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Frontrunning: May 26

Tyler Durden's picture




 
  • Developed-Country Growth Slows, OECD Says (WSJ)
  • Charter Agrees to Buy Time Warner Cable for About $55 Billion (BBG)
  • Dollar hits one-month high as periphery woes weigh on Europe (Reuters)
  • IMF Says Yuan No Longer Undervalued Amid Reserve-Status Push (BBG)
  • Hanergy secured $200m loan ahead of solar group stock tumble (FT)
  • Congressional Inaction Threatens NSA Spy Program (WSJ)
  • Germany sees progress on Greece, EU officials to confer on Thursday (Reuters)
  • Hayes ‘motivated by greed’, prosecutor says in Libor case (FT)
  • Whistleblowers Find SEC Rewards Slow and Scarce (WSJ)
  • JPMorgan’s Guilty Plea Puts Wealth Unit in Spot With Regulators (BBG)
  • Jony Ive Named Apple’s Chief Design Officer (WSJ)
  • Fight over hot new cholesterol drugs may be won in milligrams (Reuters)
  • Who Will Be the Swing Voters in 2016? (WSJ)
  • China Unveils Plans for Greater Naval Role Beyond Its Coasts (BBG)
  • Big Banks Shut Border Branches in Effort to Avoid Dirty Money (WSJ)
  • Bolivar Plunges in Black Market as Venezuelans Stash Dollars (BBG)

 

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

* Charter Communications is close to a deal for Time Warner Cable that would give cable-mogul John Malone the prize he has been chasing. (http://on.wsj.com/1FbzbuM)

* A Securities and Exchange Commission program, set up under a 2010 law, offers financial rewards for information on wrongdoing. Many tipsters have found it tough to collect, however. (http://on.wsj.com/1LDEpnx)

* The U.S. Justice Department has reached a tentative settlement with the Cleveland police on a probe into patterns and practices of policing, according to a person familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/1HH77p0)

* Jony Ive, the man responsible for many of Apple Inc's breakthrough designs, is now the company's chief design officer. (http://on.wsj.com/1HHDfpE)

* Subsidies that made insurance plans affordable face a crucial test with decision expected in June. The court is expected by the end of June to rule on a lawsuit seeking to invalidate subsidies to more than 7.5 million people who bought plans on the federal exchange. (http://on.wsj.com/1Q7HA7Q)

 

FT

World's largest consumer goods company Procter & Gamble has become the first company in the world to explore 3D bioprinting, a technique that can make it possible to print living human tissues. This innovation could have several applications for P&G, including testing its products for toxicity and efficacy.

Having secured the necessary approvals from U.S. authorities, Royal Dutch Shell PLC may start drilling two wells in the Chukchi Sea of Alaska by late July. The success of this project will determine the future of oil exploration and drilling in Alaska.

PureTech Health, a Boston-based healthcare science and technology R&D company, is seeking to raise $160 million in an initial public offering of its shares on the London stock exchange.

British Prime Minister David Cameron will push ahead with his plans for providing discounted homes to more than 1.3 million people via the expanded "Right to Buy" housing bill. The bill may attract controversy since it forces not-for-profit landlords to sell their possessions at a discount.

 

NYT

* Charter Communications Inc is close to buying Time Warner Cable Inc, and a deal could be announced as soon as Tuesday, people close to the talks said. (http://nyti.ms/1J1jMlp)

* Similac's maker, the global health care company Abbott Laboratories, said it would first offer a "non-G.M.O." version of its best-selling Similac Advance, followed by a non-G.M.O. version of Similac Sensitive. Depending on sales, Abbott may offer other formulas free of such ingredients. (http://nyti.ms/1RiWudT)

* The investigation into the rigging of global benchmark interest rates at last yields a trial, which may also prove a measure of British controls on the finance industry. The British authorities have charged Tom Hayes, a 35-year-old former trader from Citigroup and UBS Group AG with eight counts of conspiracy to commit fraud. (http://nyti.ms/1eriFAp)

* A ruling against pension cuts and political divisions have made a dire situation worse for Illinois, as well as Chicago and its schools, which face shortfalls of their own. The shortfalls could potentially mean sharply higher taxes and cuts in spending. (http://nyti.ms/1FMzBeQ)

* The European Court of Justice is expected to issue a preliminary decision over whether Facebook Inc can continue transferring data between Europe and the United States. (http://nyti.ms/1HHark3)

 

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Royal Bank of Canada won't complete its $5.4 billion purchase of Los Angeles-based City National Bank for months, but the two banks are already getting a jump on doing business together. (http://bit.ly/1cXxzgI)

** Jaguar Land Rover Ltd officials took a close look at Canada as the location for a new assembly plant - including visiting a potential site in Windsor, Ontario - but the company is now planning to locate the factory in a low-cost country. (http://bit.ly/1cXxJoe)

** More than half of Canada's largest companies have adopted formal policies for increasing the proportion of women on their boards of directors, but only a small minority are creating specific targets for gender diversity. (http://bit.ly/1cXxOYZ)

NATIONAL POST

** Highly leveraged Penn West Petroleum Ltd said it got some relief from its creditors by agreeing that proceeds from any asset sales for the next two years would be used to repay its bonds. (http://bit.ly/1cXxTvQ)

** Alberta NDP premier Rachel Notley appointed Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, 62, the MLA for the rural riding of Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley, as Alberta's new energy minister, a giant career leap for the former schoolteacher and family friend. (http://bit.ly/1cXxVE1)

 

China

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

- State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China have seen their profit margin fell 5.7 percent in the first four months compared with the same period a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said.

- More than 270 companies that are listed on China's leading OTC board, the New Third Board, have raised fund of over 25 billion yuan ($4.03 billion) in May, the paper calculated.

SECURITIES TIMES

- Brokerages should strengthen their management on higher-risk margin trading businesses, said Zhang Yujun, assistant chairman at China's Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

- Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp said it would withdraw last year's refinancing plan of 4.5 billion yuan, and take out a new plan to raise 7.5 billion yuan instead. Jia Yueting, the founder and the chairman of the company, said he would reduce his shareholding in the next six months by less than 8 percent, or some exceeding 10 billion yuan.

 

Britain

The Times

Greece is bankrupt and will default on a debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund that is due in two weeks, the country's interior minister, Nikos Voutsis, said on Monday. (http://thetim.es/1EtOjlC)

The FBI is investigating claims that British users of Uber, the online taxi booking service, have had money taken from their accounts fraudulently for fictitious journeys often made abroad. (http://thetim.es/1EtOmhi)

The Guardian

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras convened an emergency meeting of his political negotiation team on Monday following a stark warning from Athens that default was looming. Tsipras instructed officials to act speedily as his government sought to defuse tensions, saying it would do its best to honour its debts. (http://bit.ly/1EtOFIS)

Sidestepping Britain's demands to renegotiate the Lisbon treaty and Britain's place in the EU, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Francois Hollande, have sealed an agreement aimed at fashioning a tighter political union among the single-currency countries while operating within the confines of the existing treaty. (http://bit.ly/1EtOM7p)

The Telegraph

Andrew Wilson, the European chief executive of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, has warned the world is sinking under too much debt and an ageing global population means countries' debt piles are in danger of growing out of control. (http://bit.ly/1EtPdhY)

Tom Hayes, a former trader at UBS and Citigroup in Japan, is set to face the first criminal trial from Tuesday onwards in the multi-billion dollar forex-rate rigging scandal. (http://bit.ly/1eqWDO5)

Sky News

Stonegate, one of UK's largest owner of managed pubs, may list itself on the London stock market in 2016 for a valuation of about 1 billion pounds ($1.55 billion). (http://bit.ly/1eqVoP4)

Paul Mason, the retail veteran who chairs New Look, is to step down from his role at the fashion retailer following its 2 billion pound takeover by a South African investment vehicle. (http://bit.ly/1eqVE0n)

The Independent

Spanish olive groves are at risk of being wiped out by a strain of "olive ebola" which has ravaged the crop in Italy. The bacteria Xylella fastidiosa, believed to have originally come from the United States, has torn through southern Italy since it first appeared in late 2013. (http://ind.pn/1eqVWnV)

Major General Qassem Soleimani, general in charge of Iran's paramilitary activities in the Middle East, said the United States and other powers were failing to confront Islamic State, and only Iran was committed to the task, a news agency has reported. (http://ind.pn/1eqW2w2)

 

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Tue, 05/26/2015 - 07:35 | 6132022 nmewn
nmewn's picture

"Spanish olive groves are at risk of being wiped out by a strain of "olive ebola" which has ravaged the crop in Italy. The bacteria Xylella fastidiosa, believed to have originally come from the United States, has torn through southern Italy since it first appeared in late 2013."

Clearly the EU should create an Ebola Czar immediately, thats how Obama won the World War on Ebola from an office in DC! Just make up another cabinet position, appoint a minister to oversee it and give him some staff.

Easy peeezie ;-)

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 07:51 | 6132041 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Damned CIA.  Wrecking everyone's olives.

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 11:19 | 6132506 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

Perhaps we have our own version "Spare Parts Ebola" found in Auto, Truck, and Oil Rig systems and manufacturing.

Influx of Supply Parts from the Overseas Supply chain could be at tipping point of crashing not only Big 3 Autos and Foreign Automakers in USA... Maybe all our Industries are "At Risk" to Spare parts Ebola.

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 07:40 | 6132031 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

"Sidestepping Britain's demands to renegotiate the Lisbon treaty and Britain's place in the EU, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Francois Hollande, have sealed an agreement aimed at fashioning a tighter political union among the single-currency countries while operating within the confines of the existing treaty. (http://bit.ly/1EtOM7p) "

in short, Germany's and France's governments clearly stating that if the UK's Cameron insists in having "less EU"... then they'll have more eurozone

at a certain point, the inconsistencies of the British government demands come to light. they made EFTA flounder, and they might make the EU flounder, particularly if you sprinkle some TTIP on them

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 07:56 | 6132050 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Did you try the "stiff upper lip, old chap!" line on them?  That usually works on the 'limes'.  Then they fall in line and put up with whatever hell you want to put them through.

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 08:47 | 6132139 piratepiet2
piratepiet2's picture

Think big, Ghordius.  Let 's make a confederation of the EU and USA, headquartered in London.  Name : Atlantis

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 09:00 | 6132154 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

you mean a repeat of the British Empire? or "1984"'s (the book) "Oceania"?

I see a problem, there: ethos. The UK is fundamentally based on social brakes (instead of codified laws/regs), and fundamentally "Free Markets, regardless", and so are it's former colonies

perhaps this has some appeal to Dutch, Belgians and Danes (for example) but way less to countries like Germany, Italy and France (for example)

it's the question of the understanding of freedom vs order. a classical continental like me does not believe in freedom without order (again, for example)

or, like the Pope said: "without justice, there is no peace", another typical saying fundamentally based on order, first, then freedom

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 09:15 | 6132179 piratepiet2
piratepiet2's picture

 

 

 

what do you mean by "social brakes" ?

Is a political superstructure spanning both America and Europe not an imposition of order ?

I rather expect attacks from the anarchists and liberals in the name of freedom.  And to you it sounds like too much freedom and too little order ? 

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 09:17 | 6132199 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

shaming, for example. society, i.e. your human surroundings telling you what is good and what is bad

your peers, with an emphasis on "who also owns a house in the neighbourhood where you own a house"

rhymes with "to be judged by a jury made out of your peers"

contrast this with the continental european emphasis on "properly codified laws applicable by any carreer judge"

it's a fundamental difference, way more then gallons, feet and pints versus a metric system, and yet similar, if you think about it

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 09:19 | 6132205 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

"Is a political superstructure spanning both America and Europe not an imposition of order ? "

it would depend on who makes the rules, and who enforces them, and how. take the UN, as example. or the IMF

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 11:27 | 6132530 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

"I see a problem, there: ethos. The UK is fundamentally based on social brakes (instead of codified laws/regs),..."

I think I follow this.

I could see this as a British Business Practice that provides leverage to the Magnate, Nabob.

It might require the force of a Personality to make it work though. Strong Leaders with hands on staff. But today the paradigm is Mega Corporations with huge number o executives which turn over jobs for salary increases or other reasons.

Could be that Safety Rules in Mines and on Oil Rigs are very important and appropriate since the control of Executives is on again off again at best.

I might be off subject. But was thinking of supply parts Quality and integrity of our infrastructure.

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 07:52 | 6132043 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

"A Securities and Exchange Commission program, set up under a 2010 law, offers financial rewards for information on wrongdoing. Many tipsters have found it tough to collect, however." 

OK, everyone who's surprised, raise your hand.

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 08:02 | 6132048 surfvin
surfvin's picture

Options expired yesterday. Seems like the pm smash is a day late.

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 07:58 | 6132057 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

When looked at from the stand point of the AVERAGES the market has not corrected.

If you have been fully invested in coal stocks, shales gas plays, shale oil plays, 3d printer stocks, materials, oil, even gold...you have paid a huge price for not listening to me...and yes you had it coming.

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 08:07 | 6132081 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture
Houston company's offshore rig catches fire in the Gulf

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/drilling-down/2015/05/houston-co...

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 11:16 | 6132500 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

"IMF Says Yuan No Longer Undervalued Amid Reserve-Status Push (BBG)"

Oh Really?

- Not if Chinese Goods are made with Slave Labor or Wages that don't Represent all hours worked paid at minimum global wage rate ($200-$300 USD a month would rise if forced to work 12-15 hours a day)

- Not if there are no Worker Rights in China and the Benchmark is 'no benefits'

Could be 'Power' just shifted to China, China may now be a big player in IMF, WB, OECD, BIS, EU

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