Good morning, New York...
FT ALPHAVILLE
Bove vs Bloomberg, redux. The ex-Rochdale banking analyst, now at Rafferty, has found a hook in the Bloomberg terminal-snooping story for his latest note. Hint: it involves JPMorgan. Click through to Joseph's post for more.
The end of QE? Marc Ostwald at Monument Securities has spotted that an important theme is developing: a rise in the number of warnings about QE suspension and QE exit. Izzy's post explores the trend, offering a few quick thoughts.
Stress you next year. This is one way to respond to the mess Euroland is in over who should make the calls for recapitalising banks… The European Banking Authority is delaying its next banking stress test to 2014, to wait for both new asset-quality reviews and the ECB's Single Supervisory Mechanism (so is it to wait for Wolfgang Schaeuble?). Joseph has more.
NEWS
The gas-rich state of Qatar has spent as much as $3bn over the past two years supporting the rebellion in Syria, far exceeding any other government, but is now being nudged aside by Saudi Arabia as the prime source of arms to rebels. The cost of Qatar's intervention, its latest push to back an Arab revolt, amounts to a fraction of its international investment portfolio. But its financial support for the revolution that has turned into a vicious civil war dramatically overshadows western backing for the opposition. (Financial Times)
Dell reported first-quarter profits well below Wall Street expectations as it cut personal computer prices to arrest declining market share. Mr Dell launched a $24.4bn buyout bid in partnership with the Silver Lake private equity group in February, arguing that a buyout would allow Dell to take stronger actions to revive its technology business. Activist investor Carl Icahn is also vying to take over the company, along with Southeastern Asset Management, Dell's leading independent shareholder. (Financial Times)
Farmland prices in the US corn belt have risen at double-digit clip this year despite weaker grain markets in a move that will intensify debate over whether loose monetary policy and congressional largesse are inflating a bubble. Agricultural land values increased 15 per cent on last year during the first quarter in a district that includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Thursday. The region's farmland values have trebled in the past decade. (Financial Times)
AP Møller-Maersk downgraded its view on global trade as the Danish group warned that global demand for container shipping would be lower than it thought three months ago. The world's largest container shipping company by capacity, seen as a bellwether for world trade, said it expected global seaborne container demand to grow 2-4 per cent in 2013, down from its forecast of 4-5 per cent in February. (Financial Times)
Tony Hayward has sealed a remarkable comeback by becoming interim chairman of commodities group Glencore Xstrata. The former BP chief executive was once described as the US's most hated man. The appointment follows the ousting of Sir John Bond in a shareholder coup that saw an 80 per cent vote against the reappointment of the City of London veteran. (Financial Times)
Citigroup is stopping traders in its foreign exchange division from using internal chat groups on their Bloomberg terminals, in the latest sign of concern by banks over online security issues. Bloomberg has come under fire over the past week from some of its largest clients over concerns that its journalists accessed private details regarding how they used its powerful financial data terminals. (Financial Times)
Saudi princes deny laundering claim: A brother and nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah were involved in a scheme to launder millions of dollars, including to the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah, according to a London court claim filed by a former business partner. Prince Mishal bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a former defence minister, and his son, Prince Abdulaziz, have rejected the allegations as "scandalous and outrageous". Their lawyers have argued that they amount to a malicious attack on their reputations, and "extortion". (Financial Times)
Standard & Poor's cut Berkshire Hathaway's credit rating on Thursday, citing an over reliance on its insurance business and raising questions over his succession plans. The one notch cut to AA by the rating agency reflects the unusual record and structure of the Sage of Omaha's $277bn candy-to-cargo-train collection of businesses built around an insurance company. (Financial Times)
Yahoo has been spared a potential $2.7bn payout in legal damages after a Mexican court overturned an earlier ruling against the US web portal in a contract dispute. In November 2011, WorldWide Directories and Ideas Interactivas, former Yahoo partners in Mexico on a directories business, filed an action against Yahoo, alleging breach of contract, breach of promise and lost profits dating back to 2002 and 2004. Yahoo counter-sued for $2.6m for services rendered. (Financial Times)
Markets: The dollar is firmer, S&P 500 futures are up 0.3 per cent, while European stocks are mildly softer at the end of a record breaking week for many equity benchmarks, during which central bank responses to tackling meek growth have again been in focus. Activity in Asia was thinned by Hong Kong and South Korea being closed for national holidays, leaving China's Shanghai Composite to add 1.4 per cent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 to advance 0.3 per cent. (FT's Global Market Overview)
