Links: 2013-02-05
News links for 5 February 2013
Aseguran que la caída de la actividad inmobiliaria es peor que la de 2002 – lanacion.com
The founder of Argentina’s Property Council tells La Nacion that now “is one of the most difficult moments in history” for Argentine property markets – worse than in 2002 during the default and depression. Transaction volume has plummeted 85%.
BlackBerry Z10 “Off to a Better Start Than Lumia 920” – AllThingsD
“Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu and Barclays’ Jeff Kvaal on Monday shared details of their own Z10 retail checks, and they largely corroborate the findings of an earlier survey by Jefferies & Co. Ferragu pointed to early enthusiasm for the devices in the U.K. as he raised his target price on BlackBerry shares to $22 from $12. “We have grown more confident in the likely success of the BlackBerry 10 launch, supported by low channel inventories, strong operator support and material pent-up demand,” he said. “Initial feedback we have received from distributors on the first days of sales is particularly positive.””
Dell Confirms Plan to Go Private in $24.4 Billion Buyout Deal – Arik Hesseldahl – News – AllThingsD
“Michael Dell, the founder of the computing and technology company that bears his name, confirmed today that he intended to buy it back from shareholders. In a deal announced this morning, Dell and Silver Lake Partners will buy out the company’s existing shareholders in a transaction worth $24.4 billion.
The deal values Dell at $13.65 a share, amounting to a 25.5 percent premium over the closing price of $10.88, where Dell was trading on Jan. 11 before the first reports of renewed interest in a buyout transaction emerged.”
Monthly U.S. Economic Confidence Matches Five-Year High
“U.S. Economic Confidence improved to -13 in January, matching the five-year monthly high set in November 2012. Economic confidence improved steadily from September to November before falling back to -17 after the presidential election, but has now returned to its pre-election peak.”
BlackBerry Z10 review | PC Pro
This review is generally positive but still Blackberry is toast. The major defining difference was the keyboard. Now even that is gone. I see the stock going to zero if the company is not bought out.
““Only about 1 per cent of traders with gambling problems ever come forward,” he says. “No one wants to admit it. Partly, it’s pride, but it’s also because everyone’s scared of losing their job.”
The story of Kweku Adoboli proves just how much damage a gambler on the rampage can do to the bank that employs him – as well as to himself. The former UBS banker lost $2.3bn in rogue trades but also sank £123,000 of his own money on spread betting – the most lethal sort of gambling there is, as the losses are unlimited.”
Obama’s Fiscal 2014 Spending Plan Said to Be Delayed Until March – Bloomberg
“There is no doubt we need additional revenue, coupled with smart spending reductions, in order to bring down our deficit,” the president said.
Taxing private equity managers’ carried interest as ordinary income would raise about $16.8 billion, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation.
Obama has proposed limits on the value of deductions, capped at 28 percent for households earning more than $250,000, and has called for ending tax breaks for oil and natural gas companies, which would collect $41 billion over 10 years, according to last year’s budget estimate.
Stan Collender, a former congressional budget analyst, said that while “they may be talking about it” this year, he tells his financial clients at Qorvis Communications LLC that nothing serious will happen on tax changes until the end of 2014 or into 2015.
“The president’s budget is just a proposal,” he said. “It has no meaning other than a political statement at the time it’s made.””
Richard III’s scarred skeleton becomes a battlefield for academics | UK news | The Guardian
“Leicester enjoys its moment in the spotlight as discovery of last Plantagenet king’s bones sparks fierce debate among historians”
S&P expects U.S. lawsuit over pre-crisis credit ratings | Reuters
“The U.S. government is seeking $5 billion in its civil lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s, accusing the ratings service of defrauding investors, in one of the most ambitious cases yet from the Justice Department over conduct tied to the financial crisis.”
Las autonomías aceleran los recortes en 2013 por la caída de ingresos | Economía | EL PAÍS
Spain’s autonomous local communities are cutting as well. They are now accelerating their cuts for 2013 due to a fall in revnue. More workers will be fired and less will be spent on health and education according to this article from El Pais.
Mortgage acceleration & house price changes—the result | Steve Keen’s Debtwatch
“As I wrote just before the data was released, I expected house prices to rise at a level “either below or barely above CPI inflation”:
In fact, the numbers came out spot on at the rate of CPI inflation over the previous year:”
Emperors of Banking Have No Clothes – Bloomberg
“Corporations in most industries are free to borrow as much as they want if they can find a lender. Yet there is no other sector in which corporations borrow nearly as much as banks do. For the vast majority of nonfinancial corporations in the U.S., borrowing represents less than 50 percent of assets. Some highly successful companies don’t borrow at all.
By contrast, debt often accounts for more than 90 percent of bank assets. For some large European banks, the fraction is even higher, above 97 percent. It was that high for some major U.S. investment banks before 2007, as well as for the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were bailed out. The new regulations that the banking industry complains about would still allow debt to fund 97 percent of bank assets.
If a company can count on being bailed out by the government when it can’t pay its debts and if its creditors don’t worry much about a default, creditors would be happy to lend to the company. The company would find that borrowing is cheap and, by comparison, other ways to fund investments, such as equity, would be expensive.”
BBC News – Argentina pegs supermarket price rises for two months
“The Argentine government has put a temporary price freeze on all products sold in the country’s main supermarket chains to try to fight inflation.
A group representing two-thirds of Argentina’s supermarkets agreed to keep prices steady until the first of April.
The move comes days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) censured Argentina for issuing inaccurate economic data.
The government says inflation is below 11% but economists say it is double.”
Obama must face the rise of the robots – FT.com
“With each month, the US economy becomes steadily more automated. In January the US economy added just 4,000 manufacturing jobs, and the net increase since July is zero. Yet last month, manufacturing activity rose by its fastest rate since April, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The difference boils down to robots, which pose an increasingly nagging paradox: the more there are, the better for overall growth (since they boost productivity); yet the worse things become for the middle class. US median income has fallen in each of the last five years.”
World’s Most Profitable Banks in Indonesia Double U.S. – Bloomberg
“The lime-green Yamaha Mio motorbike that Suryadi bought in 2011 to commute to his job pumping gas in Jakarta would have cost 11.8 million rupiah ($1,221) had he purchased it outright. Instead he took out a loan at 16 percent.
Now the 44-year-old father of three is making monthly payments to PT Bank Danamon Indonesia (BDMN) that eat up about one- fifth of his salary. He’ll end up paying 46 percent more than the cost of the bike by the time he retires the loan.”
BBC News – Standard & Poor’s expects lawsuit over subprime ratings
“In its January 2011 report, the US Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission called the agencies “essential cogs in the wheel of financial destruction” and “key enablers of the financial meltdown”.
S&P has previously disclosed a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into its rating of a specific $1.6bn (£1bn) CDO known as Delphinus CDO 2007-1.”
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