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Mining-trading giant may increase buyback this week: Liberum
- First-half earnings may be driven by bumper profits from coal
Glencore Plc may have had a nightmarish year so far, but the world’s top commodity trader is still raking in mountains of money.
The company is facing a U.S. corruption probe, got mired in a dispute with its billionaire former partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has been caught in the fallout from new U.S. sanctions on Russia — among other issues. Yet despite all the bad news, Glencore is expected to report its most profitable six months ever when the company publishes first-half results Wednesday…
Jack Etienne is trying to persuade advertisers that a bunch of guys maneuvering online archers, monsters and mages is a lucrative investment.
Jack Etienne had reinvented himself. He’d gone from an eager photocopier salesman with an obsessive evening-and-weekends video game habit to the chief executive officer at a professional video-game-playing company that generates millions of dollars a year in sponsorships. In 2017, he committed more than $30 million in investment funds buying a spot in two of the world’s top esports leagues, where pro video gamers compete in front of huge audiences. Now those Silicon Valley investors expect him to turn his team, Cloud9, into a global entertainment business. So, this April, searching for clues as to how he might do that, Etienne flew to New Orleans to experience WrestleMania 34…
Aerial technology such as drones was used widely last year to evaluate damage amid back-to-back disasters
Property insurers are relying on more drones, small aircraft and artificial intelligence to accelerate claims during 2018’s hurricane season. There are signs this push for speed could pose new headaches for the industry.
Last year marked the first widespread use of aerial technology to pinpoint damages and evaluate losses quickly as insurers scrambled to keep up with back-to-back hurricanes and wildfires…
Insurers Are Speeding Up Claims. Their Worry: More Mistakes
Morgan Stanley Goes Against the Crowd on JGBs
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Surge in BOJ ownership of 5-to-10 year bonds squeezing supply
- Barclays, SMBC Nikko flag odds of 10-year yield testing 0.2%
As most strategists bet that Japan’s bond traders will push the benchmark yield toward 0.2 percent in a bid to test the central bank’s newly-guided boundaries, Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co.’s Koichi Sugisaki is going against the crowd.
The 10-year yield will probably settle closer to 0.1 percent — the upper end of the Bank of Japan’s previously acceptable range — as recent market volatility settles down to less extreme levels, according to Sugisaki, who cites the surge in the central bank’s ownership of five-to-10 year debt as a key reason for the contrarian call…
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That’s the total share buybacks likely to be announced in 2018
- Corporate support for market is back as earnings peak passed
Investors fixated on one 13-digit milestone last week, Apple Inc.’s value. But another trillion-dollar threshold is in sight and is more relevant to the bull market in U.S. equities, says Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
It’s the volume of stock buybacks that corporate America is likely to announce this year. The total for S&P 500 firms will jump 46 percent from 2017 to an annual record, according to an increased estimate from the Goldman unit that executes share repurchases for clients…
Jelena McWilliams’s first interview signals openness to revamping capital-requirement rules on investing in low-income areas
Zillow Group Inc. started buying and selling homes this year. Now it plans to write mortgages, too.
The home-listings website operator is acquiring Mortgage Lenders of America, an Overland Park, Kansas-based lender, Zillow said in a statement Monday. The terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed…
Zillow to Buy Mortgage Lender to Help With Its Home Flipping
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Second-quarter commission margin at auction house declines
- Shares sink 5.6 percent as Sotheby’s misses estimate
Billionaire John Magnier got a windfall from the sale of an Amedeo Modigliani nude at Sotheby’s in May. The auction house was not as fortunate.
The 1917 “Nu couche (sur le cote gauche)” fetched $157.2 million, an almost sixfold increase in value since 2003 when the Irish bloodstock tycoon bought it. Although Sotheby’s heralded the price as the highest auction result in its 274-year history, the painting was sold on a sole, prearranged bid. In the end, Sotheby’s didn’t keep much of its $18 million commission…
U.S. Stocks Boosted by Robust Earnings
By · CommentsEarnings growth has pushed S&P 500 to its highest level since January despite escalating tariff threats from the U.S. and China
Robust second-quarter earnings growth has pushed the S&P 500 to its highest level since January despite escalating tariff threats from the U.S. and China. After China said Friday that it planned to impose tariffs on a majority of its U.S. imports, President Trumptweeted over the weekend that…
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Barclaycard reports strongest three months since at least 2014
- But heat and soccer offer only temporary relief, reports find
The sweltering summer drove Britons to splurge on food, drink and days away but the boost to retailers may prove short-lived, with higher interest rates expected to hit already fragile consumer confidence, surveys published Tuesday found.
Payments processor Barclaycard said that spending rose an annual 5 percent in July, capping the strongest three-month period since it started measuring the data in 2014. Spending was also boosted by the England soccer team’s best World Cup run for 28 years…
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Social network seeks partnerships for customer communications
- Information won’t be used for advertising, company says
Facebook Inc.’s shares rose on optimism that the company is forging deeper relationships with banks to offer customer-service products via its Messenger chat application, a business that could boost engagement as growth slows on its main social network.
Facebook has for years worked to make Messenger a natural place for consumers to communicate with businesses, aiming to replace email. Customers who opt in can already receive some airline boarding passes and receipts from PayPal transactions on Messenger. To do the same with major banks, Facebook has been trying to convince them that the conversations will be secure and customers’ personal data won’t be used in advertising…
The hedge fund industry has reputation for secrecy. To some extent, this is an artifact of a since-abolished ban on anything that could possibly be construed as marketing. To another extent, it’s a useful term to be bandied about political extremists and anti-Semites of all stripes to decry the unseen, malevolent Illuminati Masters of the Universe surreptitiously controlling all of the world’s governments and the global economy. To still another extent, it’s an accurate description of any business, especially privately-held ones, few if any of which practice the wide and free dissemination of their finances, models, plans, etc.
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Negative correlation between dollar-yuan, EM peers deepens
- Philippines, Romania set to raise rates to rein in inflation
Emerging markets may be headed for a period of increased volatility as the midyear lull saps liquidity and the U.S.-China dispute leaves traders struggling to decipher the yuan’s likely direction.
Chinese, Taiwanese and Philippine trade data for July this week will give an indication of whether the trade tension is starting to weigh on regional exports. The standoff has already prompted BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, to trim its holdings of developing-nation assets, saying that it may be one of many dynamics weighing on global growth. U.S. data on initial jobless claims, scheduled for release Thursday, are forecast to increase…
Incentive compensation should increase an average of 5 percent to 10 percent across financial services this year with the exception of merger advisory, according to Johnson Associates.
The biggest increase will likely be in equity sales and trading, where bonuses could climb as much as 20 percent, the compensation consulting firm said Friday in a report. Increased volatility and heightened client activity are behind the boost, the company said…
Banker Bonuses Are Expected to Increase Except in Advising, Report Says
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Harbor city property prices fell most since 2009 in July
- Central bank tipped to keep rates on hold for another year
Sydney’s bubbly house prices are sinking and tipped to fall for at least another year, pushing the central bank even further to the sidelines.
Given Australia’s tepid wages, tame inflation, range-bound currency and exposure to a global trade war, Governor Philip Lowe and his board are almost certain to keep the benchmark cash rate at a record-low 1.5 percent when they meet Tuesday…
Sydney’s Housing Slide Is One More Reason for Rates to Stay on Hold
Hiding Russian Money Was Easy. Quitting Was Harder.
By · CommentsBenedict Worsley, a self-created British ‘fixer,’ would do just about anything for his clients—until the offshore network he built came crashing down
“If you are reading this, it is probable that you wonder who Ben Worsley is.”
Typing on his computer, Benedict Worsley felt surrounded. The plan, the Englishman told friends, was to work for the Russian financiers for a few years and then retreat to his gated pied-à-terre in the south of France…
Hiding Russian Money Was Easy. Quitting Was Harder.
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Prime central London house values gain most in three years
- Rents probably will rise as buyers remain uneasy about Brexit
London’s moribund luxury homes market is showing signs of bottoming out.
Values in the best districts rose 1.2 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the fastest annual rate in almost three years, as buyers took advantage of price cuts after higher sales taxes damped demand. More homeowners are also looking to sell, and deals are rising as pricing becomes more realistic, researcher LonRes said in a report, citing a survey of agents…
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PBOC move on Friday echoed efforts to squeeze bears in 2016
- Few managers have been willing to build large short positions
It’s exactly the kind of shock that many hedge fund managers feared as they mulled whether to bet big against China’s currency.
In a surprise statement on Friday night, the People’s Bank of China announced a rule tweak that will make bearish yuan trades much more expensive. The move, which sparked a sharp rally in the currency, echoed efforts to deter short sellers almost three years ago. It also underscored why hedge funds have largely avoided wagers against the yuan in recent months, missing out on one of the world’s most profitable currency trades…
Investors pile back into bets against China’s stocks, currency as trade dispute intensifies
China Bears Score $7.1 Billion Victory in Long-Running ‘Pain Trade’
William Rubin was known for his art collection, less so for his Westchester estate. Maybe that will change.
William Rubin (1927-2006), the head of the Museum of Modern Art’s prestigious painting and sculpture department in the 1970s and 1980s, is largely credited with transforming the institution’s collection from a treasure into a powerhouse.
By the mid 1990s, he’d become the department’s director emeritus and was busy working on what would be his last major show, Picasso and Portraiture, which opened in April 1996 with more than 220 artworks…
A MoMA Curator’s Art-Filled Mansion Is On Sale for $6.5 million
OCBC Profit Beats Estimates on Lending, Lower Allowances
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Lending income expands on higher net interest margin, growth
- CEO sounds a note of caution on rising global trade tensions
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.’s second-quarter profit rose more than analysts estimated as lending income increased and loan allowances fell.
Net income climbed 16 percent to record S$1.21 billion ($884 million) in the three months ended June from a year earlier, the Singapore-based bank said Monday. That beat the S$1.12 billion average forecast in a Bloomberg survey of four analysts…
OCBC Profit Beats Estimates on Lending, Lower Allowances
Goldman Sachs to Name New Trading Co-Head Amid Reboot
By · CommentsThe firm plans to name Jim Esposito to run the securities division alongside current executive Ashok Varadhan
Goldman Sachs to Name New Trading Co-Head Amid Reboot
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Investors in $1.6 billion-fund working with Alvarez & Marsal
- Dubai-based Abraaj is undergoing a court-led restructuring
Investors in a $1.6 billion-Abraaj Group fund have hired advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal Holdings LLC to help recover money owed by the floundering Middle Eastern private equity firm, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The New York-based company will represent Abraaj Private Equity Fund IV’s backers in talks with liquidators as they seek to recover more than $99 million owed by the Dubai-based buyout firm, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential. The stakeholders have formed an investor committee led by Boston-based HarbourVest Partners, two of the people said…
The startup is trying to hook young renters and first-time homeowners with apps, chatbots, and a social-good play.
Home insurance may not seem like a natural business for a financial technology startup. It’s heavily regulated and dominated by established players. Where’s the potential for Silicon Valley-style growth? Yet Lemonade Inc. co-founders Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger are trying to use updated tech and millennial-friendly marketing to bring some buzz to a boring industry. The insurer has drawn big tech-oriented investors such as Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., which led a $120 million funding round in December…
Selling Millennials Home Insurance Is Lemonade’s Novel Pitch
Regulators Probe Options Market’s Major Clearinghouse
By · CommentsInvestigations by SEC and CFTC were opened after February spike in market volatility
The company tasked with curbing risk in the U.S. options market is under investigation by federal regulators for how it handled a recent period of market turbulence, according to people familiar with the matter.
The probes from the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission include concerns that Options Clearing Corp. failed to accurately forecast how much cash would be needed to cover trading losses triggered by a spike in volatility last February, some of the people said….
For Leslie Moonves, the chief executive of the CBS Corporation, it was back to business as usual.
With characteristic verve, Mr. Moonves spoke to Wall Street analysts on Thursday about the company’s second-quarter financial results, predicting the network would end the season in first place for the 11th year in a row…
Leslie Moonves Speaks on CBS Earnings Call but Not About Harassment Allegations
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Heineken to acquire 40% stake in China’s largest beermaker
- Global, local brewers in fierce competition for China drinkers
Dutch brewer Heineken NV is buying a $3.1 billion stake in China Resources Beer Holdings Co. that will give China’s largest brewer access to a premium brand in the world’s largest beer market.
Heineken will pay HK$24.4 billion for a 40 percent stake in the maker of the best-selling Snow beer brand. Under the deal, Heineken’s operations in China will be combined with those of China Resources Beer, and the Dutch brewer will license its brand to the Chinese partner on a long-term basis, according to company statements Friday…
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Jobs’ vision of hardware, software, services created a giant
- CEO Cook says he still views Apple as a ‘pretty small company’
Apple Inc. became the first U.S.-based company with a market value of $1 trillion, four decades after it was co-founded by Steve Jobs in a Silicon Valley garage and later revolutionized the worlds of computing, music and mobile communications.
The shares rose 2.9 percent to close at $207.39 in New York on Thursday, propelling the consumer-technology giant’s market value to $1.002 trillion. PetroChina Co. briefly crossed the trillion-dollar mark in late 2007, but slumped quickly as oil prices collapsed in the financial crisis. Other tech giants are not far behind Apple today, with Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. worth more than $800 billion each…
Demise of private-equity firm Abraaj, concerns over corporate governance put spotlight on Dubai’s financial regulator
DUBAI—Investors are questioning whether Dubai’s young financial center can police itself as the meltdown of its marquee private-equity firm highlights broader concerns about placing money in the region.
This emirate’s top regulator, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, has been close to silent since allegations emerged that Abraaj Group misused hundreds of millions of dollars in investors’ money, including that of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank. It has issued two short statements, seized some laptops…
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Stephanie Cohen among four named last week to management panel
- Promotion follows ascent through M&A world dominated by men
The venue was the Gotham Club — an exclusive den inside the San Francisco Giants’ home stadium. It’s the ultimate man-cave.
It was here on an evening last December when roughly 100 women from the investment banking world gathered at an event billed as a leadership dinner. The caucus started as a small gathering a decade ago organized by Stephanie Cohen — then an up-and-coming banker at Goldman Sachs, who was vexed by the chummy boys network that’s long dominated the business of guiding mergers and acquisitions…
A few minutes ago, a California consumer electronics company briefly touched the faces of the financial angels as it’s market capitalization reached $1 trillion.
Is it impressive that Apple managed this feat after only four decades? All of them characterized by drama like a troubled genius, revolt, failure, rebirth, the same troubled genius but -like- good this time, a seismic shift in technology, death of said troubled genius, years of cynicism and an ever-growing list of competitors? And that it did it all at a P/E Ratio of like 20?…
Tim Cook Is Boring, So Now Apple Is Only Worth $1 Trillion
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Security detail for one executive might require a staff of 10
- Corporate chieftains face the greatest risks while traveling
It costs a lot to keep Mark Zuckerberg safe.
Facebook Inc. spent $7.33 million last year protecting its chief executive officer at his homes and during his tour across the U.S. Last week, the social-media giant said it would provide an additional $10 million a year for him to spend on personal security…
Keeping Zuckerberg Safe Now Costs an Extra $10 Million a Year
The Hidden Reason Why Hedge-Fund Returns Are at Risk
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Volatility among top three contributors to performance: Robeco
- Managers likely better off to avoid bold bets, Blitz says
Smart money is blindsided by a flaw of its own making hiding in plain sight — an investing maxim quants have known for an age.
Blame bets on volatility…
Houston Medical Building Fetches Record Price
By · CommentsPurchase shows demand for health care properties, but changing regulation makes picking winners a challenge
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City has the lowest property-tax rate in Canada and the U.S.
- Light carrying costs make Vancouver attractive for speculation
Got a million dollars to plow into real estate? Vancouver’s a great place to park it, thanks to a property-tax rate that’s the lowest in both Canada and the U.S.
The owner of a C$1 million ($770,000) home in the Pacific Coast city will pay just C$2,468 a year in property tax, compared with C$6,355 in Toronto or more than C$10,000 in Ottawa, according to a new study by real estate website Zoocasa that looked at rates in 25 major Canadian markets…
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U.S. retail gasoline prices already hovering near $3 a gallon
- New plan to lead to 2-3 percent rise in daily fuel consumption
The Trump administration’s proposal to ease U.S. fuel economy standards after 2020 may slow an expected decline in gasoline demand, resulting in higher prices at the pump.
The Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration jointly proposed on Thursday to cap fuel economy requirements at a fleet average of 37 miles per gallon starting in 2020. Under the Obama plan, the fleet-wide fuel economy would have risen gradually to roughly 47 mpg by 2025. The change would mean a 2 percent to 3 percent increase in daily fuel consumption…
Ken Griffin Putting Down Roots In Palm Beach
By · CommentsThree years after successfully defending his title as the richest man in Illinois from his now ex-wife, is Ken Griffin considering its voluntary surrender? Probably not anytime soon: He’s pretty deeply enmeshed in Chicago’s civic life, and after convincing the courts that his three young children should have to stay there and not move to New York with their mother, it’d be pretty awkward to ask them to sign off on a different East Coast relocation.
On the other hand, the Windy City does not really feature suitable accommodation for the likes of Ken Griffin. Things aren’t looking good for his buddies the mayor and governor, and the Citadel chief has some pretty strong feelings about what’s likely to happen to Illinois if those men are not re-hired by the voters…
Activist investor likely to urge other shareholders to vote against $54 billion proposed takeover
Activist investor Carl Icahn has built a sizable stake in Cigna Corp. and plans to vote against the health insurer’s $54 billion purchase of Express Scripts Holding Co., the latest sign of trouble for the planned tie-up.
Mr. Icahn, whose stake amounts to less than 5% of Cigna’s shares outstanding, believes the company is paying too high a price for the pharmacy-benefit manager, which faces threats on a number of fronts, according to people familiar with the matter…
Apple’s flirtation with $1 trillion may be distracting investors from a big challenge: Can customers stomach continued price increases for its iPhone?
Investors were impressed when Apple reported earnings for its fiscal third quarter, or the three months through June, on Tuesday. The company’s stock jumped nearly 6 percent on Wednesday and pushed its market value to nearly $973 billion…
How Apple’s March Toward $1 Trillion Could Cause It to Stumble
Tesla Inc. said it plans to use mostly local debt to fund a new factory in Shanghai, its first outside of the U.S.
The facility, known as the Gigafactory 3, is expected to churn out about 250,000 vehicles and battery packs per year initially, capacity that will double over time. The first cars are forecast to roll off the production line in about three years, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in a letter to shareholders…
Fidelity Eliminates Fees on Two New Index Funds
By · CommentsFidelity Investments announced that it won’t charge any management fees on the new funds as price competition intensifies
The race to zero in the investing world has finally reached bottom at one of the nation’s biggest money managers.
Starting Friday, Fidelity Investments will offer clients the chance to invest in two new stock-index funds without paying any fees, putting new pressure on low-cost rivals such as Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab Corp…
The federal government began clearing a path on Tuesday for online lenders and payment companies to more easily and directly compete with traditional banks, a change that one regulator said would allow innovative businesses to expand nationwide.
Online lenders and other so-called fintech firms — including the payment processor Square, the online lender Lending Club and the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase — have pressed for regulatory routes that would let them cut through the thicket of state and federal laws that govern financial businesses…
Online Lenders and Payment Companies Get a Way to Act More Like Banks
Private investment in autonomous-vehicle companies soared in the second quarter to more than in the last four years combined, according to Bloomberg NEF.
Two major deals involving SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund fueled much of the surge to about $5 billion in investment, BNEF analysts wrote in their latest Intelligent Mobility Market Outlook published Wednesday. The fund led a $1.9 billion funding round in Manbang Group, China’s Uber-like truck-rental company. It also committed to a $2.25 billion infusion for General Motors Co.’s autonomous-vehicle division Cruise Automation…
Dow Jones Industrial Average Falls on Tariff Concerns
By · CommentsS&P 500 technology sector gains on the heels of a strong earnings report from Apple
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower Wednesday as losses in energy and industrial shares offset a rebound in technology stocks.
Shares of industrial companies lost ground after reports said administration advisers were urging President Trump to sharply increase tariffs against China, renewing fears among investors that global trade frictions could hit the markets…
Dow Jones Industrial Average Falls on Tariff Concerns
India’s Bank Crisis Is Really a Power Crisis
By · CommentsCarbon-intensive assets are a financial time-bomb.
India’s government seems intent on abandoning good ideas for dealing with the country’s banking crisis and encouraging bad ones. Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising, given that the bureaucrats don’t yet seem to have grappled with the real nature of the problem.
The latest terrible proposal for dealing with the bad loans weighing down India’s state-owned banks, which control more than two-thirds of deposits, is to create a “bad bank” — an asset-management company that would take stressed assets off their balance sheets. Naturally, the scheme emerged from a committee made up of the heads of India’s nationalized banks…
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Trudeau out in the cold as Trump courts Mexico on Nafta deal
- U.K. seen raising rates for second time since financial crisis
- Congress sent President Trump legislation that broadens national-security scrutiny of foreign investments in U.S. firms, imposing new hurdles for technology and real-estate
- The White House is boosting long-term U.S. debt sales to the highest since 2010, when the country was digging itself out of the worst recession since World War II. Trump’s tariffs are meanwhile prompting manufacturers to consider expanding outside the country even as demand remains healthy..
U.S. Targets Property, China’s New Empire, Fed Outlook: Eco Day
JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it’s among banks and brokerages facing a U.S. regulatory probe into how they handled securities that represent shares of foreign companies.
The New York-based lender said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it’s cooperating with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation of American Depository Receipts. The inquiry focuses on transactions from 2011 to 2015, it said…
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Firm will also reduce prices on existing index mutual funds
- BlackRock, T. Rowe Price shares decline on Fidelity news
Fidelity Investments, having lost billions of dollars in assets to rivals, pulled out some new ammunition to use against them — dropping fees to zero.
The move is part of an ongoing reckoning at Fidelity. The company, which built an empire on the prowess of its stock pickers, has been moving aggressively to fit into a world increasingly dominated by low-cost index products and exchange-traded funds. But it’s playing catch-up to Vanguard Group and BlackRock Inc…
The Walking Dead Are Reincarnated at Credit Suisse
By · CommentsTidjane Thiam’s turnaround is delivering, even if it’s not over.
Credit Suisse Group AG was not long ago ranked alongside Deutsche Bank AG as a basket-case bank whose CEO was a possible “dead man walking.” Yet Tidjane Thiam has shaken off that prognosis by essentially copying his Swiss rival UBS Group AG. He’s shrunk his firm’s trading unit to focus on wealth management, all while cutting costs. And it’s paid off. The difficult thing will be finishing the final leg of his turnaround without any nasty surprises.
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Debt campaign softening throws focus on state firms, property
- Politburo affirms debt campaign to continue at measured pace
A slowing economy and a rumbling trade war are giving officials trying to tame China’s debt reason to be more selective about their targets, not to give up completely.
Less than two years into the broad-based drive to contain credit growth, policy makers are now placing more emphasis on curbing debt at state firms and in parts of the property market. Meanwhile, the vise-grip that’s been causing contraction in the shadow banking sector and at local governments is being eased in the hope of preventing a sudden stop in the economy…
After another loss in the second quarter, Greenlight Capital’s funds are down 18.3% this year
Hedge-fund manager David Einhorn told clients Tuesday his funds declined again in the second quarter and attributed the firm’s recent struggles to larger market forces harming investors who avoid expensive shares.
In a letter to clients, the billionaire who runs Greenlight Capital Inc. said his funds are down 18.3% this year, through June, after a 5.3% loss in the second quarter…
David Einhorn: The Market ‘Is Telling Us We Are Wrong, Wrong, Wrong’
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Falling stocks, bond defaults contributed to money fund inflow
- World’s top fund Yu’EBao has biggest quarterly outflows ever
Chinese investors flocked into money-market products at a rate outpacing equities and bonds last quarter, adding to what is already the biggest segment of the nation’s mutual fund industry.
Mutual funds investing in low-risk, short-term debt instruments grew 5.4 percent last quarter to 7.7 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion), compared to the 3.7 percent increase in bond funds and a drop of 1.3 percent in equity funds, data compiled by the Asset Management Association of China show…
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Large share of puttable bond issuers have weaker ratings: S&P
- Property developers seen facing most pressure for redemptions
Recent optimism in China’s debt market will soon be put to the test, with investors able to demand early repayment for as much as 544.7 billion yuan ($80 billion) of debt by year-end.
The amount of local bonds with put options that hit trigger points in the coming five months comes to almost 1.4 times the tally from January to July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg…
China Debt-Market Optimism Is About to Be Put to the Test
We’ve read a few hedge fund investor letters in our time, and we’d like to think that we have a feel for the tone and meter of how hedge fund managers convey their innate undeniable brilliance despite what the performance of their actual fund might indicate.
Up, down, or sideways, the true legends of the game always keep it 100 when it comes to their confidence in themselves. Investors need to know that those losses are fixable because this master of the universe has this situation on lock. It’s almost a comfort to read that these guys are still able to put an ego flourish on a letter admitting to objectively shameful performance…
Anjali Sud doubled down on catering to filmmakers on a budget.
Four years ago, video-sharing website Vimeo found itself competing with YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and HBO in a race to develop original content. Even at that time, getting in front of that rich field was unlikely. Then production budgets in the industry went bananas, going from mere millions of dollars to billions…
The Vimeo CEO Succeeded by Saying No to Spending Billions
Morgan Stanley: Say Your Prayers And Hold Onto Your Ass
By · CommentsYou’d think toppling Goldman Sachs and taking over the cool kid table would make things all rosy for Wall Street’s new HBIC, but it seems like Morgan Stanley is not exactly the sunniest place to be right now…
Morgan Stanley believes the dramatic drops in some high-flying technology stocks this month is further evidence the stock market will go lower.
“The weaker earnings beat from several Tech leaders and outright misses from Netflix and Facebook were simply additional support for our [defensive] call,” chief U.S. equity strategist Michael Wilson said in a note to clients Monday.
But at least the pain will be widespread!…
If you thought the slump in U.S. technology stocks was bad, take a look at Tencent Holdings Ltd.
The Chinese Internet giant has tumbled 25 percent from its January peak, erasing about $143 billion of market value. That’s the biggest wipeout of shareholder wealth worldwide, as measured from the date of each stock’s 52-week high. Facebook Inc., the F in the FANG block of mega-cap U.S. tech shares, is the second-biggest loser with a $136 billion slump over the past three trading sessions…
Tencent’s $143 Billion Rout Is World’s Biggest as Tech Sinks
Growing pressure to improve returns and corporate governance is straining the ownership ties that bind many public companies together
TOKYO—Time may be running short for the Japanese conglomerate.
Growing pressure to improve returns and corporate governance is straining the decades-old ownership ties that bind many public companies together in the world’s third-largest economy. That is creating openings for foreign investors, with private-equity firms such as KKR & Co. Inc. buying out corporate subsidiaries, and hedge funds like Elliott Management Corp. betting on current or future takeover targets…
Japan Inc. Is Decluttering—and Foreign Investors Love the Look
Australia House Prices Fall the Most in 7 Years
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Dwelling values down 0.6% in July, led by Sydney and Melbourne
- Decline set to continue amid lending curbs, investor retreat
Australia’s property slump deepened in July, with housing prices falling the most in almost seven years.
National dwelling values dropped 0.6 percent last month — the biggest fall since September 2011 — as declines in Sydney and Melbourne accelerated, according to CoreLogic Inc. data released Wednesday. Prices have now fallen for 10 straight months due to a combination of lending curbs, stretched affordability and reduced investor demand…
Australia House Prices Fall the Most in 7 Years
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U.S. may now seek 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion in goods
- Officials seeking ways to re-engage after talks stalled
The Trump administration will propose more than doubling its planned tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports, ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to return to the negotiating table, three people familiar with the internal deliberations said.
The U.S. imposed 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese products in early July, and the review period on another $16 billion of imports ends Wednesday. President Donald Trump had threatened an additional $200 billion with levies of 10 percent, a level the administration may raise to 25 percent in a Federal Register notice in coming days, one of the people said…