$F Steps Up Marketing Efforts for its Lincoln Brand

“U.S. made luxury cars have become all but extinct, as buyers have deserted the iconic U.S. brands for foreign models from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and others. We noted earlier today that the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Cadillac is unlikely to succeed with its turnaround effort. How much more unlikely, then, is the effort that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) plans to announce today for its luxury Lincoln model.”

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“U.S. agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) this morning announced that it has increased its offer for Australian grain grower and marketer GrainCorp from AUS$11.75 (about US$12.25 at today’s exchange rate) to AUS$12.20 (about US$12.72). Current GrainCorp shareholders would be allowed also to keep the company’s dividend payment of AUS$0.35 that was announced on November 15.”

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“No matter how sad the forecast, the year’s results for a few large America companies, the conditions of competition in their markets and the malaise that has draped much of economy makes it almost certain that they will fail, and fail soon. Most of these have been in a state of financial trouble for a several of quarters or ever years, and they have come to the limit of their options.”

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“Chrysler Group said Monday its U.S. sales rose 14 percent last month — its best November since 2007.

The company’s results suggested that Americans continue to buy new cars and trucks at a brisk pace. Chrysler predicts an annual sales rate of 15.3 million for the industry in November, making it the strongest month of the year. Auto sales ran at an annual rate of about 14.3 million through October.”

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“On paper, Glenn Hadden seemed to be the ideal person to run a large bond trading operation at Morgan Stanley when he was hired in early 2011. Mr. Hadden, a former Goldman partner, was one of the most profitable bond traders on Wall Street.

But there was more to his story than just stellar financial results. He had left his previous employer, Goldman Sachs, after questions about his trading activity. And now, Mr. Hadden is under investigation over his trading in Treasury futures while at Goldman, according to a regulatory filing.

Specifically, regulators at the CME Group, which runs commodity and futures exchanges, are investigating whether Mr. Hadden’s purchases or sales of Treasury futures late in the trading day manipulated closing prices in the market and, in turn, made other of his trades more profitable, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.”

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None of the stocks appear to be trading higher on their news…..

PMI stats have come out overnight for dozens of countries.

Full update here

“Facebook could bid to acquire WhatsApp, the mobile messaging app, as it aims to extend its mobile reach.

The rumoured acquisition, reported by TechCrunch today, comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared last month that the future of his company lay in mobile devices.

“The big thing is obviously going to be mobile,” Zuckerberg told BusinessWeek in early October. “There are 5 billion people in the world who have phones.”

WhatsApp is an app that allows users to message one another via smartphone over the internet, and aggregates users’ contacts from email, chat and social networks.”

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“Goldman is out with its #1 trade idea for 2013.

They’re advising clients to short the Aussie Dollar (AUD) against the Norwegian Kroner (NOK).

AUDNOK is currently at 5.8797. The firm’s target is 5.00.

Why this trade?

We summarize in bullets. Even if you’re not interested in currencies, there’s some interesting economics here that might help get you thinking of how a big global, macro trade is designed.”

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“SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Shin Cheol-soo no longer sees his future in the United States.

The South Korean businessman supplied components to American automakers for a decade. But this year, he uprooted his family from Detroit and moved home to focus on selling to the new economic superpower: China.

In just five years, China has surpassed the United States as a trading partner for much of the world, including U.S. allies such as South Korea and Australia, according to an Associated Press analysis of trade data. As recently as 2006, the U.S. was the larger trading partner for 127 countries, versus just 70 for China. By last year the two had clearly traded places: 124 countries for China, 76 for the U.S.”

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Remember to always do the crime if you can pay the meager fine.

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“Japanese companies increased capital spending more than economists predicted in the three months to September, indicating a contraction in the world’s third-largest economy may be short-lived.

Capital spending excluding software rose 2.4 percent in the period from a year earlier, after rising 6.6 percent in the previous quarter, the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo today. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a 1 percent gain.”

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“Greece offered 10 billion euros ($13 billion) to buy back bonds issued earlier this year as the bailed-out nation attempts to cut a debt load that may threaten future international aid.

Greek bonds rallied after the so-called modified Dutch auction was announced today by the Athens-based Public Debt Management Agency. PDMA offered an average maximum purchase price for the bonds maturing from 2023 to 2042 of 34.1 percent, based on information in the statement. The offer runs until 5 p.m. London time on Dec. 7.”

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“Former European Central Bank policy maker Nout Wellink said Spain can’t realistically expect officials to narrow the bond spread with Germany to as little as 200 basis points, as he predicted “execution problems” with the ECB’s bond program.

If Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy envisages “that the maximum difference with the Germans is 200 basis points, then he makes a mistake,” Wellink, the former Netherlands central bank governor who retired from the post in 2011, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Nov. 30. “Two hundred basis points seems to me too much” to hope for, he said.”

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China has had poor economic data for many months now, but recent data points show that the slowdown may have halted. This has spurred hedge funds to get more aggressive with risk on trades in the commodity sector.

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“European stocks reached a 17-month high and commodities gained after Chinese manufacturing data added to signs of economic recovery. The dollar slid to a six- week low versus the euro as U.S. debt talks remained deadlocked.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SPX) added 0.7 percent and futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.4 percent as of 7:19 a.m. in New York. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of raw materials increased 0.3 percent, led by natural gas and wheat. The Dollar Index (DXY) sank to a one-month low while the euro reached $1.3049, the most since Oct. 23. The yield on the 10-year Greek bond fell below 15 percent for the first time since July 2011, while Turkey’s ISE National 100 Index (XU100) of stocks climbed to a record.”

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World Markets

Currencies

Commodities

USD Libor

Euribor

Yields for Italy, Spain, France,  and Germany …

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNLPTO2Cym8 450 300]

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV8BN3kCuNo 450 300]

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