Counterparties

More than two-thirds of big EU banks would fail revised stress tests — Bloomberg The Euro voting process explained — The Reformed Broker Loan sharking in China amounts to 10% of its GDP — NYT What high-yield bond spreads are telling us — Credit Writedowns Another explanation for late-day market volatility: FT articles — FT Alphaville Dimon: “All things considered” our Q3 earnings were “reasonable” — Reuters Let’s revisit the perverse accounting where banks record bond losses as gains — Bloomberg Economists predict US median incomes won’t bounce back until 2021 — WSJ Raj will be spending up to the next eleven years in the pokey — Dealbook Have start-ups seen funding dry up? — TechCrunch This is a small sample of the full smorgasbord of links available on Countparties.com

@7 months ago
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Sri Lanka stx at 12-wk low on Asian Alliance

* Rupee steady amid heavy importer demandCOLOMBO, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s stock market fell to a 12-week low on Wednesday as retail investors dumped insurer Asian Alliance Insurance after it peaked on speculation, but foreign investors bought institutional favourite John Keells Holdings .The island nation’s main share index closed 0.97 percent or 64.81 points down at 6,604.81, its lowest since June 27. It has erased all the gains throughout this year and slipped to Asia’s third-best performer with a year-to-date loss of 0.48 percent after being on the top for most of 2011.”Share prices boosted on speculation are now coming down sharply,” said a stockbroker on condition of anonymity. “We don’t see a market gain based on fundamentals anytime soon. Foreigners may buy fundamentally sound shares from time to time.”Shares of Asian Alliance Insurance, which leapt more than 237 percent in 11 sessions through Oct. 4, lost 26.5 percent.The bourse witnessed a net foreign inflow of 427.1 million rupees on Wednesday, the highest since June 14. Most of it went to the purchase of shares in conglomerate John Keells, which closed steady at 200 rupees.Thus far in 2011, offshore investors have sold 16.8 billion after offloading a record 26.4 billion in 2010.Losers outperformed gainers by 173 to 38 on Wednesday, Thomson Reuters data showed.Turnover was 1.6 billion Sri Lanka rupees ($14.5 million), less than last year’s average of 2.4 billion and this year’s 2.7 billion.Wednesday’s total volume was 63.9 million, against a five-day average of 78.9 million. The 30-day and 90-day average trading volumes were 149.8 million and 138 million. Last year’s daily average was 67.9 million.The rupee closed steady at 110.18/20 a dollar for a ninth straight day, as a state bank continued dollar sales at a flat rate of 110.20 rupees in spite of importer demand, dealers said.FACTORS TO WATCH: - If central bank can maintain a narrow dollar trading range - How much the central bank buys in repo auctions - Rupee depreciation due to heavy importer dollar demandDATAColombo Stock Exchange:Stock Market Volume (Shares)Current Volume Average Volume 30 Days63,925,885 149,760,562Yield and Price of Sri Lanka’s sovereign bonds:Maturing year Tenure amount Reuters yield2012 5-yr $500 mln 6.446-5.9402014 5-yr $500 mln 6.524-6.1882020 10-yr $1,000 mln 7.0889-6.93192021 10-yr $1,000 mln 7.1028-6.9546* For Sri Lankan treasury securities benchmarks and data, please click and* For interbank lending rate or call money rate or* For secondary market rates, please see <0#LKBMK=>. ($1 = 110.200 Sri Lanka Rupees)

@7 months ago with 48 notes
#Sri #Lanka #stx #at #12wk #low #on #Asian #Alliance 

Eastwood producer Fritz Manes dead at 79

Manes died of lung and brain cancer, said his wife, Audrey, who goes by Audi.Manes met Eastwood at Piedmont Junior High School in Piedmont, Calif., and later crossed paths at Oakland Technical High School, the Times said. Manes served in the Marines in the Korean War, studied acting at UCLA, and went on to a series of jobs in radio and television.Eastwood hired him for his production company, Malpaso, and in 1976 gave him assistant to the producer credits for “The Outlaw Josey Wales” and “The Enforcer.”He later received producer credits on films including “Any Which Way You Can,” “Tightrope,” and “City Heat.” He received executive producer credit for “Firefox,” “Honkytonk Man,” “Sudden Impact,” “Pale Rider,” and “Heartbreak Ridge.”He also appeared in small roles in films including “Escape From Alcatraz,” and “Every Which Way But Loose.”The professional relationship ended with “Heartbreak Ridge.” Because he was a former Marine who had won the Purple Heart, Manes was expected to work closely with the Marine Corps. But the Marines disavowed the film, in part because of its loose portrayal of the invasion of Grenada, the Times said.Manes later formed his own production company, Sundancer, and served on the California Film Commission.

@7 months ago
#Eastwood #producer #Fritz #Manes #dead #at #79 

China media liken U.S. yuan bill to Great Depression act

Many U.S. lawmakers, trade unions and manufacturing lobbies say China keeps down the value of its yuan currency to give its exports an unfair edge in global markets.But Chinese officials have said the legislation could trigger a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies if it passes into law, which is far from certain. The Xinhua commentary stepped up the rhetoric by invoking the Great Depression of the 1930s.”There were similar circumstances in the 1930s,” said a Chinese-language commentary from Xinhua, which described the passage of the Smoot-Hawlet Tariff Act of 1930, which it said exacerbated a drastic economic downturn by triggering a global trade war of protectionist tit-for-tat measures.”The United States’ economy and the world economy are different from those of the 1930s, but looking back on history would help the U.S. Senate see the problems, contradictions and dangers of the currency bill,” it said.”China has an old saying that one should use history as a mirror to understand the rise and fall of states.”“We hope that those American politicians clamoring to force the renminbi to appreciate will absorb the lessons of history and head the voices of reason, and not commit a foolhardy act that will harm their own people and others.”The “renminbi,” or “people’s money,” is another name for China’s currency.China controls the pace of yuan exchange rate movements by setting a daily mid-point from which the currency can rise or fall 0.5 percent versus the dollar each day, and also by intervening in trading on the domestic market.On Tuesday, the People’s Bank of China fixed the yuan daily mid-point at an all-time peak ahead of the vote by the U.S. Senate.U.S. supporters of the bill say the Senate is almost certain to approve it. But the bill faces stiffer resistance in the House of Representatives where it may never even face a vote. The White House has also suggested the legislation could violate international trade rules.Even so, Beijing appears worried that it could become embroiled in an unsettling economic feud with Washington in 2012, when President Barack Obama faces a fight for re-election and China’s Communist Party navigates a leadership handover.High U.S. unemployment, fractious politics and public ire “make it easy for people to make associations with the U.S. economic and social circumstances of the thirties,” said the Xinhua commentary.

@7 months ago with 27 notes
#China #media #liken #US #yuan #bill #to #Great #Depression #act