MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Today - Thursday, May 23, 2013
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4:42 AM Even Japanese stocks are subject to the law of gravity (who knew?) as a confluence of factors sends the Nikkei (EWJ, DXJ) plunging 7.3% on the session (the swing from intraday high to low was ~9%). Yields on JGB 10s (JGBL) spiked above 1% at one point as an already skittish and volatile market was further rattled by what have generally been perceived as hawkish comments out of Ben Bernanke and other Fed officials on Wednesday. Yields pulled back in late trading. Compounding the problem for Japanese stocks was the yen (FXY), which has strengthened some 2% against the dollar to 101.16 most recently. (See also: China HSBC flash PMI shows contraction) [Global & FX, On the Move] Comment!
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3:17 AM China PMI shrinks for the first time in seven months, dropping to 49.6 from 50.4 in April, missing expectations. HSBC, who collect the data, didn't mince words in an appeal to Beijing: "The cooling manufacturing activities in May reflected slower domestic demand and ongoing external headwinds. A sequential slowdown is likely in the middle of Q2, casting downside risk to China's fragile growth recovery. Moreover, the further signs of labor market slackness call for more policy support. Beijing still has fiscal ammunition to do so." ETFs: FXI, GXC, PGJ, YAO, FCHI, PEK, CAF, YXI, XPP, FXP, MCHI, YINN, YANG, TCHI, CHXF; BONDS: RMB, DSUM, CHLC, CNY, CYB, FXCH [Global & FX] Comment!
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3:08 AM Equity futures turn sharply lower overnight, possibly in reaction to weak manufacturing data out of China and a mini-crash in Japan that left the Topix -6.9%. Factory activity in China shrunk for the first time in 7 months, reflecting "slower domestic demand and ongoing external headwinds." S&P futures currently -1.1% to 1437.50 after dropping below 1434 when European markets first opened. [Global & FX, Breaking News, On the Move] 7 Comments
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12:00 AM Thursday's economic calendar:
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
9:00 PMI Manufacturing Index Flash
9:00 FHFA House Price Index
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 New Home Sales
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
11:00 Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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10:32 PM GE bucked the downtrend today, rising 0.9% as Jeff Immelt - speaking at a conference (transcript) - says the company is considering spinning off parts of GE Capital through an IPO. "In financial services, putting things up for sale with the assumption that a bank would buy it has been a fool's journey," said Immelt, "(but) the capital markets are very receptive to IPOs." The proceeds would fund more buybacks as Immelt hopes to lower the share count to 9B-9.5B shares by 2015's end (from about 10.4B currently). 1 Comment
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10:17 PM Ford (F) says it will close its plants in Australia in 2016 as a strong aussie and high labor costs weigh heavily on the Australian manufacturing sector's ability to compete with cheap imports. The closures are expected to result in the loss of some 1,200 jobs. [Consumer] 2 Comments
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10:09 PM More P-E insiders cash in as Oaktree Capital (OAK) prices an upsized secondary (to 7M units from 6M) at $53.50 per share. The greenshoe option is for 15%, 1.05M shares. The company is using the proceeds to take out selling insiders. Two weeks ago, Apollo Global (APO) strategic investors and managing partners offered up 21.1M shares, and its CEO Leon Black has let it be known - now is the time to harvest. OAK -0.3% to $54.25 AH. [Financials] 1 Comment
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10:06 PM China HSBC flash PMI prints in contraction territory for the first time in seven months, coming in at 49.6, down from a final reading of 50.4 in April. The new orders sub-index falls to 49.5 (eight month low) while new export orders stabilize a bit from last month. [Global & FX, Breaking News] Comment!
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8:41 PM Singapore revises Q1 GDP up to show a 1.8% Q/Q expansion (seasonally adjusted, annualized) versus an advance estimate of a 1.4% decline. On a Y/Y basis the economy expanded 0.2%. The Ministry of Trade and Industry says "economic growth … is expected to improve gradually over the course of the year." The Singapore ETF (EWS) is up 19.8% Y/Y. [Global & FX] Comment!
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8:31 PM Japanese stocks move up in early trading, with the Nikkei Average rising 0.7% as a weakened yen gives a boost to exporters and offsets early losses in banks: Canon (CAJ +3.4%), Fast Retailing (FRCOY.PK +2.9%), Fanuc (FANUY.PK +1%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (SUTNY.PK -1.9%), Shinsei Bank (SKLKY.PK -2%). [Global & FX] Comment!
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8:20 PM Citi's Willem Buiter throws in the towel on a "Grexit" in 2014, notable not only because Buiter has repeatedly predicted Greece will eventually bid the eurozone adieu (putting the odds at 90% within 12-18 months late last summer) but because he is credited with coining the term "Grexit" in the first place. Bears needn't despair too much though: Buiter still says "there is a fairly high risk of Grexit at some stage in the coming years." [Global & FX] 2 Comments
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8:07 PM US Airways (LCC) prices $100M in aircraft financing to reimburse the company for the cost of the purchase of two Airbus aircraft currently owned and two aircraft scheduled to be delivered prior to the date of issuance in June. It also plans to use funds to finance its purchase of seven Airbus aircraft scheduled to be delivered from June 2013 to October 2013. [Consumer] Comment!
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7:50 PM More on Pacific Sunwear (PSUN): Q1 beat across the board as total sales rose by 4.7% Y/Y. But net losses widened, as the retailer was hit by store-closure costs and losses on derivatives, which led to gross margins narrowing to 25.1% from 38.1%. The company offered a better picture for the current quarter however, now expecting its bottom line EPS to range between a loss of $0.05 and a profit of $0.02. It also projects revenue of $209M to $219M. Analysts were expecting a per-share loss of $0.04 a share on revenue of $198M. Shares +19.5% AH. [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!
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7:13 PM Lender Processing Services (LPS) is the subject of acquisition talks with Fidelity National (FNF) and buyout shop Thomas H. Lee, with a price tag of about $2.9B, the WSJ reports. Fidelity National was LPS' parent until a 2008 spinoff; a deal would not only bring the service provider back into FNF's umbrella, but mark the latest of many deals Fidelity's made with Thomas H. Lee. The deal values LPS at about $33/share; it closed Wednesday at $29.11. [Financials, Breaking News, M&A, Top Stories] 1 Comment
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6:37 PM In its earnings call today, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman remarked that its position in the PC market has been boosted by recent efforts to sell tablets powered by Google's (GOOG) Android, thus allowing it to compete in tablets again after discontinuing its Palm/webOS TouchPad in 2011. "If we have the right product and the right price, the channel still loves H-P and they want to sell our products," Whitman said. "Frankly, having Android products helps a lot." (Webcast) Shares +13.3% AH. [Tech, Earnings, On the Move] 2 Comments
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6:19 PM Apricus Biosciences (APRI) gets slammed in the post session after anouncing a public offering of common stock and warrants, with a 30-day option to purchase additional shares and warrants to cover over-allotments, if any. Lazard Capital Markets is acting as sole book-running manager. Shares -13% AH. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
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6:00 PM AvalonBay Communities (AVB) announces a 7.9M share at-the-market secondary public stock offering by Jupiter Enterprise, an indirect subsidiary of Lehman Brothers Holding. 14.9M shares were issued to Jupiter in connection with the company's acquisition of a portion of the Archstone apartment community portfolio in February 2013. The seller stockholder will receive all of the proceeds. Shares -0.8% AH. [Financials] Comment!
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5:58 PM A theme bubbling up at the start of the annual MLP conference (where attendance is up 38% Y/Y): the largely retail ownership of MLPs is slowly shifting as more institutions get interested in MLPs. Individuals tend to be unwilling to sell MLPs as the deferred tax burden rises, and more institutional ownership could fuel more trading or short-short selling in MLPs. [Energy] 3 Comments
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