap more than $1 billion from the grants if they meet moonshot financial targets over the next decade…
Can We Survive the Next Financial Crisis?
Posted by: | CommentsTen years ago this week, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed, triggering the worst financial crisis in almost a century, a seismic event that still reverberates today.
Then the fourth-biggest U.S. investment bank, Lehman declared bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008. Stocks plunged and credit markets froze. Investors, not knowing how interconnected the biggest financial players were, feared the entire global financial system could implode.
A decade later, amid signs of new asset bubbles, a big question is whether the steps taken after the crisis have made that system strong enough to withstand the next shock…
Nine West Settlement Offer Could Cost Sycamore, KKR $470 Million
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Sum would be used to head off claims from unsecured creditors
- The creditors say units were sold off at below-market prices
Independent directors of Nine West Holdings Inc. proposed that Sycamore Partners LLC and a unit of KKR & Co. pay $470 million to settle potential lawsuits stemming from Sycamore’s 2014 leveraged buyout of the now-bankrupt shoe retailer.
An ad hoc group of unsecured creditors that had been negotiating with Nine West disclosed the offer by the independent board members in bankruptcy court papers Monday. The group, which includes Aurelius Capital Management LP, Contrarian Capital Management LLC, Paloma Partners Management Co. and Centerbridge Partners LP, was negotiating with Nine West’s owners for about a month before the discussions stalled, the filings show…
China’s Stocks Nearing 2016 Low Have Asia Markets on Knife Edge
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Shanghai Composite close to breaching key technical level
- Index making “lower low” would be negative signal, says Maley
China’s sinking stocks are on the verge of an unwelcome milestone.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.2 percent on Monday to within 15 points of where it bottomed out in 2016. If the measure drops further, it’ll be trading at the lowest since November 2014, before the nation’s stock boom and subsequent $5 trillion bust…
China’s Stocks Nearing 2016 Low Have Asia Markets on Knife Edge
Facing Dollar Squeeze, Indian Companies Rush for Samurai Loans
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Yen-denominated debt raised jump to highest since 2006
- Power Grid and IRFC among borrowers seeking Samurai loans
Indian companies lured by Japan’s near-record low interest rates and easier availability of funds are raising the most yen-denominated loans in more than a decade as dollar lenders turn cautious.
While Samurai loans still make up only a small portion of Indian firms’ total foreign-currency facilities, coming to more than 6 percent this year, they are growing in importance for borrowers. Power Grid Corp. and Indian Railway Finance Corp. are seeking such debt, adding to $846 million worth of yen syndicated loans raised by domestic companies this year, people familiar with the matter said. That’s the most since the same period in 2006…
Stocks Mostly Gain as FANG Feels Trade Pressure: Markets Wrap
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Pound jumps as EU negotiator says Brexit deal is realistic
- Dow Jones Transportation Average closes at record high
Most U.S. stocks hung onto gains to close higher even as FANG weakness and lingering concern over U.S. and China trade tensions weighed on investor optimism. Apple, Amazon.com and Google parent Alphabet were among the biggest losers in the Nasdaq 100 Index.
Why the Traditional Way of Measuring ‘Value’ Stocks May Be History
Posted by: | CommentsSome argue that the price-to-book-value ratio has lost its relevance due to the increasing significance of intangible assets
Why the Traditional Way of Measuring ‘Value’ Stocks May Be History
Nowhere to Hide In Crypto as Digital Asset Ties Tighten in Slump
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Correlation between coins has increased during recent rout
- Cryptocurrencies remain uncorrelated to other major assets
Bitcoin’s ties to other cryptocurrencies are becoming suffocating in the rout.
Digital coins are famously uncorrelated to other assets but they’re highly correlated with each other. That lifted the whole market up last year, but this year it means they’re all falling together, leaving crypto investors with little refuge…
Nowhere to Hide In Crypto as Digital Asset Ties Tighten in Slump
Florence Could Cost Insurers Up to $20 Billion in Early Forecast
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s some grim back-of-the-envelope math for insurers: Hurricane Florence may wreak $15 billion to $20 billion in covered losses from wind and coastal storm-surge, if the past is any guide, according to catastrophe modeler Risk Management Solutions.
That range is based on benchmarking two similar hurricanes from decades past — Hazel in 1954 and Hugo in 1989 — and translating their damage into present-day figures, according to Tom Sabbatelli, an event response manager at RMS. It doesn’t include the potential cost of inland flooding…
Florence Could Cost Insurers Up to $20 Billion in Early Forecast
Asian Stocks Open Mixed, Hover Near One-Year Low: Markets Wrap
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FANG stocks extended drop, but most U.S. stocks held gains
- Pound jumped after EU negotiator said Brexit deal realistic
Asian stocks open mixed after their U.S. counterparts eked out modest gains amid lingering concerns about trade tensions. The dollar held Monday losses, while the pound was higher after upbeat Brexit comments from the European Union’s chief negotiator.
Equity indexes advanced in Japan and were little changed in Australia and South Korea, leaving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lingering near a one-year low. Futures fell in Hong Kong and China. The S&P 500 Index broke a four-day slide even as so-called FANG stocks underperformed. U.S. two-year note yields hovered near the highest level in a decade in the run-up to an anticipated Federal Reserve interest-rate hike later this month…
Florence Takes Aim at U.S. East Coast as 1 Million Told to Leave
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Storm now rated Category 4, one level below most severe
- Mandatory evacuations ordered along North Carolina coast
Florence continues to grow in size and strength, now poised to become the strongest hurricane in almost 30 years to hit the Carolinas as more than 1 million people began fleeing the U.S. coastline.
North Carolina’s Outer Banks are under mandatory evacuation orders and four states declared emergencies as the Category 4 storm barreled toward the coast Monday. Already estimated to bring as much as $27 billion in damages, Florence is aiming for landfall late Thursday or early Friday somewhere between Charleston, South Carolina and Norfolk, Virginia…
UBS Retreats to Cash in China But Sticks to Troubled Tencent
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Investors are overly pessimistic on Tencent: UBS Asset’s Shi
- About 19 percent of China opportunity fund allocated to cash
There’s a Chinese stock always worth owning even when you’re pulling out of the market, according to one of the world’s largest investors.
UBS Asset Management’s Bin Shi has been buying shares of Tencent Holdings Ltd. while also raising cash to a record, saying concern over China’s gaming clampdown has gone too far. Tencent, which is among the largest holdings in the $6.1 billion China fund that Shi helps to manage, can offset some of the worry anyway by growing overseas or selling more ads, he said. The stock dropped as much as 2.7 percent early Thursday in Hong Kong…
China’s $29 Trillion Ball of Money Rolls to a Long-Ignored Haven
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Investors flee tumbling stocks, P2P losses, debt defaults
- ‘Where is the safe place to put our hard-earned savings?’
The new hot thing for Chinese savers is about as old and boring as it gets.
Bank deposits, shunned for years by the nation’s return-hungry masses, are suddenly looking attractive again as higher-yielding investments prove riskier than many had anticipated. China’s household deposits rose in July at the fastest annual rate in a year — an influx that analysts say may accelerate after the nation’s stock market sank at the quickest pace worldwide, hundreds of peer-to-peer lending platforms shuttered and companies defaulted on their debt at an unprecedented rate…
Athenahealth Ex-CEO Bush to Get $4.83 Million If Firm Is Sold
Posted by: | CommentsAthenahealth Inc. will pay former Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Bush $4.83 million if the company is sold with his help in coming months.
Bush, who stepped down in June after being accused of sexual misconduct, will receive an additional $2 million in early 2020 if he upholds a non-compete agreement with the health-technology firm, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday…
Athenahealth Ex-CEO Bush to Get $4.83 Million If Firm Is Sold
Default Fears Mount for ‘BATS’ as Emerging-Market Pain Deepens
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Turkey’s implied default odds climb to highest since 2008
- ‘Substantial’ default risk in Argentina as well: Credit Suisse
Investor anxiety about a missed debt payment by one of the world’s largest developing nations is jacking up the cost of credit-default swaps from the “BATS” — Brazil, Argentina, Turkey and South Africa — to multi-year highs.
Analysts are taking note. Turkey and Argentina have “substantial” medium-term default risks as they’ll probably face recessions and rising political risks ahead of key votes, Kasper Bartholdy, a strategist at Credit Suisse in London, wrote in a note today…
Mercedes Unveils First Tesla Rival in $12 Billion Attack
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EQC to join Porsche, Audi, Jaguar models in electric-car race
- CEO Zetsche: ‘We’re going all in. It’s starting right now’
Mercedes-Benz, the world’s largest maker of luxury cars, is rolling out its first in a series of battery-powered models, adding to a growing array of high-end brands targeting Tesla Inc.
The Mercedes EQC crossover starts production in the first half of next year, part of a plan to develop its EQ electric line, Daimler AG Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche told reporters in Stockholm at the model’s world premiere. The company intended to invest 10 billion euros ($12 billion) in its electric-vehicle push but has ended up spending “more than that,” he said Tuesday, without specifying figures…
Tech Stocks Retreat as Senate Hearing Proceeds
Posted by: | CommentsA large chunk of the 73 companies in the S&P 500 technology sector show losses as Facebook and Twitter executives testify
Detroit Bridge Inches Closer as Project Prepares to Sell Bonds
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Bridge connecting Canada, U.S. expected to cost $2.6 Billion
- Group seeking to raise C$454 million from Canadian investors
The group picked to build a new bridge between Canada and the U.S. is planning to raise money in the Canadian bond market to fund the project expected to cost about C$3.5 billion ($2.6 billion), people familiar with the matter said.
Executives at the Bridging North America General Partnership (BNA), which is slated to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor and Detroit — one of the world’s busiest trade corridors — began three days of meetings with Canadian fixed income investors on Wednesday, according to people who asked not to be identified as the talks are private…
Contagion or Not, These Emerging Markets Hold Key to Selloff
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Brazil, Indonesia May Be Better Off Than Currencies Suggest
- Current Account Deficits Remain Key to Many Developing Nations
This year’s global emerging-market selloff has its roots in a slew of mini-routs as the era of easy-money came to an end. Consider Turkey, now paying the price for its refusal to follow orthodox monetary policy; Argentina, facing a crisis of confidence just four years of its last default; China, targeted in a trade war; and South Africa, the emerging-market proxy punished for crisis in any corner of the asset class…
Contagion or Not, These Emerging Markets Hold Key to Selloff
Tom Hanks Joins Cantor Fitzgerald CEO at 9/11 Memorial Fundraiser
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Hanks brings his son Truman, who was 5 when Twin Towers fell
- Event raises more than $3 million for memorial and museum
Tom Hanks’s son Truman was 5 when the Twin Towers fell in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Making sure he understands that day is one reason his parents brought him to a benefit for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
“It altered the world and we should know as much about it as possible,” Hanks said Tuesday night at Cipriani Wall Street, standing next to his son, who’s 22, and his wife, Rita Wilson…
American Tire Debt Plan Includes Possible Bankruptcy
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ATD said Tuesday it reached deal on recapitalization
- Proposal is said to hand control of company to bondholders
American Tire Distributors Inc. is considering a bankruptcy filing as part of a proposed $2.4 billion debt overhaul, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The deal would give holders of ATD’s subordinated bonds a 95 percent stake in the reorganized company, wiping out that debt while leaving its term loan outstanding, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The tire distributor skipped an interest payment on the junior notes, kicking off a 30-day grace period before a default is triggered…
Little Relief in Sight as Emerging Stocks Slide Near Bear Market
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Morgan Stanley says stay short on emerging-market currencies
- It’s ‘no longer just about EM fundamentals’: Deutsche Bank
The rout in emerging markets showed few signs of abating, even as some of the worst-hit currencies took a breather, as an index of stocks slipped toward bear territory and a basket of currencies traded near its lowest since May 2017.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index of shares extended its slide to 19.7 percent from a January peak. Among the worst-hit stock markets were Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, where benchmark indexes tumbled by the most in about two years. The Argentina peso and Turkish lira, which have led global losses this year, eked out gains as the nations took measures to curb the damage…
BlackRock Sees ‘Silver Lining’ When Bank of Japan Tapers ETFs
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Miller says the move may be seen as a sign of confidence
- Head of iShares in Japan says program has had intended effect
Some investors are worried about the market impact when the Bank of Japan decides to wind back an extraordinary years-long program of support for the country’s stock market, but the world’s largest money manager sees less reason for concern.
There will probably be some initial volatility for equities when the BOJ announces a slowdown in purchases of exchange-traded funds, according to the head of BlackRock Inc.’s iShares business in Tokyo. But the move may then be interpreted as a sign of confidence in the economy and market, he said…
Argentina to Go Deeper Into Recession, Central Bank Survey Says
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Economists in central bank survey see 2018 GDP shrinking 1.9%
- Forecast of 40% inflation, peso to be 41.9/USD by end of 2018
Argentina’s economic outlook deteriorated significantly in August amid a renewed currency crisis, with economists surveyed by the central bank forecasting a deepening recession, weaker currency and higher inflation.
Economists in the monthly survey published Tuesday see South America’s second-largest economy contracting 1.9 percent in 2018, compared with the previous forecast of a 0.3 percent contraction. Inflation is expected to end the year at 40.3 percent, up from the 31.8 percent prediction in July…
Calpers’ Bet on Sacramento’s Planned Tallest Tower Splits Board
Posted by: | CommentsDissent came after memo by an outside consultant raised concerns about risk, according to people familiar with matter
Amazon at $1 Trillion Pushes Bezos’s 2018 Gain to $67 Billion
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Gain in his net worth more than FedEx’s market capitalization
- Amazon briefly became America’s second trillion-dollar company
Amazon.com Inc. briefly became America’s second trillion-dollar company on Tuesday after adding $434 billion to its market cap this year.
No one has benefited more than founder Jeff Bezos, who has added $67 billion to his fortune this year, giving him a $167 billion net worth on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of 12:30 p.m. in New York on Tuesday…
Amazon at $1 Trillion Pushes Bezos’s 2018 Gain to $67 Billion
U.S. Stocks Slip as Materials and Industrials Sectors Fall
Posted by: | CommentsDollar gains, while investors watch for U.S. data releases and trade talks
U.S. stocks began September with declines as investors looked ahead to a busy week of trade negotiations and economic data.
Stocks drifted lower shortly after the opening bell, then pared declines in the final hours of trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average erasing nearly all of its losses for the day…
Emerging-Market Contagion Fears Deepen; Rupiah in Cross-Hairs
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No sign of an end yet; Morgan Stanley says short EM currencies
- South Africa enters into a recession, Argentina deteriorates
Asian investors braced for another challenging day Wednesday as turmoil in emerging markets deepened, with Indonesia’s rupiah in focus after it tumbled to the weakest against the dollar since the Asian financial crisis.
The rupiah, one of Asia’s more vulnerable currencies thanks to Indonesia’s reliance on overseas financing, is approaching 15,000 per dollar, while India’s rupee — another exchange rate beset by current-account deficit worries — is fixed for a record-low open. A negative tone was set by news Tuesday that South Africa’s economy had slumped into recession, coming a day after Turkey reported a surge in inflation…
Wall Street’s 30 Days of Hell: No Sleep, No Meals, No Family
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The mad rush of earnings season kicks in four times a year
- Now the system is being re-examined after surprise Trump tweet
For more than a quarter century, Wall Street analyst Mike Mayo has danced to the steady beat of corporate America.
His work habits, his family events, his social life, even his workouts and vacations — all have been dictated by the seemingly immutable cycle of quarterly earnings reports…
Wall Street’s 30 Days of Hell: No Sleep, No Meals, No Family
Turkey’s Lira Needs More Than Intent to Raise Interest Rates
Posted by: | CommentsThe Turkish lira may have found its footing after the central bank signaled higher interest rates were around the corner, but some investors worry that any lasting relief will require a bold hike that it is loath to deliver.
Even after 700 basis points of monetary tightening since December, consumer-price growth has accelerated for five months, narrowing the inflation-adjusted policy rate to around 1 percent. Just to drive that back toward levels that afforded the lira some relative stability in June, the central bank would have to raise borrowing costs by another 400 basis points…
Funding Circle Plans IPO With Danish Billionaire’s Backing
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Biggest U.K. online lender targets 2-billion-pound valuation
- Holch Povlsen’s Heartland potentially takes 10% stake in firm
Funding Circle Ltd., Britain’s biggest online loan provider, plans to proceed with an initial public offering, the latest test for Europe’s maturing fintech sector.
The eight-year-old company plans to raise about 300 million pounds ($388 million) selling new shares on the London Stock Exchange, while existing shareholders will also sell stock in the IPO, according to a statement Monday. Anders Holch Povlsen, a Danish retail billionaire, agreed to buy 10 percent of the equity under certain conditions…
Foreigners Love This Stock That China Investors Seem to Hate
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Ping An is the most popular among foreign traders this year
- Mainland investor holdings of firm’s H shares near year low
Few Chinese companies divide the stock market like Ping An Insurance Group Co.
The largest Chinese insurer by market value is 2018’s most popular mainland stock among foreign investors, who have net bought 16.1 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) of its Shanghai-traded shares, according to Bloomberg calculations. That’s more than for any other company via trading links between Hong Kong and the mainland…
Foreigners Love This Stock That China Investors Seem to Hate
European Finance Chiefs Struggle to Spend Cash
Posted by: | CommentsStronger profits and pressure from negative interest rates are prompting European CFOs to splurge on buybacks, dividends and capital investments
Finance chiefs at European, Middle Eastern and African companies have a luxury problem: figuring out how to spend $1.1 trillion in cash.
The top cash hoarders in the region are Total SA TOT -1.38% with €29.2 billion ($33.9 billion), Electricite de France SA EDF -1.38% with €28.3 billion and Volkswagen AGVOW3 -2.06% with €27.3 billion, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service. The data covers 757 nonfinancial companies based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and showed cash levels reached a seven-year high at the end of 2017…
China Promises Africa Debt Relief as Xi Counters Aid Criticism
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Pledges to extempt some poorer nations from loans coming due
- Chinese president also offers $6 billion in new financing
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged debt relief to some poorer African nations, attempting to push back against a major criticism of his signature Belt and Road Initiative.
Speaking to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Monday in Beijing, Xi defended the global program to develop roads, railways, ports, pipelines and other trade links. China planned to exempt some African countries from interest-free loans due by the end of the year, Xi said, adding that the relief would be granted to unspecified poor and heavily indebted countries…
China Startup Meituan Dianping Seeks $55 Billion Valuation in Hong Kong IPO
Posted by: | CommentsTencent-backed company, which offers services similar to those of Yelp, Grubhub and Groupon, hasn’t yet delivered an annual profit
The Biggest Legacy of the Financial Crisis Is the Trump Presidency
Posted by: | CommentsHow the forces Obama and Geithner failed to contain reshaped the world we live in.
It was late January 2010, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sat slumped in a leather chair as the afternoon sun cast shadows across his ornate corner office. He’d just gotten off the phone with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The economy was, if not exactly healthy, light-years ahead of where it had been when he took the job a year earlier—a moment when the world teetered on the brink of another Great Depression. The financial contagion had been halted. Growth had returned. The stock market was 10 months into a bull run that continues to this day…
Why It’s So Hard to Be an ‘Ethical’ Investor
Posted by: | CommentsBuzzy phrases are used to put a halo over some mutual funds, but the devil’s in the definition
In life, ethics are in the eye of the beholder. In investing, ethics are up to the whims of your fund manager.
With little regulation governing what a fund manager can call a “socially responsible” or “ethical” investment, a myriad of bespoke standards have popped up. Increasingly, these fund strategies are designed to beat the market rather…
Australia House Prices Fall for 11th Month as Downturn Deepens
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National dwelling values drop 0.3%, led by Sydney, Melbourne
- Westpac rate rise, household debt set challenges for spring
Australian housing prices fell for an 11th straight month in August, and further declines are likely as the peak selling season starts.
National dwelling values dropped 0.3 percent last month, led by declines in Sydney and Melbourne, according to CoreLogic Inc. data released Monday. Prices in Sydney, the epicenter of the recent property boom, have now fallen 5.6 percent from a year earlier…
Australia House Prices Fall for 11th Month as Downturn Deepens
HNA Is Starting to Trim Down One of China’s Biggest Debt Piles
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Total debt fell for first time after company sold off assets
- More HNA disposals on the way, such as buildings in Manhattan
China’s embattled HNA Group Co., which has managed to reduce one of the country’s biggest debt piles by selling off dozens of assets, will probably need to slim down even further before regaining the trust of investors.
The conglomerate’s total debt fell 9.5 percent to 541.6 billion yuan ($79 billion) at the end of June, down about $8.3 billion from a record set at the end of last year, according to figures derived from a half-year report dated Friday. It’s the first time the number has fallen, based on public data compiled by Bloomberg stretching back to 2005…
Smart Money Sees China Bear Market Lasting: JPMorgan Survey
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Majority in JPM survey predict gains won’t exceed 15 percent
- Chinese investors less optimistic on returns in rest of world
China’s institutional investors aren’t counting on recouping this year’s equity losses any time soon, according to a JPMorgan Asset Management survey last month.
China Selloff Casts Foreigners in Unusual Role as Market Bulls
Posted by: | CommentsU.S. hedge funds look to buy in China, showing more interest in market than Chinese investors
MTN Nigeria Listing in Doubt Over $8 Billion Claim
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African wireless carrier seeking to complete IPO this year
- Nigerian central bank says MTN illegally repatriated funds
MTN Group Ltd.’s plan to sell shares in its Nigerian unit this year is in jeopardy following allegations by the central bank that the South African company illegally moved almost $8.1 billion out of the country, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the listing process is far advanced there needs to be regulatory certainty for it to go ahead, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. That evaporated when Africa’s largest wireless carrier’s four banks were ordered late Wednesday to return the funds, causing MTN’s share price to plunge to nine-year lows…
China’s Consumers Are On Point to Defend Economy From Trump
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Trade war adds to worsening economic mood amid soaring rents
- Economists see smaller cities as brighter; broad trend intact
Determining the true mood of the Chinese consumer has rarely been so important.
Life for many in megacities like Beijing is getting harder this year, with soaring rents gnawing at disposable incomes. As Donald Trump’s trade war with China begins to threaten the economy in earnest, with tariffs on another $200 billion of goods potentially arriving this week, the resilience of the economy will depend to a large extent on the confidence, or otherwise, of shoppers…
At Wells Fargo, Discontent Simmers Among Female Executives
Posted by: | CommentsWomen at bank convene, allege gender bias in wealth division
About a dozen female executives in Wells Fargo & Co.’s wealth-management division gathered in Scottsdale, Ariz., in June after an internal conference. They’d had enough.
Women should be at home taking care of their children, some of the executives said they had been told over the years by Jay Welker, president of Wells Fargo’s private bank and head of the wealth-management division since 2003. Qualified women had recently been turned down for several top roles that went to male applicants. When the women raised concerns,…
Uber Defeats Suit by Investors Who Blamed Scandals for Losses
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Texas pension fund said startup’s value plunged 15% last year
- Former CEO Travis Kalanick was also named as defendant
Uber Technologies Inc. and its former Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick defeated a lawsuit claiming the company swept illicit business practices under the rug that cost investors billions of dollars.
U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. in Oakland, California, on Friday agreed with Uber’s and Kalanick’s bid to toss the class-action claims by a Texas city’s firefighter pension fund while allowing the fund to revise and refile the complaint…
Uber Defeats Suit by Investors Who Blamed Scandals for Losses
Rupiah Declines to Asian Crisis Low as EM Rout Worsens
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‘Weak external payments position’ spurs rupiah weakness: ING
- Bank Indonesia has raised rates four times since mid May
Indonesia’s rupiah slid to a two-decade low, spurring intervention from the central bank as the meltdown in Argentina and Turkey raises scrutiny on emerging markets with current account deficits.
The rupiah fell to 14,750 per dollar, the weakest level since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, while the benchmark bond yields advanced 10 basis points to the highest level since 2016. The Jakarta Composite Index slipped as much as 1.3 percent…
Ad Man Inspired by Goldman Becomes a Billionaire
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Revenue surged 52% last year at Jeff Green’s advertising firm
- He sold his previous company to Microsoft for undisclosed sum
Making the ad world work more like financial markets has made Jeff Green a billionaire.
Green, 41, co-founded Trade Desk Inc. in 2009, seeing it as the Goldman Sachs of online advertising. The platform offers a marketplace that lets buyers place specific ads in front of a precisely targeted audience…
Meituan Said to Set Terms for Up To $4.5 Billion Hong Kong IPO
Posted by: | CommentsMeituan Dianping, a Chinese food delivery giant, plans to raise as much as $4.5 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The company plans to sell shares between HK$60 ($7.64) and HK$72 apiece, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The offering has attracted five cornerstone investors, including Tencent Holdings Ltd., to invest a combined $1.5 billion, according to the people…
Meituan Said to Set Terms for Up To $4.5 Billion Hong Kong IPO
HNA’s Debt Declines for First Time, Shrinking by $8.3 Billion
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Total debt falls for first time after group sells assets
- More HNA disposals on the way, such as buildings in Manhattan
Though HNA Group Co. managed to reduce one of China’s biggest debt piles by selling off dozens of assets, the embattled Chinese conglomerate will probably need to get much slimmer before regaining the trust of investors.
Total debt fell 9.5 percent to 541.6 billion yuan ($79 billion) at the end of June, down about $8.3 billion from a record set at the end of last year, according to figures derived from a half-year report dated Friday. It’s the first time the number has fallen, based on public data compiled by Bloomberg stretching back to 2005…
‘$1 Million Price Drop!’ The Eager New Language of Manhattan Home Listings
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Listing texts emphasize sellers’ willingness to make a deal
- Urgency increasing as property sales slow and inventory mounts
When a three-bedroom condo in Tribeca got its fourth price cut in a year, the sales broker, Steve Snider, didn’t leave it at that. He also spiced up the listing to make sure potential buyers didn’t miss the news.
“New price. Motivated seller. Bring offers!” reads the pitch for the 2,287-square-foot (212-square-meter) apartment at 71 Laight St., revised last month. The current asking price, $5.795 million, is less than what the seller paid three years ago…
Fed Adviser Adds to Argument That May Back Higher Interest Rates
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New Fed staff research builds on Powell’s Jackson Hole speech
- Price gauge back at 2% puts greater focus on unemployment
Low inflation has long confounded the Federal Reserve’s models, leading central bankers to keep interest rates lower than they otherwise would. Now, with a key measure of inflation at their 2 percent target, some of the Fed’s top economists are urging policy makers to put more focus on the risk that it could accelerate.
Michael Cohen Sells New York City Apartment Stakes Worth Millions
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Under financial strain, lawyer is said to collect $7 million
- Cohen pleaded guilty last week to campaign finance violations
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney who recently pleaded guilty to campaign-finance and tax crimes, has sold his interest in two Manhattan apartment buildings, public records show.
Cohen sold his stakes in 330 East 63rd St. and 133 Ave. D earlier this month, according to documents filed with New York City. The records show a combined sale price of almost $13 million, but that also accounts for Cohen’s share of the debt, a person familiar with the sales said. Cohen cleared about $7 million, according to the person. Cohen purchased his stakes in the properties in 2015…
Wells Fargo Fires Bankers Amid Probe of Dinner Receipts That Were Allegedly Doctored
Posted by: | CommentsMore than a dozen employees have left Wells Fargo during expenses investigation
China’s Central Bank Faces a Tough Task in Guarding Nervous Yuan
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Liquidity needs could hit around $143 billion at quarter-end
- Officials seen preferring open-market route to funding supply
September is set to be a hard month for China’s money markets, handing the nation’s central bank the tricky task of adding just enough liquidity without prompting renewed weakness in the yuan.
Funding costs usually spike at this point, as banks hoard cash for quarter-end regulatory checks. Adding to the pressure now is a requirement to buy a flood of local government bond issuance, mandated to shore up infrastructure spending as the economy slows. A large amount of the People’s Bank of China’s existing funding is also maturing, and all told, liquidity needs could hit around 980 billion yuan ($143 billion) according to Bloomberg calculations…
Transurban Group Buys Sydney Tollroad Stake for $6.7 Billion
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Transurban to raise A$4.8 billion to help fund acquisition
- New motorway connects fast-growing Sydney suburbs to CBD
A Transurban Group-led consortium agreed to buy 51 percent of Sydney’s WestConnex toll road for A$9.26 billion ($6.7 billion), doubling its network in Australia’s largest city.
Transurban will raise A$4.2 billion in a rights issue to help fund the acquisition, and a further A$600 million from other members of the bidding group, the Melbourne-based company said in a statement. The shares will be sold at A$10.80 each, a 10 percent discount to the latest closing price…
Transurban Group Buys Sydney Tollroad Stake for $6.7 Billion
Argentina Lifts Rates to World-High, Seeks IMF Aid to Save Peso
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Currency extends losses to 12% after central bank increase
- Move comes a day after Macri asked IMF for faster payouts
Argentina’s currency crisis deepened on Thursday as an emergency interest-rate increase to 60 percent failed to stop jittery investors from pulling their money out of the country.
The peso extended losses after the bank raised its benchmark measure by 15 percentage points to a global high. The hike, the second this month, was the latest attempt by policy makers to defend a currency that’s lost more than half its value this year. A day earlier, President Mauricio Macri shocked the nation with an appeal for quicker payouts from the International Monetary Fund, which said it’s considering the request…
Record London Rents Lure Overseas Landlords to Housing Market
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Brexit-driven pound weakness gives buyers more for their money
- 12 percent of London homes are now owned by foreign landlords
The U.K.’s struggle to secure a favorable Brexit deal may be giving Prime Minister Theresa May a headache, but it’s making London’s battered buy-to-let market attractive overseas again.
Foreign-based landlords owned 12 percent of the homes rented out in the capital at the end of the first half, up from 7 percent last year, according to Hamptons International, which measured a subset of the London’s housing market. A falling pound has made it cheaper for overseas investors to buy homes using their local currencies, and many have been lured by a red-hot rental market that’s still at record levels because of tenant demand…
Trump to Back $200 Billion China Tariffs as Early as Next Week, Sources Say
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China to respond with duties on $60 billion of U.S. imports
- Asia stocks follow U.S. lower, while dollar and yen hold gains
President Donald Trump wants to move ahead with a plan to impose tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports as soon as a public-comment period concludes next week, according to six people familiar with the matter.
Asked to confirm the plan in an interview with Bloomberg News in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump smiled and said it was “not totally wrong.” He also criticized management of the yuan, saying China has devalued its currency in response to a recent slowdown in economic growth…