Flat, light-volume, US stocks. The S&P 500 closed down 0.1 per cent at 1,562.85, still looking for that record high (Bloomberg).
Cyprus prepared to reopen its banks for the first time since March 16. The six-hour reopening on Thursday will be accompanied by the first capital controls to be introduced in a eurozone country. Cyprus will ban taking more than €3,000 of banknotes on foreign trips, and limit cash withdrawals from deposits to €300 per day among the measures. The controls will last for seven days, but can be renewed by decree depending on the pace of the deposit flight they are designed to stem (Financial Times, Wall Street Journal).
American Airlines' $11bn merger with US Airways received a bankruptcy judge's approval. However, Judge Sean Lane objected to a clause giving a $20m severance package to AMR's outgoing chief executive, Tom Horton (Reuters). The two airlines announced the merger plan in February, with the backing of creditors (Bloomberg).
Blacktone is open to keeping Michael Dell on as CEO if it gains control of Dell. Mr Dell began the current bidding war for the company with an offer to take it private alongside Silver Lake Partners, but his fate as founder and largest shareholder is likely to be key to any rival deal. Blackstone sees Mr Dell as a "potential ally" for securing control of the company if its bid succeeds (Wall Street Journal).
Google Glasses will be made in California. Taiwan's Foxconn will help Google assemble the wearable computers at a facility in Santa Clara. The Glasses' small scale, high cost and complexity made it more practical to manufacture their initial run close to Google's Silicon Valley headquarters (Financial Times).
JPMorgan is vying to replace Goldman as the top of the US M&A league table for the first time in two years. Quarterly volume data from Mergermarket are likely to give the bank the top spot after its advising on deals including Heinz, Dell, Virgin Media and GE's sale of its NBCUniversal stake (Financial Times).
FURTHER FURTHER READING
- Scott Sumner: it's not the bubbles, it's the NGDP instability.
- Putting the loan mod onus on mortgage servicers.
- "Cyprus is a "special case", apparently. We wait to hear what is special about it."
- Pawelmorski on eurozone bail-ins: "rank amateurs playing a high-stakes game".
- "We are up to 15% recovery, with 20% in sight". Guess the bank.
- Poland and the euro: Barnejek versus Paul Krugman.
- The housing bubble, and skin in the game.
