Fund Of Funds Implosion Forces Conversion Of Ever More Hedge Funds Into “Long-Onlies”

Fund Of Funds Implosion Forces Conversion Of Ever More Hedge Funds Into “Long-Onlies”

Tyler Durden on 12/23/2013 13:40 -0500

In a world in which the Chief Risk Officer of the formerly free capital markets, Ben Bernanke, has made any downside hedges obsolete (and as a result hedge funds have posted 5 years of returns without outperforming the S&P500), the first casualty has emerged: fund of funds. These parasitic, fee-soaking institutions, which merely collect a fee on top of the fees already charged by hedge funds, are rapidly on their way to extinction as the following charts from Eurekahedge prove conclusively. Read more of this post

Europe banks overexposed to domestic debt

December 23, 2013 10:20 am

Europe banks overexposed to domestic debt

By Christopher Thompson

The economic fates of European governments and financial institutions are set to become ever more intertwined next year despite concerns about the rise of a potentially destabilising “sovereign-bank” nexus. Read more of this post

Contrarian investors hope for better times in 2014

December 23, 2013 3:41 pm

Contrarian investors hope for better times in 2014

By Christopher Thompson

In the topsy-turvy world of contrarian investing, market rallies are generally a bad thing and volatility is good. Betting against the conventional wisdom yielded big gains for contrarians during the dotcom crash of 2000 and financial crisis in 2009. Not so the past 12 months. Read more of this post

Companies Binge on Share Buybacks; Share buybacks and dividends are reaching levels unseen since before the financial crisis, as persistent economic uncertainty prompts cash-rich companies to reward shareholders rather than invest in other activities

Companies Binge on Share Buybacks

STEVEN RUSSOLILLO

Dec. 23, 2013 7:13 p.m. ET

U.S. companies are showering cash on shareholders, powering the stock market’s record-breaking rally. Share buybacks and dividends are reaching levels unseen since before the financial crisis, as persistent economic uncertainty prompts cash-rich companies to reward shareholders rather than invest in other activities. Read more of this post

Dubai Offices Vacant With Multiple Owners Structure

Dubai Offices Vacant With Multiple Owners Structure

The Index tower on Dubai’s answer to Wall Street has 23 floors of empty offices out of the 25 it opened in 2011. A few hundred feet away, buildings controlled by the Dubai International Financial Centre are almost full. Read more of this post

As Singapore grows richer, more people get left behind

Updated: Monday December 23, 2013 MYT 10:26:47 AM

As Singapore grows richer, more people get left behind

SINGAPORE: Every day, through eyes clouded by glaucoma, Peter witnesses the spending power generated by Singapore’s economic success, knowing he can only afford to look on. Read more of this post

Q&A: Cash crunch in China

December 22, 2013 6:33 am

Q&A: Cash crunch in China

By Simon Rabinovitch in Shanghai

At the end of Friday the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, responded to rising money market rates by announcing it had injected more liquidity into the system. With investors on edge as Chinese markets reopen on Monday, will last week’s injection be enough to calm fears that China is set for a cash crunch or will there be more? Read more of this post

China “Fixes” Liquidity Crisis By Banning Media Use Of Words “Cash Crunch”

China “Fixes” Liquidity Crisis By Banning Media Use Of Words “Cash Crunch”

Tyler Durden on 12/22/2013 21:00 -0500

UPDATE: 7-day repo is now up 140bps at 900bps – as the “liquidity crisis” is worse than any other seasonal effect since the crisis…

How do you “fix” a nations’ banking system’s increasingly desperate need (and dependence upon) for government-provided liquidity without giving in and just providing all the inflation-stoking liquidity the banks demand? Simple – in China – you ban the media from discussing it. As The FT reports, Chinese propaganda officials have ordered financial journalists and some media outlets to tone down their coverage of a liquidity crunch in the interbank market, in a sign of how worried Beijing is that the turmoil will continue. The censors have warned reporters not to “hype” the multiple-sigma spikes in overnight-funding rates and have forbidden the press from using the Chinese words for “cash crunch.” Read more of this post

The Trouble with China’s Troubled-Asset Relief

The Trouble with China’s Troubled-Asset Relief

12-20 15:17 Caijing

A better solution would be to develop the credit-rating market, establish a more comprehensive regulatory framework for the financial system, and create an effective mechanism for ring-fencing risk.

By Zhang Monan

BEIJING – Back in 2009, in the midst of the global recession, China’s government launched a massive economic-stimulus package that bolstered GDP growth by fueling a surge in bank lending. But now it is becoming increasingly apparent to policymakers and investors that easy credit and lopsided policies have generated significant risk for China’s banking system. Indeed, amid rising concern about banks’ troubled assets, defusing financial risk has become the authorities’ central goal. Read more of this post

Hayek’s attack on central planners can fit markets too

December 22, 2013 1:37 pm

Hayek’s attack on central planners can fit markets too

By John Authers

Universal approach that could mean funds go to wrong borrowers

Modern financial markets have many critics, and perhaps Friedrich Hayek’s name should be added to the list. Read more of this post

Australia Sets Higher Capital Buffer for Four Biggest Lenders

Australia Sets Higher Capital Buffer for Four Biggest Lenders

Australia’s four largest banks will need to carry an extra 1 percent of core tier 1 capital from Jan. 1, 2016, due to their systemically important status, according to the country’s banking regulator. Read more of this post

Hunt for Returns Prompts IPO Renaissance as U.S. Leads the Way

Hunt for Returns Prompts IPO Renaissance as U.S. Leads the Way

Twitter Inc. and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. helped lead the best year for U.S. initial public offerings since the financial crisis, with strong trading debuts likely to stoke investor demand for new shares in 2014. Companies raised about $22 billion in U.S. IPOs in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for the year to $56 billion, the most since 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales in Europe and Asia also rose sharply, with global deals tripling from the prior three months, the data show. Read more of this post

Citigroup to Standard Chartered Hurt by Korean Debt Curbs

Citigroup to Standard Chartered Hurt by Korean Debt Curbs

Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup Inc. (C) have seen their $6 billion bet on South Korea turn sour in less than 10 years as the two banks struggle to sustain profits in an economy plagued by rising household debt. Read more of this post

Citic Sees PBOC Staying Out of Market to Curb Debt: China Credit

Citic Sees PBOC Staying Out of Market to Curb Debt: China Credit

Two of China’s three biggest securities firms predict the central bank will refrain from using open-market operations to inject funds this week as policy makers seek to rein in debt and contain inflation. Read more of this post

China’s local government debt seen at $3 trillion as of end 2012: think tank

China’s local government debt seen at $3 trillion as of end 2012: think tank

12:47am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s total local government debt may have reached 19.9 trillion yuan ($3.28 trillion) by the end of 2012, almost double that of two years previously, a media report said on Monday, citing a private study by a government think tank. Read more of this post

China wants more party bosses reprimanded for ignoring graft

China wants more party bosses reprimanded for ignoring graft

12:27am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s ruling Communist Party would like to see more party bosses held accountable for allowing corruption to happen on their watch, something that rarely happens now, a senior official told a newspaper on Monday. Read more of this post

Some 14 years since it adopted its unique knowledge-oriented management, retail giant E-Land is seeing the positive results of its efforts, overcoming the sluggish domestic economy by increasing global sales

2013-12-22 18:13

E-Land expands global portfolios

By Park Ji-won

Some 14 years since it adopted its unique knowledge-oriented management, retail giant E-Land is seeing the positive results of its efforts, overcoming the sluggish domestic economy by increasing global sales. Read more of this post

Russia ’98 Crisis Haunts Deutsche Bank’s Smith Seeing China Bust

Russia ’98 Crisis Haunts Deutsche Bank’s Smith Seeing China Bust

China’s push to open up its economy is winning praise from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Morgan Stanley and Jefferies Group LLC, which predicted last month a “massive” multiyear bull run for stocks. Read more of this post

Apple: The Great Call of China; A Long-Anticipated Deal With China Mobile Is Finally Here—but the Stock Seems to Have Priced Much of It in Already

Apple: The Great Call of China

A Long-Anticipated Deal With China Mobile Is Finally Here—but the Stock Seems to Have Priced Much of It in Already

DAN GALLAGHER

Dec. 5, 2013 2:41 p.m. ET

Many a market rally has been built on the strength of one word: China. But as AppleAAPL +0.51% strikes a deal with that country’s—and the world’s—largest wireless carrier by subscribers, investors should be wary of overplaying it. Read more of this post

What are investors’ best bets for 2014? World’s leading money managers weigh in.

What are investors’ best bets for 2014? World’s leading money managers weigh in.

Sunday, December 22, 6:30 AM

Following the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index’s record high in November, will stocks continue their ascent amid what is likely to be lackluster global expansion in 2014? In September, the Federal Reserve’s unexpected delay in tapering its stimulus program whipsawed debt markets. Last week it announced it would begin tapering. Where should bond investors go for returns? Read more of this post

Hyundai Group folds financial business; to Raise at Least 3.3 Trillion Won Selling Assets

Hyundai Group to Raise at Least 3.3 Trillion Won Selling Assets

Hyundai Group, owner of South Korea’s second-largest shipping company, plans to sell assets including financial units and a hotel for at least 3.3 trillion won ($3.1 billion) to boost cash. Read more of this post

An exercise in prolonging a banking credit crunch

December 22, 2013 6:36 pm

An exercise in prolonging a banking credit crunch

By Wolfgang Münchau

The lousy agreement on banking union will produce the financial sector equivalent of austerity

The agreement on a eurozone banking union is neither a glass half full, nor half empty. As many commentators are saying, last week’s deal is hideously complex, and a common resolution mechanism without a fiscal backstop for failed banks is pointless. Read more of this post

Banks Mostly Avoid Providing Bitcoin Services

Banks Mostly Avoid Providing Bitcoin Services

Lenders Don’t Share Investors’ Enthusiasm for the Virtual-Currency Craze

ROBIN SIDEL

Dec. 22, 2013 4:32 p.m. ET

Companies trying to cash in on the newfangled bitcoin craze are having trouble getting old-fashioned bank accounts. Lenders are leery of dealing with virtual-currency companies because of concerns that the businesses could run afoul of anti-money-laundering laws or be involved in illegal activities, banking executives say. Regulators and central bankers around the world have raised similar concerns in recent months. Read more of this post

Why Market Forecasts Are So Bad; Analysts’ predictions are frequently less accurate than random guesses.

Why Market Forecasts Are So Bad

Analysts’ predictions are frequently less accurate than random guesses.

JOE LIGHT

Dec. 20, 2013 7:15 p.m. ET

The oracles known as Wall Street strategists have spoken: The S&P 500 will rise 6.4% by the end of next year. But the evidence shows you’d do just as well guessing yourself. Read more of this post

Turkey Will Either Lose Erdogan or Democracy

Turkey Will Either Lose Erdogan or Democracy

There are two reasons Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may not survive the current government corruption scandals in Turkey. And if he does, the cost to the “Turkish model” will be enormous. Read more of this post

Philippine Stocks First to Worst as Funds Sell: Southeast Asia

Philippine Stocks First to Worst as Funds Sell: Southeast Asia

A 21 percent slump in Philippine stocks that’s turned them from the world’s best performers into the biggest losers isn’t enough to lure back Macquarie Investment Management Ltd. and Bank Julius Baer & Co. Read more of this post

India’s New Corruption Watchdog Still Needs Watching

India’s New Watchdog Still Needs Watching

A half-century after the idea was first raised, India finally has its “Lokpal,” or “protector” in Hindi. The term refers to the anti-corruption watchdog body, approved by Parliament last week, whose Herculean task it will be to root out public corruption that saps billions of dollars from the exchequer, extorts bribes from ordinary citizens when they need anything from a land-use permit to a driver’s license, and has almost obliterated Indians’ faith in their once-proud democracy. Read more of this post

Taxing time for corporates in India

December 22, 2013 7:43 am

Taxing time for corporates in India

By James Crabtree in Mumbai

Two weeks ago in Helsinki, Nokia executives waited nervously for word from a courtroom halfway around the world in New Delhi. At stake was their ability to transfer a large Indian factory to Microsoft, as part of the sale of Nokia’s €5.4bn phone business to the US group – a move that led to a fierce tax battle, involving dawn raids, frozen assets, and claims adding up to $1.1bn. Read more of this post

Japan store chain Lawson scales back expansion plans in China

December 22, 2013 1:11 pm

Japan store chain Lawson scales back expansion plans in China

By Demetri Sevastopulo in Hong Kong

Lawson, the Japanese convenience store chain, is slowing its expansion in China because it thinks the Chinese government has not done enough to spur consumption in the world’s second-largest economy. Takeshi Niinami, Lawson’s chief executive, told the Financial Times that Lawson had decided to push back its plan to open 10,000 stores in China by 2020 to about 2025. It currently has 384 stores in the country. Read more of this post

Retailers are struggling to find the right formula for the demanding baby-boomer market

December 22, 2013 8:11 pm

Fashion: A mature market

By Andrea Felsted and Norma Cohen

Retailers are struggling to find the right formula for the demanding baby-boomer market

Alison Wells, a professional singer and teacher from east London, says clothes shopping – once a delight for her – has become a chore. A trim 5ft 8in, and a size 10, Ms Wells ought to be a model fashion customer. But she is not. At 57, the task of finding clothing that is both fashionable and age-appropriate is frustrating. Read more of this post