Thursday, February 28, 2013

Dismissed head of Libya sovereign wealth fund stays put #SWF

Dismissed head of Libya sovereign wealth fund stays put #SWF

"Libya will replace the head of its sovereign wealth fund, Mohsen Derregia, after the government deemed his performance unsatisfactory, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said, but so far he has refused to step down despite being told to do so days ago.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Zeidan said deputy central bank governor Ali Mohammed Salem Hebri would temporarily take charge of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) until a permanent replacement was found.
"The head of the LIA will be changed. This is the government's policy. Whoever cannot do their job properly will be replaced," Zeidan said. "Up until now he has declined to step down but he needs to do that."
Zeidan said Derregia was told earlier this week he needed to step down. His comments highlight the chaotic scenes that have often come about in the new Libya where the central government has struggled to impose its authority in a country awash with weapons left over from the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.
Zeidan added senior LIA officials would meet in coming days to appoint a permanent replacement.
Derregia was appointed LIA chairman in April, taking charge after the uprising. He was not immediately reachable for comment. The LIA office in central Tripoli was closed ahead of the weekend.
Set up in 2006 to manage the North African country's oil dollars, Libya's sovereign wealth fund has assets of around $60 billion, mixed between shares, bonds, other financial products and holdings in subsidiaries.
Its assets were temporarily frozen during the 2011 war, and since then a new management has taken over and sought their release. The LIA has stakes in Italian bank Unicredit as well as oil and gas group Eni."

Andrew Mason: Weirdness as CEO $GRPN

China's drive to fuel more vehicles with cleaner-burning natural gas could reduce oil demand by nearly a tenth $BP $TOT

China Natural Gas Plan May Reduce Oil Demand By 10%

China's drive to fuel more vehicles with cleaner-burning natural gas could reduce oil demand by nearly a tenth - equivalent to Turkey's total oil consumption - and may help ease its cities' toxic smog problem, too.
 

Investor Movement Index, Debt Ceiling, Sequester $SPY

$HLF Herbalife Is a Lot Like Weight Watchers: Ramey

$ECA Looking Bullish At These Levels

$ECA Looking Bullish At These Levels

Encana is not alone in its investment to grow liquids production. Large U.S. based onshore peers Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK  ) and Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN  ) are just two of the many examples of exploration and production companies looking to shift the balance of production into liquids. Chesapeake grew its liquids production 52% last year and is planning a further 29% boost in the year ahead. Chesapeake's success is due in part to devoting more than 85% of its capital budget to liquids projects. 
 

Moelis Ceo $HLF How to Respond to Ackman

Ackman Losing Millions as J.C. Penney Tumbles $JCP $HLF

Senate Plans Symbolic Votes as Spending Cut Set to Begin $spy

Sequester: Reasons to Worry #Barrons $SPY

Sequester: Reasons to Worry #Barrons $SPY

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is flirting with a record high and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen nearly 2% in the past few days. Given the hysteria that accompanied the fiscal cliff, this seems strange.
Some of this is understandable — it feels as if we’ve been beaten over the head with talk of fiscal doom and catastrophe for at least the past 18 months. But don’t forget that when Congress put the sequester’s cuts in place, they intentionally put in cuts that were so harsh and indiscriminate that they figured there’d be no way they wouldn’t reach a fiscal compromise before they came into effect. This was never designed as a sensible way to improve the nation’s finances.
Maybe the reason nobody seems too worried is that the sequester doesn’t seem quite as exciting: It’s entirely domestic (no downgrades and international crises like the fiscal cliff) and it will take time before the economic effects are felt.
But the impact of the sequester will be real. Already we’ve seen fourth-quarter GDP andJanuary’s durable-goods orders both hurt by the pullback in government spending, and nowsmall businesses say they are already suffering. And a study by Third Way and Regional Economic Models estimates that if the sequester’s cuts are allowed to stand, by the end of next year the US would have 1.9 million fewer jobs than it would if the cuts are averted.
 

Chief Talks of Mistakes and Big Loss at J.C. Penney $JCP $HLF #Ackman

Chief Talks of Mistakes and Big Loss at J.C. Penney $JCP $HLF #Ackman

J. C. Penney’s chief executive admitted on Wednesday that he had made “big mistakes” in his turnaround effort, as the retailer reported a startling fourth-quarter loss of $2.51 a share, compared with the 24-cent-a-share loss analysts had expected.

Democracy Has Become The Biggest Threat In The Eurozone #EU $EPV

J.C. Penney’s Poor Showing Is Another Retail Miss for Ackman $JCP $HLF

The SEC is investigating Michael Milken

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

THE NEXT STOCK MARKET CRASH: Why Many Pros Think It Has Already Begun

Guest Blog: The Risk of SWF Investors

Daily State Of The Markets: Will Europe Trash Our Market (Again)? $SPY $EPV

Longer lines at airports. Closed campgrounds at national parks. Fewer meat inspectors. $SPY

Longer lines at airports. Closed campgrounds at national parks. Fewer meat inspectors. $SPY

In warning of the consequences of $1.2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade, PresidentBarack Obama and his administration are choosing examples likely to resonate with voters. Some Republicans, including Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, say this amounts to scare tactics and that agencies should instead cut wasteful spending.

Goods Orders in U.S. Probably Dropped as Aircraft Demand Slumped $SPY

Big declines in Germany Sales As Well. Not just rest of EU.

Link to Report on Terrible #EU Sales

Electronic polling of PE crowd. When asked "if you could only invest in 1 geographic region..." China came in dead last with 3%

Electronic polling of PE crowd. When asked "if you could only invest in 1 geographic region..." China came in dead last with 3%

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Looming Cuts Spur Mass Release of Illegal Immigrants

Looming Cuts Spur Mass Release of Illegal Immigrants $SPY

"In a highly unusual move, federal immigration officials have released hundreds of detainees from immigration detention centers around the country, an effort to save money as automatic budget cuts loom in Washington, officials said Tuesday.
The government has not dropped the deportation cases against the immigrants, however. The detainees have been freed on supervised release while their cases continue in court, officials said.
But the move angered some Republicans, including Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who said the releases were a political gambit by the Obama administration that undermined the continuing negotiations over comprehensive immigration reform and jeopardized public safety.
“It’s abhorrent that President Obama is releasing criminals into our communities to promote his political agenda on sequestration,” said Mr. Goodlatte, who is running the House hearings on immigration reform. “By releasing criminal immigrants onto the streets, the administration is needlessly endangering American lives.”

$EPV Repeat of Summer 2011 ???

Gold’s Cycle Seen Turned by Goldman as ETP Holdings Collapse

Macy's Inc $M Chief Executive Terry Lundgren testified on Monday he was so appalled

VIDEO: Reasons For Caution $SPY $EPV

Bernanke bump: Stocks tend to rally on testimony

Bernanke bump: Stocks tend to rally on testimony $SPY

Expect stocks to finish higher after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gives his semiannual testimony to Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, if history serves as any guide.
Over the past six years, the S&P 500 Index SPX -1.83%  has finished higher nine out of 12 times during the two-day period over which the Fed chair has answered questions from Congress. By the close of the second day’s testimony, from the close before the first day, the stock index has gained an average 0.5%, a MarketWatch analysis of FactSet data shows. Read more about hawks vs. doves at the Fed going into next week.
Since 2007, the biggest bump to markets during Bernanke’s testimony was Feb. 24-25, 2009, when the S&P 500 rose nearly 3% over the course of the two-day meeting. Then again, the index was dragging its knuckles in the 700s at the time, compared to more than 1500-level as of Friday’s close. The Fed had just cut interest rates to their current near-zero levels that past December, and the first round of quantitative easing measures had started in November. Read more on Bernanke's Feb. 2009 testimony.
The biggest two-day drop, 1.4%, came after the March 1-2, 2011, talk, after Bernanke warned that a violation of the country’s debt ceiling would likely create a new financial crisis and House Republicans criticized QE2. Read more about Bernanke's March 2011 testimony.

S&P 500 before and after 
S&P 500 during Bernanke’s semiannual 
monetary policy report to Congress
TESTIMONY DATES2 DAY S&P 500 CHANGES&P CLOSE BEFORES&P CLOSE AFTER
Feb 14-15, 2007+0.87%1,444.261,456.81
July 18-19, 2007+0.24%1,549.371,553.08
Feb 27-28, 2008-0.99%1,381.291,367.68
July 15-16, 2008+1.39%1,228.31,245.36
Feb 24-25, 2009+2.94%743.33764.9
July 21-22, 2009+0.30%951.13954.07
Feb 24-25, 2010+0.76%1,094.61,102.94
July 21-22,
2010
+0.94%1,083.481,093.67
March 1-2, 2011-1.42%1,327.221,308.44
July 13-14, 2011-0.36%1,313.641,308.87
Feb 29-March 1, 2012+0.14%1,372.181,374.09
July 17-18, 2012+1.41%1,353.641,372.78
Source: FactSet

$SPY $EPV "Majority of Italians have voted against Austerity plans, the Euro and Europe, crystal clear message for Brussels & Frankfurt v ACG Analytics"

Majority of Italians have voted against Austerity plans, the Euro and Europe, crystal clear message for Brussels & Frankfurt v ACG Analytics"

Since 1990, the VIX has had just 6 spikes greater than today's 36% gain. 2/27/07 and 8/8/11 were the most recent. $VIX $SPY

Since 1990, the VIX has had just 6 spikes greater than today's 36% gain. 2/27/07 and 8/8/11 were the most recent.  

The SEC, Like Everyone Else, Didn’t Believe Citi’s Financial Statements $C

Mass. Democrats tack sequester woes on Republican pols

Mass. Democrats tack sequester woes on Republican pols

What AN EASY SOLUTION!  Just blame the other guy.

"Top Bay State Democrats continued to try to pin the sequestration chaos in D.C. on congressional Republicans yesterday, with Gov. Deval Patrick again accusing the GOP of trying to ruin the economy and saying he’s “scared,” while U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined in to slam “just plain dumb” budget cuts.
Patrick framed sequestration as a “partisan failure,” blaming GOP House Speaker John Boehner for refusing to strike a deal with President Obama.
“When the Republicans in the House say, ‘This is what we’re willing to do,’ and the president says, ‘OK, I think that’s a good idea,’ they say, ‘Well you know what? Never mind then.’ I think that’s as frustrating to the American public as it is to me,” Patrick said at a State House press conference yesterday."

 

$EPV European Stocks Decline on Italian Political Deadlock $SPY

Monday, February 25, 2013

Italy Probably Needs ANOTHER VOTE #FAIL $SPY

Bob Woodward: Take On Sequester vs. Obama #interesting #politics #Congress $SPY

Earning Last Week Feb List

Plunge Protection Team NOT Stepping It Up $SPY $GS

Macy's Earnings Beats, But Holiday Outlook Not Cheery $M

European Crisis Will Make a Comback: Zucchi #Video #YahooFinance

$DDD $SSYS You did not listen to this. Why not?

European Companies Stockpile $475 Billion as Outlook Dims $VOD $TOT $SIE

 

European companies are hoarding more than three times the cash they held a decade ago as the region heads for a second year of recession, putting them at risk of losing out to U.S. rivals boosting acquisitions and investment.
Cash holdings at the 265 European companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, excluding banks and insurers, to have reported 2012 results totalled $475 billion at the end of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with $136 billion in 2002 and is 14 percent more than in 2011. Siemens AG (SIE), Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) and Total SA (FP) are among nine companies that each held more than $10 billion.
“Many European companies are taking a conservative view with respect to their capital structure and keeping meaningful cash positions,” said Francois-Xavier de Mallmann, head of European investment banking services at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in London. “They find it challenging to predict the combined impact of higher unemployment, higher taxes and lower public spending on consumer demand and on their top line.”
The euro area will shrink for two straight years for the first time since the common currency was introduced, the European Commission predicted on Feb. 22, scrapping an earlier growth forecast. Western European companies have announced $50 billion of acquisitions so far this year, almost half the total of the year-ago period, while purchases by U.S. companies almost doubled to $184 billion, Bloomberg data show.
Daimler AG (DAI), whose cash and cash equivalents rose by 15 percent last year to 11 billion euros ($15 billion) at the end of December, encapsulated the mood in European boardrooms.

‘Sedative’

While the company will roll out 13 new models with no predecessor in the next eight years, the maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles doesn’t plan any “major” acquisitions, according to Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber.
“The liquidity is a sedative,” Uebber said Feb. 7. “We want to be prepared for uncertain times.”
To preserve cash, European companies are also limiting payouts to shareholders. The dividend yield of companies in the Stoxx Europe 600, excluding financials, will probably stagnate at 3.45 percent this year, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) on Feb. 19 said it plans to suspend its dividend for the first time since 2010 to save cash as the German airline rejuvenates the fleet and pushes ahead with its most ambitious cost-savings program to date. Nokia Oyj last month said it will omit a dividend for the first time in at least 143 years.

Wary Europeans

Other firms that cancelled or reduced dividends in recent months include phone companies Telecom Italia SpA, Royal KPN NV and Telefonica SA (TEF) as well as car companies PSA Peugeot Citroen and Faurecia.
“Companies are wary,” said Nils Ernst, a Frankfurt-based fund manager at DWS Investments, which oversees $335 billion in assets. “If you raise the dividend you have to be certain that in the next five to 10 years you don’t have to cut it.”
Switzerland’s Nestle SA (NESN), the world’s largest food company, plans to maintain capital expenditure in 2013 at the same level as in 2012, Chief Financial Officer Wan Ling Martello said this month. The operating cash flow of the maker of Moevenpick ice cream, which last year agreed to buy Pfizer Inc.’s infant- nutrition business for $11.9 billion to expand in markets such as China, surged 55 percent in 2012 to 15.8 billion Swiss francs ($17 billion).

European Targets

With many of Europe’s biggest companies reluctant to spend their cash on deals this year, U.S. companies may choose to pounce instead. John Malone’s Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYA), based in Englewood, Colorado, took advantage of low financing costs and this month agreed to buy U.K. cable-TV provider Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) for $16 billion.
“There are a lot of acquisition targets out there,” said Matthias Born, a Frankfurt-based fund manager at Allianz Global Investors in Frankfurt, which manages about 300 billion euros. “Consumer, chemicals and parts of industrials are areas where there should be attractive targets in Europe.”
Deutsche Bank AG analysts Fadi Chamsy and Sascha Levitt in a Feb. 14 note identified Dutch cable company Ziggo NV (ZIGGO), British airport-security scanner company Smiths Group Plc, German fragrance maker Symrise AG, French car-parts manufacturer Faurecia, Belgian retailer Delhaize Group SA, Switzerland’s Nobel Biocare Holding AG (NOBN) and U.K. fashion brand Burberry Group Plc (BRBY) as potential acquisition targets.

Slim’s Record

The economic outlook, though, may make them wary. Carlos Slim’s investments in Europe highlight the risks for foreign companies seizing on cheap prey in the region.
America Movil (AMXL) SAB, the Mexico City-based mobile-phone operator backed by billionaire Slim, last year built up a 28 percent stake in KPN. Since then, the investment has lost more than half its value and KPN is selling stock to raise cash.
While Europe’s biggest companies are reluctant to buy local rivals, some of them are spending money on acquisitions to tap growth inemerging markets.
Unilever NV (UNA), the world’s second-largest consumer-goods maker, will look for acquisitions between 1 billion euros and 2 billion euros, Chief Financial Officer Jean-Marc Huet said last month. Recent deals of the maker of Dove soap include the 2011 pickup of Russian skincare maker OAO Concern Kalina, and the $3.7 billion purchase of U.S. haircare company Alberto Culver the previous year.
While Unilever’s free cash flow rose to 4.33 billion euros last year, the most since 1999, the company is still cautious to spend big. Unilever is looking for “bolt-on” acquisitions to expand existing operations and a larger purchase would only be “fine as long as it’s not distracting,” Huet said.
The build-up of cash also makes European companies more attractive for leveraged buy-outs, according to DWS’s Ernst.
“In terms of targeting companies which are cash-generating and have big cash piles on the balance sheet: I am quite confident that over the next twelve months we will see more deals in that direction,” he said.

Secrets of a Fatigued Market, Exposed $SPY #Video

Secrets of a Fatigued Market, Exposed

Related Quotes:

^GSPC
1,515.60
+13.18+0.88%
^IXIC
3,161.82
+30.33+0.97%
^DJI
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Encana Top Management Cursing At Analyst

Encana Top Management Cursing At Analyst $ECA

Encana apologizes for executive's cursing on conference call

Canada's largest natural gas producer, apologized on Thursday because one of its executives cursed after an analyst asked about whether new Canadian investment rules would prohibit its takeover by foreign state-owned entities.

China Mobile's Surge In 3G Additions Shows That Life Goes On Without Apple

maybe down 90% intraday $affy someones making a lifetime retirement award on these PUT options!

According To The Berkshire-Anne Hathaway Indicator, Warren Buffett Will Have A Good Day $BRK.A $GS $ C $BAC $BCS $MS

The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us. $NFLX

The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us.
— Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer

Facebook Partners With Carriers to Bring Cheaper Messaging Abroad $FB

Affymax, Takeda recall anemia drug Omontys after deaths $AFFY

Affymax, Takeda recall anemia drug Omontys after deaths $AFFY

U.S.-based Affymax Inc and Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co said they are voluntarily recalling all lots of anemia treatment Omontys (peginesatide) in the United States due to reports of serious hypersensitivity reactions, including some deaths.
As of Sunday, fatal reactions to the injection have been reported in about 0.02 percent of 25,000 patients after receiving their initial injection of the treatment, Affymax said in a statement.
The drug is used to treat anemia in adult dialysis patients, and has resulted in reports of serious allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis in some recipients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Sunday alerted healthcare providers about the recall, and said it had received 19 reports of anaphylaxis from dialysis centers in the United States.
"Due to the severity of the public health risk, we want to be certain that healthcare providers stop using Omontys," said Howard Sklamberg, who heads the compliance office at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Sklamberg said the agency is investigating the products and facilities related to the recall and will provide updates once it receives more information.