Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
Prime global real-estate prices are stalling: Izzy refers to research from Knight Frank which shows that prime prices across all the cities it tracks rose by 6.6 per cent on average in the year to September, but only by 1.2 per cent in the last three months.
The gold producer wild card: Izzy cites BNP Paribas research which says that gold prices are getting closer to the precipice and that the rate at which gold producers hedge future supply will determine how quickly they're pushed over the edge.
NEWS
Vodafone boosts spending plans to £7bn: The group added another £1bn to the £6bn already earmarked to invest in key strategic areas to bolster its business around the world. Vodafone will invest £3bn in Europe into extending 3G and accelerating the roll out of superfast 4G mobile, which is seen as key to driving customers to higher priced mobile tariffs based on internet data use, rather than voice calls. (Financial Times)
IEA warns of future oil supply crunch: In a strident warning against complacency in the oil market, the developed world's energy body said key Gulf producers have been adopting a "wait and see approach" to investment, because of the perception that the US shale revolution would produce an "abundance of oil". (Financial Times)
ETF demand sends platinum to big deficit: Johnson Matthey, whose data on platinum group metals (PGM) is considered a benchmark by hedge funds and industrial users of commodities, expects platinum prices to trade in a range of $1,360-$1,580 a troy ounce, averaging $1,465 over the next six months. On Tuesday the platinum price was trading around $1,420. (Financial Times)
China leaders approve reform agenda: Xinhua: The 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday approved a decision on "major issues concerning comprehensively deepening reforms", Xinhua said in a dispatch. More details are expected to follow. (Via Reuters)
Swiss referendum on wages of high earners stirs debate: On November 24, the Alpine nation will hold a referendum on a radical proposal that, if accepted, would make it illegal for businesses operating in Switzerland to pay any staff more than 12 times the wage they pay their lowest earners. (Financial Times)
Shadow banks reap Fed rate reward with three specialist categories increasing their assets by almost 60 per cent since the height of the financial crisis. The amount of assets held by US business development companies (BDCs), specialist finance companies and real estate investment trusts (Reits) has jumped from $779bn in 2008 to $1.22tn in the second quarter of 2013, according to data compiled by SNL Financial for the Financial Times.
"Brazilian shipbuilder OSX Brasil SA filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, becoming the second company controlled by former billionaire Eike Batista to seek court protection from creditors in just over a week." (Reuters)
America's jobs recovery is proceeding on two separate tracks: "Youth unemployment, for example, nearly always improves after recessions more slowly than that of prime-age workers, those between 25 and 54. Following the 2001 recession, it took six months for the gap between the youth and prime-age unemployment rates to return to its long-run average. After the early 1990s recession, it took 30 months. This time, it has been 52 months, and the gap has hardly narrowed." (WSJ)
Markets: Investors were cautious as optimism on the US economy pushed interest rates higher, while the prospect of less Federal Reserve support left some emerging market assets under pressure. The dollar was firmer as Treasury yields moved up, while gold was down $2 to $1,281 a troy ounce and industrial commodities were weak. In equities, Europe's Stoxx 600 was flat after the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, fell 0.1 per cent. US index futures suggested the S&P 500 would drop fractionally to 1,771.5, leaving it only 1 point shy of a fresh record close. Wall Street moved into new territory as investors cheered recent better news on the economy and a generally well-received third-quarter corporate earnings season. Crucially, it also appeared that traders were coming to terms with the fact that an improving economic environment would hasten the end of the Fed's massive bond-buying stimulus programme – increasing the prospects for tapering, which has in the past caused bouts of risk aversion. (Financial Times)
