Frontrunning: October 13

• Playboy to Drop Nudity as Internet Fills Demand (NYT)
• Stock futures fall on weak China trade data (Reuters)
• Any Hall is down 20% YTD (WSJ)
• Global Stocks Slide With Metals After Chinese Imports Tumble (BBG)
• Clinton's tack to the left to be on display in Democratic debate (Reuters)
• Switzerland Said to Impose 5% Leverage Ratio on Big Banks (BBG)
• AB InBev, SABMiller brew up $100 billion deal (Reuters)
• Cutting Staff Pay to Keep Workers (WSJ)
• Oil Surplus to Persist in 2016 as IEA Sees Demand Growth Slowing (BBG)
• Cracks Emerge in Bond Market (WSJ)
• Germany's Schaeuble warns against addiction to low interest rates (Reuters)
• Pimco Times Treasuries Market by Adding Before Second-Half Rally (BBG)
• Higher Interest Rates Would Throw Bank Profits a Lifeline (BBG)
• Volkswagen emissions scandal headed for Hollywood (Reuters)
• This Analyst Says China's Stock Rally-to-Rout Is About to Repeat (BBG)
• What Hiring Jes Staley Could Bring to Barclays's Investment Bank (BBG)
• Britain’s Inflation Rate Unexpectedly Drops Back Below Zero (BBG)

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

- Michael Dell stepped out of the limelight when he took Dell Inc private two years ago. Now he is back with what promises to be the biggest tech deal in history, a $67 billion acquisition of EMC. (http://on.wsj.com/1GEeXem)

- Smashburger Master LLC, one of the upmarket chains shaking up the burger business, said it agreed to sell a 40 percent stake to Jollibee Foods Corp of the Philippines for $100 million. (http://on.wsj.com/1MnWPHu)

- Barclays Plc is preparing to name former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co executive James Staley as its next CEO, as the British institution turns to an American investment banker to lead it out of a rut.(http://on.wsj.com/1jtFIN8)

- Ford Motor Co said it will invest 11.4 billion yuan, or $1.8 billion, over the next five years to research how to add greater smartphone connectivity, autonomous driving and other smartcar features to its products in China, where its sales have been slipping amid industry-wide weakness and rising competition.(http://on.wsj.com/1jliDwA)

- Moscow's intervention in Syria's multisided civil war has spurred some of the country's fractious rebels to fight together, offering another shot at a more unified front against the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies. (http://on.wsj.com/1WYwDKW)

- Pressure is building on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak ahead of a no-confidence vote next week amid probes into the troubled state investment fund he heads. (http://on.wsj.com/1LrDxEJ)

- Fortress Investment Group plans to close its flagship macro hedge fund after heavy losses and investor withdrawals.(http://on.wsj.com/1MulnCW)

FT

Barclays PLC plans to appoint former JPMorgan investment banker Jes Staley as its new chief executive to lead the UK lender through a period of hefty restructuring and strategic uncertainty.

David Cameron's European allies have urged the British Prime Minister to produce a detailed wishlist on EU reform within a month if he wants a deal by Christmas, as leaders warn serious political talks cannot start without a sense of his maximum demands.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is set to address the UK parliament, will dine at Buckingham Palace and ride in a royal carriage next week as London rolls out the reddest of red carpets for the Communist party leader.

The cross-party campaign to keep Britain in the European Union has been officially launched - the politicians kept firmly in the background as only a handful of MPs attended the event while the familiar pro-European political figures such as Lord Mandelson, Tony Blair and Ken Clarke stayed away.

NYT

- Anheuser-Busch InBev has stepped up the pressure on SABMiller Plc, raising its takeover bid again in hopes of enticing its brewing rival to come to the bargaining table, saying it was willing to pay as much as $103 billion in a complicated cash-and-stock deal. (http://nyti.ms/1GF4Upa)

- Fortress Investment Group LLC will close down its $1.6 billion flagship hedge fund following heavy losses and investor withdrawals, according to two people briefed on the matter. (http://nyti.ms/1RDIATe)

- Dell Inc, who is set to buy storage provider EMC Corp for $67 billion sees the acquisition helping Dell adapt to a changing tech landscape. (http://nyti.ms/1jtN7Mw)

- The New York attorney general has begun an inquiry into Turing Pharmaceuticals, whose fiftyfold overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old infection drug stoked a backlash against high pharmaceutical prices. (http://nyti.ms/1R88gXi)

- James E. Staley, a former senior investment banker at JPMorgan Chase, has emerged as a leading candidate to take the top job at British banking giant Barclays Plc, people briefed on the bank's plans said. (http://nyti.ms/1OyoVEj)

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Alberta's New Democratic Party government is offering no guarantees that it will support expansions of an $8.5 billion taxpayer-supported bitumen refinery, even as it seeks to create jobs through oil-sands processing within the province. (http://bit.ly/1PcIyTX)

** Canada's big banks are taking a hard look at their expenses in response to an uncertain economy, shifting consumer preferences and rising competitive threats in what could be a prolonged adjustment to a new era. (http://bit.ly/1jusZcX)

** With as much as $100 billion in nuclear contracts up for grabs, Canada and South Africa have begun negotiating a nuclear cooperation agreement. However Canada' main nuclear exporter, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc, has opted out despite invitations from the South African government. (http://bit.ly/1juu0lj)

** Stephen Harper turned to props and sound effects to attack front-runner Justin Trudeau on Monday as he stumped to protect Conservative seats in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. (http://bit.ly/1jutVhy)

NATIONAL POST

** For Rogers Communications Inc, Canada's largest wireless carrier, the mobile roaming plan it calls "Roam Like Home" is turning some of its fervent haters into evangelists. (http://bit.ly/1juuhoy)

** It will take years before the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and its possible drawbacks, find their way into the Canadian economy. One thing for sure is that much of what Canada gained from the North American Free Trade Agreement will be superseded by the new 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership. (http://bit.ly/1juuB6y)

** For two years, it's been straining Canadian-Filipino relations, prompting protests, petitions, stern-worded political threats and even a demand for an official government inquiry. As 50 shipping containers full of Vancouver garbage continue to rot in Philippine ports, officials in the Asian nation remain adamant that Canada should "take back its waste". (http://bit.ly/1juvqfB)

China

CHINA BUSINESS NEWS

- Zhongguancun, currently an electronics retail area in Beijing, will be transformed into a haven for startups in the next 3-5 years, the paper reported.

- Since the beginning of this year to Oct. 12, 408 corporate bonds have been issued, with a total value 426.79 billion yuan ($67.44 billion), an increase of 303.3 percent from the same period last year.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

- China has attracted 584.74 billion yuan in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the first nine months of this year, up 9 percent over the same period last year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce on Monday.

21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD

- The automobile antitrust guide is expected to be released at the end of this month, said the Price Monitoring Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission in a meeting held on Oct. 9. The guide will be handed over to the State Council in June.

Britain

The Times

- Barclays PLC has chosen a veteran American banker as its new chief executive, signalling a dramatic shift back to its controversial investment bank. Jes Staley, 58, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co banker, is set to be appointed in the next two weeks, subject to regulatory approval. (http://thetim.es/1jlbpJc)

- Anheuser-Busch InBev moved a step closer to creating the "first truly global beer company" after raising its offer for SABMiller PLC from 65 billion pounds ($99.69 billion) to more than 67 billion pounds. (http://thetim.es/1hAkLyU)

The Guardian

- Volkswagen AG deserves to suffer "substantial damage" because of the diesel emissions scandal that has rocked the carmaker and affected 11 million vehicles worldwide, the British transport secretary has told MPs. (http://bit.ly/1OuryIU)

- Redcar steelworks in northeast England is to be closed, dashing hopes that any of the plant's 2,200 jobs can be saved. The company that owns the works was put into liquidation earlier this month after the government rejected a last-ditch appeal for financial help. (http://bit.ly/1jtkb7d)

The Telegraph

- Dell has agreed the biggest takeover in technology history, buying data storage provider EMC Corp for $67 billion. The American company, founded by its billionaire chief executive Michael Dell more than 30 years ago, announced the deal on Monday. (http://bit.ly/1Mn37qJ)

- The government has announced plans to sell its remaining 14 percent stake in Royal Mail to take advantage of "current market conditions", placing the postal service fully into private hands for the first time in its 500-year history. The sale of about 140 million shares will take place overnight through a process known as an "accelerated book build" to institutional investors only, with retail investors unable to buy stock. (http://bit.ly/1QmdHBQ)

Sky News

- Channel 4 and Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, have discussed a move for Mark Price to take over as the organisation's acting chairman at the end of January. The boss of Waitrose is poised to take on the chairmanship of Channel 4 when Lord Burns steps down early next year ahead of a potential 1 billion pound privatisation of the broadcaster. (http://bit.ly/1Oy5yLC)

The Independent

- The video games industry in the United Kingdom will get a 4 million pound funding boost over the next four years, allowing start-ups to turn ideas into reality. The Video Games Prototype Fund, launched by the UK government, is aiming to boost the sector.(http://ind.pn/1Otf307)

Comments

[junction]

Looking back for an example of the difference between the world now and almost 100 years ago in the United States, backward running, let’s go to Hollywood in 1923.  I watched a few days ago the blu-ray of the 1923 Cecil B. DeMille super movie production of “The Ten Commandments.” This silent movie has two parts, a 50 minute prologue that tells the story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, segueing into a separate, much duller story about a family in the modern world (of 1923) where one brother is an honest architect and the other is a crooked developer whose construction corner cutting leads to fatal consequences. 

This 1923 movie was the type of movie that made Hollywood’s reputation.  Every dollar spent showed up on the screen, over 1 million dollars.  Enormous temple sets built in Guadalupe, California, 600 riders on Egyptian chariots racing on giant sand dunes, extras by the hundreds in costumes filling the screen.  There are even color scenes filmed in the early cemented bipack Technicolor process 2, with color that looks pretty good (these scenes are included as extras on the blu-ray).

Now let’s go to Hollywood today, where movie making is still controlled by major corporations.  By and large, Hollywood studio movies are dreck.  So few studio movies are made, most newspapers have discharged their film critics.  Entertainment conglomerates like Viacom and Comcast spend most of their money using ZIRP funds to buy back their company shares to keep the share price going up in the face of declining income.  The old Paramount studio, which financed “The Ten Commandments” in 1923, has been laying off employees and cutting back its production slate for at least ten years.  Paramount’s latest “Mission Impossible” movie is a co-production financed in large part by Ali Baba Pictures Group, which gained Chinese movie distribution rights from its investment. 

Instead of making movies, the big American entertainment companies are lobbying for the Trans Pacific Partnership, to gut American copyright protection in the name of intellectual property rights.  DeMille’s 1923 movie was in part a movie that recounted the biblical story of the Exodus and in part a criticism of modern corrupt business practices.  I wonder if those scenes of slaves with whip marks (“Slave extras, report to makeup for whip marks”) as they pulled a massive sphinx would have gotten the film an “R” rating today.  The 2014 Ridley Scott movie version of the Exodus ditched most of the suffering endured by the slaves of Egypt.  And no one in Hollywood these days would approve a movie about corruption by real estate developers, especially Larry Silverstein’s role in 9/11 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3xgjxJwedA]. 

So, you have a 1923 movie version of “The Ten Commandments” that was giant box office hit in the 1920s that has been overshadowed by DeMille’s better 1956 movie iteration of the Exodus saga.  Yet that main story in the 1923 version, of the developer who puts getting rich from the profits on his construction projects, hasn’t faded that much except in one way.  In the end, the developer finds out that crime does not pay.  Unlike in the world of today, when criminals in business suits rule the world.            

---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ten_Commandments_%281923_film%29

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=5727

http://www.outsideonline.com/2023921/cursed-buried-city-may-never-see-li...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor

[Catullus]

Cutting Staff Pay to Keep Workers (WSJ)

More like cutting workers to keep managers.

[monk27]

If you take the nudes out of Playboy, what exactly are you left with in that rag ? Editorials ? LOL!