* Housing sector gains 3 pct after upbeat home prices data
* Jump in Spanish yields contributes to market caution
* Speculation of split sparks surge in News Corp
* Indexes up: Dow 0.3 pct, S&P 0.5 pct, Nasdaq 0.6 pct (Updates to close)
NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - Major U.S. stock indexes bounced back on Tuesday, but trading was light with the outlook clouded by doubts before yet another summit to tackle the European debt crisis.
U.S. stocks partly recovered from losses of more than 1 percent on Monday, led by housing shares after stronger-than-expected data on home prices.
The consumer discretionary sector was the top gainer on the S&P 500, followed by energy shares, which were boosted by a 2.3 percent jump in Brent crude prices.
Traders remained cautious as Spanish short-term borrowing costs nearly tripled and U.S. consumer confidence fell in June to its lowest level in five months.
"Certainly in the United States stocks are nicely priced, and for a long-term investor it is an attractive entry point, but then what about these macro risks hovering around the market? I think it's having a dampening effect," said John De Clue, global market strategist at U.S. Bank's wealth management group in Minneapolis.
Spanish 10-year bond yields rose after demand at a shorter-term bill sale fell despite significantly higher yields. Hopes faded that the European Union summit later this week would produce game-changing measures to ease the debt crisis.
Madrid has formally asked for funds to bail out its banks in a move some see as a prelude for a full-blown bailout of the euro zone's fourth-largest economy.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said it was considering splitting into two publicly traded companies, and sources familiar with the matter said publishing would be separated from entertainment. Shares jumped 8.3 percent to $21.76 on volume of 73.1 million shares, making it the day's most actively traded stock on the Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32.01 points, or 0.26 percent, to 12,534.67. The S&P 500 Index gained 6.27 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,319.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 17.90 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,854.06.
About 5.9 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE Amex, below the daily average of 6.82 billion so far this year.
JPMorgan Chase & Co shares rose 1.1 percent to $35.71 after Goldman Sachs added the bank to its conviction buy list. Morgan Stanley, cut to "neutral" by Goldman, added 0.2 percent to $13.51.
The PHLX housing index jumped 2.6 percent after S&P/Case Shiller data showed home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas gained 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.
Facebook shares rose 3.2 percent to $33.10 a day before the underwriters of the online social network's recent IPO are expected to release research on the company.
Advancing issues beat decliners on the New York Stock exchange by about 9 to 5 while on the Nasdaq almost seven issues rose for every five that fell. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
US crude stocks rise, products mixed-API - Reuters
NEW YORK, June 26 |
NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude stocks rose last week, while refined fuel stocks were mixed with gasoline inventories rising and distillates falling, data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed on Tuesday.
U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly rose 507,000 barrels in the week to June 22, the API said, compared with analyst expectations for a 500,000 barrel fall in a Reuters poll.
In the Gulf Coast region, or PADD 3, crude stocks grew by a large 4.85 million barrels, more than offsetting stock reductions in other PADD regions. The Gulf Coast stocks rose even as U.S. crude imports fell last week, by 332,000 barrels per day to 8.93 million bpd, according to API data.
U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 373,000 barrels compared with analyst expectations for a larger 800,000 barrel increase. The largest rise occurred in the PADD 1 East Coast region, where gasoline inventories were up nearly 1.8 million barrels.
U.S. distillate stocks unexpectedly fell 1 million barrels, compared with analyst expectations for a 1.2 million barrel rise.
Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange crude contract fell by 682,000 barrels last week.
Refinery operations rose by 0.8 percentage point to 91.9 percent of capacity last week, compared with forecasts for a 0.1 percentage point rise.
U.S. crude oil prices were little changed after the data. They were up 16 cents to $79.38 in post-settlement trading. (Reporting by Joshua Schneyer; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Scully money protest just fun - The Age
Demon fanatic David Danger.
WHEN David Danger went to the MCG on Sunday he was armed with his usual passion for the Melbourne Football Club and a stash of fake cash aimed at lampooning Tom Scully, the young player who had deserted his Demons.
He could not have predicted that waving a paper bag full of home-made notes - that he also had pinned to his jacket - almost had him evicted from the stadium and at the centre of a security and civil liberties storm.
The MCC and AFL yesterday claimed that MCG officials had tried to remove the Victoria Police employee from the ground after he had used obscene language, but yesterday Danger - seeing himself on television and being widely accused of having a foul mouth - moved to set the record straight.
''At no point did I use an obscenity,'' said the 16-year Melbourne member, who works in the Victoria Police infrastructure and IT department. ''I am not happy with the way I have been portrayed by the AFL spokesman Patrick Keane as well as the MCG spokesman Shane Brown.
''The whole idea that I was swearing seems to be a ruse or cover-up for the fact that I was waving Scully money and wearing a jacket covered in notes, and they actually wanted to quash that.
''Surely my Melbourne Football Club jacket with notes pinned on it is no more offensive than a gold-sequined jacket worn by [prominent Collingwood supporter] Joffa. Where was my freedom of speech and why should I have to remove my jacket?''
Danger, 38, told The Age he and a friend had prepared the fake bank notes - adorned with photographs of Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy, AFL chief Andrew Demetriou and Scully himself - on a photocopier. He said his costume and paper money bags drew a laugh from Melbourne player Jack Watts in the warm-up.
''I wanted to have a bit of fun because what he [Scully] did was not the sort of honesty I would have expected of a player. I wasn't surprised when he finally left [Melbourne] but when I heard about his father signing on that was probably the worst part,'' Danger said.
He said he was initially reported by an on-ground security official late in the first quarter of the Melbourne-GWS game. He said he had leant over the fence and asked a boundary umpire could he ''offer him one of my bags of Scully money in exchange for a free kick in our forward 50''.
Two more security guards approached him and led him to the back of the stand where another five security guards told him he was being evicted for obscene language.
Allowed to return to his seat to collect his belongings and watch the remainder of the first term, Danger said it was a victory for people power that he was eventually permitted to see out the game.
''I asked the crowd if anyone heard me swear,'' Danger said. ''Everyone agreed with me. Knowing that they could have a riot on their hands, they [the MCC] decided I was allowed to stay, however I was to remove my jacket which had my Scully money pinned onto it.
''Security were heavy-handed against Demons supporters all day, but what about the Collingwood supporter who racially abused a Gold Coast supporter, was never evicted but allowed to stay for the full game. They don't seem to have their priorities very well established.''
Danger, who has not missed a Melbourne home game this season, admitted he had sworn at the football in the past - ''when there are no children around'' - and had been occasionally admonished for banging on the fence. ''We're there week-in week-out in our reserved seats and we just love going to the footy.''
Three anti-Scully signs were removed from the MCG on Sunday - one because it was too large, one because it obstructed an advertising sign and the third because it was deemed offensive describing the 21-year-old top draft choice as ''Number One Pr---k''.
Macau casino stocks slide on visa concerns - The Guardian
TCF Financial to Redeem $115M TruPS - Yahoo Finance
On Monday, TCF Financial Corporation (TCB) joined the bandwagon of major financial institutions and announced the redemption of trust preferred securities (TruPS) worth $115 million. These include the redemption of 10.75% TCF Capital I preferred securities. Over the last couple of weeks, banks have been redeeming TruPS since these will no longer qualify for Tier 1 beginning in 2013.
TCF Financial stated that these preferred securities will be redeemed at $25 per trust preferred share. The redemption amount will also include accrued and unpaid distributions until the redemption date arrives.
The TruPS redemption will take place on July 30, 2012. The company further mentioned that it will use net proceeds from the public offering of its depository shares completed on June 25 to fund the redemptions. The stock offering raised net proceeds of $166.6 million in total. Wilmington Trust Company, a subsidiary of M&T Bank Corporation (MTB), is acting as the paying agent.
TCF Financial issued 6.9 million depositary shares, including over-allotments to the general public at an offer price of $25 per depositary share. The Preferred stock has a par value of 1 cent per share. Each share represents a 1/1,000th interest in a share of the company’s Series A Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock.
TCF Financial’s decision to redeem TruPS follows the announcement of the new capital rules by the Federal Reserve earlier this month. As per the new proposal, the TruPS issued prior to May 19, 2010 would not be considered for the calculation of Tier 1 capital ratio.
Similar Actions
Apart from TCF Financial, many other banks have announced the redemption of TruPS in the last few weeks. Bank of America Corporation (BAC) announced the redemption of $3.9 billion in TruPS, BB&T Corporation (BBT) announced the redemption of $3.1 billion of TruPS, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) would be redeeming nearly $9 billion in TruPS.
Further, SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) stated that it will be redeeming TruPS worth nearly $1.19 billion. Citigroup Inc. (C), whose extra capital deployment request was rejected by the Fed, has also announced the redemption of TruPS.
Conclusion
Redemption of TruPS is a positive step for the banks, enabling them to bring down interest expenses, as these securities demand higher rates than other securities. Often, the banks replace TruPS with equity or other low-cost debt. Further, according to the Dodd-Frank Act, banks will no longer be able to consider these securities as regulatory capital beginning 2013.
In March 2012, TCF Financial repositioned its balance sheet with the prepayment of $3.6 billion of long-term debt. Moreover, it also sold $1.9 billion of mortgage-backed securities. The restructuring of the balance sheet has also reduced interest rate risk of the company and is expected to be more accretive to the net interest margin.
We expect the company to maintain its superior position in the market based on its positive approach to market conditions and improving top-line growth. However, the regulatory reforms might affect the company’s near-term results to some extent.
TCF Financial currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates to a short-term Hold rating.
Read the Full Research Report on TCBRead the Full Research Report on JPM
Read the Full Research Report on BBT
Read the Full Research Report on MTB
Read the Full Research Report on STI
Read the Full Research Report on C
Read the Full Research Report on BAC
More From Zacks.com
AFH Financial acquires IFA fined for Ucis sales for £100k - Citywire.co.uk
Plus-listed financial advice firm AFH Financial has acquired an IFA which was fined last year by the regulator over its sale of unregulated collective investment schemes (Ucis) for £100,000.
AFH has acquired Cheltenham-based Specialist Solutions, which was fined £35,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in April last year for mis-selling Ucis to clients between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2009.
The FSA’s final notice stated that around 94% of Ucis sales had been conducted by two individuals who had left the firm in May and November 2010, and that Ucis had only been promoted to around 3% of Specialist Solutions clients.
The firm immediately applied for a change in permissions following the FSA’s actions, and has not given any Ucis advice since June 2010.
Alan Hudson, AFH chairman and chief executive, said: ‘Our due diligence was extremely thorough, we actually had our lawyers do the due diligence. The advice liability, because of the structure of the deal, remains with Specialist Solutions, not AFH.
'The individual advisers responsible for the Ucis sales are no longer with Specialist Solutions and therefore not transferring to AFH. I don’t think it is something to ignore, clearly when you have a history like that it just makes you look a little bit closer and that’s a good thing.'
The acquisition is AFH’s eighth since becoming a publicly listed company.
AFH has paid £100,000 up front with a possible £625,000 to be paid over the next two years. Under the terms of the deal AFH is purchasing the assets and goodwill of Specialist Solutions but is not assuming any advice liability incurred prior to the acquisition.
Specialist Solutions posted a gross profit of £498,000 for the year ending September 2011, with a turnover of £1.2 million.
The acquisition takes the number of advisers at Bromsgrove-based AFH up to 88.
Stocks Fluctuate as Investors Watch Data - Businessweek
U.S. stocks advanced, rebounding from yesterday’s selloff, as optimism about the housing market tempered concern about a worsening of Europe’s debt crisis.
News Corp. rose 8.3 percent as Rupert Murdoch’s company said it’s considering splitting into two publicly held corporations. Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) (APOL), the largest U.S. for-profit college chain, surged 10 percent after beating earnings and revenue estimates and raising its forecast. A measure of homebuilders in Standard & Poor’s indexes jumped 3.8 percent as housing prices dropped at the slowest pace in more than a year.
The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 0.5 percent to 1,319.99 at 4 p.m. New York time. It tumbled 1.6 percent yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 32.01 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,534.67. Volume for exchange-listed stocks in the U.S. was about 6 billion shares, or 12 percent below the three-month average.
“There are lots of variables at play,” said Keith Wirtz, who oversees $15 billion as chief investment officer for Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati. He spoke in a phone interview. “People are looking at signs of stabilization in the housing market, there’s the European summit this week, it’s almost quarter end. It’s going to be a volatile week.”
Today’s rally trimmed this quarter’s decline in the S&P 500 to 6.3 percent. The benchmark measure is on pace for the first quarterly slump since September amid concern about a global economic slowdown. Energy, financial and technology shares have had the biggest losses so far in the second quarter, tumbling at least 9.5 percent.
Yields Surge
Equities rose today as the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities dropped 1.9 percent in April from the same month in 2011, the smallest decline since November 2010, after decreasing 2.6 percent in the year ended March. The data overshadowed a surge in yields at auctions in Italy and Spain ahead of a European Union summit on June 28.
“We’re caught in this limbo,” said Brian Jacobsen, who helps oversee $204 billion as chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “People are waiting to see what comes out of the European Union summit this week.”
Consumer discretionary, energy and financial shares had the biggest gains among the 10 main S&P 500 industries. Homebuilders in S&P indexes advanced with PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) (PHM) and Lennar Corp. (LEN) (LEN) adding more than 3 percent.
News Corp. (NWSA) (NWSA) rallied 8.3 percent to $21.76, the highest level since 2007. Murdoch, the chairman and CEO, is overseeing internal discussions on whether to separate the company’s publishing business from its entertainment holdings, said two people with knowledge of the matter. In a statement today, News Corp. didn’t say how the company would be divided.
Apollo Gains
Apollo advanced 10 percent to $35.81 for the largest gain in the Bloomberg U.S. For-Profit Education Index. The company, confronting student reluctance to take on debt amid high unemployment and government investigations of for-profit colleges’ marketing practices, reined in costs during the quarter, said Peter Appert, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) (JPM) had its recommendation raised and Morgan Stanley (MS) (MS) was lowered by analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., who said they have a better view of the near-term earnings outlook for JPMorgan. Shares of JPMorgan increased 1.1 percent to $35.71, while Morgan Stanley added 0.2 percent to $13.51.
Goldman Sachs upgraded JPMorgan to a buy on its “Americas conviction list” of highly recommended stocks, while Morgan Stanley was removed from that list and lowered to neutral, the analysts wrote in a research note today.
Return Visibility
“Both JPM and MS shares have underperformed (JPM) the broader banking group this year, driven by real but different idiosyncratic concerns,” Goldman Sachs analysts led by Richard Ramsden wrote, referring to the two company’s stock symbols. The balance of risk and potential return is better for JPMorgan shareholders, according to the note, because of “more near-term earnings and return visibility for JPM.”
Facebook Inc. (FB) (FB), facing criticism for a lack of diversity on its board, appointed Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg as its first female director. The world’s largest social-networking service, a majority of whose users are women, will benefit from the addition of a female voice to its board, said Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham & Co.
“This is a great move,” said Martin, who doesn’t own shares and rates the stock a buy. “Academic research shows that the greater the diversity on a board, the higher the returns to shareholders are.”
The shares rose 3.2 percent to $33.10.
Dow Chemical
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) (DOW) slid 2.9 percent to $31.32. The largest U.S. chemical company by revenue was downgraded to neutral from overweight at JPMorgan by equity analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas. The 18-month share-price estimate is $36.
The S&P 500, down 7.4 percent through yesterday since reaching a four-year high in April on weakening economic data, is about to lose another pillar of support: the election year calendar.
The gauge has climbed an average of 0.1 percent in third quarters before a presidential vote in election cycles since 1945, the worst return of the year and down from an average increase of 2.2 percent between April and June, according to S&P. U.S. shares have returned 5.7 percent in election years since World War II, the second-worst performance during four- year executive branch terms.
Stocks have retreated following a rally in the first quarter, dragged down after reports on U.S. manufacturing and employment trailed economist forecasts and concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis will spur a global recession.
Financial Crisis
The S&P 500 dropped 8.9 percent in the July-September quarter of 2008 as the financial crisis intensified. It has rebounded 1.9 percent on average in quarters after elections, S&P’s data show.
“This lack of direction is understandable, in our opinion, as investors are bombarded by the hype from the conventions, speeches and political advertisements, as they await the outcome of the upcoming election,” Sam Stovall, S&P’s chief equity strategist, wrote in a note yesterday.
While the index posts an average gain during the third quarter of election years, it’s just as likely to rise as fall, according to S&P. Its lowest point during years of presidential votes have come in the first half 71 percent of the time, the data shows. The most consistent gains come in the final quarter, when the gauge has climbed 81 percent of the time.
Only twice out of the 17 election years since 1944 did the index bottom in the fourth quarter, in 2000 and 2008, when the market suffered the bursting of Internet and housing bubbles, respectively. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, is seeking a second term against Republican candidate Mitt Romney on Nov. 6.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net
No comments:
Post a Comment