UPDATE 1-Ukraine finance minister sees no need for more IMF funds | Reuters:
"Ukraine will not need a new International Monetary Fund financing program unless its conflict with pro-Russian separatists worsens significantly, Finance Minister Oleksander Shlapak said on Monday.
In an interview with a small group of reporters, Shlapak said the IMF's current $27 billion international financial lifeline was adequate for now and flatly ruled out a restructuring of the nation's debts, which some analysts have said may be needed to avoid a default.
"When it comes to our sovereign obligations, we don't have such a need (for new financial assistance), neither this year nor next," Shlapak said."
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Tuesday 14 October 2014
This Will Mean 10 Years of Stock Market Losses
This Will Mean 10 Years of Stock Market Losses:
"New England is stunning this time of year. Just what you’d expect. The leaves turn brown, yellow and red, putting on their best outfits and strutting their stuff in the cool autumn air.
Autumn, especially in New England, is the loveliest time of the year. The sun barely clears the tops of the trees, even at noon. The light, filtered through the coloured leaves, gives the earth the rich and heavy air of a funeral parlour.
Perhaps that is why there are market crashes in the fall. Investors feel the approach of death."
'via Blog this'
"New England is stunning this time of year. Just what you’d expect. The leaves turn brown, yellow and red, putting on their best outfits and strutting their stuff in the cool autumn air.
Autumn, especially in New England, is the loveliest time of the year. The sun barely clears the tops of the trees, even at noon. The light, filtered through the coloured leaves, gives the earth the rich and heavy air of a funeral parlour.
Perhaps that is why there are market crashes in the fall. Investors feel the approach of death."
'via Blog this'
Saudis Deploy the Oil Price Weapon Against Syria, Iran, Russia, and the US | naked capitalism
Saudis Deploy the Oil Price Weapon Against Syria, Iran, Russia, and the US | naked capitalism:
"Asian stock markets continued to fall today, propelled at least in part by the adverse reaction to the Saudi announcement yesterday that they would let oil prices fall to $80 a barrel. And further reports indicate that the Saudis intend to keep oil prices low enough to force a realignment of prices not just among various grades of crude, but also for intermediate and long-term substitutes.
It is critical to remember that the Saudis have no compunction about imposing costs on other nations to maximize the value of their oil resource long term and hence the power they derive from it. The 1970s oil shock produced a nasty recession in the US and most other advanced economies and gave a further impetus to inflation, which was already hard to manage and dampened growth by discouraging investment.
The current alignment of factors gives the Saudis the opportunity to make life miserable for a long list of parties they would like to discipline, including the US."
'via Blog this'
"Asian stock markets continued to fall today, propelled at least in part by the adverse reaction to the Saudi announcement yesterday that they would let oil prices fall to $80 a barrel. And further reports indicate that the Saudis intend to keep oil prices low enough to force a realignment of prices not just among various grades of crude, but also for intermediate and long-term substitutes.
It is critical to remember that the Saudis have no compunction about imposing costs on other nations to maximize the value of their oil resource long term and hence the power they derive from it. The 1970s oil shock produced a nasty recession in the US and most other advanced economies and gave a further impetus to inflation, which was already hard to manage and dampened growth by discouraging investment.
The current alignment of factors gives the Saudis the opportunity to make life miserable for a long list of parties they would like to discipline, including the US."
'via Blog this'
NCB’s $6 Billion IPO Plan Evokes Mixed Reactions in Saudi Arabia - Middle East Real Time - WSJ
NCB’s $6 Billion IPO Plan Evokes Mixed Reactions in Saudi Arabia - Middle East Real Time - WSJ:
"As Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank prepares to launch the Arab world’s largest initial public offering next week, a controversy has erupted in the kingdom over the religious permissibility of buying shares in the lender.
Several senior clerics expressed their disapproval of the $6 billion IPO because the bank takes interests on loans, a practice that is considered haram or forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence, while others saw the IPO as a test for the public’s trust in the government as it sells some of its shares.
The debate taking place in newspapers and social media demonstrates the constant tension between tradition and modernization in the conservative kingdom."
'via Blog this'
"As Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank prepares to launch the Arab world’s largest initial public offering next week, a controversy has erupted in the kingdom over the religious permissibility of buying shares in the lender.
Several senior clerics expressed their disapproval of the $6 billion IPO because the bank takes interests on loans, a practice that is considered haram or forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence, while others saw the IPO as a test for the public’s trust in the government as it sells some of its shares.
The debate taking place in newspapers and social media demonstrates the constant tension between tradition and modernization in the conservative kingdom."
'via Blog this'
Moves from Saudis to defend market share sets up Opec showdown | The National
Moves from Saudis to defend market share sets up Opec showdown | The National:
"Saudi Arabia has been sending aggressive signals that it will defend market share, even if that means a sustained period of lower oil prices, setting the scene for a showdown with other Opec members, many of which feel the economic pain at much higher prices than wealthier Gulf producers are able to weather.
The clearest signal from the Saudis came on Friday in the latest monthly oil market report from Opec, where the kingdom officially reported that it increased oil production by more than 100,000 barrels per day last month, even while oil prices were sliding sharply.
Saudi Arabia reported that it increased oil production to 9.7 million bpd from just under 9.6 million bpd in August, a move that came as a surprise to the market. Opec carries both officially reported numbers and an estimate from “secondary sources”, which is made up of best guesses from a number of specialist news organisations."
'via Blog this'
"Saudi Arabia has been sending aggressive signals that it will defend market share, even if that means a sustained period of lower oil prices, setting the scene for a showdown with other Opec members, many of which feel the economic pain at much higher prices than wealthier Gulf producers are able to weather.
The clearest signal from the Saudis came on Friday in the latest monthly oil market report from Opec, where the kingdom officially reported that it increased oil production by more than 100,000 barrels per day last month, even while oil prices were sliding sharply.
Saudi Arabia reported that it increased oil production to 9.7 million bpd from just under 9.6 million bpd in August, a move that came as a surprise to the market. Opec carries both officially reported numbers and an estimate from “secondary sources”, which is made up of best guesses from a number of specialist news organisations."
'via Blog this'
Russian Stocks Now Cheaper Than Ever as Oil Rout Deepens - Bloomberg
Russian Stocks Now Cheaper Than Ever as Oil Rout Deepens - Bloomberg:
"Russian stocks keep finding new lows. The Micex Index (INDEXCF), long one of the world’s cheapest benchmarks, is now trading at the biggest discount to emerging-market equities since at least 2005.
The ruble-denominated gauge has lost 8 percent this year, compared with a 1.1 percent drop in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, as sanctions linked to the Ukraine war suppressed Russia’s economy. The selloff pushed the Micex’s valuation to 4.7 times projected earnings last week, near the cheapest relative to the developing-nation gauge’s multiple of 10.7 since at least 2005, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Investors have pulled money from the world’s largest energy-exporting nation as tumbling oil prices and sanctions linked to the Ukraine conflict curb growth. Central bank data show net outflows from Russian assets totaled $75 billion in the first half, compared with $61 billion in all of 2013. The ruble has weakened 19 percent against the dollar this year, the second-worst performance among emerging-market currencies."
'via Blog this'
"Russian stocks keep finding new lows. The Micex Index (INDEXCF), long one of the world’s cheapest benchmarks, is now trading at the biggest discount to emerging-market equities since at least 2005.
The ruble-denominated gauge has lost 8 percent this year, compared with a 1.1 percent drop in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, as sanctions linked to the Ukraine war suppressed Russia’s economy. The selloff pushed the Micex’s valuation to 4.7 times projected earnings last week, near the cheapest relative to the developing-nation gauge’s multiple of 10.7 since at least 2005, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Investors have pulled money from the world’s largest energy-exporting nation as tumbling oil prices and sanctions linked to the Ukraine conflict curb growth. Central bank data show net outflows from Russian assets totaled $75 billion in the first half, compared with $61 billion in all of 2013. The ruble has weakened 19 percent against the dollar this year, the second-worst performance among emerging-market currencies."
'via Blog this'
Dubai Challenge to Antwerp Diamond Trade Helped by Banks - Bloomberg
Dubai Challenge to Antwerp Diamond Trade Helped by Banks - Bloomberg:
"Dubai’s banks are extending loans to the local diamond industry, boosting the emirate’s ambitions of becoming a top trading hub as funding to rival Antwerp dries up.
Emirates NBD PJSC. (EMIRATES), Mashreqbank PSC. (MASQ), and National Bank of Fujairah PSC., are financing diamond cutters, polishers and traders operating on the Dubai Diamond Exchange for the first time, Peter Meeus, chairman of the exchange, said in an Oct. 12 interview. The extension of credit may be a “decisive factor” in Dubai’s future growth as a diamond-trade center, he said.
United Arab Emirates’s banks are backing the local diamond industry just as Antwerp faces a lending drought. KBC Groep NV said last month that it’s winding down its Antwerp Diamond Bank unit, a source of finance for 80 years to the network of companies that trade, cut and polish diamonds in the Belgian port city, after a sale to China’s Yinren Group fell through."
'via Blog this'
"Dubai’s banks are extending loans to the local diamond industry, boosting the emirate’s ambitions of becoming a top trading hub as funding to rival Antwerp dries up.
Emirates NBD PJSC. (EMIRATES), Mashreqbank PSC. (MASQ), and National Bank of Fujairah PSC., are financing diamond cutters, polishers and traders operating on the Dubai Diamond Exchange for the first time, Peter Meeus, chairman of the exchange, said in an Oct. 12 interview. The extension of credit may be a “decisive factor” in Dubai’s future growth as a diamond-trade center, he said.
United Arab Emirates’s banks are backing the local diamond industry just as Antwerp faces a lending drought. KBC Groep NV said last month that it’s winding down its Antwerp Diamond Bank unit, a source of finance for 80 years to the network of companies that trade, cut and polish diamonds in the Belgian port city, after a sale to China’s Yinren Group fell through."
'via Blog this'