-
Funds of hedge funds are opening at a record pace in China
- Crackdown on shadow banking sends investors to alternatives
An investment offering that most of the world has shunned is suddenly all the rage in China, and money managers from UBS Group AG to SkyBridge Capital are moving to grab a slice of the bounty.
Funds of hedge funds, which allocate client money across multiple managers, are opening at a record pace in Asia’s largest economy even as their numbers dwindle globally after 10 straight years of outflows. While investors in the U.S. and Europe have grown disillusioned with the funds’ fees and spotty performance, China’s rich are looking past those concerns as they hunt for alternatives to increasingly risky domestic asset-management products…
Tax cuts, deregulation and a buoyant economy were always expected to drive profits higher at most American banks in the latest quarter.
But a nagging question has been hanging over the industry: Would banks, taking their cue from rising economic optimism and a friendlier White House, significantly increase their lending to businesses and households?
On Friday, earnings reports from four of the United States’ biggest banks showed scant evidence of such a revival. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and PNC all reported another quarter of healthy profits, most of which will end up in shareholders’ pockets. Wells Fargo, operating under regulatory constraints after a series of scandals, reported a decline in profits…
-
Shanghai Composite is one of world’s worst performers in 2018
- More than 100 companies plan to or have repurchased shares
More Chinese companies are pledging to buy back their shares as authorities seek to stem a $2 trillion rout in the equity market.
At least 109 firms have announced repurchase plans or bought back shares this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Home appliances maker Midea Group Co. is one of the latest, with plans to spend up to 4 billion yuan ($600 million) buying its shares after they slid 19 percent from January to early July…
Goldman Sachs on Tuesday named David M. Solomon as its next chief executive, putting a veteran investment banker in charge of a Wall Street giant that faces mounting challenges.
Mr. Solomon’s appointment will end the tenure of Lloyd C. Blankfein, the 63-year-old former gold salesman who has run the firm since 2006 and steered it through the financial crisis. Mr. Blankfein will hand over the chief executive role on Oct. 1 and remain chairman until the end of the year. Mr. Solomon, 56 and currently the bank’s president, will add the chairman title at the beginning of 2019…
Treasury Struggles With House GOP on Foreign Investments
By · Comments-
Trump threatened unilateral measures if Congress action fails
- Mnuchin working with Senate, House to reconcile differences
Republican lawmakers and the Treasury Department are struggling to reach agreement on legislation to bolster national security reviews of foreign investments, which could upend President Donald Trump’s less confrontational approach toward Chinese firms taking stakes in U.S. companies, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Goldman Is Carving Out Less Revenue for Banker Bonuses
By · CommentsA big change is afoot inside Goldman Sachs — aside from the disc jockey slated to become CEO.
The company just set aside an unusually small portion of revenue to reward traders and bankers. The move is reflected in the firm’s compensation ratio, which took a surprising dive to 39 percent in this year’s first half, the lowest level of the past decade. Chief Financial Officer Marty Chavez attributed the drop to the firm’s emphasis on profitability. With revenue up significantly this year and the bank paying a lower tax rate, the rank and file can’t be faulted for hoping some of the spoils would come their way…
-
Investment firm has outposts in NYC, San Francisco, Washington
- U.S. getting ‘disproportionate share’ of firm’s fresh capital
Temasek Holdings Pte. is developing an American accent.
The Singaporean state investor, whose S$308 billion portfolio ($226 billion) includes stakes in companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., is still betting on the U.S., even as it grows more circumspect in deploying capital amid trade tensions and an increased likelihood of a global economic slowdown…
Temasek Expands U.S. Footprint With a Wary Eye on Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Orders Nigeria’s Oando CEO to Pay $680m Debt
By · Comments-
Firms owned by CEO Tinubu and his deputy to pay Ansbury
- Oando shares fell 9.4% Monday, mosts since July 2017
A London court ordered two companies owned by Wale Tinubu, the chief executive of Nigerian energy company Oando Plc, and his deputy, Mofe Boyo, to pay $680 million to Ansbury Investment Inc. following a dispute over shareholding and financial management.
The London Court of International Arbitration ruled that Ocean and Oil Development Partners, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, which owns 55.96% of Oando through a holding company, is indebted to Ansbury to the tune of $600 million, Ansbury spokesman Bolaji Akinola said…
Staff have departed and investors have expressed dismay, but CEO ChamathPalihapitiya says the firm hasn’t wavered from its goals.
Seven years ago, Social Capital made its debut as one of the hottest venture funds in Silicon Valley, the brainchild of a former Facebook Inc. executive with some grandiose ideas about backing startups that might help humanity. Now, after a flood of prominent departures from the firm and a failed expansion strategy, a number of investors have lost confidence in the remnants of the leadership team and its ability to make good on its initial promises.
-
Springs China Opportunities Fund drops as much as 17% in 2018
- Fund is buying oversold, undervalued smaller growth stocks
One China hedge fund is adding to stocks in the nation even as a rout deepened losses in its portfolio and prompted some peers to duck for cover.
Springs China Opportunities Fund is using the “panic selloff” to increase its holdings of “oversold and undervalued” companies, it told investors in a letter seen by Bloomberg News. The letter was sent after the fund lost an estimated 17 percent this year through July 6…
BlackRock’s Investor-Cash Inflows Slide
By · CommentsSecond-quarter results beat expectations, as revenue rose 11%
Investors radically slowed the torrent of cash flowing into investment giant BlackRock Inc. this spring, a sign that a changing global economy and trade rifts may be unsettling a decadelong embrace of passive stock investing.
BlackRock said Monday it received $20 billion in net inflows in the second quarter. While the sum is enormous, it was down from more than $100 billion a year ago. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager and a bellwether of low-cost index-based investing…
BlackRock’s Investor-Cash Inflows Slide
Panic Roils China’s Peer-to-Peer Lenders
By · Comments-
Shenzhen P2P platform cites ‘spreading panic’ for its closure
- Industry turmoil leaves $8 billion of planned IPOs in doubt
China’s savers are rushing to pull money from peer-to-peer lending platforms, accelerating a contraction of the $195 billion industry and testing the government’s ability to maintain calm as it cracks down on risky shadow-banking activities.
-
Buffett has given Berkshire shares valued at $31 billion
- Recipients include Gates foundation, family-run charities
Warren Buffett contributed $3.4 billion to five charities as the investor continues making good on a pledge to give away all of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shares.
Buffett, 87, has donated a total of about $31 billion to the foundations, according to a statement Monday from Berkshire, where he is chief executive officer and chairman. The latest gift, comprised of about 17.7 million Class B shares, went to charities including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one named after his first wife who died in 2004, and each of his children’s foundations…
The chief executive of BlackRock, Laurence D. Fink, warned on Monday that a sustained trade war could cause markets to tumble.
During a discussion of BlackRock’s second-quarter earnings, Mr. Fink said that investors in both Europe and the United States were either withdrawing money from the markets or choosing not to increase their positions substantially…
Prolonged Trade War Could Set Off a Market Slide, BlackRock’s Fink Says
-
Jeff Bezos holds largest individual fortune since at least ’82
- Gates trails Bezos by $55 billion Bloomberg wealth ranking
Jeff Bezos is the richest person in modern history.
The Amazon.com Inc. founder’s net worth cracked $150 billion in New York on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s about $55 billion more than Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, the world’s second-richest person…
Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150 Billion
-
Company seeks to replicate runaway U.S. e-cigarette success
- Device’s growth may be tempered by EU nicotine regulations
Silicon Valley startup Juul Labs Inc. will begin selling its e-cigarettes in the U.K. this week seeking to replicate its runaway U.S. success — though with a smaller nicotine hit.
A Juul starter kit — including the device, a battery charger and four liquid pods — will be available to buy online and in 250 vape stores in the U.K. this week. The company is funding international expansion with a capital increase that’s expected to reach $1.2 billion, which would value the startup at $15 billion…
LONDON — Deutsche Bank’s chief executive, Christian Sewing, has only been in the job since April. But he has already delivered something the lender has lacked recently: some good news.
Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest lender, surprised investors on Monday when it announced that it expected to report about 400 million euros, or around $467 million, in profit for its second quarter. That is more than double the €159 million that analysts had been expecting…
Deutsche Bank Surprises Investors With Estimate-Busting Profit
-
Trump reports raising $17.7 million for 2020 re-election bid
- Flow of money comes as fight for Congress enters peak season
Mega donors began flooding political committees with six and seven-figure contributions in recent months as the fight for control of Congress and the future of President Donald Trump’s agenda intensified ahead of November’s election.
Billionaire inventor Elon Musk was among those putting money into the 2018 campaign, sending $38,900 to a committee backing U.S. House Republicans. Others from Wall Street to Hollywood dug deeper, according to second-quarter Federal Election Commission filings that were due late Sunday…
-
Nationwide new-home prices gained 1.1% from previous month
- 63 cities had increases in June, up from 61 in May: release
China’s home prices rose at the fastest pace in 21 months in June even as the government stepped up a campaign against property speculation.
New-home prices in 70 cities tracked by the government gained 1.1 percent from the previous month, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Tuesday. That compared with a 0.8 percent increase in May. It was the fourth straight monthly acceleration…
Airbus Near $6 Billion A350 Jet Sale to Taiwan’s StarLux
By · CommentsAirbus SE is close to an agreement to sell wide-body jetliners valued at about $6 billion at list prices to Taiwanese startup StarLux Airlines, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The talks cover 12 A350-1000 aircraft and five of the smaller A350-900s, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential negotiation. A final deal hasn’t been reached and a deal could still fall through, the person said.
Airbus Near $6 Billion A350 Jet Sale to Taiwan’s StarLux
U.K. House Prices Fall as London Decline Intensifies
By · Comments-
Prices fall as more sellers come to market, Rightmove reports
- London slump may be an opportunity for first-time buyers
U.K. house prices fell for the first time in seven months as sellers adapted to the reality of the weaker market.
Asking prices slipped 0.1 percent in July from a month earlier, property website Rightmove said on Monday. In London, prices slipped 0.5 percent, with smaller apartments falling faster than bigger homes…
-
Budget carrier AirAsia is said to weigh $23 billion jet order
- Asian carriers are buying jets as economic growth fuels travel
Airbus SE is closing in on $29 billion of deals with Asian carriers that are expanding their fleet because of surging travel demand in the region, according to people familiar with the matter.
The European manufacturer is working on a blockbuster agreement to sell $23 billion worth of aircraft to AirAsia Group Bhd., the continent’s biggest budget carrier, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private talks. Airbus is separately nearing an accord to sell wide-body jetliners valued at about $6 billion to Taiwanese startup StarLux Airlines, said a person familiar with the matter. The deals are based on list prices and discounts are customary for bulk orders…
-
Solomon was named sole president under Blankfein in March
- Blankfein to remain as CEO for an interim period: newspaper
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is poised to take another step in the slow exit of Lloyd Blankfein, its longstanding chief executive officer.
The investment bank plans early this week to name company President David Solomon — whom Blankfein has publicly referred to as his successor — as its next CEO, the New York Times reported Sunday, citing people briefed on the plan…
Goldman Sachs Seen Naming Solomon as CEO This Week, NYT Says
Hedge Funds Are Having a Volatile 2018
By · CommentsHedge funds have lagged behind the S&P 500 for the first half of 2018 despite market swings
Hedge funds have long touted their ability to do better when things turn volatile. But they lagged behind the S&P 500 for the first half of 2018 despite market swings tied to trade policy tensions and interest rate increases.
A widely followed hedge-fund index maintained by data research company HFR dropped .46% in June, pulling down the industry’s gains for the first half of 2018. The index rose .81% in the first two quarters, which is lower than the 2.65% return on the S&P 500, including dividends, over the same…
-
CIC said to seek approval to invest in domestic market
- Senior wealth fund executive cited ‘good opportunities’
China’s sovereign wealth fund has expressed a desire to invest in the domestic market as stock valuations have hit multiyear lows, underscoring how coming home may bring it new opportunities to boost returns.
The $941 billion China Investment Corp. wants permission to invest in local shares and bonds, and has laid the groundwork for an application to the central government, people with knowledge of the matter said. While it remains unclear if top leaders will grant approval, the potential move by the Beijing-based investor would add an engine of growth to complement an overseas portfolio that posted record returns last year…
-
Tesla chief says he donates to both parties to keep ‘dialogue’
- Prior donations mostly split between Democrats and Republicans
Self-proclaimed socialist Elon Musk gave $38,900 to a political committee that supports House Republicans.
The contribution is Musk’s second-largest of this election cycle, according to disclosures filed with the U.S. Federal Election Commission, after a $50,000 contribution last year to a different group benefiting House Republicans…
Elon Musk Just Gave Almost $40,000 to Republican-Allied Group
AC Milan’s new owner said that the equity capital should stabilize the seven-time European champion financially
American billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. promised an initial €50 million ($58.7 million) cash injection into Italian soccer team AC Milan, providing a much-needed lifeline to the storied team that is fighting a sanction that would keep it out of the Europa League this season.
AC Milan’s new owner said Tuesday that the equity capital—and promises for more down the road—should stabilize the seven-time European champion financially.
Hedge Fund Manager Elliott Takes Control of AC Milan Soccer Team
Ghosts of Loans Past Coming Back to Haunt India’s States
By · Comments-
RBI report highlights risk of fiscal slippage for states
- Report sees states’ redemption pressure peaking in 2026-27
Indian states raked up debt to fund widening deficits after the global financial crisis. They may now have to borrow more to meet repayment commitments, a report from the central bank showed.
Redemption pressure on states, which normally issue plain vanilla bonds with 10-year maturity, increased from the year ended March 2018, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Study of State Finances. That implies that their borrowings are expected to soar…
How a $139 Billion Fund Is Trading the Trade War
By · Comments-
AMP Capital started buying long-end U.S. debt six weeks ago
- “The best is probably behind us,” Ilan Dekell says of growth
In a bid to beat the trade war, a $139 billion Australian investment manager is using 30-year Treasuries as its weapon of choice.
The ultra-long bonds are seen as a hedge to protect the portfolios of AMP Capital Investors Ltd. against the risks stemming from the U.S.-China trade frictions and less-synchronized global growth, according to Ilan Dekell, the head of macro for global fixed income at the asset manager…
For most of its existence, SoftBank was known as a Japanese phone company that made some lucky bets. But in the future, being an investor in the company will mean betting on the investment prowess of its founder, Masayoshi Son.
Over the past few months, SoftBank has moved to drastically shrink itself. In April, it struck a deal to combine Sprint, which it controls, with T-Mobile, reducing its share of the embattled American carrier’s financial burden. It announced plans this week to spin out its domestic telecom business…
Investing in SoftBank Is Becoming a Bet on Its Founder’s Deal-Making Prowess
-
Top OPEC producer offers Arab Extra Light to 2 Asian customers
- WTI slides as much as 0.8%, after 3.8% decrease last week
Oil retreated below $71 a barrel as Saudi Arabia was said to offer extra crude supplies to some customers following a plan to boost output, while the U.S. considers tapping into its emergency stockpiles to rein in prices.
Futures in New York slid as much as 0.8 percent, after falling 3.8 percent last week. Saudi Arabia offered additional cargoes of its Arab Extra Light crude to at least two buyers in Asia for August, people with knowledge of the matter said, after supplying full contractual volumes to customers in the region. Meanwhile, the U.S. government is said to be mulling the release of oil from the nation’s 660-million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve…
-
Earnings season ramps up this week, Fed’s Powell to speak
- Chinese shares decline; oil slides below $71 a barrel
Asian stocks fell as mixed economic data in China failed to allay concern about the world’s second largest economy’s ability to the withstand the impact of the trade dispute. Crude slid and the yen traded near the weakest level since January.
Twitter’s week has been about as smooth as vomit-inducing roller coaster ride for shareholders. On Monday, Twitter announced they scrubbed the site of over 70 million bot accounts, sending the stock lowerthan.. most Twitter user’s self-esteem. On Tuesday, they enjoyed a small rally in the early hours but came into contact with some dreadful news from Nomura on Wednesday morning…
Nomura Downgrades Target Price, Goldman Promptly Does The Exact Opposite
A big initial public offering and strong signs of growth in the financial technology industry are giving startups in the sector a funding boost.
Venture backed U.S. fintech companies received about 40 percent more funding in the second quarter of this year than the previous one, according to a report released Wednesday by CB Insights and PwC. The total deal value for the quarter was about $3 billion…
Funding for U.S. Fintech Startups Rose 40 Percent Last Quarter
Broadcom has agreed to buy the software maker CA Technologies for nearly $19 billion, according to the two companies.
The acquisition by Broadcom, which has become a formidable competitor in the semiconductor market in the past decade, would be the first major move by the company since its $117 billion bid for Qualcomm was blocked by the Trump administration in March.
The Trump administration thwarted the Qualcomm deal citing national security concerns. White House officials said that allowing Qualcomm, an American leader in smartphone chips and wireless technology, to be taken over by a foreign company might strengthen China’s hand in a strategic industry…
Billionaire Steven Cohen Invests in Crypto Hedge Fund
By · CommentsBillionaire Steven Cohen has invested in a hedge fund focusing on cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based companies, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The investment was made through his Cohen Private Ventures, said the person, who asked not to be named because the information is private. The hedge fund, Autonomous Partners, was started last year by Arianna Simpson, an early advocate of cryptocurrencies. It has also secured investments from Union Square Ventures, Coinbase Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong and Craft Ventures Co-Founder David Sacks, Simpson said in an interview Thursday…
Germany Delays Greece’s Final Bailout Payment
By · CommentsMove comes after Greek government postponed tax increase on islands hit by migration flows
ATHENS—Germany on Thursday held up the final bailout disbursement for Greece, a move indicative of how difficult it will be for the southern country to regain financial sovereignty even as it exits an eight-year bailout regime in August.
Eurozone finance ministers approved the €15 billion ($17.5 billion) aid payment at a meeting in Brussels, but Germany declined to sign off on the deal…
Germany Delays Greece’s Final Bailout Payment
How the Trade War Affects Investors
By · CommentsInvestors are watching as the world’s two largest economies dance around a trade war.
Tensions appeared to ease Thursday as Beijing held off retaliating against additional tariffs of $200 billion on Chinese imports proposed this week by President Donald Trump. Stocks rallied, with the S&P 500 Index closing at its highest since February…
Apple Announces $300 Million China Clean Energy Fund
By · CommentsApple Inc., expanding its environmental efforts, announced a $300 million fund to promote clean energy in China.
The iPhone maker said it’s creating the fund to boost the use of renewable energy in its supply chain, which is primarily spread across regions in China. The company and 10 of its key suppliers and manufacturing partners, including Corning Inc., Pegatron Corp., Wistron Corp. and Luxshare Precision Industry Co., will contribute to the fund over the next four years, the Cupertino, California-based company said Thursday in a statement…
Walmart is talking to Capital One about taking over its store credit card, a potential blow to current issuer Synchrony Financial
Walmart Inc. is talking to Capital One Financial Corp. about taking over its store credit card, according to people familiar with the matter.
The discussions, which are expected to wrap up in coming weeks, could end Synchrony Financial’s nearly 20-year run as the exclusive issuer of Walmart cards.
Synchrony has been Walmart’s exclusive credit-card…
Walmart in Talks to Move Credit-Card Partnership to Capital One
-
Casco will wager on multi-family and commercial property
- Judy Glickman Lauder, a photographer, is part owner of Casco
Judy Glickman Lauder, wife of cosmetics billionaire Leonard Lauder, is investing in a new real estate firm that will wager on multi-family and commercial properties.
Casco Capital Management will provide or invest in loans to real estate developers and also make equity investments in properties, according to an investment adviser registration filed with regulators. Glickman Lauder, a photographer whose work hangs in museums around the world, owns part of New York-based Casco Capital…
Judy Glickman Lauder of Billionaire Family Invests in New Money Manager
J&J Ordered to Pay $4.14 Billion Punitive Damages
By · Comments-
22 women claimed ovarian cancer linked to J&J baby powder
- Company denied asbestos in talc products, link to cancer
Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a jury to pay $4.69 billion to women who claimed asbestos in the company’s talc products caused them to develop ovarian cancer, marking the sixth-largest product-defect verdict in U.S. history.
The award of $4.14 billion in punitive damages on top of the $550 million meant to compensate each of 22 women and their families for their losses sent the company’s shares down by as much as 1.4 percent in after-hours trading…
Broadcom Shares Sink as Latest Deal Puzzles Wall Street
By · CommentsCEO Hock Tan’s $18.9 billion purchase of software company CA is deviation from previous acquisitions
Broadcom Inc. shares fell nearly 14% on Thursday, showing the challenge Chief Executive Hock Tan faces in persuading investors that his $18.9 billion purchase of the software company CA Technologies makes sense for the chip giant.
The deal, announced late Wednesday, was a surprise even for observers familiar with Mr. Tan’s long history of acquisitions. The CEO built Broadcom into a chip powerhouse largely by acquiring companies. He keeps the parts he desires, wringing efficiencies out of the them, and sheds the rest..
Not everyone is losing faith in the yen as a haven.
While the Japanese currency is the worst performer this month among its Group-of-10 peers, Russell Investments is bucking the trend. The asset manager, which oversees $300 billion, has upped the level of yen assets it holds compared to Treasuries, with the currency hitting the lowest level against the dollar since January…
Yen Trumps Treasuries for $300 Billion Investor Amid Trade Spat
-
Commerce secretary says he will sell remaining equity holdings
- Ethics chief says failure ‘undermined public confidence’
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday that he will divest all his remaining equity holdings after the government’s top ethics watchdog said his failure to sell off assets that could pose a conflict of interest “created the potential for a serious criminal violation.”
In his ethics agreement, Ross, a New York businessman, had pledged to divest numerous assets, including all his holdings in Invesco Ltd., within 90 days of his confirmation, and more complex assets within 180 days…
-
Passive income held offshore may benefit from arcane provision
- Investors save now, but would face hit if they collect in U.S.
An obscure tax provision from the 1960s that was left untouched by President Donald Trump’s overhaul could let wealthy individual investors seize for themselves the largest corporate tax cut in U.S. history.
The measure — signed into law by President John F. Kennedy — was designed to prevent Americans from indefinitely shielding themselves from taxes by keeping investments offshore. It forced them to pay taxes annually on these investments, but gave them the option to have that income taxed at the corporate rate instead of at individual rates…
The Wealth-Management Arms Race Is Heating Up
By · CommentsCitigroup Inc. is adding muscle to its private-wealth arm, hiring advisers from rival Bank of America Corp. as competition for assets intensifies.
Lance Bylow and Morgan Dever are joining in New York next month from BofA’s U.S. Trust unit, Citigroup said Wednesday in an emailed statement. Bylow will be a managing director and Dever a senior vice president. Lisa Yang, who also worked at U.S. Trust, started earlier this month as an associate banker working with ultra-high-net worth clients…
-
End of cheap money will cause a crunch, says veteran investor
- EM stocks will probably fall another 10% by year-end, he says
For Mark Mobius, there may be worse to come even after the U.S. fired new shots in its trade war with China: a further 10 percent drop in emerging-market stocks and a global financial crisis.
“There’s no question we’ll see a financial crisis sooner or later because we must remember we’re coming off from a period of cheap money,” the veteran investor in developing nations said in an interview in Singapore. “There’s going to be a real squeeze for many of these companies that depended upon cheap money to keep on going.”…
Oil Tumbles on Libya’s Returning Supply
By · CommentsPrices fell despite a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. inventories
U.S. crude had its worst day in a year Wednesday despite a larger-than-expected weekly drop in inventories after Libya indicated it would resume export activities at its eastern ports, potentially easing fears of a global supply shortage.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell $3.73, or 5%, to $70.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange—its largest one-day percentage drop since June 2017 after it rose in eight of the 10 sessions entering Wednesday. Brent crude, the global benchmark, dropped $5.46, or 6.9%, to…
-
Bond investors tend to be more risk averse, Credit Suisse says
- Some China property companies borrow at cheaper cost via loans
With the Federal Reserve driving up dollar borrowing costs and China’s deleveraging campaign stoking fears of default among fixed-income investors, Chinese debtors are increasingly turning to the loan market for funding.
Chinese companies have some $76 billion of dollar bonds to repay in the coming year, and face the both higher yields and a weaker exchange rate, thanks in part to U.S.-China trade tensions that brought an end to five straight quarters of gains for the yuan. High-yield issuers are especially vulnerable, with authorities recently looking at cracking down on a loophole that let them sell dollar debt with less than one-year maturity without pre-approval…
Billionaire Elon Musk pledged to pay to secure clean water for homes in Flint, Michigan, the city that fell into economic depression amid the decades-long decline of Detroit’s auto industry and is still recovering from a major public health emergency.
“Please consider this a commitment that I will fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has water contamination,” the chief executive officer of electric-car maker Tesla Inc. said in a tweet Wednesday. “No kidding.”…
Elon Musk Pledges to Pay for Clean Water to Homes in Flint, Michigan
Robert Perry, who ran Los Angeles wealth-management offices, has left firm
A Morgan Stanley executive overseeing brokers who catered to celebrities left the firm this week after several employees claimed harassment at branches he managed in Los Angeles.
A spokesman for the firm confirmed the departure of Robert Perry, who had been at Morgan Stanley’s brokerage and a predecessor firm since 1993…
Morgan Stanley Brokerage Executive Departs Following Harassment Claims in Branches He Managed
-
EM assets typically outperform when U.S. yield curve inverts
- Spread between U.S. 10-year, 2-year yields at 11-year low
If the end of easy money, a trade war and myriad geopolitical dangers weren’t enough, a U.S. yield curve poised to invert is adding to the risks for investors. But there’s one asset class that’s less of a worry: emerging markets.
Every time the yield curve has flipped in the past three decades, sending shorter-term interest rates above longer-term ones, the U.S. economy has entered a recession within 12 to 24 months. While that correlation makes the inverted curve a risk-off signal, it’s been a different story with emerging-market assets…
-
Deal would give chipmaker a foothold in business software
- CEO Hock Tan returns to M&A following block of Qualcomm bid
Broadcom Inc., a semiconductor maker whose acquisitions have reshaped the chip industry, agreed to acquire CA Technologies for $18.9 billion in cash, branching out into corporate software to diversify its business.
Broadcom will pay $44.50 per share, a 20 percent premium to the CA’s closing price on Wednesday, the companies said in a statement after markets closed for the day. The deal will immediately add to Broadcom’s earnings once completed, which is expected in the fourth quarter…
Drivers across the U.S. in May paid as much as $2.96 a gallon on average, the most since 2014
The highest retail gasoline prices in years are the latest development to raise concerns about one of the longest-running U.S. economic expansions on record.
Drivers across the U.S. in May paid as much as $2.96 a gallon on average, the most since 2014. Prices have climbed to $3.63 in California and $3.39 in Washington, states where prices tend to be higher because of factors such as higher taxes, environmental regulations and a lack of pipelines that transport oil west. As of Monday, the national average was $2.86 a gallon….
-
U.K. home sales activity declines for 16th month, RICS says
- Activity indicators suggest London will remain in a rut
London house prices extended their decline last month amid slumping demand in the capital, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
For a sixth month, significantly more real estate agents reported falling prices than rising ones, albeit at a slightly slower pace than previously, RICS said is a report Thursday. On a national level prices remained broadly flat, the firm said…
London House Prices Extend Decline as Demand for Property Wanes
-
Cable giant’s latest offer is 5.4% higher than Fox’s price
- Independent Sky directors back sweetened buyout terms
Comcast Corp. increased its takeover bid for Sky Plc to $34 billion, topping an offer from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc. and escalating a global standoff between the media giants.
Comcast, the largest U.S. cable company, is now offering 14.75 pounds a share for Sky, valuing Britain’s top pay-TV provider at 26 billion pounds, according to a statement Wednesday. That’s 5.4 percent above a 14 pound-a-share proposal from Fox, which already owns a stake in the European broadcaster. Fox acknowledged the increased bid in a statement late Wednesday…
Martin Sorrell, the former chief executive of the advertising giant WPP who is now trying to build a new ad company, beat out his former employer for the purchase of a Dutch marketing firm on Tuesday, a move that WPP claimed could endanger millions of dollars in his stock awards.
Mr. Sorrell’s new firm, S4 Capital, said in a statement that it had bought MediaMonks, which has 11 offices and more than 750 employees. The marketing firm brings in about 110 million euros ($129 million) of annual revenue, and buying it is S4 Capital’s first move in creating “a new era, new media solution embracing data, content and technology,” the statement said…
Bitcoin Bull Sticking With $25,000 Price Target for 2018
By · CommentsThis year’s cryptocurrency sell-off has done nothing to dent the optimism of Fundstrat Global Advisors head of research Thomas Lee. Already one of Wall Street’s most outspoken Bitcoin bulls, Lee is sticking with his year-end forecast of $25,000, more than 270 percent above current levels. The rosy outlook is based on Bitcoin historically trading at 2.5 times its mining cost, which will rise to $9,000 by year end, he said during an interview in Taipei. Lee has at times been overly enthusiastic: his December call for the digital currency to reach $20,000 by mid-2018 missed the mark by about $14,000…
-
Investors moving away from defensive plays as rates increase
- Financials ‘are very cheap,’ according to market strategist
With interest rates on the rise, exchange-traded fund investors are increasingly embracing risk, pulling cash out of defensive utilities and piling into more volatile financials.
Traders yanked almost $330 million from the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund, or XLU, Monday after three straight weeks of inflows. Meanwhile, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund, known as XLF, saw $368 million of inflows after four consecutive weeks of outflows…
ETF Investors Pick Riskier Financials Over the Safety of Utilities