Evercore

• The Inland Empire bubble is back: BMW to Amazon Space Demand Spurs Rush to Inland Empire (BBG)
• Tamerlan Tsarnaev was on classified government watch lists (Reuters)
• Brothers in Boston Bombing Case Said Drawn to Radicalism (BBG)
• Germany Spurns Calls to Loosen Austerity Stance (WSJ)
• Spain poised to ease austerity push (FT)
• What ever happened to France's voice in Europe? (Reuters)
• U.S., South Korea Reach Nuclear Deal (WSJ)
• U.S. Sees No Hard Evidence of Syrian Chemical Weapons Use (BBG)
• RBA Set to Invest Foreign Currency Reserves in China, Lowe Says (BBG)
• FedEx Wins $10.5 Billion Postal Contract as UPS Shut Out (BBG)

With a modest premium over yesterday's closing price (and 25% premium to Jan 11th price), and thanks to a big hand from Microsoft (with a bridge not an equity participation), Michael Dell (and Silver Lake) are taking Dell private.

• *DELL TO BE ACQUIRED BY MICHAEL DELL-SILVER LAKE FOR $13.65-SHR
• *DELL TO BE BOUGHT IN DEAL VALUED AT $24.4 BILLION :DELL US
• *DELL DEAL TO BE FINANCED BY FUNDS INCLUDING $2B MICROSOFT LOAN
• *DELL SAYS THERE IS NO FINANCING CONDITION :DELL US
• *DELL PACT PROVIDES GO SHOP PERIOD FOR 45 DAYS         :DELL US

Funding by BofAML, Barclays, CS, and RBC - better hope the CLO demand keeps up. Full PR below:

• Boeing misses Q4 top line ($22.3 bn, Exp. $22.33 bn) beats EPS ($1.28, Exp. $1.18), guides lower: 2013 revenue $82-85 bn, Exp. 87.9 bn
• Hilsenrath discovers DV01: Fed Risks Losses From Bonds  (WSJ)
• Airlines had 787 battery issues before groundings (Reuters)
• Monte Paschi ignored warnings over risk, documents show (Reuters) as did Mario Draghi
• China averts local government defaults (FT)
• Economy Probably Slowed as U.S. Spending Gain Drained Stockpiles (Bloomberg)
• Bono Is No Match for Retail Slump Hitting Dublin’s Fifth Avenue (BBG)
• Catalonia requests €9bn from rescue fund (FT)
• US plans more skilled migrant visas (FT)
• Japan PM shrugs off global criticism over latest stimulus steps (Reuters)
• CIA nominee had detailed knowledge of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (Reuters)
• Cleanliness Meets Godliness as Russia Reeled Into Cyprus (BBG)
• Deutsche Bank Seen Missing Goldman-Led Gains on Cost Rise (BBG)

• With array of challenges, Obama kicks off second term at public inauguration (Reuters)
• Uneasy in the Political Climate, Mickelson Talks Like Someone Ready to Step Away (NYT)
• BOJ Should Slow Easing If Yen Weakens Too Much, Hamada Says (BBG)
• Spain Recession Scars Exposed as Jobless Seen at 6 Mln (BBG)
• Davos Doom Loses to Merkel-Draghi as Euro Defies Roubini (BBG)
• Algeria finds dead Canadian militants as siege toll rises (Reuters)
• Beijing tries to clean up its act (FT)
• Investigators probe Boeing 787 battery maker (Reuters)
• Netanyahu Gets Landslide in Markets Masking No Peace Process (BBG)
• Google aims to replace passwords with ID ring (Telegraph)
• Kim Dotcom launches new upload site (FT)
• Dell Said to Hire Evercore to Seek Higher Bids After Buyout (BBG)
• Hostess Bakers Union Hires Investment Bank Gordian in Asset Sale (BBG)

• Japan grapples with own fiscal cliff (Bloomberg)
• Japan Protests After Four Chinese Vessels Enter Disputed Waters (Bloomberg)
• Asian Stocks Rise as Exporters Gain on China, U.S. Data (Bloomberg)
• An obsolete Hilsenrath speaks: Fed Keeps Rates Low, Says Growth Is Moderate (WSJ)
• ECB Said to Push Spain’s Bankia to Swap Junior Debt for Shares (Bloomberg)
• Spain’s Bad Bank Seen as Too Big to Work (Bloomberg)
• China postpones Japan anniversary events (China Daily)
• Carney Says Rate Increase ‘Less Imminent’ on Economy Risk (Bloomberg)
• Credit Suisse to Cut More Costs as Quarterly Profit Falls (Bloomberg)
• Obama offers a glimpse of his second-term priorities (Reuters)
• Draghi defends bond-buying programme (FT)

• Bundesbank Maintains Opposition to ECB Bond Buying (WSJ)
• Greek Budget Talks Stumble as EU Urges Samaras to Deliver (Bloomberg)
• Fortified by euro, Finns take bailouts on the chin (Reuters)
• China Job Market for Graduates Shows Stress on Slowdown (Bloomberg)
• China Exports Fade as Inflation Eludes Targets: Cutting Research (Bloomberg)
• Japan Falters as Ito Calls for Euro Buys to Rein in Yen: Economy (Bloomberg)
• Government weighs social insurance reforms (China Daily)
• Colombia’s Split Central Bank to Weigh First Rate Cut Since 2010 (Bloomberg)

• Fed Holds Rates Steady, But Outlooks Shift (Hilsenrath)
• Has Obama Stacked the Fed? Not Really (Hilsenrath)
• High Court Skeptical of Obama’s Use of Power as Campaign Starts (Bloomberg)
• Europe Seen Adding Growth Terms to Budget Rules as Focus Shifts (Bloomberg)
• China Reaches Out to Its Adversaries Over Rare Earths (WSJ)
• Iran Says It May Halt Nuclear Program Over Sanctions (Bloomberg)
• Europe Shifts Crisis Focus to Growth as Merkel Backs Draghi Call (Bloomberg)
• Merkel Wants Rules for Raw Material Derivative Trade (Reuters)
• Evercore Profit Falls 62% as Investment Banking Expenses Rise (Bloomberg)

First we got Italy telling the world quietly it would not meet its deficit target for 2013, and will in fact experience debt/GDP growth in all outer years, and now we get the Bank of Spain, also taking advantage of today's market rally to dump its own set of bad news, namely that Spanish banks will need to provision another €29.1 billion, and will have higher core capital requirements of €15.6 billion (this is fresh capital). 90 banks have already complied with the capital plan, 45 have yet to find the needed cash. Putting this into perspective, the amount already written-down is €9.2 billion. So, just a little more. And this assumes there are no capital shortfalls associated with any impairment from the YPF -> Repsol follow through, which as Zero Hedge already showed, would leave various Spanish banks exposed. In other news, there is one more hour of trading: we suggest every insolvent entity in the world to quickly take advantage of the interim euphoria, as tomorrow may not be so lucky. Of course, in the worst case, Japan will just bail everybody out.

• This is just hilarious on so many levels: Japan Will Provide $60 Billion to Expand IMF’s Resources (Bloomberg) - just don't look at Fukushima, don't look at the zero nuclear plants working, don't look at the recent trade deficit, and certainly don't look at the Y1 quadrillion in debt...
• US Senate vote blocks ‘Buffett rule’ (FT)
• Reserve Bank of Australia awaiting new data before considering rate move (Herald Sun)
• Merkel Offers Spain No Respite as Debt Cuts Seen As Key (Bloomberg)
• RBI cuts repo rate by 50 bps; sees little room for more (Reuters)
• China allows banks to short sell dollars (Reuters)
• Central bankers snub euro assets (FT)
• Shanghai Econ Weakening’ Mayor Vows to Pop Housing Bubble (Forbes)
• Wen's visit to boost China-Europe ties (China Daily)
• Madrid threatens to intervene in regions (FT)

Today, BusinessWeek's Michael Serrill and Jonathan Neumann have released a blockbuster report based on a FOIA response by the Treasury, which proves that in America rules are only for little people, that this country has been a banana republic for years, that Animal Farm was spot on, and gives excruciating detail of how Hank Paulson tipped off a select group of Goldman diaspora hedge fund managers about the eventual failure of Fannie and Freddie 7 weeks ahead of this information becoming public knowledge. The report basically is a summary of a meeting that took place at the offices of Eton Mindich's Eton Park headquarters on July 21, 2008, 7 days after his famous '“If you have a bazooka, and people know you have it, you're not likely to take it out," speech and 7 weeks before both GSEs effectively filed for bankruptcy and were put into conservatorship. Now if it only ended there it would have been fine - a case of potential criminal collusion between the government (although nothing specific against Paulson as he didn't actually trade: he just made sure his former Goldman colleagues made money), and the 0.00001% in the face of a few multi-billionaires who most certainly did trade on material non-public information sourced by Hank. Where it however gets worse is when one considers the actual role of one Eric Mindich in the hierarchy of the Asset Managers' committee of the President's Working Group on Capital Markets, better known of course as the PPT: a topic we discussed first back in September 2009 when we asked "What Is Goldman Alum Eric Mindich's Role As Chair Of The Asset Managers' Committee Of The President's Working Group?" Back then we did not get an answer. Luckily, courtesy of a few answered FOIA requests, some real investigative journalism, and not reporting for the sake of brown-nosing just so one can get soundbites for their next name dropping "blockbuster" and straight to HBO movie, we are starting to get the full picture of just how high in US government the Goldman Sachs controlled "crony capitalist" adminsitration truly runs.

The deadline to submit a bankruptcy filing to the Southern District of New York is around midnight, which probably explains why even as MF Global is proceeding at a feverish pace to sell parts or all of it to what appear increasingly skittish investors (who, like China will likely wait until the stalking horse auction to show their bids), it has, as the WSJ has just reported, hired bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers in the face of Weil Gotshal, best known for collecting hundreds of millions in hourly legal fees for its work on the Lehman bankruptcy case, as well as Skadden Arps. It appears that the sale process has not gone quite as well as hoped for, and now the company is bracing for the worst with just under 6 hours left to iron out a going concern solution.

Update: and the hits just keep on coming, first Fitch and now... MF GLOBAL CUT TO JUNK BY MOODY'S... "At the end of the second quarter, MF Global's $6.3 billion sovereign risk exposure represented 5 times the company's tangible common equity. Moody's said the downgrade reflects our view that MF Global's weak core profitability contributed to it taking on substantial risk in the form of its exposure to European sovereign debt in peripheral countries." But other major US banks have no exposure whatsover right? Oh wait...They're hedged... Through "CDS".

Bloomberg has just broken that MF Global has likely just entered a terminal deathwatch after not only tapping its credit facility, but aslo exhausting it. From Bloomberg: "MF Global Holdings Ltd., the futures broker run by Jon Corzine, drew down its revolving credit lines this week as the firm reported its biggest quarterly loss and had its credit ratings cut, said three people with knowledge of the matter. The New York-based company exhausted its revolving lines, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the move wasn’t disclosed. MF said in an Oct. 25 investor presentation that it had $1.3 billion in unused revolving credit facilities, without giving a date for the tally." This development means that instead of an M&A assignment as many were attributing the retention of Evercore bankers to (despite the dreary presence of David Ying in their midst), Jon Corzine's firm was far more likely focused on salvaging anything of value. However, now that traditional M&A is out of the picture (nobody in their right mind will pay anything close to market value for a company without cash), it is quite likely that the firm's bondholders, who most likely also have collateral exposure with MF global, whose plight started following the disclosure of extensive European exposure and which was downgraded to junk today by Fitch, will pull all liquidity and instead opt for a debt for equity conversion either in court or as a prepack. What is probably the biggest  take home here is just how much of a capital drain European exposure (and we are confident MF was "hedged".... just like Morgan Stanley) can become, and how quickly a firm can become completely insolvent. As a reminder, the firm reported $710 million in cash as of June 30. Obviously all of that cash must have been burned through if the firm also not only tapped but exhausted its $1.3 billion in revolvers in the past quarter (which have rating associated rate step ups, which don't take too kindly to a junk rating). Net result: $2 billion in cash (or about 9 times its makret cap) burned in 4 months primarily due to "hedged" European exposure.

We all know the news by now: "MF reported its biggest quarterly loss ever yesterday, after having its credit ratings cut a day earlier by Moody’s Investors Service on concern that the broker won’t meet earnings targets and may not be able to manage investments in European sovereign debt. The company’s shares fell 48 percent. “It’s aggregated risk,” said Richard Repetto, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP. The positions in Europe, the further downgrade potential and the quarterly loss, combined to discourage investors, he said." Here is where it gets worse: "Analysts at KBW Inc., led by Niamh Alexander, wrote in a note yesterday that the Moody’s downgrade and lower earnings could cause a ripple effect on the company, raising borrowing costs and triggering collateral calls. “It also exposes MF to collateral calls of up to $5 million,” the note said. “We believe it could also prompt lenders to reduce financing, clients to withdraw assets and trigger the need to recognize losses on certain bilateral over- the-counter and off-balance sheet transactions." Well, judging by the bond yield chart below, MF is done (further confirmed by WSJ reporting that the company has hired restructuring expert Evercore Partners). The only question is whether that ever so handy uber collateral puller, Goldman Sachs, so critical in the extinction of Dexia and of course AIG, will be the party responsible for the death of MF Global? Considering who the current head of MF is, and his "key man status" in the prospectus of the company's recently bonds (which are plummeting today), we somehow doubt it.

The following email intercept from a senior Managing Director of Obama bastion Evercore (Roger Altman: nuf said), explains all there is to know about  the Obama presidency, but it does not explain why Groupon still does not have a "meet your president, half off price" coupon yet. "Hi there - fundraising this quarter has been a struggle (as you can imagine give all the negative stuff around the President) - they are offering a one off opportunity to attend this small dinner on Monday for $25k instead of the full max out of $38.5k, or a couple at $38.5k instead of $77k.  Just wanted to offer that in case you're interested!" Anyway, we'll got and report ourselves to @AttackWatch immediately as this is obviously a non-subversive counter-disinformation campaign.

He works hard for the money ...