Market Currents

• Monday, December 28, 2009

• 07:28 AM Sources say Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is looking to sell about £3B ($4.8B) worth of assets in coming months. RBS is nearing the sale of its India banking business to HSBC (HBC), and is in final talks over the sale of its asset-management business. Comment!

• Monday, December 21, 2009

• 09:58 AM HSBC's (HBC +1.6%) much-discussed Shanghai listing will reportedly bring in $8B (£5B), well above previous forecasts, making it the first international company to list on the Shanghai exchange. HSBC is already well capitalized, but hopes the move will give it an early foothold in the world's soon-to-be-biggest economy. Comment!

• Wednesday, December 9, 2009

• 08:12 AM Sources say Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is close to selling its retail- and commercial-banking assets in China, India and Malaysia to HSBC (HBC). They are the final piece of an auction that began earlier this year, as RBS trims operations to repay government rescue loans. HSBC's interest underscores the bank's hunger to continue growing in Asia. Comment!

• Tuesday, December 8, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: YONG +7%. GERN +5%. ARIA +4%.
  Losers: EBS -15%. KR -12%. RSO -9%. NBG -9%. AIB -9%. RBS -7%. IRE -7%. CELG -5%. BCS -4%. HBC -4%. SNV -4%. FTR -4%. Comment!

• Monday, November 30, 2009

• 07:14 AM Thirty giant financial institutions were selected by the FSB for cross-border systemic-risk oversight, and will be asked to write "living wills" that outline wind-down plans in the aftermath of a crisis. They include: AEG AXA AZ BAC BCS BFR CS DB GS HBC ING JPM MFG MTU NMR RBS RY STD UBS. 1 Comment

• Friday, November 27, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: Short ETFs (EDZ, DTO, SCO, TZA, FXP, EEV, FAZ, SPXU BGZ, VXX, TWM, SMN...)
  Losers: ING -18%. LYG -11%. CBAK -8%. MGM -8%. NG -8%. SQNM -8%. MBI -7%. AIB -7%. HBC -7%. BCS -7%. RBS -7%. TS -7%. HL -7%. APWR -7%. RTK -7%. SNV -7%. MPEL -7%. CHLN -6%. PMI -6%. AEG -6%. DB -6%. KGC -6%. IAG -6%. NBG -6%. EGO -6%. ESLR -6%. AU -6%. NLST -6%. EGLE -6%. JASO -6%. EXM -6%. SOLF -6%. AUG -6%. 1 Comment

• Thursday, November 26, 2009

• 12:19 PM Banks with greatest exposure to the UAE: HSBC (HBC), $17B. Standard Chartered, $7.8B. Barclays (BCS), $3.6B. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), $2.2B. Citigroup (C), $1.9B. BNP Paribas, $1.7B. Lloyds (LYG), $1.6B. 3 Comments

• Tuesday, November 24, 2009

• 11:02 AM With lawmakers breathing down banks' necks, don't be surprised if your bank doesn't want your business anymore, Dick Bove says, citing as evidence HSBC's (HBC) move to evict retail investors' gold from its vaults. Bove thinks as many as 30% of U.S. households could be forced out of their banks because they're not profitable enough. 5 Comments
• 08:49 AM Investors are piling money into gold, but are having trouble finding a place to put their holdings. According to the WSJ, HSBC (HBC) has asked retail clients to take their gold out of the vault to make room for their institutional investors' gold. 2 Comments

• Monday, November 23, 2009

• 07:31 AM Most major banks still don't have enough capital to comfortably maintain their credit ratings, S&P says, releasing the first global comparison of risk-adjusted capital adequacy for the world's top banks. Mizuho (MFG), Citigroup (C), UBS (UBS) and BBVA all came in well below the global average RAC of 6.7%; Mizuho's was just 2%, Citigroup's was 2.1%, UBS's 2.2%, and BBVA's 5.4%. Banks with stronger than average balance sheets included HSBC (HBC) (9.2%) and Goldman Sachs (GS) (8.3%). 2 Comments

• Tuesday, November 10, 2009

• 04:30 AM HSBC (HBC): Q3 profit was "significantly ahead" of a year ago, in part due to the first drop in U.S. impairment charges in more than three years. "The more positive signals that we saw in the U.S. run-off portfolio in the first half have continued, with the result that our North American operations did not require any capital support from the group during the quarter. We should have further evidence by the year-end as to whether this is a sustainable trend." Shares +2.6% premarket. (PR, MW) Comment!

• Wednesday, October 7, 2009

• 08:06 AM Sources say HSBC Holdings (HBC) is in advanced discussions to buy Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) retail and commercial banking assets in China, India, and Malaysia after RBS's negotiations with Standard Chartered faltered yesterday. Comment!

• Monday, October 5, 2009

• 09:48 AM European banks may need to raise another $78B over the next half-year to bring capital ratios in line with Basel II, JPMorgan says. Firm names Allied Irish Banks (AIB +2.3%) and Bank of Ireland (IRE +1%) as banks most in need of more capital, while noting HSBC (HBC -0.8%), UBS (UBS -0.9%) and Credit Suisse (CS -0.9%) have excess. 1 Comment
• 08:41 AM HSBC (HBC) CEO Michael Geoghegan is convinced we're headed for a W-shaped recovery and a second downturn, and says he's in no rush to expand. "I'm not as convinced we're through the worst as others are," he tells the FT in an interview. 2 Comments

• Wednesday, September 16, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: OMTR +25%. CVM +18%. HEB +8%. HL +6%. APC +6%. KAD +5%. NXG +5%. HMY +5%. HBC +4%. LVS +4%. LCC +4%. CAL +4%. AIG +4%. AUY +4%.
  Losers: IRE -4%. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 1, 2009

• 14:43 PM Accumulators are making a comeback, despite an infamous reputation as a destroyer of Asian wealth. The sale of these investments by firms like Citigroup (C), UBS (UBS) and HSBC (HBC) highlights just how quickly global risk appetite has returned. 3 Comments