iBankCoin
Home / 2012 / November (page 16)

Monthly Archives: November 2012

Foreign Investments in China Fall for the 11th Time in Twelve Months

Foreign direct investment in China fell for the 11th time in 12 months as labor costs rose, an economic slowdown threatened to drag growth to a 13-year low and a territorial dispute withJapan weighed on trade.

Investment dropped 0.2 percent in October from a year earlier to $8.31 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said in Beijing today. FDI inflows in the first 10 months of the year declined 3.5 percent to $91.7 billion, while non-financial outbound investment rose 25.8 percent to $58.2 billion.

The decline in inflows highlights challenges for new Chinese leadership headed by Xi Jinping, who took the reins of the ruling Communist Party last week in a once-a-decade power handover, as officials seek to reverse a growth slowdown. The world’s second-largest economy may expand by 7.7 percent this year, the weakest pace since 1999, based on the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.”

Full article

Comments »

Moody’s Cuts Panasonic to One Notch Above Junk

Panasonic Corp. (6752), the Japanese electronics maker facing a second straight annual loss, had its long-term credit rating cut to one level above junk by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited challenging market conditions.

The company’s long-term rating was lowered two levels to Baa3, the lowest among Moody’s 10 investment-level rankings. Panasonic’s Prime-3 short-term rating remains under review for possible reduction, according to a statement from Moody’s, which assigned a negative outlook for the long-term ranking.”

Full article

Comments »

Moody’s Downgrades France, Sovereign Bonds Drop

France’s government bonds fell, with 10-year yields rising the most in a month, after Moody’s Investors Service lowered the nation’s top credit rating, citing a worsening economic growth outlook.

Greek and Portuguese debt advanced as European finance ministers prepare to meet in Brussels today to discuss aid for Greece. The yield premium, or spread, investors demand to hold French 10-year debt over similar-maturity German bunds, widened for the first time in four days after Moody’s yesterday cut the country’s rating to Aa1 from Aaa and maintained its negative outlook. Spain’s notes rose as it sold 4.94 billion euros ($6.33 billion) of bills.”

Full article

Comments »

Ex-UBS Trader Adoboli Guilty of $2.3 Billion U.K. Fraud

“Former UBS AG (UBSN) trader Kweku Adoboli was found guilty of fraud in relation to a $2.3 billion loss, the largest from unauthorized trading in British history.

Adoboli was convicted following a two-month-long London trial during which lawyers for the 32-year-old argued UBS managers pushed traders to take more risks and rule-breaking at the bank was rampant.”

Full article

Comments »

Jeff Bezos named businessperson of the year

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos got a nod from Fortune as the businessperson of the year Thursday, topping a list full of technology and telecommunications executives.

The magazine called him the “ultimate disrupter,” citing the way Bezos approaches everything from executive meetings to his tendency to ignore Wall Street and focus on Amazon’s long-term business goals.

Source

Comments »

Karzai Orders Afghan ‘Forces’ to Seize Afghan Prison from US Forces

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has criticized the U.S. military for violating an agreement and illegally continuing to hold Afghans as prisoners against the orders of the Afghan government and courts.

The deal, signed in March, gave the US six months to transfer the captured Afghans – an agreement the US has not upheld. Karzai released a statement Monday calling the failure to hand over detainees “a serious breach of the Memorandum of Understanding.” The Afghan president also ordered his forces to seize control of the Parwan detention facility, where US forces continue to hold prisoners in a closed-off section, many of which were recently captured.

Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi told reporters that US troops are illegally holding more than 70 detainees whose release has been ordered by Afghan courts. Afghan courts have acquitted 57 of these prisoners, but the US has still refused to let them go, citing them as a danger to US national security.

The two countries had signed a detainee transfer pact in March, giving the US six months to hand over control of detention facilities and detainees to the Afghans in preparation of the 2014 US withdrawal. Although the official handover occurred in September, the US refused to turn over several hundred prisoners that they felt were too dangerous or that they captured after the deal was signed.

Faizi said hundreds of new prisoners are now being held in the Parwan detention facility and that US night raids have taken in about 100 additional Afghans per month.

US military officials argued that Afghanistan was not ready to take control of all prisoners. They have also demanded that Afghans agree to hold some detainees, who are considered too dangerous to be freed, without a trial. But imprisonment without a trial is against Afghan law, Faizi said. The spokesman told reporters that the Obama administration had been given a two-month extension to make an alternative proposal to holding detainees without trial. But this grace period has now ended.

These acts are completely against the agreement that has been signed between Afghanistan and the US president,”Karzai’s statement read.

“There is nothing by the name of ‘administrative detention’ in our laws, yet the US is insisting that there are a number of people who, while there is not enough evidence against them, are a threat to US national security,” Faizi said.

Comments »

FLASH: Israel and Hamas Close to Cease Fire Deal

A decision on whether to launch a ground invasion of Gaza has been put off by at least a day, after Israel decided Monday to give the Egyptians more time to try to broker a cease-fire with Hamas, a senior Israeli official said.

Tuesday’s talks in Cairo are expected to be decisive. The Israeli delegates to the talks, which are being led by Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Raafat Shehata, plan to return there on Tuesday to present Israel’s response to demands being made by Hamas.

Senior Egyptian officials told Haaretz that the sides are very close, but that some more flexibility is needed from the Israeli side.

The forum of nine senior ministers convened late last night in Jerusalem to be briefed on the negotiations with Egypt.

Comments »

Gapping Up and Down This Morning

Gapping up

BMTI +68.7%, SINA +10.3%, LOW +5.1%, BCS +3.5%, NOK +2.5%, CLF +2.2%,

DIS +2.1%, F +2.1%, BP +1.9%, BBY +1.8%, DB +1.6%, AAPL +1.5%, GDX +1.4%,

BAC +1.3%, ABX +1.3%, RIO +1.1%, TEVA +1.1%, TOT +1%,  RMBS +1%, WSM +0.5%,

MLNX +2%, SWKS +1.5%, MO +1.3%, AAPL +1.5%,

Gapping down 

DMND -6.8%, FLR -1.9%, ARUN -3.3%,  FMCN -3.4%,

Comments »

Investors and Companies Scramble to Beat the Threat of Higher Taxes

“Business owners and investors are rapidly maneuvering to shield themselves from the prospect of higher taxes next year, a strategy that is sending ripples across Wall Street and broad areas of the economy.

Take Steve Wynn, the casino magnate, who has been a vocal critic of higher tax rates. He and his fellow shareholders in Wynn Resorts[WYNN  104.33    -0.22  (-0.21%)   ], the company announced, will collect a special dividend of $750 million on Tuesday, a payout timed to take advantage of current rates. Experts estimated that taking the payout this year instead of next could save Mr. Wynn, who owns a sizable stake in the company, more than $20 million.

For the wealthy like Mr. Wynn, the overriding goal is to record as much of their future income this year as they can. This includes moves as diverse as sales of businesses, one-time dividends and the sale of stocks that have been big winners.

“In my 30 years in practice, I’ve never seen such a flood of desire and action to transfer a business and cash out,” said Kenneth K. Bezozo, a partner in New York with the law firm Haynes and Boone. “We’re seeing a watershed event.” ”

Full article

Comments »

$GS: Stocks Will Tank Another 8% In The Final Weeks Of The Year

“A year ago, Goldman Sachs’ David Kostin said the S&P 500 would end 2012 at 1,250.

And he’s sticking to that call.

This implies stocks fall 8 percent from here.

“Uncertainty swirling around the ‘fiscal cliff’ that must be resolved by year-end, the pending jump in capital gains taxes at the start of 2013, and the debt ceiling that will be reached in late February represent clear and present downside risks to the market in the near-term,” writes Kostin in his US Weekly Kickstart note.

Kostin thinks a fiscal cliff deal will get done by year end.  But past experience tells him that a deal will come as close to the end of the year as possible.

Debate regarding a two-year extension to the 2001/2003 Bush income tax cuts was not resolved until December 17th, 2010. Last year’s decision to extend payroll tax cuts was not finalized until December 23rd, 2011. The current challenge is significantly more complex. Divergent views on tax policy, defense spending, and entitlements need to be resolved in a short lame-duck session of Congress. Political platitudes about compromise will abound during the coming weeks but some disagreements will surely arise. We assign a 55% likelihood that an agreement is reached by year-end.

Regarding the threat of rising capital gains and dividend tax rates, there is precedent for what happens to stocks, and it’s not good.”

Read more

Comments »

$CSCO Buys Meraki for $1.2 Billion, WiFi Management

“Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) — Cisco Inc. agreed to pay $1.2 billion for closely held Meraki Inc., adding technology that helps businesses manage Wi-Fi networks remotely and expanding its lineup of products for mid-sized customers.

Cisco, the world’s largest maker of computer-networking equipment, is using a combination of cash and retention-based incentives to pay for the acquisition, the San Jose, California- based company said yesterday in a statement.”

Read more

Comments »

Consumers Increase Credit Card Debt in Q3

“LOS ANGELES (AP) — Americans cranked up their use of credit cards in the third quarter, racking up more debt than a year ago, while also being less diligent about making payments on time, an analysis of consumer-credit data shows.

The average credit card debt per borrower in the U.S. grew 4.9 percent in the July-to-September period from a year earlier to $4,996, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Monday.

At the same time, the rate of credit card payments at least 90 days overdue hit 0.75 percent, up from 0.71 percent in the third quarter of last year, the firm said.

While higher, the late payment rate is rising from historically low levels. The lowest late payment rate on TransUnion records going back to the mid-1990s was 0.56 percent, set in the third quarter of 1994. More recently, it was at 0.60 percent in the second quarter of last year.

During the last recession, many Americans reined in spending in favor of paying off debt, particularly credit card balances. The housing downturn also prompted many homeowners to make paying their credit card accounts on time a priority at the expense of other financial obligations, such as their mortgage payments.”

Full article

Comments »

$TSN Beats by $0.11 and Declares a Special Dividend

“Results: Net income for Tyson Foods Inc. rose to $185 million (51 cents per share) vs. $97 million (26 cents per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This marks a rise of 90.7% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Fell 0.4% to $8.37 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Tyson Foods Inc. reported adjusted net income of 55 cents per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean estimate of 43 cents per share.Analysts were expecting revenue of $8.49 billion.

Quoting Management: “Our earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year indicate that Tyson Foods is rising above the noise of commodity markets to produce solid, more consistent results,” said Donnie Smith, Tyson’s president and chief executive officer. “It has taken us several years and a lot of work to get to this point, and although there is much more to be done, I believe we have reached a new level of sustainable performance.”

Key Stats:”

Full article

Comments »

$C Will Pay $360 million to Settle Lehman Dispute

“(Reuters) – Citigroup Inc has agreed to pay $360 million to the brokerage estate of Lehman Brothersto resolve a dispute over $1 billion in collateral that the investment bank was forced to post in the days leading up to its bankruptcy in 2008.

According to a settlement reached on Friday with the trustee liquidating Lehman Brothers’s U.S. brokerage unit, Citigroup will also relinquish its claim to $75 million that was contingently paid to the estate at the beginning of the liquidation, court documents showed.

The trustee, James Giddens, filed the claim against Citigroup and its subsidiaries early last year, arguing that the $1 billion was obtained under coercion and that the amount should be part of a general asset pool to be divided among creditors in accordance with bankruptcy law.

Citigroup had countered the trustee’s claims saying that it is entitled to keep the $1 billion under the Bankruptcy Code’s “safe harbor” provisions, which shield certain financial transactions from being included in the creditors’ asset pool.”

Full article

Comments »