Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
Cars for pensioners: While United Auto Workers retiree healthcare trust fund and Fiat argue about the terms for an initial public offering for Chrysler, a piece from Citi this morning reminded Dan why the Italian carmaker is so well suited to running the company.
Silk Road is seized: Joseph presents some of the more curious findings from the FBI complaint against one Ross William Ulbricht, "a/k/a Dread Pirate Roberts, a/k/a "DPR", a/k/a "Silk Road", the defendant", which was released on Wednesday.
NEWS
BP wins spill compensation appeal: BP has secured a first victory in its legal campaign to limit its compensation settlement for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, following a favourable ruling from a US court. (Financial Times)
Payday lenders face fresh curbs: The FCA said it wants to stop payday lenders from directly accessing their customers' bank accounts once they have made two unsuccessful attempts to collect a payment. (Financial Times)
Wall Street fears mount over US default: "Wall Street expressed mounting concern on Wednesday over the prospect of the first default by the US of its debt obligations as the impasse continued on Capitol Hill on the second day of the US government showdown." (Financial Times)
Hedge funds expand their repo businesses: Hedge funds including Och-Ziff and Moore Capital have been beefing up their repo business, according to people familiar with the matter. At the same time, broker-dealer Pierpont Securities has teamed with a California-based start-up to build a platform that directly matches borrowers with lenders in the vast repo market. (Financial Times)
Cerberus examining bid for BlackBerry: Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm that specialises in acquiring distressed assets, has asked to see BlackBerry's accounts in preparation for a possible bid for the struggling Canadian smartphone maker, people familiar with the discussions said. (Financial Times)
Draghi pledges to keep interest rates low: While the ECB reiterated its "forward guidance" policy that promises to keep rates at or below current levels for an extended period, the council remained divided, for the second month in a row, over whether it should cut further. (Financial Times)
"The U.S. is overtaking Russia as the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas, a startling shift that is reshaping markets and eroding the clout of traditional energy-rich nations… The U.S. ascendance comes as Russia has struggled to maintain its energy output and has yet to embrace technologies such as hydraulic fracturing that have boosted American reserves." (WSJ)
Markets: US equity index futures were in the red and the dollar was hovering near eight-month lows as traders continued to fret about the impact of a prolonged government shutdown and the potential for the world's biggest economy to technically default on its debts. European and Asian stock benchmarks were mostly in positive territory, however, partly the result of Wall Street finishing well off its lows in the previous session but also as some investors gained succour from the belief that central banks will counter US fiscal dislocation with extended monetary largesse.The FTSE All-World index was adding 0.1 per cent as Europe's Stoxx 600 gained 0.1 per cent and as the Asia-Pacific region rose 0.3 per cent. Markets in China, South Korea and Germany were closed for national holidays. (Financial Times)
