Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
China slowdown predictions, metals and oil edition: Now that the possibility of a sharp slowdown in Chinese growth, or even an outright contraction, is getting some serious airplay, Kate says we can expect a ramp up in forecasts about what this will mean. Here's one such forecast from Barclays.
Alphachat with Manmohan Singh on collateral chains: Cardiff and Izzy discuss the importance of pledged collateral and its reuse in financial markets with IMF economist Manmohan Singh
NEWS
Banks warn of risk at clearing houses: Concerns have mounted as clearing houses have shot to the top of banks' lists of counterparties, following the shift of over-the-counter trading to centralised clearing houses. (Financial Times)
HTC's profit drops 83% in Q2: The smartphone maker struggled to regain momentum amid stiff competition. (Wall Street Journal)
Perry Capital sues US Treasury over Fannie and Freddie dividends: One of the largest US hedge funds is suing the US Treasury over the terms of large dividend payments it has been receiving from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage companies taken over by the government during the depths of the housing crisis in 2008. (Financial Times)
French firms cut back on investments: Higher taxes and cheaper foreign competition have pushed margins for French companies down to their lowest level since 1985—reducing companies' ability to stomach risk. (Wall Street Journal)
ETFs close in record numbers despite industry boom: About 117 ETFs have shuttered in the first half of this year, according to data collected by independent research firm ETFGI, easily outpacing closures in the same period in previous years. (Financial Times)
Glaxo probes tactics used to market Botox in China: The drugmaker is investigating allegations that sales personnel in China rewarded doctors with cash and perks for prescribing Botox, and allegedly tried to cover their tracks by using private email, as part of a broader probe into allegations of bribery that date back several years. (Wall Street Journal)
Bovis rises to highest since August 2007 on H1 profit: The UK homebuilder said it had a "significant improvement" in first-half profit as sales volumes and prices beat the company's expectations. (Bloomberg)
Chinese cash squeeze to create credit hole: A Bloomberg survey finds the Chinese money-market squeeze is likely to reduce credit growth in the country by 750bn yuan this year, an amount equivalent to the size of Vietnam's economy. (Bloomberg)
China life assurer Ping An buys Lloyd's Building for £260m: The insurer – the first from the country to buy in the London market – acquired the distinctive "Inside-Out" building from Commerzbank, the German lender. (Financial Times)
Dollar Index reaches July 2010 high: The move come ahead of Ben Bernanke's speech this week amid speculation signs of economic growth will compel the central bank to slow stimulus. (Bloomberg)
Markets: Global markets were displaying sharp regional differences as traders parsed the prospects for monetary policy in the world's two biggest economies and look ahead of the US corporate earnings season. The FTSE All-World equity index was barely changed. Treasuries were firmer, nudging yields lower and causing the dollar to dip, which in turn helped gold add $2 to $1,225 an ounce. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was enjoying a gain of 1.2 per cent, primarily because the European benchmark finished Friday's session when Wall Street was near its low of the day, only for US stocks subsequently to rally into the close. US index futures suggested the S&P 500 would add another six points to 1,638, with investors apparently still happy about signs of improvement in the US labour market, even if this means it hastens the end of the Federal Reserve's $85bn-a-month of asset purchases. (Financial Times)
