In Play and On the Wires

In Play ,

On the Wires

In order to shield our banking system from European shock the Federal Reserve has raised capital requirements  for U.S. banks.

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“NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald’s Corp. says strength in the U.S. and Europe drove up a key revenue figure in May, but noted that ongoing economic volatility around the world is pressuring its second-quarter results.

The fast-food chain, based in Oak Brook, Ill., also warned that foreign currency translations are now expected to hurt second-quarter earnings by 7 cents per share to 9 cents per share.

Shares of McDonald’s fell $2.40 to $88.38 in premarket trading.”

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“The Swiss National Bank (SNB) intervened in support of its 1.2000 currency peg against the Euro to the tune of CHF 60 billion ($66B) in the month of May. The vast majority of this intervention occurred during European trading hours. That means that the SNB bought, on average, the equivalent of $7mm worth of Euros every minute during the month. That’s a staggering number to me.”

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Trade deficits did not shrink as much as expected; especially since the last data point was revised higher.

Safe heaven investors are pulling money out of the banking system, only to deposit it German banks that are seen as more stable.

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Some how i missed this downgrade yesterday. At any rate, Spain is now BBB down from A.

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“Market sentiment hasn’t turned to risk-on yet, which is weighing on the Australian and New Zealand currencies,” said Kengo Suzuki, a currency strategist at Mizuho Securities Co., a unit inTokyo of Japan’s third-largest bank by market value.”

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“The euro weakened for a second day against the dollar after reports showed German exports tumbled and Italian industrial production shrank, adding to evidence that Europe’s debt crisis is deepening across the region.

The 17-nation euro fell for the first time in six days versus the yen after Fitch Ratings cut Spain’s credit grade to within two steps of junk. The yen and the dollar rose against most of their major peers as a drop in stocks signaled investors favoring the safest assets. Australia’s dollar slid for a second day versus the greenback even as China, the nation’s biggest trading partner, cutinterest rates yesterday to spur growth.”

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“Oil fell a second day in New York, heading for the longest weekly losing streak in more than 13 years, on speculation the economies of the U.S. and China, the world’s biggest crude consumers, will slow and curb fuel demand.

Futures dropped as much as 2.6 percent. Federal Reserve officials need to assess the risk from Europe’s debt crisis and U.S. budget cuts before deciding on stimulus measures, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said to the Joint Economic Committee yesterday. China reports economic data tomorrow after cutting interest rates for the first time since 2008. Global crude supply is sufficient, Youcef Yousfi, Algeria’s energy minister, said before OPEC meets next week in Vienna.”

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World Markets

Currencies

Commodities

USD Libor

Euribor

Yields for Italy, Spain, France,  and Germany …

According to internal documents reviewed by Reuters, the unit’s accountants, engineers and supervisors handled about $3 million of personal work for McClendon in 2010 alone. Among other tasks, the unit’s controller once helped coordinate the repair of a McClendon house that was damaged by hailstones.

Fourteen miles south, at Will Rogers World Airport, Chesapeake leases a fleet of planes that shuttle executives to oil and gas fields — and the McClendon family to holiday destinations. On one trip, the clan took flights to Amsterdam and Paris that cost $108,000; McClendon counted the trip as a business expense. In another case, Chesapeake logs show, nine female friends of McClendon’s wife flew to Bermuda in 2010 without any McClendons aboard. The cost: $23,000.

Closer to home, McClendon pursues another of his passions: the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA franchise in which he owns a 19 percent stake. As with other assets, McClendon has melded his Thunder interest with Chesapeake business. The energy company signed a $36 million sponsorship deal, and it pays up to $4 million annually to brand the stadium Chesapeake Energy Arena.

What hasn’t been previously disclosed is that McClendon mortgaged his future proceeds from the team to secure two bank loans.

The AKM unit, the jet flights and the Thunder relationship are part of the lavish but leveraged lifestyle that McClendon has built through Chesapeake, America’s second-largest natural gas producer.

From the 111-acre corporate campus that he shaped with a meticulous eye for detail, McClendon has intertwined his personal financial interests with those of the publicly traded corporation he runs to a far greater degree than shareholders may realize, according to interviews, public records and hundreds of pages of internal Chesapeake documents reviewed by Reuters.

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Fair value is especially retarded tonight. Here is accurate fair value for US futures.

Seven workers at a Foxconn factory in Chengdu went to a restaurant near their dormitory, but began making a ruckus after an argument between the eatery’s owner and his wife “affected their meal”, said a statement on the Sichuan government website (www.scol.com.cn) released on Thursday.

After the restaurant owner called the police, the workers ran back to their dormitory shouting “they are beating us”, upon which around 100 of their colleagues came in and joined the disturbance, throwing bottles, the statement added.

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bclund with some side-splitting double entendres. In no particular order…

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This is not how you garner respect. Remember your here to  protect and serve.

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An indecisive Fed leads to a sharp move lower for Gold.

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Even if she tried to ditch the cops there is no need to taser somebody. You can simply pull them over and issue another citation or arrest them if need be.

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