This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Frontrunning: May 27
- FIFA Raided by Swiss Authorities in 2018, 2022 World Cup Probe (BBG)
- Companies Send More Cash Back to Shareholders (WSJ)
- Time Warner Cable Deal Stirs Debt Concerns (WSJ)
- Qatar $200 Billion World Cup Under More Scrutiny Amid FIFA Probe (BBG)
- Philippine, Vietnamese troops play soccer and sing on disputed island (Reuters)
- The G-7's Problem: Can the World Deal With a Greek Default? (BBG)
- SocGen Deal for Bache Illustrates Commodity-Trading Woe (WSJ)
- China’s Naval Abilities Test Asia’s Insecurities (WSJ)
- Blocked in China, Twitter still courts Chinese firms for ads (Reuters)
- Chicago’s Wall Street Reprieve Spurs Rally Before Junk-Bond Sale (BBG)
- Strong dollar hits Tiffany's quarterly sales (Reuters)
- Louis Vuitton, Chanel Rise as Prada Falls in Luxury Brand Survey (BBG)
- The Mansions That Are Swallowing Suburban Homes (BBG)
- Self-Taught Investor Beating Peers With Lesson From Lynch (BBG)
- Plus500 Says Sales ‘Significantly’ Hit After Accounts Frozen (BBG)
- Coke Says It’s Ready to Let Monster In (WSJ)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* U.S. businesses, under pressure from activist investors, are plowing more cash into dividends and stock buybacks, fueling worries about long-term investment. (http://on.wsj.com/1KmO5BO)
* While shareholders cheered news that Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications would combine, some Time Warner Cable bondholders were wary of the debt load the combined company will shoulder. (http://on.wsj.com/1LFKH5p)
* U.S. authorities are preparing to unveil a criminal indictment against officials of soccer's international governing body that will detail allegations of widespread corruption. (http://on.wsj.com/1FWHMY5)
* Coca-Cola Co is expected to soon close its deal to take a 16.7 percent stake in energy-drink maker Monster Beverage Corp. (http://on.wsj.com/1JVajwV)
* The Internal Revenue Service said identity thieves used one of its online services to obtain prior-year tax return information for about 100,000 U.S. households. (http://on.wsj.com/1FNPcux)
FT
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Deutsche Bank had failed to account for a "material risk for potential losses estimated to be in the billions of dollars", thereby inflating its value at the height of the financial crisis.
Elon Musk-owned SpaceX won a contract to launch U.S. spy satellites, after the U.S. Air Force certified its Falcon 9 rocket to participate in government missions.
Sky has committed 18 million euro ($19.6 million) to make shows and finance events for audiences in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria, in a bid to compete with Netflix .
French luxury goods group LVMH said it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Amaury Group to buy French daily Le Parisien.
NYT
* Criminals gained access to past tax returns of more than 100,000 people through an application on the Internal Revenue Service's website and used personal information to claim $50 million in fraudulent refunds, the agency said (http://nyti.ms/1chFqoB)
* ReCode, the news website led by the veteran journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, is being acquired by Vox Media, a deal that reflects the turmoil among digital organizations focused on covering the tech industry. (http://nyti.ms/1RmtX6Z)
* The Securities and Exchange Commission had claimed that Deutsche Bank AG "overstated" the value of a multibillion-dollar portfolio of derivatives during the height of the financial crisis. The bank, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, agreed to pay a $55 million penalty to the S.E.C to settle claims that its "inadequate internal accounting controls" violated federal securities law. (http://nyti.ms/1etJHqX)
* Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are seeking a lengthy prison sentence for the creator of Silk Road, a once-thriving website that allowed users to anonymously buy and sell heroin, cocaine, LSD and other drugs online until it was shut down by the authorities in 2013. (http://nyti.ms/1JVa30V)
* Accused of accounting tricks to defraud lenders, three former executives of the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf instead blamed "greedy" lawyers who took clients, hastening the firm's demise. (http://nyti.ms/1F9KT8k)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Air Canada says the funding of its pension plan has improved enough that it can opt out of a pension agreement with the federal government - a move that allows it to pay dividends and buy back shares. (http://bit.ly/1FXFIiv)
** U.S.-based Kinder Morgan is proposing an increase of roughly 8 percent to fees paid by oil company shippers to bolster the industry's ability to respond to a large marine oil spill, according to documents filed with regulators. (http://bit.ly/1SBGBAA)
** The Canadian government is refusing to make public the assessments it conducts to determine whether Ottawa's C$15 billion ($12.05 billion) arms deal with Saudi Arabia is compatible with foreign policy or poses a risk to the civilian population in a country notorious for abuse of human rights. (http://bit.ly/1LGJrz3)
NATIONAL POST
** In one of the first major acquisitions in the Canadian oil patch since the collapse in oil prices, shale giant Crescent Point Energy Corp is buying its smaller competitor Legacy Oil and Gas Inc in a C$1.53 billion ($1.23 billion) share and debt deal. (http://bit.ly/1HKGvDH)
** The Wynne government moved on Tuesday to ban flavored tobacco, regulate e-cigarette smoking and place calorie counts on restaurant menus in an effort to make Ontarians healthier. (http://bit.ly/1KnvGos)
** Toronto-Dominion Bank continued to display an appetite for U.S. consumer credit card portfolios by swallowing up high-end retailer Nordstrom Inc's U.S. Visa and private label business and its C$2.2 billion ($1.77 billion) in receivables on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/1HKYeb9)
China
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- New trading accounts opened for Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share stock markets hit 2,621,395 last week, up 10.1 percent from a week earlier, and the number of actively traded accounts rose 10 percent, data from China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited showed.
SECURITIES TIMES
- Zijin Mining Group Co will resume trading on Wednesday and it plans to raise up to 10 billion yuan ($1.61 billion) to invest in overseas gold and copper mines.
CHINA DAILY
- China will never pursue expansion, and its military policy is "defensive in nature," the paper said in an editorial after the country released a policy document issued by the State Council on Tuesday.
- Yanji, a city in the eastern Jilin province, has opened a "morality" bank for people to open accounts and collect moral points in exchange for free services such as haircuts and home cleaning, the paper said, citing a community official
Britain
The Times
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Stewart Ford, the founder and chief executive of Keydata, the failed investment firm, 75 million pounds ($115.43 million) after tens of thousands of people lost out as a result of the poor performance of the bonds. (http://thetim.es/1FCifA2)
The Irish government has accepted a bid for its 25.1 percent stake in Aer Lingus from International Airlines Group that values the former national carrier at 1.4 billion euros ($1.52 billion). (http://thetim.es/1FCiN94)
The Guardian
Greece could secure vital weeks to negotiate a rescue deal with its creditors if Athens is able to delay repayments worth 1.6 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund, as critical deadlines approach. (http://bit.ly/1FCiMBW)
Power sharing in Northern Ireland entered a new crisis on Tuesday when a bill to reform the region's welfare system was shot down by nationalist parties. The failure to push legislation through the Stormont assembly leaves the Northern Ireland executive with a 600 million pound black hole in its budget. (http://bit.ly/1FCiXNJ)
The Telegraph
New research has found that many sellers, who watched annual house price growth in London gradually slow over the last nine months, have now kick-started the sales process, banking on heightened demand following the election and a seasonal increase in what the buyer is willing to pay. (http://bit.ly/1FCjsXX)
Banker Tom Hayes, described as the "ringmaster" of a cartel of powerful traders, made 4.8 million pounds ($7.39 million) rigging interest rates that influence loans and other contracts while working at UBS and Citigroup, the Southwark Crown Court heard. (http://bit.ly/1FCjvmA)
Sky News
Charter Communications has confirmed a $56.7 billion deal to take over Time Warner Cable, creating one of the largest TV and internet providers in the U.S. (http://bit.ly/1FCjMGr)
David Peattie, who took over as chief executive of Fairfield Energy in 2011, is to leave the company in the wake of its announcement that it is to decommission its Dunlin Alpha platform. (http://bit.ly/1FCjShe)
The Independent
The Financial Conduct Authority's income from fines is set to fall short of a record for the first time since 2011, despite announcing two of the three biggest penalties ever imposed on financial firms operating in Britain within the past month. (http://ind.pn/1FCk1kA)
Jony Ive, the British man behind the design of Apple's best known products from the iMac to the iPod to the Apple Watch, has been promoted from his previous position of senior vice president of design. (http://ind.pn/1FCk93K)
»
- 3214 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Mortgage apps dropping:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102709442
FIFA must use the same operating procedures as the World Olympic Committee
Bribe, Steal, Embezzel and Kickbacks
Yes whenever you have a huge pile of other people's money some will help themselves to some most or all of it. We mostly know this phenomena through what we call government but as you can see it does have other forms.
* The Securities and Exchange Commission had claimed that Deutsche Bank AG "overstated" the value of a multibillion-dollar portfolio of derivatives during the height of the financial crisis. The bank, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, agreed to pay a $55 million penalty to the S.E.C to settle claims that its "inadequate internal accounting controls" violated federal securities law. (http://nyti.ms/1etJHqX)
These aren't fines. They're revenue collection for the least common denominator.
Good ol' neutral switzerland cooperating with the US again.
The metaphor for Charter Communications' purchase of Time Warner Cable is that of two garbage trucks colliding. TWC bonds are headed into the junk bond category. The U.S economy is now in terrible shape. a dwindling middle class with many now saddled with crummy high deductible Obamacare health insurance plans. Things should only get worse as the looters in Washington, D.C and Wall Street prepare their exit strategies. John Malone is making one gamble too many in taking on $30 billion in debt to buy TWC, even with the advantage of the Fed ZIRP cutting borrowing costs.
The TXU of communications LBOs
The NY Times leading the nation to war as it did so well with the lies of Judith Milller leading to the disastrous war on Iraq:
The New York Times calls for blood in Iraq-Syria war
By Patrick Martin27 May 2015
The New York Times published a major front-page critique Tuesday of the Obama administration’s military tactics in the air war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The article quotes several US and Iraqi military and intelligence officials, most of them unnamed, denouncing the supposed restraint on bombing due to excessive fears of killing civilians.
The article’s headline, “With ISIS in Cross Hairs, U.S. Holds Back to Protect Civilians,” gives the flavor of the piece, suggesting that ISIS could be easily crippled or destroyed if only the White House were not so squeamish.
It is notable that Schmitt directly compares the supposedly feeble US air campaign against ISIS—only 15 strikes a day, with three quarters of planes returning without dropping their bomb loads because of restrictions on targeting—to the more aggressive campaigns in Libya (50 strikes a day), the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 (85 strikes a day), and the 2003 invasion of Iraq (a staggering 800 strikes a day), in what was described by the Bush administration as an effort to produce “shock and awe” among the Iraqi victims.
The conclusion is ominous: the US government and its Arab and imperialist allies are preparing to escalate the air war in Iraq and Syria to produce thousands, if not tens of thousands, of civilian casualties.
Schmitt’s article is a signal to begin preparing the American people to accept war crimes on the scale of the previous US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it is a demonstration that the Times, which sets the political agenda for the bulk of the American media, will play its role in justifying and covering up for these crimes.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/05/27/nyti-m27.html
My financial life is limited to buying things I need and selling things I make. My only genuine stock-market experience happened back in the 90's when I lived in the big city. A day-trader who lived in my building told me to "buy @home from ATT. I did and made 45 grand in six weeks which I used to pay off our credit card debt. Nowadays xcept for paying bills by snail-mail or making online purchases most of the financial transacting my wife & I do is one-on-one, eyeball-to-eyeball with other merchants, store-clerks and customers.
So when I read a headline about the "world handling a Greek default" I know the "world" they're talking about does not include me or anyone I know. The impression I've gotten over the years is that when the headline writers of these articles think of the "world" they are thinking of a very-very small group of people whose "worlds" would be significantly disturbed if Greece decides not to play ball with them any longer. These people: http://nypost.com/2015/05/24/inside-the-bizarre-life-of-an-upper-east-si...
I live in a rural area now. I've talked to the old folks around here who were young when the so-called Great Depression hit the U.S.A.. Every one of them say they and the people around here were hardly affected. They had gardens, milk cows, pigs and chickens. Everyone ate well and worked hard while the high finance men were losing sleep over information written on inedible slips of paper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uVI8cQ3Hpo&feature=youtu.be
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/opinion/long-odds-in-the-game-of-life.html?_r=0 Long Odds in the Game of Life
A very sad article; it's not only L.V. but everywhere.