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China & container shipping indication CCFI
There isn't much Chinese authorities can do to crank up this troubling economic indicator
by Wolf Richter on Jun 8, 2015, 4:50 PM
One thing the Chinese authorities cannot do is crank up the global economy and demand for Chinese goods. These goods are shipped by container to the rest of the world. But containerized freight rates from China have totally collapsed.
The China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI), operated by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange and sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Communications, has not been put through the beautification wringer that other more publicly visible statistics, such as GDP growth, are subject to. It tracks spot and contractual rates for all Chinese container ports. And it plunged 3.2% this week to a multi-year low of 862, down 20% from February.
The trajectory of this terrible 3-month plunge:
http://www.businessinsider.com/containerized-freight-rates-from-china-have-totally-collapsed-2015-6?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1
FOMC meet seems media speak Yellen
Looks like Yellen due on this one unlike last one. Fed used to rarely announce a rate change on non-speaking meetings hence Sept is on table prediction for many now. Some even mention Oct but that's a non quarterly. Unless Fed wants to break form there's plenty of time left. Thinking Sept if at all. This June one has CPI and Jobless Claims the very day Thurs am and quad witch Friday.
December is historical a no due to being so close to Holidays.
Sept or nothing if June does pass.
---------------------
The Fed announced on March 24, 2011 that then Fed Chair Ben Bernanke would hold press briefings four times a year to explain the FOMC's latest quarterly economic projections. Additionally, the purpose of the briefings is to provide additional context for the FOMC's policy decisions and to allow for Q&A with the press. According to the Fed, the "introduction of regular press briefings is intended to further enhance the clarity and timeliness of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy communication." As of March 20, 2013, the press briefing is held at 2:30 p.m. ET on the days of FOMC statements in which quarterly projections are released. These FOMC statement dates are designated as the ones released in the final month of each quarter—March, June, September, and December. The policy statement is released at 2:00 p.m. ET after the conclusion of every FOMC meeting regardless of whether there are forecasts or not. This schedule started March 20, 2013. Fed Chair Janet Yellen continues this practice of holding the quarterly chair press conference.
Chinese CPI stays soft
21:50 News Bot: Chinese CPI (May) Y/Y 1.2% vs. Exp. 1.3% (Prev. 1.5%)
- PPI (May) Y/Y -4.6% vs. Exp. -4.5% (Prev. -4.6%)
IMF ups Spain GDP outlooks
This could be buffer if Greece does blow up.
10:33 News Bot: The IMF have raised their 2015 GDP forecast for Spain to 3.1% vs. Prev. 2.5%, they have also raised their 2016 GDP forecast for Spain to 2.5% vs. Prev. 2.0%
S.Korea 6th death MERS Monday in hospitals so far.
So you go the ER and ...... Supposed 'Patient Zero" was older guy who returned from Mideast and it went from there as bit mishanded regarding his hospital treatment allowing some spreading there.
Not unlike Ebola this one is taking toll on immediate med people.
MERS Virus Claims a Sixth Life in South Korea
Associated Press
SEOUL -- South Korea on Monday reported its sixth death from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, even as authorities were bolstering measures to stem the spread of the virus that has left dozens of people infected.
A total of 87 people in South Korea have been infected by MERS since last month in the largest outbreak outside the Middle East . About 1,870 schools have closed and more than 2,000 people are isolated at their homes or state-run facilities after having contact with patients infected with the virus.
An 80-year-old man, who tested positive for the virus last week while being treated for pneumonia, died Monday and became the country's sixth death linked to MERS, according to a statement from the Health Ministry .
Departing from its earlier policy, the government on Sunday disclosed the names of the 24 hospitals where the MERS patients have been diagnosed or had been treated before their condition was confirmed. This will allow people who have visited those facilities in recent weeks to report themselves if they are showing symptoms similar to MERS-related illnesses, officials said.
The government had earlier refused to reveal the names of those hospitals saying it would cause a disruption in services if people started avoiding them. The disclosure came two days after the government first identified one hospital at the heart of the virus's outbreak in South Korea .
Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung -hwan told a news conference Sunday that there was no reason to believe that the virus would significantly spread further in the country.
"So far, all the MERS cases have been hospital-associated, and there has been no case of an infection in other social settings. We think we have a chance at putting the outbreak under total control," Mr. Choi said.
There is no vaccine for the virus, and health experts say it spreads through close contact with infected people and not through the air.
The U.N. health agency has reported that there is no evidence yet in South Korea of "sustained transmission in the community."
Mr. Choi said the government will also strengthen its monitoring of the hundreds of undiagnosed patients who are quarantined at their homes because officials believe they might have contracted the virus. It includes tracking their whereabouts through cellphone signals.
MERS was discovered in 2012 and has mostly been centered in Saudi Arabia . It belongs to the family of coronaviruses that includes the common cold and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and can cause fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure. The virus has spread primarily through contact with camels, but it can also spread from human fluids and droplets.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-07-15 2250ET
China Exports, Imports Down in May
------
MW Hong Kong stocks slim loss after trade data
------
22:43 ET
BEIJING -- China's exports fell 2.5% in May from a year earlier in dollar terms, after a drop of 6.4% in April, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Monday.
The May figure was better than the median forecast of a 5.0% decrease by 13 economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal .
Imports in May fell 17.6% from a year earlier, compared with a 16.2% drop in April, and was also worse than the poll's median forecast of an 11.0% decrease.
China's trade surplus widened in May to $59.49 billion from $34.1 billion in April, exceeding the median forecast of a $45.1 billion surplus.
In yuan terms, China's exports fell 2.8% in May from a year earlier, after a drop of 6.2% in April. Imports in May were down 18.1% from a year earlier, compared with a 16.1% decrease in April.
--Write to Grace Zhu at Grace.Zhu@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-07-15 2243ET
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Japan's Q1 GDP growth revised to 3.9% annualized, up from 2.4%
JAPAN APR CURRENT ACCOUNT NSA JPY* DECREASE TO +1326.4 BLN JPY (FCAST 1696.4 BLN JPY ) VS PREV 2795.3 BLN JPY
Marketwatch 19:52 ET headlines
REAC will be third R/S in year
Boy seen some real stinkers in my day, but the message board on this Pink POS is just wide open fury. But really now, who would dare have put penny one in this.
Share Structure
Market Value1 $609,084 a/o Jun 05, 2015
Authorized Shares 14,999,900,000 a/o Mar 24, 2015
Outstanding Shares 6,090,837,528 a/o Mar 24, 2015
-Restricted Not Available
-Unrestricted Not Available
Held at DTC Not Available
Float 1,090,736,382 a/o Mar 24, 2015
Par Value Not Available
Transfer Agent(s)
ClearTrust, LLC
Shareholders
Shareholders of Record 99 a/o Mar 24, 2015
Corporate Actions Ex. Date Record Date Pay Date
Security Notes
•Capital Change=shs decreased by 1 for 1000 split Ex-date=07/02/2014.
•Capital Change=shs decreased by 1 for 10 split. Pay date=01/27/2015.
IVAN files Bk at last
Ivanhoe Energy declared bankrupt after failing to restructure
Jun 3 2015, 08:35 ET | About: Ivanhoe Energy, Inc. (IVAN) | By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
Ivanhoe Energy (NASDAQ:IVAN) says it is now bankrupt after failing to reach a viable restructuring proposal.
Ivanhoe had filed for bankruptcy protection in February and had been working on restructuring options with its creditors; it had until June 1 to file its restructuring proposal after receiving an extension in early May.
On top of sliding oil prices, Ivanhoe suspended an Alberta oil sands project due to regulatory hurdles, faced executive departures and had cut operations in Ecuador as talks with a partner to develop a heavy oil project stalled
IVAN files Bk at last
Ivanhoe Energy declared bankrupt after failing to restructure
Jun 3 2015, 08:35 ET | About: Ivanhoe Energy, Inc. (IVAN) | By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
Ivanhoe Energy (NASDAQ:IVAN) says it is now bankrupt after failing to reach a viable restructuring proposal.
Ivanhoe had filed for bankruptcy protection in February and had been working on restructuring options with its creditors; it had until June 1 to file its restructuring proposal after receiving an extension in early May.
On top of sliding oil prices, Ivanhoe suspended an Alberta oil sands project due to regulatory hurdles, faced executive departures and had cut operations in Ecuador as talks with a partner to develop a heavy oil project stalled.
China May HSBC Services PMI Rises to 53.5 From 52.9 in April
BEIJING--The HSBC China Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to an eight-month high of 53.5 in May, HSBC Holdings PLC said Wednesday, with both new orders and employment in the sector rising to multi-year highs.
Activity outside the nation's factories during the month also came in above April's 52.9 reading. A reading above 50 indicates month-over-month expansion.
Service providers saw the sharpest increase in new business in three years as demand from clients strengthened, said research house Markit Economics, which releases the index with HSBC .
Employment in the service sector in May expanded at its fastest pace since January 2013 . Service providers' average costs increased further in May, but the rate of inflation was modest, Markit said.
The HSBC China Services PMI is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives at more than 400 private service-sector companies.
China's official nonmanufacturing PMI, a competing a gauge, edged down to 53.2 in May from 53.4 in April, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Monday.
Write to Liyan Qi at liyan.qi@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-02-15 2209ET
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
MCP S&P rating cut to D from CCC+
http://www.streetinsider.com/Credit+Ratings/UPDATE%3A+S%26P+Downgrades+Molycorp+(MCP)+to+D%3B+Considers+Default+Move+to+Occurred/10617368.html
06/02/2015 12:41 UPDATE: S&P Downgrades Molycorp (MCP) to 'D'; Considers Default Move to Occurred.
Updated - June 2, 2015 12:47 PM EDT)
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today it lowered its corporate credit rating on Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) to 'D' from 'CCC+'. We also lowered our senior secured and senior unsecured issue-level ratings on the company to 'D' from 'CCC+' and 'CCC-', respectively. The recovery rating on the company's senior secured debt is '4', which indicates our expectation for recovery at the lower half of the average (30% to 50%) recovery range. The recovery rating on the senior unsecured obligations is '6', which indicates our expectation for negligible (0% to 10%) recovery.
We lowered the ratings on Molycorp Inc. after the company elected not to pay the $32.5 million interest payment on its 10% senior secured notes due 2020. A payment default has not occurred under the indenture governing the notes, which provide a 30-day grace period. However, we consider a default to have occurred because we do not expect a payment to be made within the stated grace period given the company's heavy debt burden, which we view to be unsustainable. In our opinion, the company has insufficient liquidity to operate beyond the next few months as it works with creditors to restructure its balance sheet. Cash and investments totaled approximately $134 million on March 31, 2015.
USTC huge AS OS Float
For some reason this symbol reminds me of it years ago under some other Company namr. But no dif name listed at OTC Markets. Course pinks can do anything.
Unlikely the R/S will cut into large A/S.
Share Structure
Market Value1 $371,560 a/o Jun 01, 2015
Authorized Shares 500,000,000,000 a/o Dec 31, 2014
Outstanding Shares 3,715,599,000 a/o Dec 31, 2014
-Restricted Not Available
-Unrestricted Not Available
Held at DTC Not Available
Float 2,687,699,017 a/o Sep 24, 2014
Par Value 0.00001
Shareholders
Shareholders of Record 197 a/o Sep 24, 2014
VTEQ also serial R/S player
due for #5 maybe 1 for 5,000 if not 'just' 1 for 10,000
Security Notes
•Capital Change=shs decreased by 1 for 10 split Pay date=04/05/2004.
•Capital Change=shs decreased by 1 for 8 split Pay date=11/10/2008.
•Capital Change=shs decreased by 1 for 30 split Ex-date=10/22/2013.
•Capital Change=shs decreased by 1 for 1000 split. Pay date=02/11/2015.
Share Structure
Market Value1 $1,000 a/o Jun 01, 2015
Authorized Shares 10,000,000,000 a/o Dec 18, 2014
Outstanding Shares 10,000,000 a/o Mar 13, 2015
-Restricted Not Available
-Unrestricted Not Available
Held at DTC Not Available
Float 9,000,000 a/o Mar 13, 2015
Par Value Not Available
In Lehman's last days, Merrill may have allowed illegal bets against firm
By Steve Goldstein , MarketWatch
It looks like former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld is at least partly right -- that at least one Wall Street bank illegally allowed short sales against the now-bankrupt firm in its waning days.
That's derived from a Securities and Exchange Commission suit against Merrill Lynch released Monday, and an analysis by Eric Hunsader , the founder of trading analysis firm Nanex.
The SEC order against Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America (BAC), describes how the firm allowed short sales even when there wasn't available stock to be lent out.
One particular paragraph in the SEC order has drawn attention: "On September 8, 2008 , during the heart of the financial crisis, Merrill lending-desk traders determined that a security could no longer reasonably be considered [easy to borrow] and placed the stock in question on the Watch List. Midday, Merrill traders recognized with respect to that security, 'Up to this point banks and brokers still aren't willing to lend any stock.' Nevertheless, Merrill's execution platforms executed short sales totaling 1,358,036 shares of the security, absent reasonable grounds to do so, in reliance on the ... list."
Hunsader says the stock fits the description of Lehman, which dropped 14% that day on heavy volume of 109 million shares.
A week later, Lehman declared bankruptcy.
Fuld has frequently taken aim at illegal short sellers. "History has already shown how wrong and ill-advised it is to allow naked short selling," he said at a 2008 hearing.
Minus the illegal short sales -- and had Lehman been granted the lifeline of a Federal Reserve banking license that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley received -- the firm could well be alive, Fuld has argued.
Also read:Dick Fuld still can't fess up to his role in Lehman's demise (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dick-fuld-still-cant-fess-up-to-his-part-in-lehmans-collapse-2015-06-02)
That's not to discount Fuld's own role, however, in levering up Lehman, aggressively securitizing subprime mortgages, keeping mortgage-backed paper on the company's books and performing dubious accounting maneuvers.
Merrill Lynch admitted the short-selling violations and agreed to pay an $11 million fine. Press officials at Merrill didn't return a message about whether the stock in question was Lehman.
- Steve Goldstein ; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-02-15 1353ET
In Lehman's last days, Merrill Lynch may have allowed illegal bets against firm
By Steve Goldstein , MarketWatch
It looks like former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld is at least partly right -- that at least one Wall Street bank illegally allowed short sales against the now-bankrupt firm in its waning days.
That's derived from a Securities and Exchange Commission suit against Merrill Lynch released Monday, and an analysis by Eric Hunsader , the founder of trading analysis firm Nanex.
The SEC order against Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America (BAC), describes how the firm allowed short sales even when there wasn't available stock to be lent out.
One particular paragraph in the SEC order has drawn attention: "On September 8, 2008 , during the heart of the financial crisis, Merrill lending-desk traders determined that a security could no longer reasonably be considered [easy to borrow] and placed the stock in question on the Watch List. Midday, Merrill traders recognized with respect to that security, 'Up to this point banks and brokers still aren't willing to lend any stock.' Nevertheless, Merrill's execution platforms executed short sales totaling 1,358,036 shares of the security, absent reasonable grounds to do so, in reliance on the ... list."
Hunsader says the stock fits the description of Lehman, which dropped 14% that day on heavy volume of 109 million shares.
A week later, Lehman declared bankruptcy.
Fuld has frequently taken aim at illegal short sellers. "History has already shown how wrong and ill-advised it is to allow naked short selling," he said at a 2008 hearing.
Minus the illegal short sales -- and had Lehman been granted the lifeline of a Federal Reserve banking license that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley received -- the firm could well be alive, Fuld has argued.
Also read:Dick Fuld still can't fess up to his role in Lehman's demise (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dick-fuld-still-cant-fess-up-to-his-part-in-lehmans-collapse-2015-06-02)
That's not to discount Fuld's own role, however, in levering up Lehman, aggressively securitizing subprime mortgages, keeping mortgage-backed paper on the company's books and performing dubious accounting maneuvers.
Merrill Lynch admitted the short-selling violations and agreed to pay an $11 million fine. Press officials at Merrill didn't return a message about whether the stock in question was Lehman.
- Steve Goldstein ; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-02-15 1353ET
Microsoft and the IRS Are Fighting Again
Bloomberg By Richard Rubin 41 minutes ago
Microsoft Corp. and the IRS are back in court, this time fighting about the U.S. tax agency’s interest in hiring David Boies, the lawyer who beat Microsoft in an antitrust case in 2000.
The software company filed a federal lawsuit May 29 in Seattle, marking the latest legal flurry over an ongoing Internal Revenue Service audit. At issue are “tens of billions of dollars” in corporate income, according to the IRS.
Microsoft is asking a court to enforce its public-records request for documents on the government’s decision to enter into a contract with Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP in 2013.
Besides the possible return of Boies as a Microsoft adversary, the case is notable because of its size and the amount of public legal wrangling even before the IRS completes its audit. Microsoft has questioned the IRS’s decision to use outside lawyers and amend its regulations to allow non-government employees to question witnesses under oath.
More from Bloomberg.com: Greece's Tsipras Warns Bell May Toll for Europe
According to Microsoft’s lawsuit, the IRS agreed to a contract with Boies’s firm in September 2013 that paid the firm up to $350,000 and paid Boies $1,250 an hour. The IRS revealed in May that the contract was specifically for the Microsoft audit, according to Microsoft’s filing.
In an IRS filing in a related case, the agency said the contract was for ‘‘expert services” and is “related to assisting the IRS in its examination of Microsoft.”
Previous Victory
Boies, 74, didn’t respond Monday to a request for comment on his re-emergence as a Microsoft opponent. His previous victory was altered on appeal when judges overturned a breakup of the company. It’s unclear from the filings what Boies handled for the IRS in the audit dispute and whether he’s currently working on it.
The IRS later hired a second firm -- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP -- on a $2.2 million contract, according to the Microsoft lawsuit.
“We’re pleased the IRS provided the documents requested by one of our previous FOIA suits and hope this additional suit helps complete the information we need to further understand the government’s process,” David Cuddy, a Microsoft spokesman, said in a statement.
Microsoft has more than tripled its offshore holdings since 2010, stockpiling profits outside the country under a rule that exempts them from U.S. taxation until the profits are repatriated. The company would owe $29.6 billion to the U.S. if it brought home its $92.9 billion stockpiled overseas, according to securities filings.
That, compared with the 35 percent U.S. tax rate, suggests the company has paid a tax rate less than 10 percent on its foreign income.
Reopened Audit
In its most recent quarterly securities filing, Microsoft said the IRS in February 2012 reopened the audit of tax years 2004 through 2006 and is still auditing tax years 2007 through 2014. The company said the case could have a “significant adverse impact,” though it doesn’t expect a final resolution within the next year.
The most significant issue relates to transfer pricing, or intracompany transactions that are supposed to be conducted as arm’s length deals. Abusive transfer pricing can let companies shift profits to low-tax or no-tax countries, instead of paying at the 35 percent U.S. rate. The IRS says the Microsoft case is “among the largest.”
In an April filing, the IRS said the audit focuses on transactions between Microsoft and its affiliate in Puerto Rico and between Microsoft and its Asian affiliate, which the IRS said in the filing is based in Bermuda.
Necessary, Legal
The agency said in court papers that its hiring of outside lawyers was necessary and legal. The IRS wouldn’t comment on the most recent case because it is pending litigation, said Jose Vejarano, an agency spokesman in Washington.
Microsoft has received support from Washington-based trade associations and from Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, who asked the cash-strapped IRS in a May 13 letter to stop using private lawyers.
“Turning over inherently government functions such as the conduct of an examination to private contractors not only jeopardizes the rights of taxpayers, but also confuses the examination process and changes the well-regulated relationship between revenue examiners and private taxpayers,” wrote Hatch, a Utah Republican.
The case is Microsoft Corporation vs. Internal Revenue Service, 15-cv-00850, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington.
Naughty Merrill $11M SEC fine short sales
SEC charges Merrill Lynch, fines firm $11 million for short sales violations
Today 3:01 PM ET (MarketWatch)
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges Monday against Bank of America's (BAC) Merrill Lynch subsidiary for using bad data since 2012 to "locate" stock for short sales, violating Rule 203(b) of Regulation SHO. That rule prevents "naked" short sales, shorting shares that are not "easy to borrow." The firm admitted the wrongdoing and will pay a $9 million penalty plus interest and give up $1.6 million in profits. Merrill Lynch must also submit to a compliance review by an independent consultant.
-Francine McKenna; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 01, 2015 15:01 ET (19:01 GMT)
SEC charges Merrill, fines $11M short sales tricks
SEC charges Merrill Lynch, fines firm $11 million for short sales violations
Today 3:01 PM ET (MarketWatch)
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges Monday against Bank of America's (BAC) Merrill Lynch subsidiary for using bad data since 2012 to "locate" stock for short sales, violating Rule 203(b) of Regulation SHO. That rule prevents "naked" short sales, shorting shares that are not "easy to borrow." The firm admitted the wrongdoing and will pay a $9 million penalty plus interest and give up $1.6 million in profits. Merrill Lynch must also submit to a compliance review by an independent consultant.
-Francine McKenna; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 01, 2015 15:01 ET (19:01 GMT)
NYT 2 new indicators to gauge economy
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/upshot/shrinking-economy-no-but-its-not-surging-either.html?emc=edit_th_20150530&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=16092731&abt=0002&abg=0
1. An impressive body of research has demonstrated that the income-based measure is more reliable.
This alternative measure, called gross domestic income, grew at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the winter, after growing at an impressive 3.7 percent the previous quarter.
2. Moreover, much of our economic weakness occurred in types of spending where weakness is often fleeting. To get a sense of the underlying momentum of business and consumer spending, economists often focus on those components that tend to predict future momentum. In particular, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will soon emphasize a measure called “final sales to private domestic purchasers.”
AMRN surged em
Nice piece on UI early on thx em
Brazil puts it to widows over budget
What? the new Greece?? Getting closer to US.....
BRASÍLIA--The Brazilian Senate on Wednesday approved a controversial bill meant to save taxpayer money by reducing pension payments to widows.
The measure is part of a broader effort to reduce the government's high debt levels, which are threatening the country's investment-grade rating.
The vote is a victory for President Dilma Rousseff and comes less than a day after Congress cleared another bill that reduces unemployment benefits. Together, the bills will save some 15 billion Brazilian reais ( $4.8 billion ) in taxpayer money, government officials say.
"It is with great satisfaction that this Ministry records this victory, which is not only the government's, but Brazil's ," the Finance Ministry said in a statement after the vote. Minister Joaquim Levy has been an active participant in talks with lawmakers to get the bells approved.
The savings are meant to help Brazil resume growth, government officials have said. "Growth is not sustainable if there is no fiscal stability," Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa said at a congressional hearing before Wednesday's vote.
But that message hasn't been easy to convey. While the austerity efforts have been applauded by economists, they have faced strong opposition from unions and politicians even from Ms. Rousseff's Workers' Party , or PT.
Ms. Rousseff was re-elected last year, but during the campaign she signaled that she wouldn't pursue fiscal austerity as strongly as she is now, and many of her supporters have a hard time backing the fiscal efforts.
"Today was one of the saddest days of my life," PT Sen. Paulo Paim said Tuesday night after the first such measure was approved. "My party (is) taking away workers' rights," he said to reporters.
Conservative opposition parties also have sought to kill the fiscal measures in Congress , saying they should cut other costs before tapping into labor benefits.
The measure approved Wednesday sets a minimum of two years of marriage and 18 months of social-security contributions to entitle a spouse to receive a survivor's pension. As of now there is no time limit and just a month of contribution is enough.
The bill is now expected to be sanctioned by Ms. Rousseff.
But Congress changed the bill, originally sent by the executive, to include a clause that kills a retirement- benefit constraint introduced in 1999 to reduce the payouts to early retirees.
By killing that constraint, lawmakers effectively increased future government costs. Now it is up to Ms. Rousseff to veto the change, something likely to have a high political cost, analysts say.
But despite the hurdles, economists say the reform is needed to fix an economy jolted off track by years of overspending.
Brazil's gross debt is at 62% of gross domestic product, prompting credit-ratings firms to put the country under watch for a downgrade, likely to junk status.
Brazil grew only 0.1% in 2014 and is expected to contract this year and expand just 1% in 2016. Inflation is at 8.2%, and the central bank has pushed borrowing costs to 13.25% in an attempt to bring price increases down to 4.5% by December 2016 .
But there is no way around it, says Goldman Sachs economist Alberto Ramos . "A deep, permanent, and structural fiscal adjustment (is) key to restore domestic and external balance," he wrote in a note Wednesday about Brazil's gaping current-account deficit, which in April reached 4.53% of GDP.
Write to Paulo Trevisani at paulo.trevisani@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-27-15 2134ET
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Oil to $80 while China seen lower??
20:52 Bernstein says brent oil will rebound in the near future to USD 80/bbl
20:52 HSBC lowers China 2015 GDP growth forecast to 7.1% from 7.3%; lowers export growth forecast to 4.2% from 7.1%
-----------------
Just me or some kind of contradiction here? I mean unless the non China countries go gangbusters to overcome a China drag how
will oil be in such demand as to move up 60 to 80? Or 100 or 150?
Oh well, economists and analysts have dif ways of looking at same things and coming out with dif conclusions.
Fed's Lacker comments 8:07p ET
LACKER REPEATS VIEW THAT FED'S EMERGENCY LENDING ABILITY MUST BE REPEALED
FED'S LACKER SAYS U.S. BANKING SYSTEM FAVORS TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
FED'S LACKER SAYS POLICYMAKERS MUST LET FINANCIAL FIRMS FAIL IN ORDER TO RESTORE MARKET DISCIPLINE
Global assets could shift toward China if IMF includes renminbi
By David Marsh , MarketWatch
Chinese currency could become 5th major reserve currency
A large shift of global institutional assets into renminbi could take place if the International Monetary Fund concludes later this year that the Chinese currency should join the special drawing right, the Fund's composite currency unit used in official worldwide transactions
Some sizable moves on world capital markets could take place preemptively if opinion hardens in the next few months that the IMF is about to bring the renminbi (USDCNY) into the SDR, which combines the world's most important reserve currencies. This could spur further appreciation of the renminbi that could represent another depressant for the Chinese economy, complicating Beijing's efforts to prevent an unduly sharp slowdown this year.
A possible conflict between China's international monetary ambitions, on the one hand, and, on the other, the need to keep the economy on an even keel was highlighted in a seminar on the SDR and the renminbi organized in Beijing last week by the International Monetary Institute of Renmin University and central bank research group, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum .
Whether the SDR could or should be expanded from its present four constituents -- the dollar , euro (EURUSD) , yen (USDJPY) and sterling (GBPUSD) -- is being debated at a technical level, ahead of a decision by the IMF executive board before the end of the year.
An intriguing issue is whether this becomes elevated to a political question between the U.S. and Chinese governments. A decision to include the renminbi in what is effectively an association of the world's top reserve currencies has big implications for financial markets, to which only a few specialists hitherto have paid much attention.
The general consensus at the Beijing seminar was that, from a technical point of view, the renminbi was probably well on the way to SDR membership. Although many Chinese financial market participants believe the U.S. opposes renminbi inclusion, Washington cannot -- even if it wished to -- by itself block adhesion. The SDR decision requires a 70% majority on the IMF executive board and the U.S. has the power to veto solely decisions that require an 85% majority.
In addition, the U.S. will almost certainly not wish to risk another potentially embarrassing showdown with China just months after being rebuffed in its attempt to block Western countries' adherence to the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank . China is keeping the door open to possible U.S. participation with a 10% stake in the AIIB -- even though Congress in its present mood would probably block the administration from signing up if it showed willingness to do so.
The issue of whether the Chinese currency could join the SDR is a much more technical issue than the AIIB, without an impact on the U.S. budget, and would not require congressional approval.
However, a positive decision would allow China effectively to leap ahead to become the world's fifth most important reserve currency, compared with its present position as No. 7, behind the present four SDR members as well as the Australian (USDAUD) and Canadian dollars (USDCAD) , which the IMF also regards as reserve currencies.
On a rough calculation, there may be around $100 billion of renminbi reserves in central bank holdings, about half the total of Canadian and Australian dollars (around $200 billion each). On this basis, an SDR inclusion decision could spark a further $100 billion worth of renminbi purchases by central banks to bring renminbi holdings up to the same levels as for the Australian and Canadian units. To bring renminbi holdings up to the same level as those in sterling and the yen, central banks would need to purchase roughly $300 billion of renminbi in different assets.
These are not highly significant figures compared with overall worldwide assets in the fund management industry of around $80 trillion , OMFIF's estimate of global official-sector assets of $30 trillion , and daily foreign-exchange turnover estimated by the Bank of International Settlements at $5.3 trillion . However, shifts of this nature would be a milestone event, especially if accompanied by similar movements in private-sector asset movements. These all developments for which the global financial industry should be prepared.
- David Marsh ; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-26-15 2001ET
Late-Trading Activity (4PM-6:30PM ET)
TUESDAY FRIDAY THURSDAY WEDNESDAY TUESDAY
Issues Traded 4,026 3,839 4,058 4,070 4,166
Advances 829 977 625 656 681
Declines 682 674 569 680 780
Unchanged 2,515 2,188 2,864 2,734 2,705
Advancing Volume 78,699,291 37,497,503 41,638,812 21,186,259 37,763,135
Declining Volume 19,632,793 21,703,129 30,767,581 38,830,183 48,232,833
Total Volume 177,769,105 89,716,398 109,517,424 122,636,962 149,939,761
LATE MOST ACTIVE ISSUES
ISSUE EXCH VOL(000s) LAST NET CHG % CHG
BankAm (N) 24,597.6 16.50 unch ...
SPDR S&P 500 (NA) 11,749.1 211.06 +0.36 +0.2
MktVectorsGoldMin (NA) 8,239.0 19.27 +0.03 +0.1
Freeport-McMoRan (N) 7,823.2 20.08 unch ...
Apple (Nq) 6,134.5 129.79 +0.17 +0.1
iShRussell2000ETF (NA) 4,473.8 123.36 +0.12 +0.1
AT&T (N) 3,664.8 34.70 +0.03 +0.1
iShMSCIEmgMarkets (NA) 3,664.3 42.29 +0.23 +0.5
CiscoSys (Nq) 2,172.6 28.96 +0.01 ...
SPDR FnclSelSct (NA) 2,106.0 24.67 +0.09 +0.4
Qualcomm (Nq) 1,849.2 69.36 unch ...
OfficeDepot (Nq) 1,552.9 9.21 unch ...
AllyFin (N) 1,552.0 22.46 unch ...
MGIC Inv (N) 1,506.4 10.70 unch ...
PwrShrs QQQ (Nq) 1,474.5 109.30 +0.10 +0.1
Navient (Nq) 1,228.8 19.13 unch ...
FstTrFnlAlpDx (NA) 1,223.7 23.93 --0.01 ...
WalMart (N) 1,137.0 75.04 +0.14 +0.2
iSh20+YTreasuryBd (NA) 1,108.8 122.46 unch ...
HuntgBcsh (Nq) 1,052.6 11.16 +0.03 +0.3
Microsoft (Nq) 1,040.7 46.59 unch ...
VangdFnl (NA) 1,000.0 49.94 --0.02 ...
DeltaAir (N) 973.4 42.00 +0.15 +0.4
BrcliPathVIX ShFut (NA) 927.3 19.26 --0.13 --0.7
Workday (N) 917.5 85.35 --7.14 --7.7
iShChinaLarge-Cap (NA) 904.7 51.59 --0.01 ...
BcoSantdr (N) 899.1 7.06 unch ...
SouFunHoldings (N) 830.5 8.25 +0.03 +0.4
CocaColaEnt (N) 780.9 44.42 +0.03 +0.1
iShrSilverTr (NA) 718.3 16.03 +0.01 +0.1
LATE PRICE PERCENTAGE GAINERS
ISSUE EXCH VOL(000s) LAST NET CHG % CHG
EmeraldOil (NM) 409.2 8.60 +3.39 +65.1
FivePrimeTherap (Nq) 37.0 23.32 +3.65 +18.6
ITT EduclSvc (N) 15.0 2.80 +0.32 +12.9
eHiCarServicesADS (N) 6.4 15.72 +0.97 +6.6
TiVo (Nq) 172.1 10.85 +0.49 +4.7
HawaiinHldgs (Nq) 10.5 24.00 +0.86 +3.7
HormelFood (N) 10.6 58.50 +1.89 +3.3
Globalstar (NM) 11.0 2.42 +0.07 +3.0
VinceHolding (N) 19.0 17.24 +0.48 +2.9
ClnEngyFuels (Nq) 25.3 7.60 +0.20 +2.7
ENSCO (N) 15.0 24.86 +0.63 +2.6
SpctrmPharm (Nq) 18.2 6.40 +0.16 +2.6
MarathonPetroleum (N) 44.0 102.58 +2.14 +2.1
PrimaBiomedADS (Nq) 94.8 3.03 +0.06 +2.0
NimbleStorage (N) 25.4 25.91 +0.51 +2.0
LATE PRICE PERCENTAGE LOSERS
ISSUE EXCH VOL(000s) LAST NET CHG % CHG
21VianetADS (Nq) 6.3 16.76 --1.85 --9.9
Workday (N) 917.5 85.35 --7.14 --7.7
VerintSystems (Nq) 18.2 60.62 --3.00 --4.7
HabitRestaurantsA (Nq) 9.2 34.00 --1.47 --4.1
Cott (N) 35.5 9.20 --0.39 --4.1
Praxair (N) 48.8 118.47 --3.20 --2.6
Dave&Buster'sEnt (Nq) 13.9 32.72 --0.70 --2.1
AscenaRetail (Nq) 20.5 14.58 --0.27 --1.8
BGCPartnersClA (Nq) 7.2 9.09 --0.15 --1.6
FireEye (Nq) 140.6 44.46 --0.70 --1.6
EagleRockEngy (Nq) 7.6 2.74 --0.04 --1.4
ProSharesUltVIXST (NA) 114.2 41.60 --0.58 --1.4
CalamosDynConvI(NC) (Nq) 5.4 24.24 --0.32 --1.3
PetrlBra ADS (N) 71.3 8.40 --0.11 --1.3
VelocityShares3xIn (NA) 30.2 5.87 --0.08 --1.3
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-26-15 1833ET
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Yellen to miss Jackson Hole meet
17:00 Fed's Yellen said she is planning to miss the 2015 Jackson Hole meeting
Ben B missed it now and then but don't think was so early on in his initial period. Forget what was thought about it.
Sign of dull market in general or loading up for a news blast?
New Highs 37 New Lows 62 Nasdaq 1321ET
COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME
------- ------ ---- ------
ATA Inc ADS ATAI 5.60 34,458
Am Cap Mrtg 8.125% Pfd A MTGEP 25.59 2,030
Arcadia Biosciences RKDA 8.25 58,724
Baozun ADS BZUN 13.48 3,390,562
bluebird bio BLUE 189.06 718,452
Blueprint Medicines BPMC 32.15 485,147
BSQUARE BSQR 6.69 318,860
China Biologic Prod CBPO 109.64 36,073
Cirrus Logic CRUS 38.20 922,204
Collegium Pharmaceutical COLL 17.93 25,746
Ctripcom Intl CTRP 87.62 5,487,237
DS Healthcare Group DSKX 2.69 526,161
Dave & Buster's Ent PLAY 34.62 98,069
Durect DRRX 2.68 1,053,368
Farmers Capital Bank FFKT 26.00 11,124
Foamix Pharmaceuticals FOMX 12.20 94,799
Fortinet Inc FTNT 39.97 524,921
Garnero Group Acquisition GGAC 9.80 400
Geeknet GKNT 17.35 1,999,479
Glbl X NASDAQ China Tech QQQC 29.26 11,376
Hackett Group HCKT 12.59 80,311
Halozyme Therapeutics HALO 17.87 1,268,365
HomeStreet HMST 23.85 112,290
Innocoll ADS INNL 11.20 2,711
iRadimed Corp. IRMD 20.15 12,952
Krane CSI China Internet KWEB 43.41 27,213
MGP Ingredients MGPI 19.22 91,489
MMA Capital Management MMAC 10.85 17,752
Momo ADS MOMO 19.38 1,835,983
Old Second Bancorp OSBC 6.37 34,580
Outerwall Inc. OUTR 79.51 349,679
Papa John's Intl PZZA 69.35 128,251
Sage Therapeutics SAGE 72.85 213,832
Signature Group Holdings RELY 11.55 293,950
Tucows Inc TCX 25.52 66,066
Universal Display OLED 54.99 586,961
ZS Pharma Inc. ZSPH 59.99 244,858
New Lows 62
COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME
------- ------ ---- ------
AccuSh Spot CBOE VIX Down VXDN 21.00 36,563
Acxiom ACXM 15.78 279,319
Alliance Resource Prtnrs ARLP 28.85 268,295
Apollo Educ Group Cl A APOL 16.05 472,662
Appliance Recycling Ctrs ARCI 1.70 20,492
Atlantic American AAME 3.16 9,730
Biolase Inc. BIOL 1.60 125,295
Bridgeline Digital BLIN 1.61 12,758
CTI BioPharma Corp. CTIC 1.66 915,011
Capstone Turbine CPST 0.50 973,240
CareDx CDNA 4.71 12,105
Century Aluminum Co CENX 12.13 938,907
China Shengda Pkg Grp CPGI 2.73 7,069
Compugen CGEN 6.20 48,718
Conatus Pharmaceuticals CNAT 5.13 207,515
Derma Sciences DSCI 6.43 32,592
Destination Maternity DEST 9.98 68,577
Dex Media Inc. DXM 0.88 277,324
Donegal Group Inc A DGICA 14.35 19,523
Dynamic Materials BOOM 11.33 67,851
Electro Rent ELRC 10.01 27,005
FX Energy FXEN 1.02 66,249
Famous Dave's of America DAVE 21.50 55,788
Female Health FHCO 2.38 53,291
First Cash Fincl Services FCFS 45.22 93,097
Fossil Group Inc. FOSL 75.80 595,954
Frontier Communications FTR 4.91 9,026,135
Fuel Tech FTEK 2.33 17,912
Galectin Therapeutics GALT 2.55 54,021
Houston Wire & Cable HWCC 8.90 60,312
Ikanos Communications IKAN 2.08 12,800
IMRIS IMRS 0.07 8,409,019
LMI Aerospace LMIA 9.95 24,726
Matrix Service Co MTRX 17.00 77,048
Maxwell Techs MXWL 5.39 204,534
Herman Miller MLHR 26.97 74,692
Mitcham Industries MIND 4.26 21,340
Nanosphere NSPH 3.33 181,372
Nathan's Famous NATH 39.01 15,841
Noodles & Co. Cl A NDLS 14.38 196,070
OdysseyMarineExploration OMEX 0.48 308,074
Qumu Corp. QUMU 7.96 215,674
RXI Pharmaceuticals RXII 0.45 518,251
RealNetworks RNWK 5.82 42,475
Richardson Electronics RELL 8.61 998
Roka Bioscience ROKA 2.71 10,694
Rubicon Tech RBCN 2.85 107,393
Sears Hometown & Outlet SHOS 6.66 45,177
Shiloh Industries SHLO 9.65 29,507
Signal Genetics SGNL 1.42 38,027
Silicon Graphics Intl SGI 6.54 162,529
Skystar Bio Pharm SKBI 2.89 55,338
Spherix SPEX 0.55 89,453
Synalloy SYNL 14.03 32,545
Tessco Techs TESS 18.01 9,000
Town Sports Intl Hldgs CLUB 3.44 173,190
TriVascular Technologies TRIV 5.69 17,422
Turtle Beach Corp. HEAR 1.76 140,642
Vapor VPCO 0.37 180,347
Wi-Lan WILN 1.89 151,527
Windstream Holdings WIN 7.91 2,823,498
Wynn Resorts WYNN 103.75 1,153,515
s-Split or stock dividend of 10 percent or more in the past 52 weeks.
n-New issue in past 52 weeks and does not cover the entire 52 week period.
Source: WSJ Market Data Group
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-26-15 1321ET
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Is SPANKS back? Portugal & Greece finance
8:02 am ET
BANK OF PORTUGAL SAYS EXPOSURE OF BANKS TO SOVEREIGN DEBT AND REAL ESTATE POSES RISK TO FINANCIAL STABILITY
06:26 News Bot: Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis states Greece are to propose a tax of 15% on cash held overseas
Greece Could Bundle Its Next IMF Payments to Buy Even More Time. But at What Cost?
By Ian Talley wsj.com 6:01pm ET Today
As Greece roots around for cash to cover upcoming bills amid stalled bailout talks, one option it could consider is bundling next month’s payments to the International Monetary Fund.
The Greek leadership, at this point, doesn’t appear to be considering the option and doesn’t see it as advantageous given concerns about the signals it could send, according to people familiar with the government’s thinking.
Obscure IMF rules allow Greece to clump its principal payments into one deposit that the government could ostensibly pay later in the month, without falling into arrears. Athens owes the IMF four principal payments totaling $1.7 billion in June. Should Greece seek to take advantage of the opportunity, bundling its IMF payments would buy Greece’s government more time for negotiations in the deadlocked bailout talks.
An IMF spokeswoman declined to say whether Greece had made such a request or even inquired about the option.
Bundling payments would remove the short-term funding threat Athens has tried to use to gain concessions from Europe, says Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.
Mr. Kirkegaard says Greece would likely be able to pay most of the bills due to the IMF next month even though it would mean depleting any remaining cash reserves stashed around the country.
“It would buy Athens more time,” he said, perhaps giving Greek President Alexis Tsipras more political cover to cut a bailout deal, “saying he fought to the bitter end.”
But prolonging the period of economic uncertainty without a bailout deal also could very well aggravate Greece’s crisis and deepen the amount of bailout financing needed to fill the country’s funding gap and require more costly economic overhauls and budget belt-tightening.
“And it doesn’t change the fact that the real deadline remains the big payments due to the ECB,” Kirkegaard said.
It also could fuel investor fears that Greece will default on its debt before a bailout deal is reached.
The potential costs mean that, unlike the creative way Athens paid its last IMF bill, the government may decide to leave this option on the shelf.
Islamic State's Gains Reveal New Prowess on Battlefield
In late April, a commander for Islamic State said his forces were ready to launch an offensive to take Ramadi , and the group called for fighters to redeploy to Iraq from Syria .
Three weeks later, the jihadist group seized the capital of Anbar province after relentless waves of suicide bombings.
U.S. defense chief Ash Carter has blamed Ramadi's fall mainly on Iraqi forces' lack of will to fight. But Islamic State's battlefield performance suggests the terrorist group's tactical sophistication is growing--a development the Iraqis and the U.S.-led coalition have so far failed to counter, said Iraqi officials, former U.S. officials and military analysts studying the organization.
An examination of how Ramadi fell indicates that Islamic State commanders executed a complex battle plan that outwitted a greater force of Iraqi troops as well as the much-lauded, U.S.-trained special-operations force known as the Golden Division, which had been fighting for months to defend the city.
Islamic State commanders evaded surveillance and airstrikes to bring reinforcements to its front lines in western Iraq . The group displayed a high degree of operational security by silencing its social media and propaganda teams during the Ramadi surge.
The group also churned out dozens of formidable new weapons by converting captured U.S. military armored vehicles designed to be impervious to small-arms fire into megabombs with payloads equal to the force of the Oklahoma City bombing.
Over the three-day surge in Ramadi , Islamic State fighters launched at least 27 such vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, or Vbieds, that destroyed Iraq security forces' defensive perimeters and crumbled multistory buildings.
Military analysts said the new formidable weapon was the latest development showing how the group appears to be learning from battlefield defeats like the one in Kobani, Syria , last summer in pursuit of its goal to control the Sunni-majority areas of Syria and Iraq .
"It's very frustrating," said Bill Roggio , senior fellow at the Defense of Democracies think tank and managing editor of the Long War Journal , which chronicles the U.S. war on terror. "These guys are showing a good degree of tactical awareness."
Some U.S. officials have described the performance of Iraqi forces in Ramadi as inadequate and chaotic because of a lack of overall command structure. Some government troops were Iraqi special forces, but the bulk were from the federal and local police. The Iraqi government said it was looking into who ordered the retreat.
Still, some U.S. officials have acknowledged in recent days that the Iraqis remained more organized and determined in Ramadi than they have elsewhere in recent months in the fight against Islamic State, and have also said the tactics and explosives used by Islamic State fighters in Ramadi were measurably more brutal and powerful.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi over the weekend said his forces had been overwhelmed by the enemy's weapons.
"They have the will to fight, but when they are faced with an onslaught by [Islamic State] from nowhere....With armored trucks packed with explosives, the effect of them is like a small nuclear bomb," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.
Long before Islamic State declared a caliphate last summer, its supporters fought in Iraq's Anbar province, piggybacking on local Iraqi Sunni grievances against the Shiite-led government in Baghdad . The organization controlled more than half of the territory around Ramadi , and by the start of 2015, it had captured more, U.S. officials said.
By mid-April, the long-static front lines in Ramadi's north and southeastern districts began tipping in favor of Islamic State forces, said Iraqi officials. At that stage, those lines were being defended by the Golden Division, as well as an Iraqi army division, federal police forces and a local tribal police force from Anbar province where Ramadi is based.
Islamic State hasn't announced the size or name of its militias or commanders fighting in Ramadi . U.S. officials say there is no precise intelligence on the force strength.
After the mid-April victories in the Albu Faraj and Sijariyah neighborhoods, an Islamic State commander told Islamic State's radio station, Al Bayan , on April 27 that the group was ready to embark on its ultimate goal of winning control of Ramadi's city center, said Dan Milton , a professor at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, the U.S. Army's military academy.
On the same day, Islamic State distributed a military order hundreds of miles to the north in Aleppo, Syria , calling for a redeployment of the group's most devout fighters to the front lines in Anbar and Salahuddin provinces in Iraq . Written in the name of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi , the order called for expert and religiously dedicated fighters for a one-time assignment, implying they would be used in suicide missions, said Aymenn Al-Tamimi, a fellow at the Middle East Forum who studies Islamic State's religious and administrative decrees.
By the end of April, officials in Anbar were reporting a surge of cars passing into Iraq from the Al Qaim border crossing--which Islamic State controls--near Syria . Officials in Ramadi said Islamic State fighters started arriving in groups of two or three in nondescript sedans, instead of the Toyota pickup trucks group members used to favor, in apparent efforts to blend in with civilian traffic and stay off radar of U.S. surveillance planes.
From early May, the group enforced a blackout of its own media posts from Ramadi . That was in contrast to other battlefields in the country, such as Beiji and Fallujah , where Islamic State supporters continued to post propaganda about battles, said Charlie Winter , a researcher who studies extremist groups at Quilliam, a London think tank.
"They displayed admirable operational security," said Mr. Winter. "They understand the element of surprise. And they understand how [the coalition] can track them."
On May 5 , Islamic State launched an attack on Ramadi's city center, but Iraqi helicopters and the Golden Division repulsed the advance, Iraqi state media reported. Running battles along the bridges across the Euphrates River separating Ramadi's southwestern Islamic State-held neighborhoods from the city center continued for days, with Iraqi forces holding their lines.
By May 13 , Islamic State had established a team of snipers closer to where Iraqi police and army units were based, said Iraqi soldiers and state media.
The next day, Islamic State launched its surge by sending a single armored bulldozer to the concrete barriers on the outskirts of the government lines. The bulldozer worked unimpeded for close to an hour, removing concrete walls, Iraqi officials said. Once the road was cleared, Islamic State fighters drove about six Vbieds, including an armored Humvee and armored dump truck, into the government complex, said Iraqi and U.S. officials.
"It was incredibly devastating, just horrific, gigantic explosions that took out entire city blocks," a senior U.S. official said.
Over the next 72 hours, the terrorist group set off at least another 20 Vbied and suicide bombs, U.S. officials said.
Islamic State took the government complex by May 15 . The group launched another wave of vehicle suicide attacks on May 17 , preventing Iraqi reinforcements from entering the city, said U.S. and Iraqi officials. The Golden Division, which had been cut off from the rest of the Iraqi forces, called for a retreat from town, said Iraqi security officials.
Once Islamic State's black flag began flying from Ramadi's city center, the group lifted its information blackout. It posted photos and eulogies for six suicide bombers it said were responsible for the initial wave of attacks.
One of the men was identified as a British Muslim who had once belonged to Syria's al Qaeda affiliate before joining Islamic State. The other five were also foreign fighters from Arab nations. Most were pictured holding U.S.-made weapons or standing in front of the U.S. military vehicles they allegedly used to blow themselves up.
Gordon Lubold , Dion Nissenbaum and Ali Nabhan contributed to this article.
Write to Margaret Coker at margaret.coker@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-25-15 1818ET
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
When it comes to big stock market gains, we're right in the 'sweet spot'
Never know if fact or fiction. I mean it is a biz comment.
Chart at link as to GDP/CPI formula.
http://www.businessinsider.com/sweet-spot-for-stock-returns-2015-5?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1
by Myles Udland on May 25, 2015, 11:11 AM
In a note to clients on Thursday, Gluskin Sheff's David Rosenberg looked at how stocks fared under various growth and inflation scenarios and found that right now might be about as good as it gets for prospective stock gains.
Here's Rosenberg:
In periods when real GDP growth is running between 2% and 3% at the same time that core inflation is between 1% and 2%, the average annual advance in the S&P 500 is 14.4%.
Note that if growth were to move up a notice to a 3% to 4% range while maintaining core inflation between 1% and 2%, that average annual stock price gain rises to 22.6%.
Fore the bears, the only periods when the stock market enters negative price territory — and this is true under any inflation scenario — is when real GDP growth is 1% YoY or lower (thankfully we are just under 3% right now).
At no time, under any inflation segment, did the stock market fail to rise with real growth minimally at 2%. That is reassuring.
Since the financial crisis, real GDP growth has been running at around 2.2% annually. Inflation, meanwhile, has been running around 1.7% year-over-year.
In other words, we're right where you want to be for big stock returns. In 2012, the S&P 500 gained 13%; in 2013, it gained 29%; in 2014, it gained 11%.
So while so much of the rally in US stocks, especially since 2012, has been attributed to actions from central banks, the reality is that even with this support, the economy was giving stock investors ideal conditions for big returns.
And this, Rosenberg says, is why we're seeing stocks power higher still: Year-to-date, the S&P 500 is up 3.4%.
And so looking forward, here's the table from Rosenberg to keep in mind, laying out what growth/inflation combinations are best — and worst — for big stock returns.
Greenspan, Buffett on Greek exit
Last paragraph speaks volumes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/business/international/the-heat-is-on-greeces-alexis-tsipras-from-inside-and-out.html?emc=edit_th_20150525&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=16092731&_r=0
The Heat Is on Greece’s Alexis Tsipras, From Inside and Out
By NIKI KITSANTONIS MAY 24, 2015
ATHENS — With Greece in the final stretch of negotiations with its creditors, aimed at unlocking rescue loans the country needs to avert an imminent default, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faces growing pressure from the ranks of his own party.
After weeks of simmering dissent among the more radical elements of his leftist Syriza party, Mr. Tsipras on Sunday faced his biggest challenge from within the party since taking office in January. A faction known as the Left Platform proposed that Greece stop paying its creditors if they continue with “blackmailing tactics” and instead seek “an alternative plan” for the debt-racked country.
The proposal came as the interior minister, Nikos Voutsis, told Greek television that Athens would not be able to make debt repayments of 1.6 billion euros, or nearly $1.8 billion, that are due next month to the International Monetary Fund, one of Greece’s three international creditors.
“The money won’t be given,” Mr. Voutsis said. “It isn’t there to be given.”
The proposal by the Left Platform, which is led by Panagiotis Lafazanis, the energy minister, and represents around 30 of Syriza’s 149 representatives in the Greek Parliament, was rejected by the party’s central committee late Sunday by a vote of 95 to 75.
That Mr. Tsipras’s more moderate stance prevailed represented a small victory for the prime minister. But the strong support for the Left Platform’s proposal indicates that Mr. Tsipras faces a difficult balancing act as he tries to seal a deal with creditors and bring it to Parliament.
Syriza came to power on a promise to take a hard line with creditors in debt negotiations and resist the type of austerity measures that are blamed for driving up unemployment to 25 percent and slashing household incomes by a third. But Mr. Tsipras has had to soften his approach as he has worked for months to reach an agreement with the country’s three international creditors — the I.M.F., the European Commission and the European Central Bank — and unlock €7.2 billion in bailout funds that Greece needs to meet debt repayments over the summer and remain solvent.
His challenge now is to keep the backing of a majority of Syriza’s party officials and legislators as he moves ahead.
In a speech to the central committee on Saturday, Mr. Tsipras told party officials that Greece was “in the final stretch of negotiations.” He said he would not submit to creditors’ “irrational demands” on value-added tax rates, further liberalization of the labor market and changes to the pension system — the main sticking points.
The party’s central committee on Sunday voted in favor of Greece reaching a “mutually beneficial deal” with creditors that was not based on further austerity measures.
Such a deal, the committee said, should set low targets for Greece’s primary budget surplus, avoid further cuts to pensions and government salaries, restructure Greece’s debt and introduce a strong investment plan to help the country emerge from years of recession. The text of the decision did not rule out halting payments to creditors, “if things reach a marginal point.”
Mr. Lafazanis, the Left Platform leader, suggested that the impact of Greece’s exit from the eurozone could be manageable. “Who says an exit from the euro and return to the national currency would be catastrophic?” he said, adding that the government should start preparing Greeks for the possibility of an “alternative solution” to avert the imposition of new austerity measures and privatization of government assets.
The growing resistance from within Syriza comes as Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, has taken a harder line on Greece, insisting that the country commit to reforms in return for the funds and refusing to rule out the possibility that Greece could default on its debt.
In the meantime, more voices have been added to the discussions about a possible Greek exit from the eurozone. Over the weekend, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, said it was only a matter of time before Greece left the euro, while Warren E. Buffett, the billionaire investor, indicated that the euro could benefit from a Greek exit.
Nat Bank of Greece Short Interest -44.5% in April (NBG)
Not quite sure what this indicates. Only a day to cover & an upgrade. Maybe thinking is NBG will have ton of work coming its way should there be dual currencies?
2am ET today
http://www.wkrb13.com/markets/613331/national-bank-of-greece-short-interest-down-44-5-in-april-nbg/
Posted by Nolan Pearson on May 24th, 2015 // No Comments
National Bank of Greece (NYSE:NBG) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 15,061,509 shares, a drop of 44.5% from the April 15th total of 27,123,528 shares, AnalystRatings.NET reports. Based on an average daily volume of 15,419,499 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.
Separately, analysts at Vetr upgraded shares of National Bank of Greece from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $1.53 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.94.
National Bank of Greece (NYSE:NBG) opened at 1.36 on Monday. National Bank of Greece has a 52-week low of $0.98 and a 52-week high of $4.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1. and its 200-day moving average is $1.. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.67.
National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE:NBG) is a Greece-based financial institution. It provides a range of financial services including retail and commercial banking, asset management, brokerage, investment banking, insurance and real estate at a global level.
Greece will not make June IMF repayment — interior minister
11:39am ET today
Greece has again threatened to default on loan repayments due to the International Monetary Fund, saying it will be unable to meet pension and wage bills in June and also reimburse €1.6bn owed to the Fund without a bailout deal with creditors.
FT.com sub$ required
2 overseas late nite China HSBC & NZ budg
Chinese HSBC Manufacturing PMI (May P) M/M 49.1 vs. Exp. 49.3 (Prev. 48.9); 3rd month of contraction
- Output sub-index fell to 13 month low of 48.9.
- The sub-index on new export orders fell to a 23 month low of 46.8.
22:03 New Zealand forecasts a 2015-2016 budget surplus of NZD 1.76mln and a surplus of NZD 1.48bln in 2016-2017; sees inflation reaching 2% in Q4 2016
- Forecasts 2014-2015 budget deficit of NZD 684mln.
2nd China solar -47% in Hong Kong
Hanergy Thin Film Plunges 47% in Hong Kong
One of the year's hottest stocks on the Hong Kong market, Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd. , plunged nearly 50% in morning trading--wiping US$18.6 billion from its market value.
The Chinese solar-power company's share price had nearly tripled this year--after nearly quadrupling in 2014--at one point making its chairman, Li Hejun, China's richest man on paper.
But on Wednesday the stock opened lower and then took a sharp downturn on heavy volume. Trading in the stock was halted about an hour after the market opened, with the price down 47% at 3.91 Hong Kong dollars .
There no apparent immediate cause for the heavy selloff but it followed the overnight implosion of another Chinese solar company, Yingli Green Energy , whose share price fell 37% in Tuesday trading in New York . Yingling had said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday that "there is substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern."
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-19-15 2352ET
Business Insider reminder about charting
http://e.businessinsider.com/view/4bb22379e3065cb907b4e3a25558a5eb975910a03a1375aa/9cf2b4a0
I never forgot my college economics professor's simple warning about the problem with stock market charts
by David W. Bianchi, "Blue Chip Kids" on May 17, 2015, 10:30 AM
Drink to dat! Biz Insider chart reminder
Nice to see old fave Sam Adams Boston lead the pack. Lot of interesting ones on list. Ironically Food Emporium carries some fairly unusual brands, domestic & foreign. One thing is that if they don't sell well within a month or so they are gone.
Check out this short reminder about the perils of charting. Adds to the funda vs technical debate. Prob better to be a hybrid trader or 60-40% one side or other.
Fundas do have advantage of clearing out large amounts of stocks not worth the effort due to accounting issues, nationality, etc.
But in 'less risky scam' areas like ETFs, futures, FX, and such the technicals count a lot more on daily basis. Just gotta be careful of macro issues like overnight rate changes, crop failures, sector rotation, even bank rigging like over Libor.
Some fun right. Ah drawing another cold one this fine spring day.