Greece is Expected to Be Approved for a $10.4 Billion Aid Program

“Euro-area finance ministers will probably approve the latest disbursement of bailout aid toGreece when they meet in Brussels later today, a European Union official said.

Teams from the so-called troika that oversees euro-zone bailouts reached a staff-level agreement with the Greek authorities on the policies needed to ensure that the country’s aid program “is on track to reach its objectives,” the troika said in a statement.

The troika comprises the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The IMF’s Executive Board is also due to consider approving the Greek review this month, according to the statement.

Approval of the agreement at the meeting of euro-area finance ministers that begins at 3 p.m. in the Belgian capital would be a first step toward Greece, which has been unable to tap bond markets since 2010, receiving payments of 8.1 billion euros ($10.4 billion)….”

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“European stocks rose, rebounding from their biggest decline in almost two weeks, amid speculation that economic data will improve and as Portugal’s politicians reached an agreement to hold the governing coalition together. U.S. index futures gained and Asian shares fell.

Novartis AG (NOVN) climbed 1.7 percent after saying a psoriasis treatment met all its objectives in a clinical study. Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) advanced 2.7 percent after a person with knowledge of the matter said a former Standard Chartered Plc executive may mount a bid for a stake in the U.K.’s biggest mortgage lender. Bovis Homes Group Plc jumped 4.6 percent as the company said that profit increased in the first half.

The Stoxx 600 increased 1.4 percent to 292.26 at 11:10 a.m. inLondon. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.6 percent after the equity benchmark rose 1 percent on July 5 after a better-than-forecast payrolls report. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.5 percent today.

“The world looks rosy to investors again, after the U.S. market rallied on much better-than-expected employment numbers that investors finally seem to be interpreting as good news,” John Plassard, who helps oversee $28 billion as vice president at Mirabaud Securities LLP in Geneva, wrote. “We have reached a point where markets will reflect the real economy more.”

In Portugal, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho proposed that Paulo Portas, leader of the junior party in the governing coalition, become vice premier. The appointment helps cement a deal to hold the coalition together. Portugal’s PSI 20 Index retreated 2.7 percent last week when Portas resigned after Coelho appointed a new finance minister.

Finance Ministers

Euro-area finance ministers meeting at 3 p.m. in Brussels will discuss Greece’s progress in meeting the conditions needed to obtain further aid from the International Monetary Fund,European Central Bank and European Commission. Greece’s Finance Minister, Yannis Stournaras, said the Greek government will probably reach a deal with international creditors before today’s Eurogroup meeting….”

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“The pound approached an 11-week low against the euro amid speculation the Bank of Englandwill maintain stimulus measures that typically debase the currency.

Sterling was within one U.S. cent of the weakest in almost four months after U.K. policy makers led by Governor Mark Carney signaled last week they will keep interest rates at a record low for longer than investors anticipated. Britain’s currency slumped below $1.49 to the lowest in more than three months last week. U.K. government bonds were little changed. Economists predict a report tomorrow will will show industrial production expanded in May.

“The Bank of England want to keep a cautious outlook and that should keep the pound on the back foot,” said John Hardy, head of foreign-exchange strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in London. “If the data begins to turn the wrong way again you have a compelling case for more pound weakness.”

The U.K. currency fell less than 0.1 percent to 86.21 pence per euro at 12:01 p.m. London time after depreciating to 86.33 on July 4, the weakest level since April 17. Sterling traded at $1.4907 after dropping to $1.4858 on July 5, the lowest since March 12.

The U.K. recovery “remains weak” by historical standards and rising market borrowing costs pose a threat to the expansion, the central bank said in a statement after its July 3-4 meeting. The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee kept its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.5 percent and its asset-purchase target at 375 billion pounds.

Pound’s Decline

The pound has weakened 2 percent this year, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes that track 10 developed-nation currencies. The dollar strengthened 7.9 percent and the euro gained 4.9 percent….”

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“The Dollar Index rose to a three-year high before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks this week amid speculation signs of U.S. economic growth will encourage the central bank to slow stimulus.

The dollar climbed to the strongest in five weeks versus the yen as the Fed prepares to release the minutes of its June meeting on Wednesday at which Bernanke said policy makers may begin slowing bond purchases. A U.S. report last week showed payrolls rose in June. Sweden’s krona weakened after a report showed a manufacturing slump in the economy deepened. The euro rose against most of its major counterparts amid optimism Greece will get the next aid payout…”

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“Australia’s dollar traded near its lowest in almost three years versus the greenback on speculation the Reserve Bank may cut interest rates as soon as next month.

The Aussie held a three-week drop before data this week forecast to show the job market stagnated in June. The South Pacific nation’s yield advantage over the U.S. is deteriorating as the Federal Reserve considers scaling back its quantitative easing program this year. New Zealand’s kiwi dollar rose after a report showed house prices gained last month.

“It’s inevitable that Aussie pushes lower,” said Robert Rennie, the chief currency strategist atWestpac Banking Corp. (WBC) in Sydney. “Lower rates are clearly required.”

The Australian dollar slid 0.2 percent to 90.51 U.S. cents as of 4:47 p.m. in Sydney from July 5. It reached 90.37 on July 3, the lowest since September 2010. New Zealand’s dollar climbed 0.2 percent to 77.24 U.S. cents, rebounding from a 1.6 percent slide on July 5.

The yield on Australia’s 10-year government bond rose eight basis points, or 0.08 percentage point, to 3.9 percent, after earlier touching 3.998 percent, the highest since June 24.

The top forecaster of the Australian dollar over the past year predicts a further slump, capping the worst annual loss since the 2008 global financial crisis. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce expects it to fall to 87 U.S. cents by Dec. 31, for a 16 percent decline this year. The median estimate of 53 economists surveyed by Bloomberg is 91 U.S. cents.

‘Good Thing’

The Aussie’s depreciation so far this year “does provide some support to manufacturers, and exporters in particular, and that’s a good thing,” Australian Treasurer Chris Bowen said in an interview broadcast by Sky News yesterday. It’s dropped 13 percent this year. “The terms of trade have fallen since the budget. Against that, the Australian dollar has come down, so there’s a countervailing impact.”…”

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“Chinese stocks dropped the most in two weeks as indexes tracking energy, materials and industrial companies sank to the lowest levels since November 2008.

China Shenhua Energy Co., the nation’s biggest coal producer, slipped 3.6 percent, taking its loss this year to 38 percent. Yunnan Tin Co. plunged 8.7 percent after saying its chairman is under investigation. Zijin Mining Group Co. (601899), China’s largest gold producer, declined for the first time in six days after saying first-half profit probably decreased. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its earnings forecasts for Chinese mining companies, citing lower metal prices and sales.

The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) fell 2.4 percent to 1,958.27 at the close, after climbing 1.4 percent last week. The CSI 300 Index slid 2.8 percent to 2,163.62. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) retreated 1.1 percent in Hong Kong. The ChiNext index of smaller companies lost 2.5 percent.

“There’s a lack of confidence in the economy,” said Li Jun, a strategist at Central China Securities Co. in Shanghai. “There’s also concern about possible capital outflows. There’s nothing positive for stocks.”

U.S. employers added more workers than economists expected in June, data July 5 showed, stoking expectations the Fed will be able to taper asset purchases that prompted capital flows into emerging markets.

China’s State Council, headed by Premier Li Keqiang, pledged last week to improve the effectiveness of financial support for the economy after a cash crunch. Misallocation of capital is hampering the restructuring of the economy and the financial sector must play a better role in helping the overhaul, the cabinet said July 5 after equity markets closed. The State Council said it will maintain its “prudent” monetary-policy stance while ensuring a reasonable supply of money and credit.

Inflation Data…”

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“SoftBank Corp. (9984), led by billionaire Masayoshi Son, had its credit rating cut to junk by Standard & Poor’s after winning approval from the Federal Communications Commission for its $21.6 billion bid to buy Sprint Nextel Corp. (S)

The rating was cut to BB+, the highest non-investment grade, from BBB, with a stable outlook, S&P said in a statement today. The FCC announced July 5 that the deal is in the public’s interest, giving Son a position in the U.S. market…..”

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“Japanese companies made the fewest acquisitions in a decade during the first half as the yen’s volatility climbed to a four-year high, cooling buying interest.

The number of deals announced in the first half of 2013 was 997, with a total value of $45.7 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the lowest number of deals and value since the first six months of 2004. Total deal value is 47 percent lower from the first half of 2012.

Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swept into power in December on promises to resurrect the economy by expanding stimulus measures and weakening the yen, the Japanese currency has whipsawed between 82.36 yen and 103.21 yen to the dollar. The yen’s 100-day volatility rose to 14.81 points in July, the highest since August 2009, and more than double the 6.97 figure at the start of the year.

“Companies had set their budgets for the year as of April-May under certain assumptions, but they’re not sure they will hold,” said Nobuhisa Ishizuka, a Tokyo-based partner specializing in mergers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. “This makes it difficult for a lot of them to pull the trigger.”

Currency options show volatility in the yen is set to continue, which could force companies to cut the size of deals or delay them. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s Group of Seven Volatility Index, based on currency-option premiums, climbed to 11.96 percent on June 24, the highest since January 2012.

Smaller Size…”

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Yields for Japan, Italy, Spain, France,  and Germany …

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Hope you had a smashing independence day America.

If you love America then you will consider this documentary  as a warning despite it being made five years ago. Do not think of this work as an attack on one particular administration. It has become increasingly clear, at least to me,that for a very long time no matter which party is in control of the Administration, House and  or Senate; what we are witnessing is the same foreign policy, the same favoritism,  and devotion to a common agenda. Think hydra here folks….

The realities presented herein, backed by research are most certainly why we are seeing a rash of S&Ms aka Snowdens and Mannings….

Cheers on your holiday weekend!

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skhd9NCseF4 450 300] [youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4HeY1Krw-Y 450 300]

 

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“I love this chart

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“In another display of their intent to buy the entire Internet, Yahoo has just acquired Qwiki, an iOS app that helps users create movies out of the photos and videos in their camera roll.

When Qwiki first launched, it focused on generating short, informational videos on popular search terms. Search for Lady Gaga, for example, and it’d automatically compile a short description of the life of Ms. Stefani Germanotta, presumably narrated over a slideshow of meat-based clothing. That initial service saw some success — Apple picked it as an Editor’s Choice app in 2011, and, hey, it won TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2010 — but it never really blew up.

Earlier this year, the company shifted their focus a bit. In February, they re-launched as an iPhone-only app that focused on the user’s own content, using the technology they’d built before to create movies from the photos and videos in the user’s camera roll.

A report from AllThingsD says that Qwiki was acquired for somewhere between 40 and 50 million dollars. The company had raised $10.5M to date, according to CrunchBase.….”

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“With smartphones and tablets replacing PCs as the default computing device for many consumers, so, too, is data traffic shifting from fixed to wireless networks. The analysts at Strategy Analytics believe that this movement, combined with the wider trend for increasing time spent online, is going to translate to a huge increase in wireless data traffic — which is set to rise by some 300% by 2017 to a peak of 21 Exabytes, from just 5 Exabytes in 2012. Driving that rise are services like streaming video, but interestingly not apps.

Up to now the rise in smartphone usage has seen traffic “doubling annually,” according David MacQueen, executive director for Apps and Media at Strategy Analytics, although in coming years, as markets get more penetrated, this will slow down somewhat to around 32%.

MacQueen tells me that these figures include all data services covering all kinds of handsets globally, but it excludes tablet traffic. Most of this traffic, needless to say, comes from smartphone usage rather than more basic handsets. Low-end services like SMS messaging, he notes, fall into that smaller “other” category.

While a lot of the buzz today has to do with apps — and indeed in 2012 we saw a tipping point in one leading market, the U.S., where apps started to outweigh mobile websites in terms of usage — when it comes to actual data consumption, it’s a different story.

If you look at the table below, you’ll see that the growing popularity of data-intensive services like video streaming will be what drives this boom in mobile data traffic, which will grow by 42% by 2017. And even though mobile websites are often not as popular as apps, they are more intensive when it comes to network usage, and so when looking at mobile data traffic, mobile web browsing plays a much stronger role. It will grow by 30% until 2017. That’s also a good counterpoint to why apps remain popular today: they may simply just be easier and more efficient to use as a result. Interestingly, in Strategy Analytics’ table below, apps get lumped together with games — a huge activity on mobile devices, but also often as a “native experience” — and they still are a small part of activity compared to browsing and video. And in a sign of how prominent music streaming services are and will become, this, too, will remain a small piece of the pie….”

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“WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. trade deficit widened by 12.1% in May to $45.0 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. This is the largest deficit since last November and was well above expectations. Wall Street economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a deficit of $40.3 billion. The deficit has jumped in two straight months after falling to $37.1 billion in March….”

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“Whatever you think about Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency (NSA) data collection he unveiled is more than a privacy issue. Investors should pay attention, too. The company whose shares you own may be lying to you — while Uncle Sam looks the other way.

Let’s step through this. I think you will see the problem.

Fact 1: U.S. financial markets are the envy of the world because we have fair disclosure requirements, accounting standards and impartial courts. This is the foundation of shareholder value. The company may lose money, but they at least told you the truth.

Fact 2: We now know multiple public companies, including Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB) and other, gave their user information to NSA. Forget the privacy implications for a minute. Assume for the sake of argument that everything complies with U.S. law. Even if true, the businesses may still be at risk.

Fact 3: All these companies operate globally. They get revenue from China, Japan, Russia, Germany, France and everywhere else. Did those governments consent to have their citizens monitored by the NSA? I think we can safely say no.

Politicians in Europe are especially outraged. Citizens are angry with the United States and losing faith in American brand names. Foreign companies are already using their non-American status as a competitive advantage. Some plan to redesign networks specifically to bypass U.S. companies.

By yielding to the NSA, U.S. companies likely broke laws elsewhere. They could face penalties and lose significant revenue. Right or wrong, their decisions could well have damaged the business.

Securities lawyers call this “materially adverse information” and companies are required to disclose it. But they are not. Only chief executives and a handful of technical people know when companies cooperate with the NSA. If the CEO can’t even tell his own board members he has placed the company at risk, you can bet it won’t be in the annual report.

The government also gives some executives immunity documents, according to Bloomberg. Immunity is unnecessary unless someone thinks they are breaking the law. So apparently, the regulators who ostensibly protect the public are actively helping the violators.

This is a new and different investment landscape. Public companies are hiding important facts that place their investors at risk. If you somehow find out, you will have no recourse because regulators gave the offender a “get out of jail free” card. The regulatory structure that theoretically protects you knowingly facilitates deception that may hurt you, and then silences any witnesses….”

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“WASHINGTON — In a significant setback for President Obama’s signature domestic initiative, the administration on Tuesday abruptly announced a one-year delay, until 2015, in his health care law’s mandate that larger employers provide coverage for their workers or pay penalties. The decision postpones the effective date beyond next year’s midterm elections.

Employer groups welcomed the news of the concession, which followed complaints from businesses and was posted late in the day on the White House and Treasury Web sites while the president was flying home from Africa. Republicans’ gleeful reactions made clear that they would not cease to make repeal of Obamacare a campaign issue for the third straight election cycle.

While the postponement technically does not affect other central provisions of the law — in particular those establishing health insurance marketplaces in the states, known as exchanges, where uninsured Americans can shop for policies — it threatens to throw into disarray the administration’s effort to put those provisions into effect by Jan. 1.

“I am utterly astounded,” said Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University and an advocate of the law. “It boggles the mind. This step could significantly reduce the number of uninsured people who will gain coverage in 2014.”

At the White House, Tara McGuinness, a senior adviser on the law, disputed that.

“Nothing in the new guidance regarding employer reporting and responsibility will limit individuals’ eligibility for premium tax credits to buy insurance through the marketplaces that open on Oct. 1,” she said….”

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“The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications this morning, noting a drop of 11.7% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index, following a drop of 3% for the previous week. Rates for all types of loans rose by more than 10 basis points during the week.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 3% from the most recent report. On an unadjusted basis, the composite index dropped by 12% week-over-week. The unadjusted purchase index decreased by 4% for the week, and is up about 12% year-over-year.

The MBA’s refinance index fell 16% week-over-week to its lowest level since July 2011.

The share of refinancings fell from 67% to 64%, its lowest level since May 2011. Adjustable rate mortgage loans account for 8% of all applications, up from 7% last week….”

 

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