Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
A Bitcomedy: Hot on the heels of the hilarious Wiklevoss Bitcoin Trust, a satirist over at The Guardian has created an hilarious virtual bitcoin entrepreneur called Kate Craig-Wood. As Paul uncovered, Kate and her friends discovered they could magic cash out of nearly nothing, simply by building bitcoin mining machines housed in plastic crates and letting them do their money-making stuff.
Too much appreciation too soon for the renminbi? If Izzy is right, a key concern in China is prospective capital outflows fuelled by a change in renminbi policy and its potential devaluation. This makes sense since a renminbi devaluation would not only destroy the Chinese bid abroad but scuttle hot foreign money that did manage to get exposure to the RMB — money which may indirectly be supporting the Chinese system in ways we don't fully understand yet.
Introducing the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust: But as Tracy opines, something tells us this is one Winklevoss-innovation Mark Zuckerberg won't be stealing.
NEWS
President Morsi rejects Egyptian army's ultimatum: The Islamist leader described as potentially confusing the 48-hour deadline set by the head of the armed forces on Monday for him to agree on a common platform with liberal rivals who have drawn millions into the streets demanding his resignation. The statement issued by the army said it would have to intervene if the political crisis was not resolved. (Financial Times)
Rothschild to advise on RBS split: The UK government has moved quickly to appoint advisers on the potential split of RBS, with Rothschild set to be named to run the assessment. Rothschild saw off competition from Deutsche Bank and BAML at presentations last week, and its role could be announced as soon as this week, according to people close to the situation. (Financial Times)
Greece has 3 days to deliver or face consequences: "Greece has three days to reassure Europe and the International Monetary Fund it can deliver on conditions attached to its international bailout in order to receive the next tranche of aid, four euro zone officials said on Tuesday. The lenders are unhappy with progress Greece has made towards reforming its public sector, a senior euro zone official involved in the negotiations said, while another said they might suspend an inspection visit they resumed on Monday." (Reuters)
Australia's central bank left rates on hold, as widely expected: The RBA board held the cash rate at 2.75%, with the governor noting the economy was growing "a bit below trend", but the Australian dollar may continue to fall, which would help rebalance the economy. (Statement) The Australian dollar lost 0.5 per cent against its US equivalent following the decision.
China's credit freeze deliberate, and just badly executed? "The People's Bank of China instigated the cash shortages that catapulted Chinese interest rates to nosebleed highs during the past two weeks because the central bank felt it had no alternative amid what it saw as out-of-control credit growth," says the WSJ, citing an internal PBOC document. However it adds the message was poorly communicated, underlined by the propaganda authorities' efforts to 'tone down' reporting of the cash crunch. (Wall Street Journal)(Financial Times)
Japanese pension fund buys into US electricity: "One of Japan's biggest pension funds has joined a Canadian partner to buy a $2bn electricity plant in Michigan, said people familiar with the deal. The investment, which is the first infrastructure acquisition by a Japanese public pension fund, is a sign that the country's massive pension-fund industry is diversifying outside traditional assets such as government bonds." (Financial Times)
Noble Corporation eyes move to UK: "Noble Corporation, one of the world's largest offshore drilling contractors, plans to relocate from Switzerland to the UK to benefit from its less restrictive corporate law." The company relocated from the US to Switzerland in 2009. (Financial Times)
"Activist investor Carl Icahn said he has raised more than $5 billion to finance his plan to recapitalize ailing personal-computer maker Dell a move he said should end speculation that the funds wouldn't be available. Last month, Mr. Icahn stepped up his bid for Dell, disclosing he had nearly doubled his stake in the company while also calling for Dell to launch a tender offer for 1.1 billion shares at $14 each." (Wall Street Journal)
GlaxoSmithKline is investigated in China: "The British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline said on Monday that the authorities here were investigating whether senior managers working for the company in China were involved in "economic crimes." [...] Two weeks ago, the company fired the head of its research and development staff in Shanghai for misrepresenting data in a scientific paper he helped to write." (New York Times)
Markets: The FTSE All-World equity index is up just 0.2 per cent as traders digest recent mixed news on the global economy and appear cautious ahead of central bank decisions and crucial US data. Industrial commodities are mixed, highly-rated fixed income is little changed and the US dollar index is up fractionally. Gold is continuing to recover from the battering that last week took the metal to a near three-year low of $1,181 an ounce, rising $11 to $1,264. Stock index futures suggest the S&P 500 will add 4 points to 1,618, but the FTSE Eurofirst 300 is down 0.3 per cent, reflecting Wall Street's late paring of gains on Monday. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.8 per cent, still buoyed by news of stronger than expected business confidence and a weaker yen, which is currently changing hands at Y99.88 to the dollar writes the FT's Global Markets knight, Jamie Chisholm.
