Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
The bear and the moron: SocGen's bathed-bear Albert Edward has been forced by overwhelming rage to look past the rich vein of Abenomics to the UK's George Osborne. It's the Chancellor's latest meddling with the housing market that has got Edwards so inflamed, notes David.
Finland's Greek collateral: still pointless: The apparent uselessness of Finland's Greek 'collateral' is all very embarrassing, and it's also terribly public by this point, says Joseph. But surely there can't be that much backlash over this rather arcane derivatives transaction. Actually, it's worth checking out Sunday's front-page ad in Helsingin Sanomat, Finland's biggest circulation daily.
NEWS
French minister hits at Amazon dumping: France's culture minister has attacked Amazon, the online retailer, for deliberately undercutting traditional rivals to create a "quasi-monopoly", in the latest assault by the socialist government on internet companies. "Today, everyone has had enough of Amazon which, through dumping practices, smashes prices to penetrate markets to then raise prices again once they are in a situation of quasi-monopoly," said Aurélie Filippetti, the culture minister. (Financial Times)
Banking commision raises option on RBS split: The idea of splitting Royal Bank of Scotland into a good bank – ripe for reprivatisation – and a state-run bad bank holding RBS's toxic assets has been raised as an option in a draft report on banking standards. (Financial Times)
US funds left bruised by heavy bond losses: Every one of the most popular class of US mutual funds investing in bonds lost money in May, highlighting the risks for investors as interest rates rise. Bond yields around the world soared from some of the lowest levels in decades last month as investors anticipated an end to the extraordinary measures the Federal Reserve has used to stimulate the US economy. (Financial Times)
ECB backs away from use of 'big bazooka' to boost credit: Even though Spanish and Italian SMEs have seen their borrowing costs rise to unaffordable levels, the ECB's review of the problem suggests that the blockage in lending is the result of weakened bank balance sheets and would not warrant direct intervention in the SME borrowing process by the central bank. (Financial Times)
Apple denies charges over ebook prices: Apple took to a US federal court on Monday to defend itself against government charges that it acted as a ringleader in a conspiracy with book publishers to increase prices and eliminate competition in the ebook market. (Financial Times)
Wheat bear market worsens: US wheat farmers are enduring torrential spring rain after last year's drought, reducing their share of worldwide exports to a near-record low at a time when rising global supply is driving prices into a bear market. Shipments are to fall to 17.6 per cent of global exports in the 12 months through May 2014, compared with 20.3 per cent in 2013 and the all-time low of 17.5 per cent in 2010, the US Department of Agriculture estimated. (Bloomberg)
Uneven gains signal US car demand near plateau: Strong demand for pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles boosted U.S. sales in May for major auto makers, but the auto industry rebound that has helped buoy the US economy since early last year is showing signs of leveling off. Auto makers on Monday reported a mixed bag of results for their May US new-car sales. Some had big gains, including Ford, others, however, showed tepid growth, including General Motors. (Wall Street Journal)
Markets: European stocks were opening in the black and Asian shares bounced off a two-month low, but investors remained twitchy after uncertainty over the duration and impact of central bank intervention delivered volatility in recent weeks. Moves across asset classes were mild and muddled. The dollar index was adding 0.1 per cent and gold was dipping $4 to $1,407 an ounce. Industrial commodities were treading water, with copper barely changed at $3.33 a pound and Brent crude down just 16 cents to $101.90 a barrel. Ten-year Treasury yields were up 1 basis point to 2.14 per cent.
