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Former NFL First-Round Pick Curry Retires After Giants Release

By Eben Novy-Williams

2013-08-28T17:17:10Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/former-nfl-first-round-pick-curry-retires-after-giants-release.html

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Aaron Curry, the fourth pick in the 2009 National Football League draft, is retiring after being cut by the New York Giants . The 27-year-old linebacker made the announcement today on his Twitter account, three days after being released by the Giants. Curry said retiring was the best thing for him and his family. In five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, who drafted him, and Oakland Raiders, Curry had 203 tackles and 5 1/2 sacks. The Wake Forest University product battled knee injuries in 2012 and was released when the Giants cut their roster to 75 players. To contact the reporters on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at [email protected]

2013

former-nfl-first-round-pick-curry-retires-after-giants-release

N.Y. Times Restoring Website After Syrian Group's Disruption

By Michael Riley and Sarah Frier

2013-08-28T17:10:11Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/ny-times-twitter-web-address-data-hacked-by-syrian-group.html The New York Times is working to make its website available again for all readers after it was disrupted by a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army in an exploit that also affected Twitter Inc. The group disrupted traffic to the websites by hacking yesterday into registration-services provider Melbourne IT Ltd. (MLB) , which handles the online addresses of nytimes.com and twitter.co.uk, according to Tony Smith, a spokesman for the Melbourne-based company. The Times instructed readers who can’t access its home page to go to an alternate site . Some users initially reported being redirected to the Syrian group’s sites. Many were simply unable to access the pages at all. The Syrian Electronic Army, which backs the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, has also claimed responsibility for hacking the Washington Post this month and the Financial Times in early May, redirecting readers to its own websites and videos. “The credentials of a Melbourne IT reseller (username and password) were used to access a reseller account on Melbourne IT’s systems,” Smith wrote in an e-mail. He said the login information was obtained through phishing, a technique used to obtain private data by imitating legitimate websites. It may take time before all users can get normal access to the newspaper’s site, Smith said. Times employees have been instructed to use caution when sending sensitive e-mails, the newspaper said. Caching Quirk A quirk in the way that domain information is updated across the Internet has meant that the Times website is still inaccessible to many users today even though the site is functioning normally. Many corporations and browsers on personal computers cache domain data for 24 hours to speed up connections, preventing access to the news site until those caches are cleared. On its website , Twitter said its domain registration provider “experienced an issue in which it appears DNS records for various organizations were modified,” including the twimg.com domain it uses to host images. The original domain record for that site has since been restored, and no user information was affected, it said. While Twitter’s site operated normally, twitter.co.uk was inaccessible for some users. The Huffington Post, owned by AOL Inc. (AOL) , also experienced a hack attempt and “minimal disruption of service,” said Rhoades Alderson, a spokesman for the online publisher. The site was working normally today, he said. AP Hack Unidentified hackers hijacked the Associated Press Twitter account in April, sending stock markets down 1 percent in a matter of seconds by posting a false claim of an attack on the White House. The fake message

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U.S., Swiss Said to Reach Deal in Offshore Tax Probe

By David Voreacos, Catherine Bosley and Giles Broom

2013-08-29T04:01:01Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/u-s-swiss-said-to-reach-deal-in-offshore-tax-probe.html

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The U.S. and Switzerland agreed to resolve a long-running dispute over offshore tax evasion by letting some banks voluntarily disclose wrongdoing and turn over account information on American clients, a senior Justice Department official familiar with the matter said. The accord divides Swiss banks into four tiers: 14 banks under criminal investigation; those allowed to avoid prosecution by disclosing wrongdoing; those without wrongdoing to disclose; and those complying with U.S. anti-tax evasion law, according to the person, who isn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and asked not to be named. Total penalties by banks making voluntary disclosures could exceed $1 billion, the person said. The pact lets Switzerland, the world’s largest offshore financial center with about $2.2 trillion of assets, resolve negotiations spanning two years after U.S. criminal prosecutions eroded Swiss bank secrecy. Those under investigation include Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) , the second-largest Swiss bank. “The program enables all banks in Switzerland to settle their U.S. past quickly and conclusively and creates the necessary legal certainty,” the Swiss Bankers Association , which represents more than 300 banks, said yesterday after the Swiss government made an earlier announcement. The accord will require banks making disclosures to describe fully how they enabled tax evasion, including third-party advisers and other professionals involved, the person said. They also must disclose information on an individual basis about U.S. clients with direct or indirect ownership of accounts, including their dollar values, the person said. HSBC Holdings The U.S. will still investigate wrongdoing by the 14 financial institutions, including HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) , the largest European bank, and Julius Baer Group Ltd. (BAER) The Justice Department typically resolves cases against companies in one of two ways. One is charging a company and dropping the case if the company admits wrongdoing, pays penalties and changes practices. The other is not prosecuting a company while requiring it to admit wrongdoing, make payments, and improve operations. UBS AG (UBSN) , Switzerland’s largest bank, avoided prosecution by paying $780 million in 2009, admitting it aided U.S. tax evasion and handing over data on 4,500 accounts. Since then, 38,000 U.S. taxpayers avoided prosecution by voluntarily disclosing offshore accounts to the Internal Revenue Service and detailing the bankers, lawyers and advisers who helped them. The U.S. prosecuted more than 90 people for offshore tax crimes, including two dozen enablers. Wegelin & Co., the oldest Swiss private bank, pleaded guilty in January and handed over $74 million. Cooperators, Whistle-Blowers As it investigates, the U.S. has received information from cooperators, whistle-blowers, the IRS voluntary disclosure program, and subpoenas, according to the person. The accord will require banks to hand over information under the U.S.-Swiss double-taxation treaty, the person said. Banks that make voluntary disclosures could be subject to penalties of 20 percent of the value of accounts in mid-2008, according to the person. Those penalties could increase for accounts after early 2009, when UBS reached its deferred-prosecution agreement. The Justice Department has focused recent prosecutions on U.S. taxpayers and their professional enablers who hid accounts from the IRS after they exited UBS. Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and HSBC’s Swiss private bank have said they expect to pay a fine to settle their disputes with the U.S. Welcome Step “We welcome this as a step towards a resolution of the issue as a whole,” said Andres Luther, a spokesman for Credit Suisse, commenting on the Swiss government statement. Yesterday’s announcement doesn’t affect HSBC as it’s already under investigation, according to David Bruegger, a Zurich-based spokesman for the bank. “We are continuing our discussions,” he said. “We are in close contact with the authorities and will stay in touch until a solution is found.” Julius Baer declined to comment. The announcement comes after the Swiss Parliament in June rejected a bill that would have given banks a yearlong legal reprieve and allowed them to settle with the U.S. by handing over information on employees and third parties who worked with American clients. It would also have established legal protection for bank employees. Sidestepping Secrecy “The Swiss have finally decided to deal with the issue of creating an exception to Swiss bank secrecy by employing an administrative procedure to avoid legal challenges and a public referendum, which could otherwise defeat any settlement,” said Milan Patel, a former IRS trial attorney who is now a partner at Zurich-based law firm Anaford AG. “It also avoids the long diplomatic procedures.” The banks under investigation by the Justice Department can use a 1996 tax agreement to respond to requests for names of American clients, the Swiss government said on May 29. That depends on the U.S. authorities providing a sufficiently detailed description of the matter to establish suspicion of fraud or similar offenses. The U.S. Senate has yet to ratify a 2009 protocol revising the 1996 accord to make it easier for Swiss banks to hand over data on clients suspected of tax evasion to the IRS. Banks that aren’t currently under investigation that may have breached U.S. laws with undeclared assets would have to pay fines on accounts exceeding 50,000 francs ($54,407) under the proposal, Tages-Anzeiger reported yesterday. To contact the reporters on this story: David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey , at [email protected] ; Catherine Bosley in Zurich at [email protected] ; Giles Broom in Zurich at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at [email protected] ; Frank Connelly at [email protected]

2013

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Swiss Stocks Fall a Second Day as Holcim, Actelion Slide

By Corinne Gretler

2013-08-28T07:29:29Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/swiss-stocks-fall-a-second-day-as-holcim-actelion-slide.html

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Stocks in Switzerland retreated, after the Swiss Market Index (SMI) yesterday dropped the most in two months, as concern grew that the U.S. will take military action against Syria for using chemical weapons on its own people. Holcim Ltd., the world’s biggest cement maker, slipped 1.5 percent. Actelion Ltd. lost 1.2 percent. The SMI declined 0.3 percent to 7,860.4 at 9:26 a.m. in Zurich. The equity benchmark rose 0.6 percent last week as measures of manufacturing in the euro area and China increased more than economists had forecast. The SMI has still advanced 15 percent so far this year. The broader Swiss Performance Index also slid 0.3 percent today. The volume of shares changing hands in SMI-listed companies was 44 percent greater than the average of the last 30 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The U.S., France and Britain have moved closer to retaliatory military action against Syria, laying out the justification, putting forces into place and rounding up allies in the region. The countries will focus any armed response on Syria’s weapons capabilities and wouldn’t direct it at deposing President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. and U.K. officials said. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said in London that any course of action will be legal and proportionate. To contact the reporter on this story: Corinne Gretler in Zurich at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at [email protected]

2013

swiss-stocks-fall-a-second-day-as-holcim-actelion-slide

Ito Backs Tax Plan as Hamada Calls for Gradual Rise

By Andy Sharp and James Mayger

2013-08-28T00:42:24Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/ito-backs-tax-plan-as-hamada-calls-for-gradual-rise-correct-.html

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(Corrects to say two panel members instead of three in third paragraph after Cabinet Office corrected Economy Minister’s comments. Adds Prime Minister’s title in third paragraph. This story was first published Aug. 27.) Tokyo University Professor Takatoshi Ito said Japan’s sales tax should be increased as planned as a panel of economists and financial experts considering the levy split on the issue. “Economic indicators show the economy isn’t in a bad state and raising the sales tax wouldn’t slow the economy or the bid to end deflation,” Ito, a former finance ministry official, told reporters today after the meeting in Tokyo. Not proceeding in line with the plan could lead to falling stocks, a stronger yen and a spike in bond yields, Ito wrote in a statement submitted to the panel. Ito was among five of the nine people on today’s panel to agree with the plan to increase the tax to 8 percent in April from the current 5 percent, Economy Minister Akira Amari told reporters after the meeting. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s adviser Koichi Hamada was one of two panel members to call for an incremental rise by 1 percentage point a year, according to Amari. Today’s panel was the second of seven being held this week, providing 60 people including business leaders and academics a platform to relay their views on the tax to the government. Japan ’s leaders are trying to fuel growth without worsening a public debt more than twice the size of the economy. Ito said the incremental tax-increase proposal “would have huge costs in terms of the time taken to create and pass laws and the political energy required.” He said in June that a sales tax of at least 15 percent was needed for fiscal reform. Gradual Increase Hamada, an architect of Abe’s economic strategy known as Abenomics, wrote in his statement today that the tax-increase should be postponed for a year or, if technically possible, raised incrementally. Former Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kazumasa Iwata yesterday also urged a gradual approach, and called for 5 trillion yen ($51 billion) in stimulus spending if the tax is raised as planned. Finance Minister Taro Aso and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda are among those attending the meetings. Aso said today that a failure to stem rising social welfare costs might make it necessary to further increase the tax. Abe will make the final decision on the tax “at the latest” by early October, Amari said earlier this week. The prime minister can postpone or cancel the increase should he determine the economy can’t bear the impact. Abe will take into account the views of the expert panels and data including revised gross domestic product for the second quarter, due Sept. 9. To contact the reporters on this story: Andy Sharp in Tokyo at [email protected] ; James Mayger in Tokyo at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at [email protected]

2013

ito-backs-tax-plan-as-hamada-calls-for-gradual-rise-correct-

German Wind-Power Market Grows Even as Offshore Projects Delayed

By Stefan Nicola

2013-08-28T16:11:03Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/german-wind-power-market-grows-even-as-offshore-projects-delayed.html

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Wind-power installations in Germany , the home of turbine makers Siemens AG (SIE) and Nordex SE (NDX1) , rose 14 percent in the first half even as projects at sea were set back by installation and connection delays, an industry lobby said. Developers added 1,143 megawatts of turbines, including 105 megawatts offshore, up from 1,004 megawatts a year earlier, the BWE group said today in an e-mailed statement. Germany is investing in clean energy as it shutters nuclear reactors. Its drive to raise the share of renewables to at least 35 percent of power use by 2020 from about 25 percent has driven growth in wind farms even as some were postponed by glitches in deep-water installation and an outmoded electrical grid. Wind investments in Germany rose 23 percent last year to about 2.7 billion euros ($3.6 billion), according to BWE, which expects onshore additions of as much as 2,900 megawatts in 2013. The renewables drive has helped push up energy costs in the run-up to federal elections on Sept. 22. All the main political parties have vowed to change the clean-energy subsidy program after the vote, with Chancellor Angela Merkel saying in June that the project boom had made “huge problems for the system.” Investors are demanding greater political clarity over the country’s subsidy plans, BWE said. “Politics and bureaucracy still undermine a quick energy switch,” said Sylvia Pilarsky-Grosch, the group’s president. Global wind installations may reach 39,000 megawatts this year and as much as 45,000 megawatts in 2014, according to Thorsten Herdan, head of the manufacturers’ group VDMA Power Systems. To contact the reporter on this story: Stefan Nicola in Berlin at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at [email protected]

2013

german-wind-power-market-grows-even-as-offshore-projects-delayed

Carney Offers Banks Liquidity-Rule Sweetener for Lending

By Jim Brunsden

2013-08-28T16:58:35Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/carney-offers-banks-liquidity-rule-sweetener-for-lending-boost.html

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The Bank of England moved to boost lending to consumers and businesses by the largest U.K. banks by offering to ease liquidity rules for institutions that meet capital targets. The central bank will allow the main U.K. lenders to shrink required holdings of low-yielding, easy-to-sell securities, such as government bonds , once they hold capital reserves equivalent to 7 percent of their risk-weighted assets, Governor Mark Carney said today in his first policy speech since taking over from Mervyn King in July. “The effect will be to lower total required holdings by 90 billion pounds ($139 billion), once all eight major banks and building societies meet the capital threshold,” Carney said at an event in Nottingham organized by the Confederation of British Industry . “That will help to underpin the supply of credit, since every pound currently held in liquid assets is a pound that could be lent to the real economy.” The Bank of England said in June that five U.K. banks need to find an additional 13.4 billion pounds to meet tougher minimum capital requirements , including the 7 percent rule, set to take effect at the end of this year. Shares of the U.K.’s largest lenders, including Barclays Plc (BARC) and Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) , surged after Carney’s speech today. “It’s pretty much the first relaxation of the rules after the banks have been subjected to gold-plated regulation compared with their European and U.S. peers,” said Simon Willis , a banking analyst at Daniel Stewart Securities Plc (DAN) in London . This relaxation of the rules should improve profitability, he said. Capital Shortfall The June warning from the BOE prompted Barclays, the U.K.’s second-largest bank by assets, to embark last month on a 5.8 billion-pound rights offering to bolster its financial resilience. Barclays jumped as much as 1.4 percent in London after Carney’s speech. Lloyds advanced 1.7 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc rose 1.8 percent. Carney’s plan “offers significant upside” for lenders as they can swap the low interest paid on deposits at the central bank for the higher returns possible on new loans, Claire Kane, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets , said in a research note. The effects of the BOE’s decision are “likely to emerge gradually” over the coming year, she said. Lloyds, Barclays and RBS had combined liquid assets of 510 billion pounds at the end of June, according to RBC data. Spur Lending Britain’s economic growth accelerated in the second quarter and the central bank and the Treasury are trying to spur lending to cement the recovery. U.K. mortgage approvals declined in June and business lending fell, the BOE said on July 29, highlighting continued strains in credit markets. Lenders granted 57,667 home loans compared with 58,071 in May, the central bank said. Business lending fell by 1.3 billion pounds. Carney’s relaxation of the liquidity rule contrasts with a suggestion by U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo earlier this year that regulators could ease bank capital requirements in exchange for lenders boosting their resilience to short-term financing squeezes. Under Turullo’s proposal, flexibility would only be granted if a bank had a liquidity position that was substantially stronger than minimum requirements. Higher Lending “The U.S. to date has taken the view that rules are minimums not to be transgressed regardless of stress, let alone policy rationales like hopes for higher lending,” Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner of Washington-based research firm Federal Financial Analytics Inc. “With the BOE’s action, U.S. banks pushing back against this approach have an important ally, in effect, if not by intent.” Global regulators have overhauled capital and liquidity regulations for lenders in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision , which brings together regulators from 27 nations including the U.K., U.S. and China , earlier this year revised a draft liquidity rule for lenders that is set be phased in starting in 2015, and to fully take effect by Jan. 1, 2019. Funding Squeeze That rule, known as a liquidity-coverage ratio, requires banks to hold enough easy-to-sell assets to survive a 30-day squeeze on their ability to obtain funding. The Prudential Regulation Authority, the unit of the BOE responsible for bank oversight, said that the plan announced by Carney today would still require banks to hold liquid assets equivalent to 80 percent of what they would need to meet the Basel rule in 2019. The PRA said that it would consult on how to adapt its rules to the Basel standard once the European Union has finished its deliberations on how to apply the international measure. While Carney’s announcement today was targeted at large U.K. lenders, the PRA is working on “broadly similar” plans for smaller banks and building societies, the regulator said. To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Brunsden in Brussels at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at [email protected]

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Argentine Bondholders Urge U.S. Court to Reject Appeal

By Greg Stohr

2013-08-28T22:12:05Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/argentine-bondholders-urge-u-s-court-to-reject-appeal.html

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Holders of Argentina’s defaulted bonds urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the country’s appeal in a clash with implications for tens of billions of dollars in debt. Argentina is appealing a lower court ruling that bars payments to the investors in restructured Argentine debt unless holders of the nation’s defaulted bonds, led by billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. and its NML Capital Ltd. unit, are also paid. In a court filing in Washington today, NML said Argentine officials, including President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, were planning to defy lower court rulings against the country. Fernandez this week said Argentina will offer to swap restructured bonds into notes governed by local legislation to prevent payment disruptions. The Supreme Court case is Argentina v. NML Capital, 12-1494. The appeals court case is NML Capital Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina, 12-00105, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (New York). To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at [email protected]

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Pound Advances From 3-Week Low Versus Euro as Carney Sees Growth

By Lucy Meakin

2013-08-28T15:26:50Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/pound-rises-from-3-week-low-versus-euro-as-carney-sees-growth.html

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The pound strengthened from the lowest level in three weeks against the euro as Bank of England Governor Mark Carney failed to convince investors that the central bank will keep interest rates at an all-time low. Sterling pared a drop against the dollar and U.K. government bonds fell as Carney also said the BOE will move to boost the lending capacity of the nation’s largest banks. The governor has sought to underpin the recovery by introducing guidance to damp speculation that borrowing costs will rise anytime soon. He was speaking at an event hosted by the Confederation of British Industry in Nottingham , England . “This is a bit more neutral than the market expected,” said Kit Juckes, a global strategist at Societe Generale SA in London. “Anyone who expected fireworks in the prepared remarks that would shock gilt yields into falling further and cause the pound to weaken is going to be a bit disappointed.” The pound strengthened 0.4 percent to 85.81 pence per euro at 4:24 p.m. London time, after depreciating 0.4 percent to 86.52 pence, the weakest level since Aug. 7. Sterling fell 0.1 percent to $1.5527 after dropping to $1.5429, the lowest since Aug. 14. “We are focused on doing what we can to reduce uncertainty and build resilience so that the recovery can be sustained despite the inevitable shocks ahead,” Carney said. “Our forward guidance was clear that, although we would not reduce the stimulus until the recovery is secure, we would if necessary provide more.” ‘Volatile’ Reaction Under the forward-guidance policy, the BOE plans to keep its benchmark rate unchanged until unemployment, currently at 7.8 percent, reaches 7 percent. The central bank doesn’t see that happening until the end of 2016. “He tried to talk the market down, but it’s not working so far,” said Christian Lawrence, a foreign-exchange strategist at Rabobank International in London. “The speech wasn’t hawkish but it wasn’t quite as dovish as expected by the market. We’ve seen a quite volatile price reaction, although I wouldn’t be surprised if sterling started to move lower.” The pound has strengthened 5.1 percent in the past six months, the best performance according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes that track 10 developed-nation currencies, amid signs economic growth is gathering pace. The euro gained 4.7 percent and the dollar climbed 2.3 percent. Reduced Holdings Gilts dropped as Carney said the central bank will allow the main U.K. lenders to shrink required holdings of low-yielding, easy-to-sell securities, such as government bonds , once they hold capital reserves equivalent to 7 percent of their risk-weighted assets. The yield on the two-year gilt increased four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 0.46 percent. The 4.75 percent security due in September 2015, fell 0.085, or 85 pence per 1,000-pound face amount, to 108.64. The rate on the 2.25 percent gilt due in September 2023 rose three basis points to 2.81 percent. The bond became the 10-year benchmark today, according to the Debt Management Office. Carney’s announcement on bank capital requirements counterbalances his dovish stance and indicates the Bank of England will do all it can to get the economy moving faster, according to Steve Barrow , head of Group-of-10 research at Standard Bank Plc in London. Short-sterling futures fell today, indicating investors are adding to bets on higher interest rates. The implied yield on the contract expiring in December 2014 increased one basis point to 0.88 percent. Investors should buy short-sterling futures contracts expiring between September 2014 and June 2015, expecting the average implied yield to decline about 20 basis points from about 0.94 percent in coming weeks, Jamie Searle, a London-based fixed-income strategist at Citigroup Inc., wrote in an e-mailed report today before Carney’s speech. Gilts lost investors 3.4 percent this year through yesterday, according to Bloomberg World Bond Indexes. German bonds dropped 2.1 percent and Treasuries declined 3.1 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at [email protected]

2013

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Argentina’s Bahia Blanca to Receive LNG Cargo Loaded in Belgium

By Chou Hui Hong

2013-08-28T04:08:40Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/argentina-s-bahia-blanca-to-receive-lng-cargo-loaded-in-belgium.html

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Argentina is scheduled to receive a spot liquefied natural gas cargo loaded from storage in Belgium , shipping data show. The Trinity Arrow, with a capacity of about 153,000 cubic meters, is en route to Bahia Blanca , southwest of Buenos Aires , according to ship transmissions captured by IHS Fairplay on Bloomberg. It was scheduled to arrive yesterday. The vessel sailed from Belgium’s LNG terminal in Zeebrugge , where it loaded the supercooled natural gas and departed Aug. 6, the data show. The facility is used by traders to store and export cargoes from the country, which doesn’t produce LNG. Argentina has no long-term contracts to import LNG. The nation is supplied through YPF SA, the country’s largest energy company, and state-run Energia Argentina SA, known as Enarsa. YPF closed a tender on May 6 to buy seven LNG cargoes for delivery to Bahia Blanca. Enarsa and YPF have issued seven spot tenders seeking as many as 150 shipments since December. To contact the reporter on this story: Chou Hui Hong in Singapore at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at [email protected]

2013

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Toyota Refines Battery Chemistry to Improve Next Prius

By Craig Trudell and Alan Ohnsman

2013-08-29T00:40:58Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/toyota-refines-battery-chemistry-to-improve-next-prius.html Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) , which dominates the hybrid-vehicle market with its Prius, said the company’s next generation of batteries will be more efficient and improve mileage. Toyota’s future hybrids will have batteries with higher energy density and power, Satoshi Ogiso, chief engineer for the Prius line, hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrids, told reporters yesterday. He didn’t give details about when the carmaker’s next hybrids will arrive or specifics about mileage. “The current Prius has been America’s fuel economy king for many years,” Ogiso told reporters at a briefing in Ypsilanti, Michigan . Toyota is “very motivated” to continue improving its Prius mileage after boosting fuel economy by about 10 percent with second- and third-generation models. The Toyota City, Japan-based company has mulled over the future of its Prius line and potential changes, such as a departure from the hybrids’ aerodynamic wedge shape, to boost demand. The carmaker is facing increasing competition from Ford Motor Co. (F) hybrids and Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) ’s fully electric cars after years of dominating the green-car market. Upcoming hybrid powertrains from Toyota will get “significantly improved” fuel economy in a more compact, lighter and lower-cost package, Ogiso said. The company has accelerated research, development and production capacity for nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion solid state and lithium-air battery technologies, he said. 5 Million Hybrids Toyota has delivered more than 5 million hybrid Toyota and Lexus models globally since offering the first Prius in Japan in late 1997 and the U.S. three years later. Hybrids account for 16 percent of the company’s sales, compared with less than 3 percent at Ford and 2 percent at Honda Motor Co. Toyota has wavered on whether it will meet a goal of selling 250,000 Prius vehicles in the U.S. this year. Jim Lentz , chief executive officer of Toyota’s North American operations, said in June the company was “on target” after suggesting in April that it may need to lower its forecast. While U.S. demand for hybrids has fluctuated based on economic conditions, consumers will increasingly factor in environmental concerns over the long term, said Kazuo Ohara, chief executive officer of Toyota’s U.S. sales unit. “Longer term, hybrids have a potential to grow,” Ohara told Bloomberg in an interview yesterday. “Maybe Prius has bigger potential than gas-based products.” Ford has sold 53,014 electrified vehicles in the U.S. this year through July, almost five times its deliveries a year earlier. The Dearborn, Michigan-based carmaker lowered the mileage rating for its C-Max hybrid car this month and said it will make one-time payments to customers because of the change. Long Bridge Tesla’s U.S. sales may have totaled 10,401 vehicles in the first seven months of this year, according to an estimate by Autodata Corp. The researcher didn’t track Palo Alto , California-based Tesla’s deliveries last year. Toyota sees a role for purely electric cars, albeit a much smaller one than what hybrids now play for Toyota, said Bob Carter , senior vice president of the carmaker’s U.S. sales unit. The company’s “core technology for 15 years and for the next foreseeable future” is hybrids, he told reporters. There has been debate in the industry about whether hybrid technology is a “bridge” to other technologies, Carter said. “If it is a bridge, it’s a very, very long bridge

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60, 70 years out,” he said. Restyled Model More a technical curiosity than a sales success in its early days, the original Prius’s nickel-metal hydride battery pack and motor were exotic for a mass-market car. An exterior design modified from Toyota’s Yaris sedan detracted from its appeal. Toyota restyled the Prius in late 2003 with a raked hood and windshield that flowed seamlessly into the roof line. The new look, coupled with oil prices that rose for six straight years starting in 2002, cleared the way for sales success. In 2004, the first full year the second-generation car was available, worldwide Prius sales jumped to 125,742, almost triple the 43,162 delivered in 2003. Sales expanded through 2010, until Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in 2011 temporarily slowed production of Prius models. Sales growth in the U.S. and Japan accelerated further last year with the creation of a “family” of Prius vehicles that comprises the main hatchback, v wagon, c subcompact and a plug-in model. Japan Production Toyota has said that by the end of the decade, the Prius may surpass the Camry and Corolla models to become the carmaker’s top-selling vehicle line. Prius production has been limited to Japan, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to weaken the yen are boosting the value of exports and bolstering Toyota’s earnings. “With the advent of the new Prime Minister Abe and his policies, the yen is actually landing at a spot where, from a global economic standpoint, it should be,” said Mark Hogan, who in March was appointed to Toyota’s board as the first American outside director. “Toyota is certainly a beneficiary” of a weak yen, “but it’s more important that the Japanese economy get going again.” Toyota raised its profit forecast this month for the fiscal year ending March to a six-year high of 1.48 trillion yen ($15 billion). Net income in its most recent quarter almost doubled to 562.2 billion yen, 27 percent higher than the average of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Bigger Profit The next version of the Prius has to retain a lead in fuel efficiency among mass-market vehicles as its appearance evolves, Chris Hostetter, Toyota’s U.S. group vice president for strategic planning, told Bloomberg News in October. The car will need better driving “dynamics,” reflecting President Akio Toyoda ’s directive that the company build more exciting vehicles, he said. Hostetter said in November that the next Prius could come as early as the 2015 model year. To contact the reporters on this story: Craig Trudell in Ann Arbor , Michigan, at [email protected] ; Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at [email protected]

2013

oyota-refines-battery-chemistry-to-improve-next-prius

New Coal Plants May Kill 16,000 in Guangdong Region, Report Says

By Natasha Khan

2013-08-28T04:23:13Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/new-coal-plants-may-kill-16-000-in-guangdong-region-report-says.html

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Emissions from new coal-power plants in Guangdong would cause 16,000 premature deaths in the southern Chinese province and neighboring Hong Kong over the next four decades, according to a Greenpeace report . Planned expansion of the 22 coal-fired plants would also lead to 15,000 child asthma cases over the period, according to a report released by the environmental protection group yesterday. China ’s plan to boost coal-fired power by twice the total generating capacity of India by 2020 is straining its effort to curb pollution that has spurred unrest about contaminated air and water resources. The Greenpeace findings may also put more pressure on Hong Kong’s leader Leung Chun-ying, who has made cleaning up the city’s skies a priority with air quality worsening since 2007. “The cumulative impact of these new power plants on human health is simply shocking,” Zhou Rong, Greenpeace’s Beijing-based representative, said in an e-mailed statement. “All cities of Guangdong, and Hong Kong, are interdependent in terms of air quality as well as public health.” Emissions from Chinese factories and vehicles is a main source of pollutants in Hong Kong, which has never met its air quality standard targets since they were adopted 26 years ago. Concentrations of PM2.5 , fine air particulates that pose the greatest health risk, from 96 existing power plants in the Guangdong region caused nearly 3,600 premature deaths and 4,000 cases of asthma in children in 2011, the Greenpeace report said. Coal accounts for about 70 percent of China’s energy mix, according the BP Plc (BP/) ’s Statistical Review of World Energy. To contact the reporter on this story: Natasha Khan in Hong Kong at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Gale at [email protected]

2013

new-coal-plants-may-kill-16-000-in-guangdong-region-report-says

LeapFrog’s Toddler-Safe Texting Aims to Fend Off Amazon

By Matt Townsend

2013-08-30T14:30:10Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/leapfrog-s-toddler-safe-texting-aims-to-fend-off-amazon.html (Corrects market gain in sixth paragraph of story published Aug. 28.) Toddler-safe texting has arrived. Spurred by burgeoning demand for kid-styled tablets, LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. (LF) and VTech Holdings Ltd. (303) revamped their tyke-targeted devices to add features that let three-year-olds send short messages to grandma and even watch online videos without stumbling across websites kids shouldn’t see. “Exposing our children to the Internet at an early age is incredibly valuable, but how do you do it safely?” John Barbour, chief executive officer of Emeryville, California-based LeapFrog, said in an interview. By tackling parents’ fears about their kids going online, these toymakers are seeking to extend their dominance in a niche category of the booming tablet market that they created two years ago after releasing the first versions of LeapFrog’s LeapPad and VTech’s InnoTab. With the added Web features in the recently released $150 LeapPad Ultra and $100 InnoTab 3s, they are also presenting more of an alternative to devices from Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) , Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. (AAPL) in the larger market for tablets that is projected by researcher IDC to increase 34 percent to 67 million units shipped this year. LeapFrog and VTech faced little competition early on for tablets made specifically for children

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handing over an iPad to their kids. The LeapPad became a runaway hit, and its success helped turn around the company’s fortunes. The shares have more than doubled since the first version went on sale in July 2011, compared with a 22 percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. The shares fell 1 percent to $9.83 at 1:19 p.m. in New York. VTech’s InnoTab has become its best-selling product. Mattel’s Absence That easy ride has ended and it’s not because Mattel Inc. (MAT) and Hasbro Inc. (HAS) , the world’s largest toymakers, have entered the market. Despite these devices being one of the few bright spots in the sluggish U.S. toy industry, they’ve stayed out, saying making tablets is too expensive and risky and will instead focus on creating branded content for mobile devices. Meanwhile, Samsung announced a kid tablet yesterday that will be released next month, and Amazon’s recent television advertising features a parade of children. It’s offering a monthly subscription service with unlimited kid content, more parental controls and marketing the 7-inch Kindle Fire at $174 as “the perfect family tablet.” While sales of children’s tablets account for a small part of the total tablet market, which includes Apple’s top-selling iPad, there may be plenty of room to keep carving out this niche with more families now buying more than one tablet, IDC said. Wal-Mart Backing Given that LeapFrog has established itself as a leader in kid tablets and has increasing support from retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) , the Ultra is projected to be one of the top-selling toys this holiday-shopping season, said Michael Swartz, an analyst with SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) in Atlanta who recommends buying the shares. LeapFrog executives thought long and hard about adding adult features to the LeapPad because while kids are begging to get online, parents feel the need to hover over them, said Jill Waller, vice president of multimedia learning. VTech also spent months designing a tablet kids could use on their own. Both companies curated the online experience, limiting access to such sites as PBS.org. LeapFrog makes all these decisions through its LeapSearch browser, while VTech uses filters and also lets parents add or block content. Toddler Texting Another LeapFrog innovation is its texting app, Pet Chat. Users are restricted to sending messages to each other from a pre-determined list of phrases such as “I’m being silly.” Hong Kong-based VTech has Kid Connect, which allows tykes to text another InnoTab or parent-approved smartphone. “A pre-schooler will have the same ability as everyone else in terms of staying connected to mom and their friends,” said William To, VTech’s North America chief. Adding Wi-Fi to the Ultra could help make it LeapFrog’s most successful tablet yet, Barbour said. The first two versions were among the top 10 best-selling toys last year, according to NPD Group, and helped boost companywide revenue 28 percent in 2012 for its best growth in nine years. LeapFrog and VTech are using their status as trusted education brands to win over parents after years of making content and other electronic devices focused on learning. Another advantage is that Wal-Mart and other retailers typically put LeapPads in the toy aisle, which walls them off from adult tablets in the electronics department. Target Mom “We don’t want to be in the electronics aisle because mom doesn’t shop there,” VTech’s To said. “Teenagers walk that aisle. Maybe dad walks that aisle. Our target audience is really mom. She is the decision maker.” Other new entrants are piling into the market as well with inexpensive “family tablets” designed to have it both ways. Parents can configure them to create multiple profiles so only dad can watch “Breaking Bad” while junior is confined to “Angry Birds.” Many, like the $150-priced Kurio 7s from Techno Source, run on Google Inc.’s Android software while LeapFrog and VTech feature their own operating systems. “You can do anything you want but also hand it to your 6-year-old,” said Eric Levin, division head of Techno Source, a unit of Li & Fung Co. (494) Sales of the 7s should more than double this year to 1 million-plus units, he said. Closely held Fuhu Inc. takes segmentation further with three devices that each target a few years of childhood, from the 5-inch nabi Jr. for preschoolers at $100 to the 10-inch nabi XD aimed at tweens for $250. After releasing its first tablet in late 2011, the company realized that how kids used the devices varied greatly, even for children just a few years apart, and parents wanted a more targeted experience. CEO Unfazed Barbour, the LeapFrog CEO, says he is unfazed by the mounting competition. Many customers loyal to the brand’s emphasis on education will upgrade to the Ultra, he said. Plus, he expects to win new customers switching from low-priced tablets that don’t offer much for kids or have moms in mind. Even as the company has moved to offering downloads of its software, it will continue to sell cartridges with content such as electronic books and spelling games that are inserted into the tablets. That’s because the cartridges, which sell for as much as $25 apiece, remain appealing to mothers, he said. “When mom is in Wal-Mart or Target, it’s actually easier for her to pick up a cartridge and use it, then it is to go and download,” said Barbour, who joined LeapFrog as CEO in March 2011 and oversaw the release of the first LeapPad. “Any time mom has to spend time being the head of IT at home, she’s very unhappy. Mom needs safety, she needs trust and she needs simplicity.” To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Townsend in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robin Ajello at [email protected]

2013

eapfrog-s-toddler-safe-texting-aims-to-fend-off-amazon

Cayman Islands July Cruise Passengers Fall 27.4% Y/y

By Ainhoa Goyeneche

2013-08-28T15:20:52Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/cayman-islands-july-cruise-passengers-fall-27-4-y-y-table-.html

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Following is a summary table for the Cayman Islands July cruise passenger traffic statistics from the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands: SOURCE: Port Authority of the Cayman Islands To contact the reporter on this story: Ainhoa Goyeneche in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at [email protected]

2013

cayman-islands-july-cruise-passengers-fall-27-4-y-y-table-

Dreyfus Cash Management Funds Daily Values as of Aug 27, 2013.

By

2013-08-28T09:01:43Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/dreyfus-cash-management-funds-daily-values-as-of-aug-27-2013-.html

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The following are the closing values for the Dreyfus Cash Management Funds as of Aug 27, 2013. Name of the Fund Daily Weekly Maturity Assets Cusip # Yield% Yield% <days> <000’s> ________________________________________________________________ ____ _____________________INSTITUTIONAL SHARES___________________________ 0288 DREYFUS CASH MANAGEMENT-INSTITUTIONAL SHARES 26188J-20-6 0.04 0.04 53 25,362,103 (MILLRATE: .000001096) 0289 DREYFUS GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT-INST SH 262006-20-8 0.01 0.01 51 15,402,307 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0227 DREYFUS GOVERNMENT PRIME CASH MGMT-INST SH 262006-88-5 0.00 0.00 44 4,478,044 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0521 DREYFUS TREASURY & AGENCY CASH MGMT-INST SHARES 261908-10-7 0.01 0.01 50 18,010,027 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0761 DREYFUS TREASURY PRIME CASH MANAGEMENT-INST SH 261941-10-8 0.00 0.00 50 36,277,733 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0132 DREYFUS MUNICIPAL CASH MANAGEMENT PLUS - INST SH 261950-10-9 0.00 0.00 25 407,358 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0264 DREYFUS TAX EXEMPT CASH MANAGEMENT-INST SHRS 26202K-20-5 0.00 0.00 23 2,049,115 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0287 DREYFUS N.Y. MUNI CASH MANAGEMENT - INST SH 261954-10-1 0.00 0.00 31 453,676 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0099 DREYFUS INSTITUTIONAL CASH ADV-INST SHARES 26200V-10-4 0.06 0.06 47 24,223,895 (MILLRATE: .000001644) 6139 DREYFUS LIQUID ASSETS-CLASS 2 262015-20-9 0.00 0.00 40 861,389 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6188 DREYFUS CA AMT-FREE MUNICIPAL CASH MGMT-INST SH 26202K-70-0 0.00 0.00 29 431,545 (MILLRATE: .000000001) ________________________INVESTOR SHARES_____________________________ 0670 DREYFUS CASH MANAGEMENT-INVESTOR SHARES 26188J-30-5 0.00 0.00 53 25,362,103 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0672 DREYFUS GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT-INVESTOR SH 262006-30-7 0.01 0.01 51 15,402,307 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0610 DREYFUS GOVERNMENT PRIME CASH MGMT-INVESTOR SH 262006-70-3 0.00 0.00 44 4,478,044 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0673 DREYFUS TREASURY & AGENCY CASH MGMT-INVESTOR SH 261908-20-6 0.01 0.01 50 18,010,027 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0674 DREYFUS TREASURY PRIME CASH MANAGEMENT-INV SH 261941-20-7 0.00 0.00 50 36,277,733 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0676 DREYFUS MUNICIPAL CASH MANAGEMENT PLUS-INVESTOR SH 261950-20-8 0.00 0.00 25 407,358 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0675 DREYFUS TAX EXEMPT CASH MANAGEMENT-INVESTOR SHRS 26202K-30-4 0.00 0.00 23 2,049,115 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0677 DREYFUS N.Y. MUNI CASH MANAGEMENT-INVESTOR SH 261954-20-0 0.00 0.00 31 453,676 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0100 DREYFUS INSTITUTIONAL CASH ADV-INVESTOR SHARES 26200V-30-2 0.00 0.00 47 24,223,895 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6189 DREYFUS CA AMT-FREE MUNICIPAL CASH MGMT-INV SH 26202K-80-9 0.00 0.00 29 431,545 (MILLRATE: .000000001) _____________________ADMINISTRATIVE SHARES__________________________ 0566 DREYFUS CASH MANAGEMENT-ADMINISTRATIVE SHARES 26188J-40-4 0.00 0.00 53 25,362,103 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0567 DREYFUS GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT-ADMIN SH 262006-40-6 0.01 0.01 51 15,402,307 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0557 DREYFUS GOVERNMENT PRIME CASH MGMT-ADMIN SH 262006-80-2 0.00 0.00 44 4,478,044 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0568 DREYFUS TREASURY & AGCY CASH MGMT-ADMIN SHARES 261908-30-5 0.01 0.01 50 18,010,027 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0582 DREYFUS TREASURY PRIME CASH MANAGEMENT-ADMIN SH 261941-30-6 0.00 0.00 50 36,277,733 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0584 DREYFUS MUNICIPAL CASH MANAGEMENT PLUS-ADMIN SH 261950-30-7 0.00 0.00 25 407,358 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0583 DREYFUS TAX EXEMPT CASH MANAGEMENT-ADMIN SHS 26202K-40-3 0.00 0.00 23 2,049,115 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0585 DREYFUS NY MUNI CASH MANAGEMENT-ADMIN SH 261954-30-9 0.00 0.00 31 453,676 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0093 DREYFUS INSTITUTIONAL CASH ADV-ADMINISTRATIVE SH 26200V-20-3 0.00 0.00 47 24,223,895 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6187 DREYFUS CA AMT-FREE MUNICIPAL CASH MGMT-ADMIN SH 26202K-88-2 0.00 0.00 29 431,545 (MILLRATE: .000000001) _______________________SERVICE SHARES___________________________ 6183 DREYFUS TREASURY & AGENCY CASH MGMT-SERVICE SHARES 261908-50-3 0.01 0.01 50 18,010,027 (MILLRATE: .000000274) _______________________SELECT SHARES___________________________ 6184 DREYFUS TREASURY & AGENCY CASH MGMT-SELECT SHARES 261908-60-2 0.01 0.01 50 18,010,027 (MILLRATE: .000000274) _______________________PARTICIPANT SHARES___________________________ 0596 DREYFUS CASH MANAGEMENT-PARTICIPANT SHARES 26188J-50-3 0.00 0.00 53 25,362,103 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0597 DREYFUS GOVERNMENT CASH MANAGEMENT-PARTICIPANT SH 262006-50-5 0.01 0.01 51 15,402,307 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0587 DREYFUS GOVERNMENT PRIME CASH MGMT-PARTICIPANT SH 262006-60-4 0.00 0.00 44 4,478,044 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0598 DREYFUS TREASURY & AGENCY CASH MGMT-PART SHARES 261908-40-4 0.01 0.01 50 18,010,027 (MILLRATE: .000000274) 0592 DREYFUS TREASURY PRIME CASH MGMT-PARTICIPANT SH 261941-40-5 0.00 0.00 50 36,277,733 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0594 DREYFUS MUNICIPAL CASH MGMT PLUS-PARTICIPANT SH 261950-40-6 0.00 0.00 25 407,358 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0593 DREYFUS TAX EXEMPT CASH MANAGEMENT-PARTICIPANT SHS 26202K-50-2 0.00 0.00 23 2,049,115 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0595 DREYFUS NY MUNI CASH MANAGEMENT-PARTICIPANT SH 261954-40-8 0.00 0.00 31 453,676 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 0094 DREYFUS INSTITUTIONAL CASH ADV-PARTICIPANT SH 26200V-40-1 0.00 0.00 47 24,223,895 (MILLRATE: .000000001) 6190 DREYFUS CA AMT-FREE MUNICIPAL CASH MGMT-PART SH 26202K-60-1 0.00 0.00 29 431,545 (MILLRATE: .000000001) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON DREYFUS CASH MANAGEMENT FUNDS AND THE DREYFUS ELECTRONIC TRADING SYSTEM TYPE DREY AND HIT GO BUTTON. TO SPEAK TO A DREYFUS INSTITUTIONAL CLIENT ADMINISTRATOR, PLEASE CALL (800)346-3621 Tom Haje in the Bloomberg Princeton office. (609)279-4146 #<758970.996834.3.4.1.0.25>#

2013

dreyfus-cash-management-funds-daily-values-as-of-aug-27-2013-

Kot Addu Full-Year Profit Increases 20% on Lower Finance Costs

By Khurrum Anis

2013-08-28T12:28:28Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/kot-addu-full-year-profit-increases-20-on-lower-finance-costs.html

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Kot Addu Power Co., Pakistan ’s biggest electricity producer, reported a 20 percent increase in full-year profit because of lower finance costs. Net income climbed to 7.35 billion rupees ($71 million), or 8.35 rupees a share, in the 12 months ended June 30 from 6.1 billion rupees, or 6.90 rupees, a year earlier, the Lahore-based company said today in a filing to the Karachi Stock Exchange . Sales fell 2.8 percent to 97.7 billion rupees. The company’s interest costs fell to 8 billion rupees from 9.8 billion rupees a year earlier, according to the statement. Kot Addu, which purchases fuel from Pakistan State Oil Co. to run its generators, reduced its credit dependence on the nation’s biggest fuel retailer and moved to borrowing from banks, said Zoya Ahmed, an analyst at Karachi-based brokerage BMA Capital Management Ltd. “The company effectively skewed its borrowings toward banks rather than standing payables against Pakistan State Oil that offer higher rates and charges a credit on Kot Addu’s payables,” said Ahmed, who has a buy rating for Kot Addu stock. Kot Addu plans to pay a final cash dividend of 4.5 rupees a share. The company owes Pakistan State Oil about 28 billion rupees as of March 31, Ahmed said. Kot Addu operates a 1,600 megawatt plant that can use furnace oil, natural gas and diesel to generate electricity, which is sold to the state-run Water & Power Development Authority . Kot Addu rose 1.3 percent to 59.46 rupees at the end of trade in Karachi. The stock has climbed 20 percent this year, compared with a 33 percent gain in the benchmark KSE100 Index. To contact the reporters on this story: Khurrum Anis in Karachi at kkhan14bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Hobbs at [email protected] .

2013

kot-addu-full-year-profit-increases-20-on-lower-finance-costs

Costco's Second-Class Citizens

By Megan McArdle

2013-08-28T20:03:11Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/costco-s-second-class-citizens.html Apropos of yesterday’s post on Costco, Wal-Mart and Trader Joe’s, Ira Stoll passes on the following piece of information, which I hadn’t known about: According to the linked article, these demonstrators make up about 10 percent of Costco’s in-store workforce. I had no idea that they didn’t work for Costco. It seems that the majority of people who I interact with on a Costco trip actually work for someone else

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2013

costco-s-second-class-citizens

Rosneft Seen Lagging Lukoil on Strategy: Russia Overnight

By Maria Levitov

2013-08-28T21:45:32Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/rosneft-seen-lagging-lukoil-on-strategy-russia-overnight.html

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OAO Rosneft, Russia ’s largest oil company, will lag behind OAO Lukoil (LUKOY) in the stock market as expansion plans boost debt, Renaissance Capital Ltd. said. Shares of Rosneft will gain 13 percent in Moscow in the next 12 months, about half the advance projected for Lukoil, Russia’s biggest non-state oil producer, according to analysts estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Rosneft futures expiring in September fell 0.3 percent in U.S. hours, while American depositary receipts of Lukoil added 0.1 percent yesterday. The Bloomberg-Russia-US Equity Index of the most-traded Russian stocks in New York was little changed after a two-day slump. State-run Rosneft plans to supply more than 2.6 billion barrels of crude oil to China National Petroleum Corp. over the next 25 years, while stepping up Arctic exploration and starting to export liquefied natural gas in 2018. The acquisition of BP Plc (BP/) ’s joint venture in Russia in October sent its net debt to earnings ratio to 3.27, which compares with a 0.2 level for Lukoil. Fitch Rating raised Lukoil’s credit rating last week. “Rosneft has a good asset base, but its ambitious strategy is aimed at too many very large-scale projects,” Ildar Davletshin, an analyst at Renaissance Capital in Moscow who has a hold rating on Rosneft and recommends buying Lukoil, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “Lukoil is a defensive play with a clearer strategy. The management is committed to creating shareholder value .” Capital Spending Lukoil reversed a drop in Russian oil output and has an “ambitious but flexible” capital spending plan of $50 billion through 2015, Fitch Ratings said on Aug. 21, when it raised the company’s grade by one step to BBB, the same as the sovereign. Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company, and OAO Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas producer, have a combined investment plan of $62 billion for 2013 alone as they pursue projects backed by President Vladimir Putin . A weaker ruble is cutting costs for most of Russia’s oil and gas exporters, while rising oil prices boost revenues, according to Luis Saenz , head of equity sales and trading at BCS Financial Group in London. Rosneft is benefiting “the least” because of its high leverage, he said by e-mail. Russia’s currency weakened to the lowest level in four years earlier this month, while crude oil surged to a two-year high in New York yesterday. The 12 percent plunge in Rosneft this year drove its price to 6.4 times estimated earnings , compared with Lukoil’s valuation of 4.2, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The stock is still cheaper than global peers Exxon Mobil Corp. and Petroleo Brasileiro SA, which trade at valuations of 11.3 and 7.3 respectively. State Backing “I prefer Rosneft to its usual comparison Lukoil because it has state-backing and lots of exploration and production upside in the Arctic and East Siberia,” Julian Rimmer, a trader at CF Global Trading UK Ltd. in London, said by e-mail. The Bloomberg Russia-US gauge rose less than 0.1 percent to 90.80, after slumping 2.2 percent in the previous two days. OAO Surgutneftegas (SGTPY) led gains in the measure, surging 2.8 percent to $6.67 in the biggest rally in two months. ADRs of OAO Rostelecom, (ROSYY) Russia’s biggest fixed-line operator, posted the biggest decline among Russian shares traded in New York after Bank of America Corp. cut the stock to the equivalent of sell. The shares slid 1.6 percent to $19.65 to trade at a 0.3 percent discount to its Moscow stock. The Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX) , the largest dedicated Russian exchange-traded fund, fell 0.2 percent to $25.84. The RTS Volatility Index, which measures expected swings in the stock futures , rose 0.6 percent to 24.59, while futures on the RTS Index expiring in September lost 0.2 percent to 129,550 in U.S. hours. To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Levitov in London at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tal Barak Harif at [email protected] ; Gavin Serkin at [email protected]

2013

rosneft-seen-lagging-lukoil-on-strategy-russia-overnig

Foreign Retirement Plans Seen Scrutinized in U.S. Effort: Taxes

By Florence Olsen

2013-08-28T10:00:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/foreign-retirement-plans-seen-scrutinized-in-u-s-effort-taxes.html A U.S. tax crackdown is coming for foreign retirement plans. The U.S. has been pushing banks and individuals to report overseas assets, making it tougher to hide money abroad with new rules and penalties rolling out under the 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act , known as Fatca. The next wave of scrutiny will cover retirement accounts, Bloomberg BNA reported. “The retirement community has been a little slower to catch up,” said Russell E. Hall, a senior consultant at Towers Watson. Foreign retirement plans generally must agree to report their U.S. account holders to avoid a 30 percent withholding tax on U.S.-sourced interest, dividends and proceeds from the sale of securities beginning July 1. Global companies with programs overseas will need to catalog their funded retirement plans to figure out which ones may be exempt, Hall said. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated in 2010 that the law would generate $8.7 billion in tax revenue over 10 years. It’s also spurring a spate of agreements between countries to bolster exchanges of information on bank accounts. The law requires foreign banks to turn over information to the IRS about their U.S.-owned accounts or potentially face withholding taxes. Under the aegis of Fatca, the U.S. has signed a series of agreements for government-to-government information exchange

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2013

foreign-retirement-plans-seen-scrutinized-in-u-s-effort-taxes

Wal-Mart Same-Sex Benefits Puts Pressure on Hold-Outs

By Renee Dudley and Chris Burritt

2013-08-28T20:22:47Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/wal-mart-same-sex-benefits-puts-pressure-on-hold-outs.html

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) ’s decision to extend health-care benefits to workers’ same-sex partners removes one of the biggest holdouts and adds pressure on other resistant companies to follow suit. “You can go to your board, and all of a sudden you’re not swimming against the stream as much as you were yesterday,” said Wallace Hopp, associate dean of faculty and research at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business. “You can say, ‘Jeez, Wal-Mart does it.’” Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. private employer and a frequent target of labor-rights groups, described the change yesterday mainly as a path to a consistent policy as some states alter the definition of marriage. Even so, the switch after years of opposition may help tip the balance at companies such as trucker YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW) , which is considering partner benefits for 2014, or Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) , one of the biggest firms left without such coverage. “They’re so big that everything they do sets an example,” Hopp said of Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart. The retailer, founded by the late Sam Walton in 1962 and known for policies such as banning explicit lyrics in CDs it sells, serves about two-thirds of Americans monthly. Overland Park, Kansas-based YRC is “always re-evaluating its benefits based on the needs and changing demographics of our employees,” Kelly Walls, its senior vice president of human resources, said yesterday in an e-mail. The number of Fortune 500 companies offering health-care benefits to same-sex partners has surged in a decade, to about 62 percent last year from 34 percent in 2002, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign. Wal-Mart Policy Exxon, with about 76,900 employees , received the lowest score among the 20 largest companies on the campaign’s 2013 Corporate Equality Index examining policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers. On its website, Exxon says it offers coverage for “legally recognized spousal relationships” in countries where it operates. In the U.S., “We follow the federal definition of spousal relationships,” Alan Jeffers , an Exxon spokesman, said yesterday by telephone. Full-time workers’ spouses and domestic partners will be eligible for coverage in medical, dental, vision, life, critical illness and accident plans, Wal-Mart said in a postcard provided to Bloomberg and being mailed to employees this week. “We thought it was important to develop a single definition for all Wal-Mart associates in the U.S. to give them consistency in the various markets we operate in across the country,” Randy Hargrove, a spokesman for the retailer, said in telephone interview. 1.3 Million Employees Wal-Mart may have held out for so long in part because the size of its employee base makes it costly to expand benefits, said Molly Iacovoni, a senior vice president who works on employee benefits issues at Aon Hewitt, a human resources consulting group. The retailer has 1.3 million full- and part-time U.S. employees, Hargrove said. More than half participate in health-care plans. A total of 1.1 million employees and family members are covered by the plans. “This may have been a cost issue for them,” said Iacovoni, who is based in Lincolnshire, Illinois . “It may be that they are going to see a little bit of a cost rise, especially since they’re offering both same and opposite sex.” Just last week, United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) said it would drop health insurance coverage for about 15,000 working spouses of white-collar employees to curtail rising costs. ‘Cultural Signal’ In an e-mailed statement, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, called Wal-Mart’s decision, “a cultural signal that equality for LGBT people is the simplest of mainstream values.” Griffin said he worked at Wal-Mart as a teenager and was “moved” by the decision. Lucas Handy, 22, an openly gay former employee of a Wal-Mart in Fort Dodge, Iowa , had mixed thoughts on the change. “It’s wonderful, freaking awesome if the company keeps its promise on this issue,” Handy, a member of the union-backed OUR Walmart group that is seeking to improve working conditions, said in a telephone interview. “But the truth is a lot of associates who work at Wal-Mart don’t have health care because they can’t afford it.” In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to same-sex couples legally married in states that allowed it. The court also reinstated a federal judge’s order allowing gay marriages in California . Thirteen states and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage. ‘Naturally Disappointed’ Wal-Mart’s decision wasn’t universally well-received. The Tupelo, Mississippi-based American Family Association “is naturally disappointed,” President Tom Wildmon said in a statement. “It validates a lifestyle which we think corporate America should discourage rather than promote.” While the change at Wal-Mart might cause some “ruffled feathers” among conservative shoppers, it isn’t likely to cause a significant decline in traffic, said Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis. Wal-Mart fell 0.7 percent to $72.38 at the close in New York. The shares have risen 6.1 percent this year, compared with a 15 percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Hopp, the University of Michigan professor, called the decision a “reflection of how the country is changing.” “The viewpoint that tries to deny the existence of same-sex couples is becoming a minority view,” Hopp said. “Who’s to say what Sam Walton’s views would be today? It’s a different country now.” To contact the reporters on this story: Renee Dudley in New York at [email protected] ; Chris Burritt in Greensboro at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robin Ajello at [email protected]

2013

wal-mart-same-sex-benefits-puts-pressure-on-hold-outs

Manziel Suspended for First Half of Season-Opener, ESPN Reports

By Eben Novy-Williams

2013-08-28T19:42:06Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/manziel-suspended-for-first-half-of-season-opener-espn-reports.html

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Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel is suspended for the first half of the school’s season opening football game against Rice University, ESPN reported, citing a person familiar with the situation. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has been investigating whether the Heisman Trophy winner was paid for autographs by a memorabilia dealer. Alan Cannon, a spokesman in the Texas A&M athletic department, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail message seeking comment. To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jay Beberman at [email protected]

2013

anziel-suspended-for-first-half-of-season-opener-espn-reports

Obama Meets Panel Reviewing U.S. Surveillance Programs

By Margaret Talev and Mike Dorning

2013-08-28T04:00:01Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/obama-meets-panel-reviewing-u-s-surveillance-programs.html President Barack Obama met for the first time yesterday with a panel he requested to review U.S. collection of telephone and Internet data, according to a White House statement that identified the group’s members. The panel includes Richard Clarke, a former U.S. cybersecurity adviser; Michael Morell, a former deputy CIA director; Geoffrey Stone, a University of Chicago law professor; Cass Sunstein, a Harvard Law School professor; and Peter Swire, who served earlier on Obama’s National Economic Council. The review group was among a series of steps Obama announced at an Aug. 9 White House news conference to quell growing public and congressional criticism of programs that scour data on communications by U.S. citizens to look for links to terrorist activity. “It’s not enough for me as president, to have confidence in these programs,” Obama said at the news conference. “The American people need to have confidence in them as well.” The panel will provide interim findings to Obama within 60 days to be followed by a final report, according to the White House statement. The group’s goal, according to the statement, is to examine how the U.S. “can employ its technical collection capabilities in a way that optimally protects our national security and advances our foreign policy while respecting our commitment to privacy and civil liberties.” The steps follow Americans’ expressions of unease with the surveillance activities. In a survey released July 26 by the Pew Research Center, 56 percent of Americans said the courts don’t set adequate limits on the information collected, and 70 percent of Americans said they believe the government is using the data for purposes beyond anti-terrorism. Divided Public Even with those objections, 50 percent of those surveyed said they approve of the programs while 44 percent disapproved. The debate was ignited after revelations about two National Security Agency programs by former computer security contractor Edward Snowden, who has been charged by federal officials with illegally leaking classified documents. Snowden, 30, is in Russia , which has granted the former Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH) employee temporary asylum. The NSA has been collecting millions of phone records from American citizens and monitoring cross-border Internet traffic . Government officials say the surveillance is authorized by a secret court under the Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11 attacks, and is needed to prevent future terrorist strikes. The government cited intercepted communications among terrorist groups in announcing earlier this month that almost two-dozen U.S. diplomatic posts in some predominantly Muslim countries would be temporarily shut because of an attack threat. Lawmakers’ Concerns Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about the legal rationale for the data collection. They have zeroed in on the program that gathers millions of phone records from U.S. citizens into government computers, authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court under the Patriot Act. The court, which operates in secret, has come under scrutiny for being too willing to approve intelligence-agency requests. Obama said during his news conference that he will ask Congress to change the section of the Patriot Act allowing collection of telephone records, to increase oversight and transparency. He said he’ll also propose a legal advocate to serve as an adversary when spy agencies make requests in the secret sessions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which vets requests for electronic eavesdropping. A House proposal to take away funding for the NSA programs

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range of experience in government, including in intelligence roles. Morell, 54, worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for more than 30 years after beginning his career there as an analyst in 1980. He served as acting CIA director after the resignation of David Petraeus in November until John Brennan was sworn in as CIA director in March. Clarke, 62, served on the U.S. National Security Council under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush . He’s now the chairman of Good Harbor Consulting LLC, an Arlington, Virginia-based adviser on cybersecurity risk management. The 55-year-old Swire, who served on the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010, is now a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He’s also co-chairman of the Tracking Protection Working Group, a standards body that seeks to shield consumers from being tracked online by advertisers. Sunstein, 58, who served in Obama’s first term as head of the U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, is a Bloomberg View columnist. Stone specializes in constitutional law at the University of Chicago and is the author of the book, “Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime.” To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at [email protected] ; Mike Dorning in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [email protected]

2013

obama-meets-panel-reviewing-u-s-surveillance-programs

Hong Kong Stocks Decline Second Day on Syria, PetroChina

By Adam Haigh

2013-08-28T01:39:26Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/hong-kong-stocks-decline-second-day-on-syria-petrochina.html

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Hong Kong stocks dropped, with the benchmark index falling a second day, amid mounting concern a possible military strike on Syria may disrupt the flow of oil. PetroChina Co. and Kunlun Energy Co. slumped after executives resigned amid an anti-corruption crackdown in China . The Hang Seng Index slid 1.4 percent to 21,569.73 as of 9:31 a.m. in Hong Kong, the biggest decline since Aug. 20. All but two shares fell on the 50-member gauge. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 1.7 percent to 9,820.66. Shares dropped last week on expectations the U.S. will curb stimulus as soon as next month. “Growing geopolitical risks in the Middle East and lingering uncertainty about U.S. monetary policy have combined into the perfect storm,” Matthew Sherwood, Sydney-based head of markets research at Perpetual Investments, which manages about $25 billion, said in an e-mail. “At the moment liquidity is light and markets are likely to keep heading lower.” The Hang Seng Index (HSI) retreated 3.5 percent this year through yesterday, the second-worst performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg. The gauge yesterday traded at 10.47 times estimated earnings, compared with 14.8 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 13.66 on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent today. The gauge lost 1.6 percent in New York yesterday, the biggest drop in nine weeks, as the U.S., France and Britain laid legal groundwork for a military strike on Syria after its government allegedly turned chemical weapons on its people. The tension outweighed data showing consumer confidence unexpectedly climbed. Crude Surges West Texas Intermediate crude rose, extending yesterday’s 2.9 percent advance to the highest close since Feb. 24, 2012. Libya’s National Oil Corp. said output may have dropped below 200,000 barrels a day, the lowest since the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, also known as the H-share index , dropped 18 percent through yesterday from a Feb. 1 high on concern over China’s economy after a two-quarter slowdown in growth. The measure traded at 1.2 times book value, compared with a five-year average of 1.77. China widened its anti-corruption crackdown to include the nation’s biggest company by market value, as PetroChina said three senior managers resigned and were under investigation by authorities. Growing speculation the Federal Reserve will taper bond buying has weighed on equities in recent weeks. The central bank is expected to pare asset purchases in September by $10 billion to a $75 billion monthly pace, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg on Aug. 9-13. To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah McDonald at [email protected]

2013

ong-kong-stocks-decline-second-day-on-syria-petrochina

Detroit Judge Says Casino-Tax Revenue Can't Be Frozen

By Steven Church and Steven Raphael

2013-08-28T15:10:30Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/detroit-judge-says-casino-tax-revenue-can-t-be-frozen.html

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The judge overseeing Detroit ’s bankruptcy said the city’s casino tax revenue is protected by U.S. law and can’t be frozen by Syncora Guarantee Inc. in their dispute over a proposed $253 million swaps settlement. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes in Detroit ruled today in the city’s favor as it seeks to buy its way out of interest-rate swaps contracts to save about $50 million a year. Cash from the casino tax is considered collateral for payments the city owes on the contracts. Syncora wants the cash held by a custodian rather than distributed to the city. After Detroit filed the biggest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy last month, the city’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, asked Rhodes to approve the settlement with Merrill Lynch and UBS AG when it comes to court next month. Syncora, which sold insurance on the swaps, opposes the settlement, claiming that ending the contract too early could hurt its economic interests. U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen, Detroit’s lead bankruptcy mediator, on Aug. 23 ordered New York-based Syncora, the city and swaps holders to meet with an Oregon bankruptcy judge in Detroit tomorrow to try to settle their differences. The Oregon judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris, has been a court-appointed mediator for three California cities that also filed bankruptcy: Vallejo, Mammoth Lakes and Stockton. Stockton remains in bankruptcy. Under the settlement, swap providers would be paid at least 75 percent of what they’re owed, depending on when the contract is canceled. City attorney Corinne Ball, a partner at Jones Day in New York, said in court on Aug. 21 that the discounted value of the swaps was about $190 million. The case is City of Detroit, 13-bk-53846, U.S. Bankruptcy Court , Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit). To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Church in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit at [email protected] ; Steven Raphael in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Dunn at [email protected]

2013

detroit-judge-says-casino-tax-revenue-can-t-be-frozen

London First-Time Buyers Got Most Mortgages Since 2007

By Neil Callanan

2013-08-28T10:05:43Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/london-first-time-buyers-got-most-mortgages-since-2007.html

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First-time buyers in London got the most home loans in more than five years in the latest sign of a boom in the city’s residential real estate market, according to a group representing U.K. mortgage lenders. The 11,200 mortgages given to those buying their first home in the U.K. capital in the second quarter was a 38 percent increase from a year earlier and the most since the end of 2007, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said today in a statement . First-time buyers accounted for 56 percent of London home loans in the period compared with 46 percent in all of Britain. “Mortgage lending in London has followed a similar pattern to the rest of the U.K. with strong house purchase activity this quarter, strengthened particularly by first-time buyer activity,” Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said in the statement. The rise in total lending “suggests increasing confidence that economic conditions are becoming more favorable.” Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has introduced measures to increase mortgage availability, helping revive the housing market. Record London house prices are leading first-time buyers to take on more debt and the average amount they borrowed rose 6.9 percent in the second quarter, according to data compiled by the CML. Lenders granted 20,100 home loans worth 5.1 billion pounds ($7.9 billion) in London in the second quarter, a 20 percent increase from a year earlier, CML said. The group’s members account for about 95 percent of all residential loans in the U.K. To contact the reporter on this story: Neil Callanan in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at [email protected]

2013

ondon-first-time-buyers-got-most-mortgages-since-2007

Kazakhs Extend Tenge Peg to Euro, Ruble to Smooth Fluctuations

By Nariman Gizitdinov

2013-08-28T13:22:09Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/kazakhs-extend-tenge-peg-to-euro-ruble-to-smooth-fluctuations.html

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Kazakhstan ’s central bank will expand the currencies it targets to include the euro and the ruble as it seeks to smooth exchange-rate fluctuations. The new peg, which will come into effect from Sept. 2, will reduce the “speculative sentiment on the market and subdue the negative impact of speculative flows,” the Almaty-based regulator said in a statement sent by e-mail today. The changes will reduce the role of the dollar in the local currency market and in trade, it said. The currency basket will be made up of 70 percent dollars, 20 percent euros and 10 percent rubles, the central bank said. There are no grounds to devalue the Kazakh tenge, which has weakened 1.1 percent since May 22 amid concern the U.S. will pare back stimulus, the central bank said July 25. The bank devalued the tenge by 21 percent in February 2009. Kazakh central bank Chairman Grigori Marchenko has urged Kazakhstan’s customs union partners Russia and Belarus to align their currency policies to avoid “sharp, unilateral” devaluations. To contact the reporter on this story: Nariman Gizitdinov in Almaty at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at [email protected]

2013

kazakhs-extend-tenge-peg-to-euro-ruble-to-smooth-fluctuations

Obama Says Evidence Shows Syrian Regime Used Chemical Arms

By Roger Runningen, Joe Sobczyk and Terry Atlas

2013-08-28T22:52:04Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/obama-says-evidence-shows-syrian-government-used-chemical-arms.html President Barack Obama said the U.S. has concluded that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its citizens, calling it a grave breach of international norms that demands a strong response. The president said the conclusion was reached after reviewing “all the evidence.” Obama said that while he’s been given options by the Defense Department he hasn’t made a decision to use U.S. military forces against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. In an interview with PBS’s “NewsHour” program, Obama said the U.S. and its allies need to send “a pretty strong signal” that will deter further use of chemical arms. Any move by the U.S. would be a limited “shot across the bow,” he said. “We want the Assad regime to understand that by using chemical weapons on a large scale against your own people

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not only breaking international norms and standards of decency, but you’re also creating a situation where U.S. national interests are affected, and that needs to stop,” Obama said. The U.S. and its NATO allies began yesterday presenting their justification for military action against Syria as they advanced plans for conducting a strike. The Obama administration is preparing a declassified intelligence analysis to provide evidence that the Syrian government was behind the Aug. 21 attack in a town outside Damascus. International Consequences “We have looked at all the evidence” and concluded the Syrian opposition doesn’t have chemical weapons or the means to deliver them, Obama said on PBS. “We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out. And if that’s so, then there need to be international consequences.” The U.S. and the U.K. today said they are prepared to take military action against Syria without United Nations backing after Russia objected to a British draft of a resolution authorizing a strike. “By far the best thing would be if the United Nations could be united, unlikely as that seems in the face of the vetoes from Russia and China that we’ve had in the past,” U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters in London . “If there isn’t agreement at the United Nations, then we and other nations still have a responsibility on chemical weapons.” In Washington , State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Syria “cannot hide behind Russian intransigence at the Security Council.” Sending Signal The U.S. is concerned that letting the Syrian government go unpunished would send a signal to other countries, including North Korea, that have large inventories of chemical weapons, as well as making it likely that the Assad government will attack civilians with such weapons again, according to a U.S. official who asked not to be identified discussing war-planning. While the U.S. has warships and submarines carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles ready for action in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, any military move may still be days away, in part because a team of UN weapons inspectors needs at least two more days to complete its report. Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron also have yet to rally support from lawmakers and voters at home. Cameron today backed down from asking lawmakers for immediate support for military strikes on Syria after the Labour opposition demanded a delay until the report from the UN team is finished. U.K. Parliament If Labour opposes military action, Cameron may struggle to win approval from the House of Commons, as some of his own Conservative lawmakers have publicly expressed reluctance to back such a move. Parliament debate is scheduled to begin today and Cameron pledged to hold a further vote before any action is taken. Members of the U.S. Congress, who don’t return from a recess until Sept. 9, have been pressing Obama to seek their approval for any action by U.S. forces. House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, released a statement last night saying Obama has a duty to provide “a clear, unambiguous explanation” of how any military action would advance U.S. objectives, as well as how it fits with congressional authority to make declarations of war. In the U.S. and Britain, polls have shown a majority of the public opposes further involvement in the Syrian conflict. The prospect of a military confrontation in the Middle East, a region that produces 35 percent of the world’s oil, has rumbled through markets. Stock markets in the region slumped for a second day yesterday as oil prices reached a two-year high. Oil Rises West Texas Intermediate oil climbed 1 percent to $110.10 a barrel after climbing as much as 3 percent to $112.24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.3 percent to 1,634.96 as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. rose more than 2 percent. Allied leaders are working to define the goals of a military strike on Syria, according to the U.S. official. Any use of force won’t be limited to a one-day operation, the official said. Among the options being explored are how to deter and degrade Syria’s chemical-weapons capability and defeat the Assad government’s defense capabilities, another U.S. official said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy deliberations. Separate discussions are being held on whether, when and how to accelerate and expand military and intelligence assistance to mainstream Syrian rebels groups in an effort to prevent extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda from reaping the benefits of Western attacks on the Assad regime, said a third U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss possible covert action programs. Amid the diplomatic dueling at the UN, the Obama administration is consulting with NATO allies, including Turkey , as well as Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, to determine which countries would participate in a military operation. To contact the reporters on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at [email protected] ; Joe Sobczyk in Washington at [email protected] ; Terry Atlas in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [email protected]

2013

obama-says-evidence-shows-syrian-government-used-chemical-arms

American Roads Reorganization Survives Objections

By Erik Larson

2013-08-28T17:37:11Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/american-roads-reorganization-survives-objections.html American Roads LLC, operator of the Detroit Windsor Tunnel linking the U.S. with Canada , moved closer to shedding $830 million in debt from swaps and bonds after a judge denied a bondholder group’s bid to join the case. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton R. Lifland in Manhattan ruled today that an ad-hoc group of investors didn’t have legal standing in the case and therefore couldn’t object to American Roads’ proposed reorganization. Under the plan, holders of $496 million in bonds will receive nothing and ownership of the company will change hands. Lifland approved the company’s materials explaining the plan to creditors

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through court, and said he would decide later whether to approve the plan, allowing American Roads to exit court protection. American Roads, based in Detroit , is owned by the private-equity company Alinda Capital Partners LLC, which negotiated the July 25 bankruptcy petition because American Roads couldn’t meet obligations under the swaps and bonds, which were issued in 2006 as part of a financial restructuring. The plan calls for $334 million in swap liability to be exchanged for sole ownership of American Roads by Bermuda-based Syncora Guarantee Inc., which backed the swap debt. The case is In re American Roads LLC, 13-bk-12412, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Larson in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at [email protected] .

2013

american-roads-reorganization-survives-objections

California May Use $315 Million to Avoid Freeing Inmates

By Michael B. Marois

2013-08-28T07:01:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/california-may-use-315-million-to-avoid-freeing-inmates.html

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California Governor Jerry Brown says he needs $315 million from state reserves this year to meet a federal court order to reduce prison overcrowding and avoid the release of thousands of violent felons. The state would lease a private prison in the Mojave Desert from Corrections Corp. of America , refurbish shuttered lockups and pay for more cells in other states and county jails, Brown told reporters yesterday. The announcement came three weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s order to shrink California’s prison population to 137.5 percent of designed capacity by Dec. 31. Brown had asked for a delay, saying the state would be forced to release almost 10,000 serious offenders. “In the short term, this meets the court order,” said Brown, a 75-year-old Democrat. “This is the sensible, prudent course.” The spending would consume almost a third of the $1 billion reserve Brown and fellow Democrats built into the $96.3 billion budget passed in June. Federal judges seized control of the state’s prison health system in 2006, saying inmate care was so bad it amounted to cruel and usual punishment and violated the U.S. Constitution. The judges cited cramped conditions where inmates were lodged in gyms and dayrooms because there weren’t enough cells. California ’s prisons operated at 200 percent of capacity for more than a decade. As of Aug. 21, the system was at 143.8 percent of capacity, with 123,743 inmates, according to a Corrections and Rehabilitation Department report . Low-Level Twice this year, a three-judge panel has chided Brown over his resistance to reducing the population any more. In April, the judges said in legal filings that they had “exercised exceptional restraint” in not citing him for contempt of court. California has lowered the count by 43,000 since 2006 and spent $1 billion on improving care and conditions, according to the governor’s office. Brown in 2011 won approval of a program shifting felons convicted of nonviolent, low-level crimes to county jails, or to alternatives such as house arrest and electronic monitoring. Prisons take the fourth-biggest bite of California’s budget, at $11.2 billion this fiscal year, behind schools and colleges, health and welfare, and transportation, according to the Finance Department . Under the proposal, the state would shift about 5,000 inmates to other states, joining 4,000 currently imprisoned beyond its borders. Brown previously said he wanted to bring all out-of-state inmates back to California to lower costs. Shuttered Jails The state also would look to reopen some shuttered local jails and use the space for state inmates. The state would staff the Mojave Desert prison it leases from Corrections Corp. of America with state prison guards, a move intended to placate the correctional officers union. The spending would need approval by lawmakers before their scheduled adjournment on Sept. 13. Democrats control both chambers, though not all support the proposal. Standing by Brown’s side when he made the announcement were the state’s leading legislative Republicans and the Assembly Speaker, John Perez, a Democrat from Los Angeles . Absent was Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento , who has urged alternative spending on rehabilitation, drug treatment and mental health programs instead of prisons. “The governor’s proposal is a plan with no promise and no hope,” Steinberg said in a statement. “As the population of California grows, it’s only a short matter of time until new prison cells overflow and the court demands mass releases again.” Brown in 2011 canceled half of a $7.4 billion bond program to build lockups for 53,000 inmates that lawmakers and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger approved in 2007 to ease overcrowding. Brown said the additional space wasn’t needed and was the wrong approach. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael B. Marois in Sacramento at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at [email protected]

2013

california-may-use-315-million-to-avoid-freeing-inmates

Asics to Sponsor South Africa’s Springbok Kit in Six-Year Deal

By Renee Bonorchis

2013-08-28T10:19:17Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/asics-to-sponsor-south-africa-s-springbok-kit-in-six-year-deal.html

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The South African Rugby Union said Asics Corp. (7936) will replace Canterbury as the clothing and kit sponsor for the national side, the Springboks, and provincial teams from Jan. 1. The company, based in Tokyo, signed a six-year agreement with SARU, Mark Alexander, deputy president of the nation’s rugby governing body, said in a presentation in Johannesburg today. The Asics deal will cover the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the tournament in 2019. The Japanese company competes with Adidas AG (ADS) and Nike Inc (NKE) and sponsors running in France, Australia, the Netherlands and Italy. Absa, the South African bank controlled by Barclays Plc (BARC) , which was renamed Barclays Africa Group Ltd. (BGA) on Aug. 2, is the main sponsor for the national team. “Asics has made a strategic decision to make the sport of rugby a priority,” Alistair Cameron, Asics’s head of Europe, Middle East and Africa , said. “The Springboks are one of the most important assets in the sporting-goods world. We want to build the brand awareness together.” Asics is also considering setting up factories in South Africa , he said. The Springboks, which won the World Cup in 1995 and 2007, is currently the ranked second behind New Zealand’s All Blacks, according to the International Rugby Board. To contact the reporter on this story: Renee Bonorchis in Johannesburg at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at [email protected]

2013

asics-to-sponsor-south-africa-s-springbok-kit-in-six-year-dea

India’s Nifty Futures Slump as Rupee Extends Slide Amid Outflows

By Rajhkumar K Shaaw

2013-08-28T01:42:06Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/india-s-nifty-futures-slump-as-rupee-extends-slide-amid-outflows.html

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Indian stock-index futures declined after the rupee extended a record slump amid concern capital outflows will accelerate. SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for August delivery fell 1.5 percent to 5,231 at 9:20 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying CNX Nifty (NIFTY) Index sank 3.5 percent to 5,287.45 yesterday. The S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 3.2 percent to its lowest level since Aug. 21. The Bank of New York Mellon India ADR Index of U.S.-traded shares plunged 3.8 percent, the biggest loss since June 20. The rupee slumped the most since 1996 to a record low 66.19 per dollar yesterday, while one-month rupee forwards lost as much as 2.3 percent to an all-time low 68.24 today. The rupee has depreciated 17 percent this year, worsening the impact of rising oil prices, making imports costlier and adding pressure on India’s balance of payments at a time when the economy is growing at the slowest pace in a decade and the prospect of a cut in U.S. stimulus is fueling fund outflows. International investors were net sellers of Indian (SENSEX) stocks for a sixth day on Aug. 26, data showed yesterday. “This is entirely our own making,” Rahul Chadha, co-chief investment officer at Mirae Asset Global Investments Hong Kong Ltd., which has $40 billion in equities, said on Bloomberg TV India yesterday. “We were enjoying huge foreign institutional investor inflows and today when we have seen a little bit of an outflow, the rupee has become so shaky.” Syria Concerns Foreign investors sold a net $86.1 million of Indian shares on Aug. 26, according to data from the regulator. That pared this year’s net inflow to $11.8 billion, still the second-highest among 10 Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg. Asian stocks fell for a second day amid concerns the U.S. will take military action against Syria . The U.S. said on Aug. 26 President Barack Obama will hold Syria accountable for using chemical weapons against its people, fanning concern unrest in the region will disrupt fuel supplies. Brent crude has increased 6.9 percent in August, heading for the largest monthly advance in a year, boosting costs for India, which buys almost 80 percent of its oil abroad. India is also the world’s top buyer of gold, which has gained 15 percent this quarter. Dollar-based investors have lost 25 percent from Sensex shares in 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The index has lost 7.5 percent this year and trades at 12.9 times projected 12-month earnings. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is trading at 9.8 times. The Sensex’s 30-day volatility measure, a gauge of price swings, rose to 22.6 yesterday, the highest level since January 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Shares of Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) , India’s largest state-owned energy explorer, may be active after the company said it plans to sell its 25 percent stake in a Gujarat petrochemical project. ONGC has appointed Ernst & Young to find a buyer, K.S. Jamestin, the company’s business development director, said in phone interview yesterday. To contact the reporter on this story: Rajhkumar K Shaaw in Mumbai at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Patterson at [email protected]

2013

india-s-nifty-futures-slump-as-rupee-extends-slide-amid-outflows

IDBI Bank and Indusind Bank CD's Deals: Indian Money Market

By Pooja Saraf

2013-08-28T13:52:35Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/idbi-bank-and-indusind-bank-cd-s-deals-indian-money-market.html

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Following is a table showing certificate of deposits issued by Indian banks. The data has been provided by Derivium Tradition Securities Pvt. Ltd., LKP Securities Limited, NVS Brokerage Ltd, SPA Securities Ltd. and Trust Financial Consultancy Services. T = Tentative C=Confirmed Deal Date Security Mty Date Qtm(Crs.) Rate Buyer CTRB Sta28-Aug-13 28-Aug-13 IDBI 3 MONTHS 11.60 LKPS T 28-Aug-13 INDUSIND 3 MONTHS 11.70 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 2 MONTHS 11.60 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 INDUSIND 3 MONTHS 11.70 LKPS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 2 MONTHS 11.60 LKPS T 28-Aug-13 INDUSIND 3 MONTHS 70 11.70 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 SIB 2 MONTHS 75 11.80 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 2 MONTHS 100 11.60 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 75 10.75 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 SBOP 2 MONTHS 275 11.49 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 INDUSIND 3 MONTHS 11.70 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 SIB 03-Oct-13 11.80 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 10.75 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 SBOP 2 MONTHS 275 11.49 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 75 10.75 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 SBOP 2 MONTHS 11.49 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 SIB 03-Oct-13 11.80 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 IDBI NOV -13 11.80 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 IDBI NOV-13 100 11.80 LKPS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 3 MONTHS 100 11.80 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 3 MONTHS 11.80 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 2 MONTHS 80 11.68 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 ING 1 YEAR 200 10.90 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 ING 1 YEAR 10.90 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 30 10.80 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 ING 1 YEAR 307 10.90 DCAP T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 10.80 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 10.80 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 SIB 07-Oct-13 50 11.80 IFCI LTD TFCS T 28-Aug-13 SIB 29-Oct-13 25 11.80 CATHOLIC SYR TFCS T 28-Aug-13 SIB 29-Oct-13 25 11.80 LIC MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 30-Oct-13 50 11.60 LIC MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 30-Oct-13 90 11.68 BANK TFCS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 75 10.75 BIRLA MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 50 10.75 CORPORATE TFCS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 1 YEAR 30 10.80 BOB MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 ING 1 YEAR 80 10.90 TATA MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 ING 1 YEAR 40 10.90 KOTAK MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 ING 1 YEAR 180 10.90 TFCS T Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: aafb52f8871344f1b0612e432ff47b6e

2013

idbi-bank-and-indusind-bank-cd-s-deals-indian-money-marke

Iwata Urges Patience for BOJ Easing to Penetrate Real Economy

By Toru Fujioka and Masahiro Hidaka

2013-08-28T10:05:09Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/iwata-urges-patience-for-boj-easing-to-penetrate-real-economy.html

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Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said it will take time for the bank’s unprecedented easing to extend from asset markets to Japan’s economy. “Please don’t be disappointed yet that the impact of easing hasn’t appeared in the real economy,” Iwata said today in a speech in Kyoto, western Japan. The central bank’s easing is “still in its early stages, and I hope you will be patient enough to see its effects permeate the economy.” Iwata’s comments signal concern that optimism among households and businesses may start to weaken, with wage growth and capital spending still stagnant even after the central bank introduced unprecedented easing in April to stimulate inflation. A planned sales-tax increase next year could also trigger a contraction in the economy, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News . “Iwata doesn’t want to damage the optimism emerging in the economy before the economic benefits reach households and businesses,” said Kazuhiko Ogata, chief Japan economist at Credit Agricole SA. in Tokyo . “He wanted to emphasize that monetary easing will clearly support the economy and eventually raise wages, which is the key for generating inflation expectations.” Wages in Japan fell or were unchanged in 10 of the 12 months through June. The economy grew an annualized 2.6 percent in the second quarter from the previous period, with consumer and government spending driving the expansion as capital spending dropped for a sixth quarter. Stagnant Wages It is less than 5 months since the bank introduced qualitative and quantitative easing, Iwata said in his first public speech after becoming a board member in March. “It will take some more time before we start seeing persistent and steady pickups in prices and wages.” Until joining the Bank of Japan , Iwata, 70, was a professor at Gakushuin University in Tokyo. He was known as a long-time critic of Japan’s monetary policy, calling for more aggressive measures. Iwata had advocated the BOJ focus on increasing the amount of money in the economy, the policy the central bank adopted in April. To contact the reporters on this story: Toru Fujioka in Tokyo at [email protected] ; Masahiro Hidaka in Tokyo at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at [email protected]

2013

iwata-urges-patience-for-boj-easing-to-penetrate-real-economy

Sweden Lashes Out at Banks Luring Investors With 15% Returns

By Johan Carlstrom and Niklas Magnusson

2013-08-28T11:46:59Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/sweden-lashes-out-at-banks-luring-investors-with-15-returns.html

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Sweden ’s government criticized banks in the largest Nordic economy for chasing returns it says are likely to encourage risk taking. Targeting a return on equity of 15 percent is “not reasonable,” Financial Markets Minister Peter Norman told reporters in Stockholm today. “I’m scared that that kind of return target at the banks can trigger a risk-behavior that’s not good for the banks or for Sweden.” Norman, who earlier this week unveiled plans to raise capital requirements for Sweden’s biggest banks from levels that already exceed standards elsewhere, says the clampdown is necessary to protect Swedes from a financial industry that’s grown to four times the size of the economy. Nordea Bank AB (NDA) , Scandinavia’s biggest lender, has told investors it will try to deliver a return on equity of 15 percent in a “normalized interest rate environment.” The bank returned 11.6 percent in 2012. Swedbank AB (SWEDA) , which also targets 15 percent, reported a 14.6 percent return for 2012. SEB AB aims to “generate return on equity that is competitive with peers,” which means “the bank in the long-term aspires to reach a return on equity of 15 percent,” the lender said in its second-quarter report on July 15. Svenska Handelsbanken AB (SHBA) says it targets a higher return on equity than the average of its peers in the Nordic region and the U.K. Low Inflation “When we have a low inflation economy as we do in Sweden with 1-2 percent inflation, if you then add a risk premium and other things, it’s not reasonable to reach 15 percent,” Norman said. Swedish bank shares declined for a third day, with Nordea falling 1.5 percent to 77.15 kronor as of 1:38 p.m. in Stockholm trading and Handelsbanken dropping 0.2 percent to 283.35 kronor. Swedbank dropped 0.5 percent to 149.7 kronor and SEB declined 0.7 percent to 67.5 kronor. The Bloomberg Banks and Financial Services Index decreased 1 percent. The government said Aug. 26 Sweden’s four largest lenders now face an even higher minimum core Tier 1 capital requirement than the 12 percent of risk-weighted assets due to be enforced from 2015 as Sweden plans to use countercyclical buffers to ensure there’s no upper limit on reserve levels. All four banks already exceed the 12 percent target for 2015. Offshore Funding Sweden’s four biggest banks, which the government has said rely too much on short-term offshore funding, also face costs to help finance foreign reserves at the Riksbank, Norman said. That follows steps to triple the risk weights banks must apply to their mortgage assets amid criticism from the government and central bank that lenders helped fuel imbalances in Sweden’s housing market. Norman and Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg warned banks last year not to raise dividend payments and instead focus on increasing capital buffers further. Norman in January revised that guidance and told banks they were free to raise dividends after building reserves that exceeded regulatory minimums. “We had the discussions about dividends when the banks had very low capital,” Norman said today. “The banks have now done what we wished, in other words, stashed away above the thresholds we ourselves have established, so the situation is somewhat different.” To contact the reporters on this story: Johan Carlstrom in Stockholm at [email protected] ; Niklas Magnusson in Stockholm at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jonas Bergman at [email protected] ; Tasneem Brogger at [email protected]

2013

sweden-lashes-out-at-banks-luring-investors-with-15-returns

National Bank Tops Estimates on Trading, Wealth

By Katia Dmitrieva

2013-08-28T20:26:48Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/national-bank-profit-tops-estimates-on-wealth-management-gains.html

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National Bank of Canada , the country’s sixth-largest lender, climbed the most in almost 14 months after reporting quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates on gains in trading and wealth-management earnings. Net income for the period ended July 31 advanced 11 percent to C$419 million ($399 million), or C$2.39 a share, from C$379 million, or C$2.14, a year earlier, the Montreal-based lender said today in a statement. Profit excluding some items was a record C$2.22 a share, the firm said, topping the C$2.06 average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. National Bank gained 2.4 percent to C$81.14 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the most since July 3, 2012, making it today’s best performer on the 45-company Standard & Poor’s /TSX Financials Index. The lender’s shares have increased 5.1 percent this year, compared with a 5.7 percent rise in the index. “The market has really undervalued our performance,” Chief Financial Officer Ghislain Parent said a phone interview. “We hope that what we see today is a correction based on our year-to-date results and that it’s going to remain for the rest of the year.” Profit from trading climbed 42 percent to C$158 million in the third quarter from a year earlier, while wealth-management income rose 26 percent to C$52 million as fees on deposits and assets under administration increased, according to the statement. Earnings from consumer and commercial lending gained 1.6 percent to C$192 million. NIM Narrows Revenue advanced 5.5 percent to C$1.29 billion from a year earlier, the lender said. Net interest margin, the difference between what a bank pays for deposits and charges for loans, narrowed to 2.26 percent from 2.39 percent a year earlier. While not actively seeking acquisitions, National Bank would be interested in buying a mid-sized wealth-management and brokerage firm with between 40 and 80 advisers, Parent said. “We’re looking at different opportunities and we know that the other banks are looking also,” he said. National Bank is the third of the country’s six largest lenders to report results this week following Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) and Bank of Montreal (BMO) , which both posted profit that beat analysts’ estimates. Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce are scheduled to release results tomorrow. To contact the reporter on this story: Katia Dmitrieva in Toronto at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scanlan at [email protected] ; David Scheer at [email protected] ; Christine Harper at [email protected]

2013

national-bank-profit-tops-estimates-on-wealth-management-gains

Weil's View on Finance, Afternoon Edition

By Jonathan Weil

2013-08-28T20:23:08Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/weil-s-view-on-finance-afternoon-edition.html

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Greetings, dear Viewfinders. Here's a look at what I've been reading this afternoon while watching oil prices hit a two-year high and U.S. stock markets go up. Why are audits still required at public companies? The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released inspection reports on KPMG LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, two of the Big Four U.S. audit firms. The inspectors reviewed KPMG's audit work at 50 companies and found audit failures at 17 of them. At Pricewaterhouse, the board's staff checked 54 clients and found audit failures at 21. Why make companies pay for financial-statement audits when the failure rates are so high? It's a government subsidy for the accounting profession, and investors too often aren't getting their money's worth. Syria, emerging markets and the Fed Matthew Lynn of Market Watch says the Federal Reserve won't have any choice but to keep printing money longer than it had planned to: "Already the threat of an end to QE in the U.S. had started to create a crisis in the emerging markets. Now the threat of military action in Syria will intensify the downward spiral." Mark Carney talks stimulus and easy money In his first speech as the Bank of England's governor, the Canadian import said "we would not reduce the stimulus until the recovery is secure" and "we would if necessary provide more." The link takes you to the text of his remarks today. This month's long-forgotten trading debacle in China It was less than two weeks ago, but who can keep up with all the trading fiascos lately? Before the Nasdaq had its afternoon halt, there was the mess at Evercore Securities, which sent out lots of erroneous transactions and roiled China's securities markets. Beijing-based Caixin Online has a look back at what happened. Great anecdote: Traders had to pull out the Internet cables and power cords to shut down the computers and stop them from generating new orders. The Bunny Ranch isn't hopping like it once was Bloomberg News reporter Alison Vekshin takes a serious look at the economic woes plaguing Nevada's brothel industry. I didn't know before I read this article that the brothel industry has a lobbyist, but I suppose everyone needs an advocate. Rising diesel prices help explain brothels' revenue decline. Truckers have to cut costs somewhere, you know. (Jonathan Weil is a Bloomberg View columnist. Follow him on Twitter.)

2013

weil-s-view-on-finance-afternoon-edition

Microsoft CEO Hunt a Tough Bet as Web Gamblers Favor Elop

By Alex Sherman and Scott Moritz

2013-08-29T00:38:57Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/microsoft-ceo-hunt-a-tough-bet-as-web-gamblers-favor-elop.html A gambling website picked Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop, who has presided over a 62 percent decline in market value, as the favorite to become Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) ’s new CEO. Elop, a former Microsoft executive, has 5-to-1 odds to be hired as Steve Ballmer ’s replacement, according to Ladbrokes Plc (LAD) , the U.K.-based gambling operator. He leads a pool including internal candidates Kevin Turner and Julie Larson-Green and outsiders like Apple Inc. (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook

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2013

icrosoft-ceo-hunt-a-tough-bet-as-web-gamblers-favor-elop

Canadian Stocks Rise Amid Syria Concerns as Energy Gains

By Alex Barinka

2013-08-28T20:50:27Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/canadian-stocks-rise-amid-syria-concerns-as-energy-gains.html Canadian stocks rose , rebounding from the benchmark index’s biggest drop since June, as energy producers rallied on a surge in oil prices amid growing speculation of a U.S. military strike against Syria. Niko Resources Ltd., an oil exploration company, gained 6.8 percent to lead advances among oil companies as crude touched a two-year high. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. rose 2.3 percent, reversing a 4.1 percent slide yesterday. BlackBerry Ltd. advanced 2.7 percent to propel technology stocks higher. New Gold Inc. tumbled 7.5 percent to lead producers of raw materials lower as gold fell from a three-month high. The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Index rose 16.01 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,607.22 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, trimming an earlier gain of as much as 0.7 percent. Trading volume was 7.4 percent below the 30-day average. “It’s all about Syria

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helps oversee about C$2.8 billion ($2.7 billion) at First Asset Investment Management Inc. in Toronto, said by phone. “Commodities are moving higher. It’s a scarcity argument that we are going to have another conflict in the Middle East . The market is up but very little and on very light volumes.” The S&P/TSX dropped 1.3 percent yesterday, its steepest slide since June 24, amid concern the U.S. will take action against Syria. The U.S. and the U.K. today said they are prepared to make a military strike without authorization from the United Nations Security Council . ‘Appropriate’ Action After Russia objected to a UN resolution offered by the U.K. authorizing steps to protect civilians, a State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. will take “appropriate” action without the international body’s approval. The U.S. and its NATO allies began presenting their justification for military action against Syria as they advanced plans for launching strikes and prepared evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people. Crude surged as high as $112.24, the most since May 2011, as the tension over Syria escalated, increasing concern oil supplies will be disrupted. The rally helped commodities surge to the highest level since February. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index rose as much as 1.9 percent before retreating to a gain of 0.9 percent. Half of the 10 main industries in the benchmark Canadian equity index advanced, led by a 1.7 percent rally among health-care companies. Valeant Pharmaceuticals rose 2.3 percent to C$102.60. Energy Producers Energy stocks contributed the most to the equity gauge’s climb, adding 1.2 percent on the spike in oil prices. Niko Resources jumped 6.8 percent to C$5.48 to lead the surge. Athabasca Oil Corp. (ATH) climbed 3.8 percent to C$7.66. Technology stocks advanced 1.1 percent as BlackBerry, the struggling smartphone maker, rose 2.7 percent to C$10.82. The S&P/TSX Materials Index plunged 1.6 percent, the biggest loss as a group in the benchmark index. The drop erased an earlier advance of as much as 1.7 percent as gold, silver and copper prices retreated. New Gold slumped 7.5 percent to C$7.15. Torex Gold Resources Inc. fell 6.4 percent to C$1.77. Financial stocks retreated 0.2 percent for a third day of declines. Sun Life Financial Inc. led the drop, falling 1.3 percent to C$31.82. National Bank of Canada gained 2.4 percent to C$81.14, as profit from trading and wealth management boosted earnings at the country’s sixth-largest lender. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Barinka in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at [email protected]

2013

canadian-stocks-rise-amid-syria-concerns-as-energy-gains

Soriano Hits Two Home Runs in Yankees’ 7-1 Win Over Blue Jays

By Nancy Kercheval

2013-08-28T04:01:06Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/soriano-hits-two-home-runs-in-yankees-7-1-win-over-blue-jays.html

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Alfonso Soriano hit two home runs and drove in four runs as the New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1. Derek Jeter , playing in his second Major League Baseball game since his return from the disabled list, hit a run-scoring single in the first inning last night at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Soriano then gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead with a three-run homer in the first and added a solo home run in the third. Mark Reynolds hit a home run in the sixth inning and Alex Rodriguez blasted a homer, his second in two nights, in the seventh for the Yankees. Rodriguez has 651 home runs, nine shy of Willie Mays’s total. The third baseman would get $6 million bonuses for tying Mays at 660, Babe Ruth at 714, Hank Aaron at 755 and Barry Bonds at 762, and for setting the career home run record at 763, Sports Illustrated said. Kevin Pillar hit a run-scoring double in the eighth for the Blue Jays’ only score. Andy Pettitte (10-9) gave up five hits in seven scoreless innings for the Yankees. J.A. Happ (3-4), who surrendered five runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, hit Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano on the left hand with a 90 mile-per-hour (145 kilometer-per-hour) fastball in the first inning. Cano, who left the game after scoring on Soriano’s home run, is day to day as his bruised hand heals. The Yankees (70-62) are in fourth place in the American League East, 7 1/2 games behind the division-leading Boston Red Sox (78-55), who beat the third-place Baltimore Orioles (70-60) 13-2 last night. To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at [email protected]

2013

soriano-hits-two-home-runs-in-yankees-7-1-win-over-blue-jays

Thai to Indonesia Stocks Fall the Most Since 2001

By Weiyi Lim, Anuchit Nguyen and Ian Sayson

2013-08-29T03:51:32Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/thai-to-indonesia-stocks-falling-most-since-2001-southeast-asia.html

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Stocks in Southeast Asia are tumbling at the fastest pace in 12 years relative to global equities, sending the regional benchmark index into a bear market as foreign investors cut holdings for a third month. The MSCI Southeast Asia Index has dropped 11 percent this month and is down 21 percent from this year’s peak on May 8. The gauge’s August retreat is 9.1 percentage points bigger than that of the MSCI All-Country World Index, the widest gap since April 2001. The Asian measure is valued at 1.8 times net assets, falling below the global index’s multiple of 1.9 for the first time since at least 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Foreign investors have sold a net $2.2 billion of Thai, Indonesian and Philippine shares this month amid signs of slowing regional economic growth and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon cut stimulus. While the retreat has spurred state pension funds in Indonesia and Thailand to boost stock holdings, Bank Julius Baer & Co. and Societe Generale SA say it’s too early to buy. The MSCI Southeast Asia gauge has posted average losses of 44 percent in bear markets since 1995. “Investors have a mentality of take money out first, ask questions later,” David Poh, the regional head of portfolio-management solutions at Societe Generale’s private bank, which oversees about $113 billion, said by phone from Singapore . “We are not entering the market in the near future.” Biggest Losers The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PCOMP) lost 14 percent this month through yesterday, while the Jakarta Composite Index dropped 13 percent and the Thai SET Index fell 10 percent to the lowest level since November. Singapore’s Straits Times Index sank 6.8 percent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index dropped 4.9 percent. The MSCI Southeast Asia gauge advanced 1.2 percent as of 10:59 a.m. in Singapore, poised for the biggest gain since July 11. The Philippine index rose 2.1 percent after data showed economic growth in the second quarter topped estimates. SM Investments Corp. (SM) , owner of the largest Philippine shopping-mall operator and biggest grocery chain, and PT Bank Mandiri, a Jakarta-based lender, were among the biggest losers in the MSCI Southeast Asia index, with declines of at least 22 percent this month. The MSCI gauge , which includes shares with a total market value of about $1.2 trillion, has had eight bear markets since Bloomberg began compiling the data in 1995, with an average duration of 298 calendar days. The current retreat has lasted 112 days. Pensions Buying “We are three months into a bear market,” said Mark Matthews , the Singapore-based head of Asia research at Bank Julius Baer, which had about $331 billion of client assets as of June 2013. “It’s not a good time to start buying.” State investment funds added to equity holdings after valuations fell. Thailand’s Government Pension Fund, which manages about $19 billion, has increased positions in shares of some of the nation’s biggest companies and plans to buy more, Chief Investment Officer Yingyong Nilasena said in an interview, declining to name specific companies. The SET index trades at 11 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months, the lowest level in more than a year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with 13 times for the MSCI All-Country index. “The best time to buy is when there is blood on the streets,” Kittiratt Na-Ranong, Thailand’s finance minister, said at a conference in Bangkok yesterday. “This correction presents an opportunity to increase investments in Thailand and the region.” ‘Staying Calm’ PT Jamsostek, Indonesia’s biggest pension fund, entered the stock market yesterday, President Director Elvyn Masassya said in a text-message without elaborating. Masassya said on Aug. 20 that the $13 billion fund is increasing purchases of local shares. The Jakarta Composite rallied 1.5 percent yesterday, erasing an earlier retreat of 3.3 percent. “We are staying calm, doing lots of research as always and seeing where we can take advantage of the market correction,” said Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed, a Singapore-based investment director at Invesco Asset Management Ltd. International investors have been net sellers of regional shares this month, according to exchange data compiled by Bloomberg. Outflows in Thailand were $1.3 billion through yesterday, while Indonesia had $570 million of withdrawals this month and the Philippines had $347 million. Indonesia Rates Thailand’s gross domestic product unexpectedly shrank 0.3 percent in the three months through June from the previous quarter, when it contracted a revised 1.7 percent, the National Economic & Social Development Board said on Aug. 19. The state agency cut its full-year expansion forecast to as little as 3.8 percent from a previous estimate of 4.2 percent. It lowered its export growth target to 5 percent from 7.6 percent. Indonesia’s quickest inflation in four years, the weakest rupiah since 2009 and the nation’s record current-account deficit are fueling speculation that the central bank will tighten monetary policy further after it raised the benchmark interest rate in June and July. The monetary authority will convene for an extra meeting today to look at various policies including interest rates and the exchange rate , Deputy Governor Perry Warjiyo said yesterday. In the Philippines, protests in Manila over the misuse of discretionary government budgets have spurred concern about a slowdown in state spending, which accounted for 8.1 percent of the economy in the fourth quarter of 2012. Bottom Picking “People are finding excuses to sell,” said Patrick Chang, the Kuala Lumpur-based head of Asean equities at BNP Paribas SA. “There’s a bit of a shift of money from emerging markets .” The outcome of the Fed’s Sept. 18 policy meeting may determine the short-term outlook for Southeast Asian shares, according to Alan Richardson , whose Samsung Asean Equity Fund outperformed 96 percent of peers tracked by Bloomberg during the past three years. The Fed will probably cut its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases next month, according to 65 percent of economists surveyed by Bloomberg from Aug. 9-13. Fed policy makers were “broadly comfortable” with Chairman Ben S. Bernanke ’s plan to start reducing bond buying if the economy improves, with a few saying tapering might be needed soon, minutes of their last meeting showed. Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia led the four-year rally in global shares through May as Fed stimulus spurred international investors to seek higher-yielding assets. “It may be risky to attempt to catch a bottom because it rarely works,” Richardson said. “It is more prudent to take a wait-and-see approach.” To contact the reporters on this story: Weiyi Lim in Singapore at [email protected] ; Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at [email protected] ; Ian Sayson in Manila at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Patterson at [email protected]

2013

ai-to-indonesia-stocks-falling-most-since-2001-southeast-asia

Aditya Birla Finance Limited CP: India Money Markets

By Pooja Saraf

2013-08-28T14:02:11Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/aditya-birla-finance-limited-cp-india-money-markets.html

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Following is a table showing commercial paper reported by Companies. The data has been provided by NVS Brokerage Ltd. T = Tentative C = Confirmed Deal Date Sect Mty Date Qtm(Crs.) Rate Buyer Ctrb Status 28-Aug-13 ABFL 1 MONTH 11.50 NVSB T Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: aade0f8f289b42cc92c10bf7e2007f50

2013

aditya-birla-finance-limited-cp-india-money-markets

De Blasio Extends Lead Among Democrats in NYC Mayoral Race

By Henry Goldman

2013-08-28T18:44:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/de-blasio-extends-lead-among-democrats-in-nyc-mayoral-race.html

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New York Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who wants to tax the wealthy to pay for pre-kindergarten classes, widened his lead among seven Democrats seeking the party’s mayoral nomination, a Quinnipiac University poll showed. Thirteen days before the primary election, de Blasio was favored by 36 percent of likely voters, with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn at 21 percent and former City Comptroller William Thompson with 20 percent, according to the survey released today. An Aug. 13 poll showed de Blasio with 30 percent, Quinn at 24 percent and Thompson with 22 percent. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city by more than 6 to 1. If no candidate gets 40 percent in the primary, the top two finishers in each party will compete in an Oct. 1 runoff. “De Blasio, in fourth place just five weeks ago, is edging up on the magic 40 percent,” said Maurice Carroll , director of the Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Let’s see how he does in the home stretch.” The survey is based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 22 to Aug. 27, a period before, during and after a week in which Quinn, 47, won endorsements from the New York Times, the New York Post and the Daily News. De Blasio, 52, was elected citywide as public advocate, a watchdog post, in 2009 after two-terms representing a Brooklyn district in the City Council. The job involves responding to citizen complaints and recommending improvements to government services, according to the office website. Tax Increase He has proposed increasing the city’s tax on income above $500,000 to raise $532 million to pay for all-day pre-kindergarten and adolescent after-school activities. The measure would have to be approved by the state legislature, where members stand for re-election next year. De Blasio has also highlighted his opposition to police stop-and-frisk tactics, which affect mostly young black and Latino men. He received 34 percent support from black voters, compared with 25 percent for Thompson, the only black candidate, and 15 percent for Quinn. De Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, who is black, is a frequent companion at campaign events. In a television commercial, their 15-year-old son, Dante, sporting a large Afro, praises his father as the candidate most likely to rein in police stop-and-frisk practices. Federal Monitor The tactics were ruled unconstitutional Aug. 12 by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin, who appointed an independent monitor to oversee the department’s use of the practice and ensure it doesn’t unlawfully target minority citizens. Mayor Michael Bloomberg ’s administration has appealed the ruling. Of the other candidates in the race, 8 percent supported former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner; 6 percent backed Comptroller John Liu ; and 1 percent former Council member Sal Albanese. Eight percent said they were undecided. De Blasio led Quinn in a possible runoff, 59 percent to 30 percent. He also topped Thompson 52 percent to 36 percent, according to the poll. Thompson, 60, the party’s candidate for mayor in 2009, lost to Bloomberg by about 4.3 percentage points. Thompson would beat Quinn in a runoff 57 percent to 33 percent, the poll reported. The mayor, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, is barred by law from seeking a fourth term. The survey of 602 likely Democratic voters, from Aug. 22 to 27, had a 4 percentage-point margin of error. To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at [email protected] ; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at [email protected]

2013

de-blasio-extends-lead-among-democrats-in-nyc-mayoral-race

EU’s Rehn Says ‘Premature’ to Put Numbers on Greek Financing Gap

By James G. Neuger

2013-08-28T09:25:42Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/eu-s-rehn-says-premature-to-put-numbers-on-greek-financing-gap.html European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said it’s too early to judge how much extra money Greece will need to plug an emerging hole in its 240 billion-euro ($321 billion) rescue program. Rehn said the so-called troika representing creditors needs to pore over Greece’s accounts before determining whether the figure of 10 billion euros cited last week by Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras is accurate. “It is premature to quote any figure,” Rehn said in an interview in Brussels today. “The troika will do its job and make the analysis of the potential financing gap and we in the normal order of things will make possibly a proposal in the course of this autumn.” Greece’s widening needs have intruded on the election campaign in Germany , the country that has dominated the management of Europe ’s 3 1/2-year-old debt crisis. Chancellor Angela Merkel is running on the promise that loans made to Greece won’t be written off. The release of 5.8 billion euros in July and August put off the next reckoning with Greece until after the Sept. 22 election, which will be German voters’ first opportunity to pass judgment on Merkel’s handling of the crisis. To counter opposition charges of covering up the cost to the German taxpayer, Merkel’s government has prepared voters for some additional concessions to Greece. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble last week spoke of a follow-up package that is “much lower” than previous ones. Financing Gap Europe faces two deadlines on Greece. By the end of the year, there needs to be a decision on plugging the financing gap for 2014, estimated at 4.4 billion euros by the International Monetary Fund in July. Creditors need to fill that hole first because the IMF insists on seeing a 12-month guarantee of Greece’s financing in order to continue with its own lending. The second deadline, sometime next year, is to consider possible “further measures and assistance” promised by European creditors in November 2012 . These hinge on Greece posting an operating budget surplus before interest payments this year, a figure that won’t be certified until April 2014. Speaking as the European Commission got back to work after the summer break, Rehn said the size of any additional package would hinge on Greece’s needs and

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focus on both the question of whether there is a financing gap and second on debt sustainability,” Rehn said. Asked about the power struggle in Italy (GDBR10) between Prime Minister Enrico Letta and allies of former leader Silvio Berlusconi , Rehn said that an easing of political tensions is the first ingredient for an economic recovery. “We all know that there have been political challenges in Italy and I trust that the political leaders try to ensure political stability,” he said. “It’s important for economic stability and recovery.” To contact the reporter on this story: James G. Neuger in Brussels at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at [email protected]

2013

eu-s-rehn-says-premature-to-put-numbers-on-greek-financing-gap

Inner Mongolia Sanwei Said to Plan $200 Million Hong Kong IPO

By Fox Hu

2013-08-28T01:23:35Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/inner-mongolia-sanwei-said-to-plan-200-million-hong-kong-ipo.html

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Inner Mongolia Sanwei Resources Group Co. , a Chinese producer of coal, silicon and magnesium, plans to seek about $200 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The company, based in Ordos city near China ’s border with Mongolia, has submitted an application to the Hong Kong stock exchange and may start the share sale this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. BOC International Holdings Ltd., BNP Paribas SA, Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley are managing the offering, the people said. Two calls to Inner Mongolia Sanwei’s head office in Ordos went unanswered. Companies have raised $5.9 billion in Hong Kong IPOs this year, more than double the proceeds for the same period of 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal Co. raised $903 million from a Hong Kong share sale in July last year, Bloomberg data show. The company’s shares have fallen 29 percent from the offer price as coal prices slumped. To contact the reporter on this story: Fox Hu in Hong Kong at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Philip Lagerkranser at [email protected]

2013

inner-mongolia-sanwei-said-to-plan-200-million-hong-kong-ipo

Chateau La Conseillante ’08 Rallying as 2000 Vintage Also Sought

By Guy Collins

2013-08-28T05:22:18Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/chateau-la-conseillante-08-rallying-as-2000-vintage-also-sought.html

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Chateau La Conseillante, a Bordeaux wine estate on the right bank of the Dordogne, is seeing its 2008 vintage rally on the Liv-ex market at the same time as auction demand persists for its more mature 2000 vintage. While the 2008 vintage still trades infrequently, two cases sold for 750 pounds ($1,170) each on Liv-ex late last month, up 6 percent from six months ago and a gain of 60 percent from the 470 pounds which it fetched in August 2009 soon after its release, according to data on Liv-ex’s Cellar Watch website. While the Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 Index of top Bordeaux wines has risen 4 percent since the start of 2013, gains came mainly in the first 10 weeks of the year, with prices sliding since mid-March. A muted response to Bordeaux 2012 wine futures sales has focused demand on older vintages, while some right-bank areas including Pomerol have also seen more buying interest. “Right-bank wines were more robust” in recent weeks, Chris Smith , investment manager at The Wine Investment Fund in London , said in his recent monthly market report. The fund, invested in Bordeaux, manages $50 million. La Conseillante’s older 2000 vintage has seen at least 10 lots traded at auction since the start of this year, including five cases at a Christie’s New York sale in March, one of which sold for $2,662, a second for $2,178 and three others for $2,057 apiece. At the same auction house at the end of May, 12 bottles of the same vintage fetched $2,440. Merlot Vines Chateau La Conseillante, in Bordeaux’s Pomerol region, was acquired by the Nicolas family, the present owners, in 1871 and has 12 hectares (30 acres) under vines, of which 80 percent are Merlot and 20 percent Cabernet Franc. Winemaker Jean-Michel Laporte has been director since 2004 and Michel Rolland began consulting at the winery this year. The 2000 Conseillante is the estate’s most expensive since the 1990 vintage, according to merchant data compiled by Liv-ex, and was awarded 96 points by U.S. critic Robert Parker , putting it among the top four vintages of the past 15 years. The 2008 was rated at 95 points. To contact the reporter on this story: Guy Collins in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe in London at [email protected]

2013

chateau-la-conseillante-08-rallying-as-2000-vintage-also-soug

Texas, Western U.S. May Get Hot While East Stays Seasonal

By Brian K. Sullivan

2013-08-28T12:15:57Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/texas-western-u-s-may-get-hot-while-east-stays-seasonal.html

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Texas and the western U.S. are expected to heat up by the second week of September while East Coast temperatures stay seasonal, said Matt Rogers , president of Commodity Weather Group LLC. Much of the West may reach 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 Celsius) above normal, while northern Texas and parts of the Pacific Northwest may have reading 5 degrees higher from Sept. 7 to Sept. 11, Rogers said. “The heat ridge shifts west, but it also lingers over the south-central U.S. to give Texas some hotter risks,” Rogers, based in Bethesda, Maryland , said in a note to clients today Energy traders look to long-range forecasts to gauge potential fuel use. Above-normal temperatures in the large population areas can increase energy demand as people turn to air conditioning to cool homes and businesses. Most of the U.S. east of the Mississippi River is expected to have near-seasonal temperatures from Sept. 2 to Sept. 11, Rogers said. The Great Lakes region, including Chicago, which was gripped this week by a heat wave, may have temperatures dip 1 to 3 degrees below normal from Sept. 2 to Sept. 6, according to MDA Weather Services in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The normal average temperature in New York City on Sept. 6 is 73 degrees, according to MDA. In Boston it’s 68; in Chicago, 69; St. Louis , 75; Houston, 83; Seattle, 64; and in Burbank, California, 75. To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at [email protected]

2013

exas-western-u-s-may-get-hot-while-east-stays-seasona

SeaWorld Drops After Cutting Prices Amid Visitor Decline

By Christopher Palmeri

2013-08-29T04:01:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/seaworld-slashes-park-prices-amid-park-attendance-drop.html

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SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (SEAS) fell to its lowest level since the stock began trading in April after it slashed ticket prices amid a drop in attendance. The Orlando, Florida-based company, which sold $807 million in shares in an initial public offering, dropped 6.5 percent to $29.70 at the close in New York , its lowest price since the company went public on April 19. The decline pared SeaWorld’s increase over the $27-a-share IPO price to 10 percent. SeaWorld’s original park in San Diego is offering area residents a free kid’s ticket with an adult ticket purchase midweek, a $71 value, according to its website. SeaWorld Orlando cut $42 off the price of a midweek ticket, a 46 percent discount , if purchased in advance online. The current promotions are a reaction to consumer demand and part of an effort to fill parks on weekdays, Fred Jacobs, a spokesman for SeaWorld, said in an e-mail. Attendance fell 9 percent in the second quarter, mainly because of higher prices instituted earlier this year, bad weather and the timing of Easter on the calendar, Chief Financial Officer James Heaney said earlier this month when the company reported its results. “I’ve never seen a SeaWorld promotion that aggressive in the 10-plus years I’ve been listing SeaWorld coupons and deals,” said Mary Waring, who runs the MouseSavers.com website for theme park visitors. She said the Orlando discount started this month. Pricing Strategy SeaWorld is also getting negative publicity from a critical documentary over the use of killer whales in its theme parks. “Blackfish,” released in U.S. theaters on July 19, began attracting attention after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. “We can attribute no attendance impact at all to the movie,” Jacobs said. SeaWorld, which owns 11 parks in five states, introduced a new ticketing strategy this year that involved higher prices and less reliance on third-party distributors. SeaWorld Orlando increased its single-day ticket price three times, or 12 percent, to $92 in June from $82 in July 2012, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The June price increase put SeaWorld Orlando on a par with neighboring attractions at Universal Studios and below Walt Disney Co. (DIS) ’s Magic Kingdom, Jacobs said. “We are continually refining our consumer offers and have various types of ticket packages in the marketplace at all times,” Jacobs said. ‘Sobering Year’ “Blackfish” argues that killer whales shouldn’t be held in captivity, and that the company ignored warning signs of the danger to handlers. SeaWorld has countered with a detailed critique of the film, calling it “a dishonest movie” in a statement distributed to critics and refuting many of its conclusions. Videos posted recently on the Internet of a dolphin and a pilot whale left out of water at SeaWorld parks in San Antonio and Orlando may also be affecting public attitudes, according to “Blackfish” director Gabriela Cowperthwaite . “It’s been a sobering year for SeaWorld,” Cowperthwaite said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “It’s likely people are realizing that nothing at that place is what it seems. The jig is up.” The animals in the videos were never in danger and were tended to quickly, SeaWorld said in a statement yesterday. “There is no higher priority for SeaWorld than the safety of guests and staff and the welfare of our animals,” the company said. Ticket Discounts SeaWorld said on Aug. 13 that its parks welcomed about 600,000 fewer visitors in the quarter that ended June 30, and overall revenue fell 3.4 percent to $411.3 million. The company lowered its full-year revenue forecast by $10 million to a range of $1.45 billion to $1.48 billion. SeaWorld’s ticket discounts and the partial closure of dining options at its Busch Gardens Tampa park indicate that attendance is down, according to Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., a consulting firm in Cincinnati. The visitor numbers are surprising given that in May the company opened Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, its largest investment in a new attraction to date, at SeaWorld Orlando, Speigel said. “When you’re seeing those kinds of discounts in the first part of August, that’s telling you attendance is off,” Speigel said. “Something didn’t gel.” To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at [email protected]

2013

seaworld-slashes-park-prices-amid-park-attendance-drop

GM Boosts Chevrolet Malibu Fuel Efficiency to Top Camry

By Tim Higgins and Alan Ohnsman

2013-08-28T20:56:52Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/gm-boosts-chevrolet-malibu-fuel-efficiency-to-top-camry.html

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General Motors Co. (GM) , updating the Chevrolet Malibu after disappointing sales, said the 2014 model’s estimated fuel economy for city and highway driving will increase 12 percent, beating the Toyota Camry. The base 2014 Malibu, which reaches U.S. showrooms later this year, will get 29 miles (47 kilometers) per gallon in combined city and highway use, Detroit-based GM said today in a statement. The 2013 base model was rated at 26 mpg, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website . Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) ’s 2014 base Camry gets a combined 28 mpg, according to the EPA. “In this competitive mid-size segment, there is no standing still,” Chris Perry, Chevrolet’s marketing vice president, said in the statement. U.S. sales of the Malibu fell 20 percent through July to 123,573, while deliveries of the top-selling Camry decreased 0.6 percent to 242,406, according to researcher Autodata Corp. GM announced changes for the 2014 model in May, including a sportier front end and roomier back seat intended to address criticisms of the totally redesigned sedan introduced last year. Today’s fuel-economy estimates are better than what GM had previously said the updated Malibu would get. The company said in May that city performance would increase 5 percent. In fact, the base model’s city rating rose about 14 percent to 25 mpg. Nissan Motor Co.’s 2014 Altima is rated at a combined 31 mpg with a four-cylinder engine. Honda Motor Co.’s 2014 Accord with a four-cylinder engine is rated at 29 mpg in combined driving as is Ford Motor Co. (F) ’s front-wheel-drive Fusion when equipped with a manual transmission. Stop-Start System The Malibu’s fuel savings in the 2014 base model are being achieved, in part, by including so-called stop-start technology to a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine, GM said. The technology, which had been included in the higher-end Malibu, conserves fuel by automatically shutting off the engine when the car comes to a complete stop. The engine restarts when the driver’s foot is taken off the brake. The design of the outgoing Malibu needed to be changed, Mark Reuss , president of GM’s North American division, told reporters today in Hawthorne, California . “Since I’ve been here, the only thing I really didn’t feel good about in our portfolio was the design of the front end of the Malibu,” Reuss said. “We’re fixing that. We’re not going to deny it. The old company would have stood around and defended it.” Production Begun Production of the revamped car has begun and cars begin arriving in showrooms as soon as next month, Reuss said. The 2014 base Malibu’s price, excluding destination fees, increases by $145 to $22,140, GM said. Separately, sales of the company’s plug-in Volt sedan will be a record in August, Reuss said, without elaborating. The high-tech Chevrolet model’s best month of sales in the U.S. was 2,851 last September. GM rose 0.7 percent to $33.92 at the close in New York. The shares gained 18 percent this year, compared with 15 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Higgins in Southfield, Michigan, at [email protected] ; Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at [email protected]

2013

gm-boosts-chevrolet-malibu-fuel-efficiency-to-top-camry

Rostelecom Falls to Six-Week Low as BofA Cuts: Moscow Mover

By Ksenia Galouchko

2013-08-28T10:27:05Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/rostelecom-falls-to-six-week-low-as-bofa-cuts-moscow-mover.html

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OAO Rostelecom dropped to the lowest level in six weeks after Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut its recommendation on the state-run telecommunications operator’s stock to the equivalent of sell. Rostelecom tumbled as much as 2.7 percent and traded down 2 percent at 108.76 rubles by 1:31 p.m. in Moscow, the lowest intraday level since July 16. The amount of securities trading was equivalent to about 31 percent of the three-month average. Shares are down 9.6 percent this year. BofA Merrill Lynch cut the stock from neutral to underperform and lowered the price estimate to 100 rubles an ordinary share, according to today’s report. Rostelecom’s merger with OAO Svyazinvest, the start of its mobile network and a potential buyout of Tele2 Russia may boost capital expediture and increase leverage while diverting management’s attention, according to the report. “The company is clearly in transition, being pulled in different directions by its fixed-line and mobile strategies,” BofA analysts, including Haim Israel , said in the e-mailed note. VTB Group plans to sell Tele2 Russia within a year and has looked at Rostelecom among potential buyers, a deal that would make it the country’s fourth major wireless operator, Prime newswire reported in June, citing the bank’s Chairman Andrey Kostin. Rostelecom’s acquisition of Tele2 Russia may pressure its balance sheet, signal more investments and present operating challenges, according to BofA analysts. Rostelecom dropped 0.7 percent to $19.71 in London trading. To contact the reporter on this story: Ksenia Galouchko in Moscow at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wojciech Moskwa at [email protected]

2013

rostelecom-falls-to-six-week-low-as-bofa-cuts-moscow-mover

Schaeuble In No Rush to Sell Commerzbank Stake as Shares Wilt

By Rainer Buergin and Birgit Jennen

2013-08-28T22:01:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/schaeuble-in-no-rush-to-sell-commerzbank-stake-as-shares-wilt.html

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German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he has no plans to sell the government’s stake in Commerzbank AG (CBK) any time soon because the share price is too low to justify a divestment. “It’s not the federal government’s wish to be an entrepreneur, but I happen to know at what price we took on the stake and where the price is now,” Schaeuble said in an Aug. 27 interview. “I’m not in sales negotiations with anyone.” Germany , through the government’s Soffin bank rescue fund, became the Frankfurt-based lender’s biggest shareholder after an 18.2 billion-euro ($24 billion) bailout in 2009 in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse. The stock has declined more than any other DAX Index member since the first part of the rescue was unveiled on Nov. 3, 2008. In that time, it has lost 83 percent of its value, compared with a 64 percent gain in the benchmark. The shares have climbed more than 50 percent from an intraday low on July 4 amid speculation an international competitor may purchase the government’s 17 percent stake to gain access to clients including the small and medium-sized companies that make up Germany’s Mittelstand, the backbone of the country’s economy. Commerzbank shares have also benefited after the company reported second-quarter profit that fell less than analysts had estimated and said it’s making headway in raising capital levels. Chief Executive Officer Martin Blessing , who has increased capital five times in the past four years in a bid to repay the government and bolster the bank’s financial strength, is firing staff as the bank wrestles with souring shipping and commercial real estate loans. Takeover Speculation Standard & Poor’s lowered the company’s debt rating to A-, four levels above junk, two months ago, saying poor economic conditions mean it will struggle to boost earnings sustainably. A full or partial takeover by an international bank is “conceivable,” Florian Rentsch, the economy minister for the state of Hesse, said in an interview with Handelsblatt today, adding that he would welcome Commerzbank making its way independently. Soffin wants to sell the stake over the next six months and foreign banks including BNP Paribas SA (BNP) , Banco Santander SA (SAN) and UBS AG (UBSN) are interested, WirtschaftsWoche magazine reported on July 20, citing people close to the rescue fund it didn’t name. To contact the reporters on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at [email protected] ; Birgit Jennen in Berlin at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at [email protected]

2013

schaeuble-in-no-rush-to-sell-commerzbank-stake-as-shares-wi

Canada Dollar Falls as Syria Bets Bolster U.S. Currency’s Appeal

By John Detrixhe

2013-08-28T21:11:46Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/canadian-dollar-rises-against-most-major-peers-on-surging-oil.html

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The Canadian currency weakened as speculation America and its allies will take military action against Syria boosted the U.S. dollar ’s appeal as a haven. Canada ’s dollar rallied earlier versus most major peers as crude oil , the country’s largest export, touched its highest level in more than two years amid bets military operations may disrupt Middle East oil supplies. The loonie, as the currency is called, declined against the greenback before data this week forecast to show the U.S. economy expanded in the second quarter while Canada’s contracted in June. “There is a general bid tone in the market for the U.S. dollar on the back of the Syria crisis ,” said David Bradley, director of foreign-exchange trading at Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) ’s Scotia Capital unit in Toronto. “It is also creating an environment for higher gold and higher crude, which is Canadian-dollar positive. Dollar-Canada is trading within recent ranges.” The loonie, nicknamed for the image of the aquatic bird on the C$1 coin, depreciated as much as 0.4 percent, the most compared with closing prices since Aug. 22, to C$1.0511 per U.S. dollar before trading at C$1.0487 at 5 p.m. in Toronto, down 0.1 percent. One Canadian dollar buys 95.36 U.S. cents. Canadian government bonds fell for the first time in five days, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year security up from a two-week low of 2.56 percent reached yesterday. The yield increased six basis points, or 0.06 percentage point, to 2.62 percent. The price of the 1.5 percent debt due in June 2023 dropped 48 cents to C$90.42. Bond Auction The Bank of Canada auctioned C$3.4 billion ($3.2 billion) of five-year bonds at an average yield of 1.957 percent. The 1.25 percent securities due in September 2018 drew C$8.9 billion in bids, for a bid-to-cover ratio, a gauge of demand, of 2.62. At the last five-year bond auction, on July 10, the central bank sold C$3.4 billion of the securities at an average yield of 1.884 percent and a coverage ratio of 2.52. The Canadian dollar gained 0.2 percent over the past week against nine other developed-nation currencies tracked by the Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Index. Australia’s dollar lost 0.9 percent, and the New Zealand dollar dropped 0.5 percent. The U.S. currency was little changed. Implied volatility for three-month options on Canada’s dollar versus its U.S. counterpart slipped to 7.75 percent after touching 7.97 percent yesterday, the highest intraday level since July 17. The measure is used to set option prices and gauge the expected pace of currency swings. The average for this year is 6.8 percent. Crude Oil Futures for West Texas Intermediate crude climbed as much as 3 percent to $112.24 a barrel in New York, the highest level since May 2011, before trading at $109.52, up 0.5 percent. Brent crude rallied as much as 2.6 percent to $117.34 a barrel. A U.S.-led strike on Syria in retaliation for the alleged use of chemical weapons in its civil war is probable within the next week, raising the possibility Brent may hit $150 should a widening conflict halt oil output in Iraq or other producers, according to Societe Generale SA. “There is a chain of impact that would cause crude-oil prices to rise, and an adjunct impact of that would be some strength in the Canadian dollar,” said Jack Spitz , managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada (NA) , by phone from Toronto. “I see the geopolitics as having a temporary impact on financial markets, from having a flight-to-quality perspective, risk-aversion metrics, and of course commodity-price rises.” Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index (SPGSCI) of 24 raw materials increased 0.9 percent. Gold for immediate delivery jumped as much as 1.3 percent to $1,433.73 an ounce before trading at $1,417.51, up 0.2 percent. Greenback Gains The Bloomberg Dollar Index , which tracks the greenback against 10 major counterparts, rose 0.4 percent to 1,028.68. U.S. gross domestic product increased an annualized 2.2 percent in the second quarter, more than the 1.7 percent previously estimated, a Bloomberg survey of economists forecast that a government report tomorrow will show. Canada’s GDP (CAGDPMOM) shrank 0.4 percent in June, a separate Bloomberg survey estimated before a report due Aug. 30. The nation’s economy expanded 1.6 percent in the second quarter, after growing 2.5 percent from January through March, economists projected. The Bank of Canada meets Sept. 4. The central bank has maintained its benchmark overnight rate target at 1 percent since September 2010 to support the economy. To contact the reporter on this story: John Detrixhe in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at [email protected]

2013

canadian-dollar-rises-against-most-major-peers-on-surging-oi

China Reroutes 36 Flights Around Beijing to Ease Air Congestion

By Jasmine Wang

2013-08-28T05:53:32Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/china-reroutes-36-flights-around-beijing-to-ease-air-congestion.html

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China , where one in four flights departs late, is rerouting 36 flights around Beijing to ease airspace congestion above the nation’s capital. The scheduled trips will take different routes starting today, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday, citing Wang Liya, head of the air control management bureau of China’s civil aviation regulator. This will lead to shorter or longer flying distance, with any increase limited to 10 percent, Xinhua said. Two calls to Wang’s office went unanswered today. China’s government is seeking to rein in delays at airlines that are are worsening as carriers expand their fleets while the nation’s military controls airspace and caps the allotment to civil aviation at 20 percent. Beijing and Shanghai had on-time departure rates of 18 percent and 29 percent respectively in July, the worst among 35 major international airports, according to Portland, Oregon-based FlightStats Inc. To contact the reporter on this story: Jasmine Wang in Hong Kong at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at [email protected]

2013

china-reroutes-36-flights-around-beijing-to-ease-air-congestion

USDA Montana Spot Grain Closing Prices for August 28

By Michael Carone

2013-08-28T20:50:18Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/usda-montana-spot-grain-closing-prices-for-august-28-table-.html August 28 (Bloomberg)

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spot or bid prices for durum wheat. Prices are in dollars a bushel Information is supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prices are determined by a USDA survey of grain purchasers with elevators located in seven regions of Montana . Prices are displayed as a "low-high" range, or as a "single" price depending upon the degree of consensus among the purchasers. Durum wheat is the hardest wheat. The test weight is at least 60 pounds a bushel. Durum averages 15 percent protein and is mainly used in the making of pasta.

2013

usda-montana-spot-grain-closing-prices-for-august-28-table-

Copper Rises on China Investment Rules, U.S. Consumer Confidence

By Bloomberg News

2013-08-28T03:15:09Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/copper-rises-on-china-investment-rules-u-s-consumer-confidence.html

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Copper advanced as China eased rules on overseas securities investments and after U.S. consumer confidence added to signs of improving demand in the biggest economy. The metal for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 0.5 percent to $7,348 a metric ton and traded at $7,327 at 10:58 a.m. in Shanghai . Copper futures for delivery in December increased 0.2 percent to $3.3435 a pound on Comex in New York . China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced changes yesterday allowing qualified domestic institutional investors, who manage investment abroad on behalf of clients, to freely remit funds in yuan or foreign currencies into or out of the country, and also simplified application processes. “The change will make it easier for domestic investors to put money into overseas securities,” said Xu Liping, an analyst at HNA Topwin Futures Co. Xu said the positive news helped offset concerns about tension in Syria . The Conference Board’s index of sentiment advanced to 81.5 in August from a revised 81 in July that was stronger than initially estimated, as Americans grew more optimistic about the prospects for the economy, the New York-based private research group reported. Copper for delivery in December on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was little changed at 52,800 yuan ($8,625) a ton. On the LME, zinc and tin declined, nickel and lead rose, and aluminum was little changed. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Alfred Cang in Shanghai at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brett Miller at [email protected]

2013

copper-rises-on-china-investment-rules-u-s-consumer-confidence

China Urban Migrants’ Cost Seen at Least $6.8 Trillion: Economy

By Bloomberg News

2013-08-28T05:27:43Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/china-urban-migrants-cost-seen-at-least-6-8-trillion-economy.html China must spend at least 41.6 trillion yuan ($6.8 trillion) over two decades to integrate rural workers living in cities and towns so the country realizes benefits of urbanization, a United Nations report said. Spending may exceed 75 trillion yuan in a scenario with a higher rate of investment to improve living conditions and housing quality, according to the report released yesterday in Beijing. The study’s baseline assumptions are for the urban population to rise to 976 million in 2030 from 666 million in 2010 and integrate about 210 million migrant workers. The report quantifies the urbanization challenges faced by Communist Party leaders as they prepare for a November meeting to discuss deepening policy reforms amid an economic slowdown . Officials are considering changes to the hukou residence-registration system that excludes migrant workers from taking advantage of schools and pension benefits in cities. “Much more needs to be done to eliminate the continued gaps between migrant workers and registered urban residents,” said the report, produced by the United Nations Development Programme and the Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , a government-run research organization. “These will not be conducive to social stability, city livability or sustainable development.” A major question is how to pay for the urban shift while regional governments face rising debt burdens. Local-government debt may have surged to about 18 trillion yuan, according to Societe Generale SA, from an official estimate of 10.7 trillion yuan at the end of 2010. The National Audit Office said July 28 that the cabinet ordered a new nationwide government-debt review. Financial Support Jia Kang, director of the Ministry of Finance’s fiscal science research center, said in June that urbanization will require financial support of 60 trillion yuan based on a 150,000 yuan per-capita cost of making 400 million rural residents into urban dwellers. Jia said that China should develop a public-private partnership in financing urbanization. The UN report said funding may need to shift “from today’s one-source, government-dominated financing to a mix of sources.” Li Tie, an official with China’s top economic planning agency, said earlier this month that plans to encourage rural residents to settle in cities face opposition from local governments. “Nobody wants such a big group of migrants to be their neighbors and share their so-called civilized space,” Li, director-general of the China Center for Urban Development under the National Development and Reform Commission, said at an Aug. 10 forum. Funding Sources Mao Daqing, executive vice president of China Vanke Co., the biggest developer by market value traded on the country’s stock exchanges, told the forum some local governments may be hard pressed to pay for urbanization. Separately today, China’s State Council said the nation will work to ensure steady growth in the second half while maintaining the consistency and stability of economic policies, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a report delivered to a session of the National People’s Congress Standard Committee. Premier Li Keqiang is banking on hundreds of millions of migrant workers and their families becoming permanent urban residents to boost consumption and sustain growth at his bottom line of 7 percent a year, as the government restructures an economy that’s expanded at an average 10 percent a year over the last two decades. Speaking at his first news conference after becoming premier in March, Li said, “Urbanization will usher in a huge amount of consumption and investment demand, increase job opportunities, create wealth for farmers, and bring benefits to the people.” Pension Expenses The 41.6 trillion yuan figure is based on an assumption of an 80,000 yuan cost to fully integrate migrants into urban areas, a number calculated by the Development Research Center of the State Council, or cabinet. Without pension expenses, the figure would be 46,000 yuan, according to the UNDP report. China reported nominal gross domestic product of 51.9 trillion yuan last year. HSBC Holdings Plc estimated in an October report that the movement of 10 million rural residents to become urban residents every year for the next 20-30 years would create more than 100 billion yuan a year in additional consumer spending. “The model of relying on resource-intensive use and sacrificing the environment for rapid urbanization is unsustainable,” Xie Zhenhua , an NDRC vice chairman, said yesterday at the report’s release. Europe Comparison The country’s urbanization increased to a majority of its population from 10 percent in six decades, a transition that took 150 years in Europe and 210 years in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said in a statement. Asian stocks dropped for a second day on concern the U.S. will take military action against Syria . The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was down 1.5 percent as of 2:20 p.m. in Tokyo . Elsewhere in Asia today, Japan continues meetings of panels of experts to review the nation’s plan to boost its sales tax to 8 percent from 5 percent in April. That move would be followed by a jump to 10 percent in 2015. While a higher consumption levy may improve the nation’s finances, the increase could also undermine the nation’s rebound under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recovery program, by dragging down consumer spending . Tokyo University Professor Takatoshi Ito said yesterday that the tax should rise as planned. “Economic indicators show the economy isn’t in a bad state and raising the sales tax wouldn’t slow the economy or the bid to end deflation,” Ito, a former Finance Ministry official, told reporters. Not proceeding in line with the plan could lead to falling stocks, a stronger yen and a spike in bond yields, Ito wrote in a statement submitted to a panel. Around the world today, economic releases span home sales and mortgage applications in the U.S., retail sales in Italy and money supply in the euro area.

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Singapore and Shen Hu in Beijing. Editors: Scott Lanman, James Mayger To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Zhou Xin in Beijing at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at [email protected]

2013

china-urban-migrants-cost-seen-at-least-6-8-trillion-economy

Eased Mortgage-Risk Rule to Be Proposed by U.S. Agencies

By Clea Benson

2013-08-28T17:38:51Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/eased-mortgage-risk-rule-to-be-proposed-by-u-s-agencies-today.html

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Regulators today proposed easing a measure to require lenders to keep a stake in mortgages that they securitize, an effort designed to discourage the kind of risky loans that contributed to the subprime credit crisis. The 505-page draft regulation written by six agencies drops a requirement that lenders retain a stake in mortgages with down payments of less than 20 percent, which appeared in an earlier version of the measure known as the qualified residential mortgage rule. The first draft, released in 2011, drew protests from housing industry participants and consumer groups who said it would impede home lending. The new measure “will bring a measure of clarity and consistency to the mortgage market that will facilitate its recovery,” Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg said today at a meeting where the agency’s board members voted to release and seek comment on the proposal. The draft would align the qualified residential mortgage rule, designed to protect investors, with similarly named guidance governing risky home lending: the qualified mortgage, or QM rule, desiged to protect borrowers. That regulation, issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in January, contains no down payment requirement. It offers legal protections to banks that make loans defined by the rule as non-abusive. Shaping Market Both rules, mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, will reshape who can lend and who can borrow because banks will probably make only those loans that conform to the new standards. The new plan marks a victory for a coalition of Realtors, bankers and consumer advocates who lobbied for the two rules to be aligned. “We’re very thrilled because we think it’s a victory for home buyers and future homeownership in the country,” Gary Thomas, president of the National Organization of Realtors, said in a telephone interview. Loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , the mortgage financiers operating under U.S. conservatorship, would automatically be exempt from risk-retention requirements for as long as the companies remain in federal control. The two companies, which would be eliminated under proposals in Congress, currently guarantee about two-thirds of all new home loans. Daniel M. Gallagher, a Republican member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, one of the regulators issuing the proposal, said in a written dissent today that the new standards were so lax that they would allow lenders to escape retaining risk on many loans that will probably default. Government Role “The re-proposed risk retention rules, if adopted, will ensure that the vast majority of mortgages in the United States are insured or owned by the government, will introduce another flawed government imprimatur of creditworthiness into the markets, and will disincentivize proper risk management and due diligence in the mortgage markets,” Gallagher wrote. The proposal would require banks to retain a slice of mortgages when borrowers are spending more than 43 percent of their monthly income to repay their debt. The earlier version would have required banks to keep a stake in loans when borrowers were spending more than 36 percent of their income on all loan payments. The new measure also would prohibit loans with risky features such as balloon payments or repayment terms of longer than 30 years. The agencies also asked for public feedback on an alternative that would require lenders to keep a stake in any loan with a down payment of less than 30 percent. That was “not selected as the preferred approach,” the agencies said in the proposal. The regulators are asking for public feedback on the full proposal by Oct. 30 before they vote to finalize the rule. Additional agencies involved in the rulemaking are the Federal Reserve , Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency , and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. To contact the reporter on this story: Clea Benson in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maura Reynolds at [email protected]

2013

eased-mortgage-risk-rule-to-be-proposed-by-u-s-agencies-today

Wind Surge Saps Bondholder Hope for Energy Future Payout

By Mark Chediak

2013-08-29T15:32:34Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/wind-surge-saps-bondholder-hope-for-energy-future-payout.html For the first time, Texas is connecting most of its wind farms to its largest cities. That’s bringing cheap electricity into the service area of Energy Future Holdings Corp., bad news to holders of $32 billion of the power company’s debt from the biggest-ever leveraged buyout. What began as a trickle of power to Dallas and Austin from competitors’ windmills in West Texas has started flooding the market. The supply uses new transmission cables being stretched about 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) across the state in a $6.8 billion project set to be fully built by December. Subsidized wind power together with natural gas that’s plentiful from shale drilling are curbing profit at Energy Future’s atomic and coal-fed power plants. That’s eroding value to banks and investors in the event of a bankruptcy. Creditors may have to fight over a shrinking pie of profit at the company formerly known as TXU, which was taken private for $48 billion. “The transmission is finally there in Texas to bring all the wind power to the population centers and it’s a disaster for the generation companies,” Andy DeVries , an analyst at CreditSights Inc., said in a telephone interview. Traditional power companies across the U.S. and Europe are struggling to compete in wholesale markets with newer generators supplying subsidized wind and solar energy. In Texas, wind has more than doubled in the past six years and now makes up 13 percent of the state’s generation capacity. Market Upheaval In the U.S., hydraulic fracturing techniques used to drill shale have produced a flood of cheap natural gas. That, combined with the growth in wind and tepid customer demand, is upending power markets, leading to plant closures and bankruptcy for some generator owners. Most vulnerable for Dallas-based Energy Future is its Luminant generation unit, which saw the glut of cheap wind power and milder weather help drive prices down 20 percent in July from a year earlier. Depressed electricity rates deflate Luminant’s value and reduce what creditors may recover in a bankruptcy, Peter Thornton, an analyst for KDP Investment Advisors Inc., said by phone. While Energy Future’s Oncor Electric Delivery utility is the main partner in the transmission line project, and will share in earnings for transmitting wind power, the parent company said Oncor would be excluded from any insolvency proceeding. Moving Money “It’s taking money from one side of the company and giving it to another,” DeVries said. “Unfortunately, you are taking it from the side that needs the money.” The Texas transmission line build-out is an example of how companies that bolster the power grid may be best-positioned to survive the transition to a decentralized network where customers use more renewable power and rely less on large centralized fossil fuel and nuclear generators. Energy Future, the biggest power producer in Texas, said in April and again this month it’s held talks with creditors and is evaluating changes to its capital structure that may include filing for Chapter 11 for most of the company. Oncor won’t be part of its parent’s bankruptcy filing and has set up protections from creditor claims, Fitch Ratings said in an Aug. 12 research note. Energy Future spokesman Allan Koenig declined to comment on the impact of power prices on the company’s valuation. Bankruptcy Record The restructuring would be the largest in the energy sector and the seventh-largest on record since 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Energy Future was taken private by KKR & Co. (KKR) and TPG Capital six years ago in the largest leveraged buyout in history. Texas Competitive Electric Holdings’s $1.83 billion of 10.25 percent notes due November 2015 traded at 5.5 cents on the dollar Aug. 26, down from 30.5 cents on Jan. 2, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Oncor will get a boost in cash flows as the power line project is completed and it earns a return on the investment, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Shapard said during an Aug. 2 call with investors. At the same time, Energy Future, NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) and Calpine Corp. (CPN)

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for their generators in the state as the cheap power supplied by government-subsidized wind turbines helped lower prices. Average wholesale electricity rates in July dipped to the lowest since 2004, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. Falling Prices Electricity prices for 2014 also have fallen. The on-peak North Texas power price for next year has dropped 19 percent since reaching a peak on May 23, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. During a heat wave in the first week of August, ample wind supplies served to keep a lid on prices that would’ve normally spiked from the higher demand, NRG Chief Executive Officer David Crane said during a call with investors on Aug. 9. “ Wind energy reduces electricity prices and that is good for consumers,” said Michael Goggin, an analyst for the American Wind Energy Association , an industry trade group. “Wind energy has no fuel costs, allowing it to replace more expensive and polluting sources of energy.” Once complete, Oncor’s power lines will be part of a system that can eventually deliver about 18,500 megawatts of wind power, nearly double the amount now available in Texas and 25 percent of the state’s current generation capacity. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at [email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at [email protected] .

2013

wind-surge-saps-bondholder-hope-for-energy-future-payou

Sugar Declines as Brazil Millers Favor Sweetener; Cocoa Advances

By Alex Pashley

2013-08-28T10:46:27Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/sugar-declines-as-brazil-millers-favor-sweetener-cocoa-advances.html

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Sugar fell for a second day in London and in New York after millers in Brazil’s main growing region directed more of the cane crop to making the sweetener at the expense of ethanol. Cocoa advanced. Millers in Brazil’s center-south, the main growing region of the world’s biggest producer, directed 47.8 percent of all the cane processed in the first half of August to making sugar, according to industry group Unica. That’s up from 45 percent two weeks earlier. Producers switched to making more sugar as a weaker real meant ethanol is 2 cents a pound cheaper than the sweetener, Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG) said in a report yesterday. “It shows the industry is responding to price signals,” Jonathan Kingsman , managing director of researcher Kingsman SA in Lausanne, Switzerland, said by phone, commenting on Unica’s figures. “Ethanol is paying much less still than sugar, so the sector has moved more toward sugar over the past month.” White sugar for delivery in October decreased 0.7 percent to $476.30 a metric ton by 11:31 a.m. on NYSE Liffe in London, declining for the seventh session in eight. Raw sugar for delivery in the same month fell 0.2 percent to 16.43 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The Brazilian real declined 13.5 percent this year, the third-worst performer in a basket of 24 emerging market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The Indian rupee is the worst, followed by the South African rand. Weaker currencies encourage millers to export more of the sweetener priced in U.S. dollars. India is the world’s second-biggest sugar producer. “The weakening rupee increases the chance of seeing significant Indian exports next year from their domestic production,” Kingsman said. India Sugar shipments from India may exceed 1 million tons in the year beginning Oct. 1, said Narendra Murkumbi , managing director of Mumbai-based Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd. (SHRS) Exports will probably be 500,000 tons to 1.5 million tons, Manish Gupta, head of sugar trading at Olam India, said in an interview earlier this month. Robusta coffee for November delivery was little changed at $1,771 a ton on NYSE Liffe. Arabica coffee for delivery in December climbed 0.6 percent to $1.1745 a pound on ICE. Cocoa for delivery in December rose 0.7 percent to 1,640 pounds ($2,539) a ton in London. Cocoa for delivery in the same month advanced 0.6 percent to $2,468 a ton in New York . To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Pashley in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at [email protected]

2013

sugar-declines-as-brazil-millers-favor-sweetener-cocoa-advances

Karsch Returns Client Capital in $1.8 Billion Hedge Fund

By Katherine Burton

2013-08-28T19:00:15Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/karsch-returns-client-capital-in-1-8-billion-hedge-fund.html

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Michael Karsch is returning client money in his $1.8 billion hedge-fund firm after 13 years, saying he wants to take time to contemplate the next stage of his career, according to a letter sent to investors. Karsch, 45, plans to return 95 percent of client assets in New York-based Karsch Capital Management LP by Sept. 30 and the remainder no later than January, according to the letter, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News . “I feel as I approach twenty years as an investment manager, it is time for me to take a step back, reflect on my experiences and begin to think about the next chapter of my career,” Karsch wrote in the letter, dated today. Karsch founded his firm in 2000, after stints as a managing director at Soros Fund Management LLC and an investment role at Chieftain Capital Management Inc. Karsch Capital, which manages about $1.3 billion in stock hedge funds , has outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index by 100 percentage points with its main fund, according to the letter. Shawn Pattison, a spokesman for Karsch at Abernathy MacGregor, declined to comment beyond the contents of the letter. Karsch Capital’s main fund returned 6.1 percent this year through Aug. 23. A long-only fund, which manages about $500 million, returned 16 percent. Since its inception in 2006, that fund has returned 94 percent, compared with 55 percent for the S&P 500 (SPX) , according to the letter. Karsch started his career as an investment banking analyst at Wasserstein Perella & Co. He graduated from Tufts University in 1990 and has a masters from its Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School . To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Burton in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at [email protected]

2013

karsch-returns-client-capital-in-1-8-billion-hedge-fund

Letta Delivers Italian Tax Deal by Appeasing Berlusconi

By Andrew Frye

2013-08-29T11:30:10Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/letta-delivers-italian-property-tax-deal-by-appeasing-berlusconi.html

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Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta passed cuts to an unpopular property tax in a deal that may mend relations with Silvio Berlusconi , his partner in a fragile coalition government. The government plans to cancel a tax on primary residences this year and replace it in 2014 with a municipal levy, Letta told reporters late yesterday after a cabinet meeting in Rome . Berlusconi, a three-time former premier, praised the deal and said Letta had lived up to his word. The agreement shows Letta’s ability to forge compromise, even as conflicts within his cabinet intensify and weigh on markets. Italian stocks began slipping Aug. 19 as talks stalled and Berlusconi’s allies, who spearheaded the tax-cut campaign, threatened to topple the government. Letta’s next task is to maintain cohesion when Berlusconi, now a senator, faces impeachment proceedings Sept. 9 in the upper house. “Any deal is good,” said Raffaella Tenconi , an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London . “This is a step that tells me that there is cooperation” within the coalition, she said. The benchmark FTSE MIB Index (FTSEMIB) was up 0.8 percent at 1:25 p.m. in Milan after closing 1 percent higher yesterday. The Treasury sold the maximum amount offered at a sale of five- and 10-year debt today, and consumer confidence increased more than economists forecast in August on expectations a tax-cut deal would be reached. Spending Gap The government is committed to keeping its budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product this year, Letta said. Spending cuts, levies on gaming and value-added tax receipts will compensate for the loss of revenue from the property levy, Letta said. Full details will be given in the budget law later this year, he said. Letta, 47, is seeking to build momentum in the economy as Italy shows signs of shaking off a recession that extended to eight quarters in the period through June. He is also trying to respect the budget discipline enacted by his predecessor, Mario Monti , to help fight the European sovereign debt crisis. Letta’s decision was met with criticism from an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel . Michael Meister, deputy chairman of Merkel’s Christian Union caucus in parliament, said the tax cut threatens the stability that Monti brought to Italy. Merkel Ally “Instead of further stabilization progress with structural reforms and fiscal consolidation, Italy faces setbacks under the Social Democrat Letta,” Meister said in response to an e-mailed request for comment. “Letta must responsibly recognize the importance of Italy for the stability of the entire euro zone.” The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, is waiting for Letta to specify how he’ll offset lost revenue to keep public finances in line with Italy’s EU commitments, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters today in Alpbach, Austria . “Ensuring the sustainability of Italy’s public finances, and in particular reducing its very high public debt, is absolutely essential for restoring confidence and creating the conditions for a lasting recovery,” Rehn said. “I welcome Prime Minister Letta’s strong reassurance of Italy’s determination to respect its budgetary commitments for 2013.” Property Values The property-tax debate pitted Letta’s commitment to budget discipline against Berlusconi’s demands for tax cuts. Berlusconi said the levy, imposed last year as an emergency austerity measure, was unjust. Letta said yesterday the tax was unfair because the property values found in public registers were outdated. The new local tax will allow municipalities to make the levy more progressive, he said. The deal allowed Berlusconi, founder of the People of Liberty party, to claim victory on his promise in the February election campaign to end taxation on primary residences. “People of Liberty respected its pact with voters and Prime Minister Letta respected his pact” with the party, Berlusconi said in his statement. The process to strip Berlusconi of his Senate seat begins with a committee meeting in the upper house and may take weeks or months before an eventual vote in the full chamber is called. He risks expulsion because his conviction for tax fraud was upheld on Aug. 1 by Italy’s top criminal court. Letta’s Democratic Party , the biggest force in the coalition, has said Berlusconi’s expulsion is required by an anti-corruption law enacted in December. People of Liberty, the second-biggest party, claims the law is unconstitutional and shouldn’t be applied to Berlusconi, whose conviction stems from tax evasion in 2002 and 2003 at his Mediaset SpA television broadcaster. Berlusconi is also appealing convictions in separate criminal cases for illegal use of wiretaps, abuse of power and engaging a minor in prostitution. He has denied all charges. To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Frye in Rome at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at [email protected]

2013

etta-delivers-italian-property-tax-deal-by-appeasing-berlusconi

California Abortion Bill Shows Gulf With Other States

By Michael B. Marois and Esmé E. Deprez

2013-08-28T07:01:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/california-abortion-bill-shows-gulf-with-other-states.html

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To see the growing gulf over abortion between California and other states, look no further than the Colorado River that marks the state’s border with Arizona . On the California side, a bill heading soon to Democratic Governor Jerry Brown would make it easier for rural women to terminate pregnancies by allowing nurse practitioners and midwives to perform abortions in the first 12 weeks, now provided only by doctors. Across the river in Arizona, Republican Governor Jan Brewer effectively banned nurse practitioners from doing the procedures in 2011. Five Planned Parenthood clinics stopped offering abortions when doctors couldn’t be found, according to Cynde Cerf, a spokeswoman. California “completely bucks the trend that we’ve been seeing in other states in the past three years, which is to adopt abortion restrictions en masse,” said Elizabeth Nash, state issues manager for the New York-based Guttmacher Institute , which researches and compiles reproductive health data. “This is moving in a completely different direction than what we are seeing in other states.” The California measure, approved this week by the Democrat-controlled state Senate, contrasts with at least 178 laws restricting abortion that other states have passed since 2010, according to the institute. The laws have made it more difficult for women to get abortions, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy. Five States If signed into law by Brown, California would be the fifth state to permit non-physician abortions, joining Montana , New Hampshire , Oregon and Vermont , according to a study by the University of California, San Francisco . Thirty-nine states require a licensed physician. The author of the California bill, Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, said the legislation was needed to help women in the half of the state’s counties without a doctor to perform abortions. The Senate version of the bill will go back to the Assembly to reconcile amendments before it’s sent to Brown. Arizona’s law signed by Brewer two years ago prohibited the state nursing board from determining whether abortion care was within the scope of practice for nurse practitioners. The effect was immediate. There are seven abortion clinics in the state today, down from 19 in 2010 because of the measure and other restrictive laws, according to NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona, which opposes the limits. Local Facilities Eighty-seven percent of U.S. counties have no local facilities for abortion, according to the University of California study. Those areas are home to more than a third of women aged 15 to 44, the study showed. A similar California bill failed last year after some Democrats said they were concerned that abortions performed by non-physicians wouldn’t be as safe. That measure was amended to allow nurse practitioners and other clinicians to dispense abortion-inducing drugs, and was signed Brown. Many of the anti-abortion laws passed in recent years have been argued on the basis that they improve health and safety. They have also proven effective at shuttering providers: In addition to Arizona, restrictions have been blamed for closing at least a dozen clinics in states including Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania . A University of California study published in January in the American Journal of Public Health found that complications from abortions by nurse practitioners, nurse midwives or physician’s assistants were “clinically equivalent” to those performed by doctors. “I can’t think of a single national trend that California isn’t bucking,” said Brian Johnston, the Western Regional Director at the National Right to Life Committee. “The reality is that a human life must end for this to be an abortion and so this is an issue of huge significance, and other states recognize that.” To contact the reporters on this story: Michael B. Marois in Sacramento at [email protected] ; Esme E. Deprez in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at [email protected]

2013

california-abortion-bill-shows-gulf-with-other-states

German Stocks Drop Amid Growing Concern on Syria Conflict

By Jonathan Morgan

2013-08-28T07:37:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/german-stocks-drop-amid-growing-concern-on-syria-conflict.html

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German stocks declined, with the benchmark DAX Index falling to its lowest level in six weeks, amid growing concern that the U.S. will take military action against Syria for using chemical weapons. Volkswagen AG (VOW) lost 1.7 percent as a gauge of carmakers was among the worst performers on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Salzgitter AG (SZG) , Germany’s second-biggest steelmaker, lost 1.6 percent after confirmation that it will be removed from the Stoxx 600. The DAX slipped 0.5 percent to 8,202.08 at 9:33 a.m. in Frankfurt. The gauge has still rallied 6.7 percent from its low on June 24 as the European Central Bank said that interest rates will remain low for an extended period. The broader HDAX Index also fell 0.6 percent today. “The poison gas in Syria, the potential intervention of U.S. soldiers and a further escalation in this powder-keg remain the key triggers also on the trading floor,” Roger Peeters, chief executive officer at Close Brothers Seydler Research in Frankfurt, wrote in an e-mail. “Markets are alienated by the insecurity and the unknown indirect consequences in a region, which is affected by a lot of disturbances.” The U.S., France and Britain are moving closer to retaliatory military action against Syria, laying out the justification, putting forces into place and rounding up allies in the region. Any armed response would be focused on Syria’s weapons capabilities and wouldn’t be aimed at deposing President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. and U.K. officials said. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said in London that while no decision has been made on a course of action, it would be legal and proportionate. In the U.S., a report at 10 a.m. New York time may show that pending sales of previously owned homes were little changed last month after declining 0.4 percent in June, according to the median forecast of 37 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at [email protected]

2013

german-stocks-drop-amid-growing-concern-on-syria-conflic

Rebar Futures Trade Little Changed Near 4-Month High in Shanghai

By Bloomberg News

2013-08-28T02:52:35Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/rebar-futures-trade-little-changed-near-4-month-high-in-shanghai.html

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Steel reinforcement-bar futures traded near the highest in four months as investors weighed signs of improving demand against lower amounts of cash available at the end of the month. Rebar for January delivery was unchanged at 3,818 yuan ($624) a metric ton at 10:30 a.m. local time, after swinging between 3,803 yuan and 3,835 yuan. Futures touched a four-month high of 3,848 yuan on Aug. 14. Building material demand usually improves in autumn as construction increases on infrastructure and property projects across the country, said Zheng Nan, analyst at Shenyin & Wanguo Futures Co. in Shanghai . A monthly short-term liquidity squeeze for traders and wholesalers will weigh on prices, Zheng said. “The market is held in consolidation mode at this point, which could last for a few days,” Zheng said. The average spot price of rebar was little changed yesterday at 3,604 yuan a ton, according to Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. Iron ore for immediate delivery at Tianjin port was unchanged at $138.70 a dry ton, according to a price index compiled by The Steel Index Ltd. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Feiwen Rong in Beijing at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brett Miller at [email protected]

2013

rebar-futures-trade-little-changed-near-4-month-high-in-shanghai

Hockey Unveils A$31.6 Billion in Budget Savings Ahead of Ballot

By Jason Scott

2013-08-28T03:15:23Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/hockey-unveils-a-31-6-billion-in-budget-savings-ahead-of-ballot.html Australia ’s opposition coalition, leading in opinion polls before the Sept. 7 election, said it would make A$31.6 billion ($28.3 billion) of budget savings over four years as it trims the civil service and cuts business compensation linked to the carbon tax. “All coalition policies are fully costed and fully funded,” Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey said in an e-mailed statement today. “Only the coalition can be trusted to get the budget back under control.” A Liberal-National government would save A$5.2 billion by cutting 12,000 public servants, and A$7.5 billion by scrapping compensation and other spending associated with the government’s carbon price mechanism, Hockey said. Eradicating spending linked to the government’s 30 percent tax on coal and iron ore profits would save A$4.7 billion, he said. Opposition leader Tony Abbott and Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd have put management of the economy at the center of the election campaign amid a slowdown as the China-led mining investment boom wanes. The ability of the major parties to deliver pre-election sweeteners has been constrained by falling government revenue, with Treasury predicting a budget deficit of A$30.1 billion for the 12 months through June 2014. Hockey said the A$9.8 billion outlay for the coalition’s proposed Paid Parental Paid Leave Scheme would be more than covered by scrapping existing government policies in that area, and by a 1.5 percent levy on company taxable income above A$5 million. Surplus Pledge The coalition, which is pledging to produce a budget surplus equal to 1 percent of gross domestic product within a decade, only needs to gain four more seats in the 150-seat lower house to form government. The coalition is leading Labor by six percentage points on a two-party preferred basis, according to a Newspoll published in the Australian newspaper Aug. 26. Abbott and Rudd, both aged 55, will take part in a televised debate

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- in Sydney later today. “Abbott has a dog of a policy and it’s called paid parental leave,” Rudd told reporters in Brisbane today. “People don’t like leaders who arrogantly think they have the election in the bag and try to avoid scrutiny.” The coalition’s two-party preferred vote fell 1 percentage point from the week before to 53 percent, according to Newspoll. Labor rose 1 point to 47 percent. The measure is designed to gauge who is most likely to form a government under Australia’s preferential voting system. To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Canberra at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at [email protected]

2013

ockey-unveils-a-31-6-billion-in-budget-savings-ahead-of-ballo

China Overnight Rate Snaps Five-Day Drop Before Month-End

By Bloomberg News

2013-08-28T07:58:26Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/china-overnight-rate-snaps-five-day-drop-before-month-end.html

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China ’s overnight money-market rate rose for the first time in six days on speculation cash supply will wane as banks hoard funds to meet month-end requirements. The measure climbed from the lowest level since Aug. 9 even after the central bank added 29 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) to markets yesterday via seven-day reverse-repurchase contracts. The People’s Bank of China asked lenders to submit orders today for 14-day reverse repos and 28-day repo agreements, and gauged demand for 91-day bills, said a trader at a primary dealer required to bid at the auctions. “Commercial banks are reluctant to lend in the interbank market before month-end,” said Xu Hanfei, a Shanghai-based analyst at Guotai Junan Securities Co. “Funds will be tightly balanced.” The overnight repurchase rate , a gauge of funding availability in the banking system, rose eight basis points, or 0.08 percentage point, to 3.1 percent, according to a weighted average compiled by the National Interbank Funding Center. It fell to as low as 2.9 percent earlier. The seven-day repo rate increased five basis points to 4.3 percent. The cost of one-year interest rate swaps, the fixed payment needed to receive the floating seven-day repo rate, climbed one basis point to 4.09 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The central bank auctioned 50 billion yuan of treasury deposits at 4.75 percent yesterday, offsetting the impact of rolling over 51.5 billion yuan of three-year bills on Aug. 26. That was the second time the authority extended the maturity of some bills this month. The yield on the government’s 3.38 percent notes due May 2023 advanced three basis points to 4.02 percent, according to the Interbank Funding Center. China should gradually raise the ceiling on deposit rates, and widen the yuan’s trading band, according to an article published on People’s Daily, which was written by Wang Yu, an official from the central bank’s research bureau. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Helen Sun in Shanghai at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at [email protected]

2013

china-overnight-rate-snaps-five-day-drop-before-month-end

San Bernardino Judge Streamlines Eligibility Contest

By Steven Church

2013-08-28T04:01:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/san-bernardino-judge-streamlines-eligibility-contest.html

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San Bernardino, California ’s bankruptcy judge chose an unusual way to help decide whether the city should enjoy her court’s protection from creditors while it renegotiates debts. Instead of scheduling a multiday trial with platoons of attorneys, a parade of witnesses and boxes of evidence, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith M. Jury will give a handful of lawyers a few hours today in her Riverside, California, courtroom to debate the city’s eligibility to file under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code’s Chapter 9, which covers municipalities. Jury is streamlining the approach taken in the four other large municipal bankruptcies filed since 1998, those of Vallejo and Stockton, California; Jefferson County, Alabama ; and most recently Detroit, which last month filed the largest ever Chapter 9 case. Detroit is on track for an eligibility hearing in October, while Vallejo, Stockton and Jefferson County needed only weeks or months to convince judges they qualified for protection. San Bernardino, on the other hand, has waited more than a year to reach this stage. “I can understand she may not want to have a lengthy trial on eligibility,” said attorney H. Slayton Dabney Jr., who represented creditors in the $4 billion Jefferson County bankruptcy. “That sounds like what she is trying to do.” Court Fights The San Bernardino case has been mired in court fights pitting the city against its creditors and the creditors against each other. One creditor’s law firm was kicked off the case because it hired an attorney away from another creditor’s firm. The city and one of its biggest creditors, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System , can’t even agree which disputes a mediator should try to resolve. Under Chapter 9, creditors , including unions, lenders and bondholders, can force a municipality to prove it’s eligible to remain in bankruptcy after a case is filed. Calpers, for instance, claims San Bernardino doesn’t qualify because it failed to negotiate in good faith with creditors before filing on Aug. 1, 2012. Jury, who wrote the opinion for an appeals panel that upheld Vallejo’s eligibility, has chosen to hold a summary-judgment hearing using only facts that are already part of the case to decide whether San Bernardino met the law’s requirements when it filed. Lawyers will present arguments on the conclusions to be drawn from the evidence. Arguments Only A short, argument-only hearing may allow Jury to rule without the time and expense of a trial, said James Spiotto , a partner at Chapman & Cutler LLP in Chicago who has written and lectured on the law of municipal reorganizations. If San Bernardino prevails, the city can begin negotiating with creditors and municipal unions to develop a plan to cut debt and reorganize some operations. Otherwise, Jury will probably schedule the more traditional non-jury trial seen in municipal bankruptcies, said Ron Oliner, who represents the city’s main police union. “The procedure the court is employing, to determine eligibility by summary judgment, is unusual,” Oliner said in an e-mail. His client hasn’t taken a position on eligibility. San Bernardino, a city of about 209,000 people some 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Los Angeles , was the third California city to file for bankruptcy in a three-month span last year. Fiscal Emergency The city said a fiscal emergency, brought on by a $46 million budget shortfall, forced it to file despite a state law that normally requires towns and counties to negotiate with creditors first in a process overseen by a neutral arbitrator. By declaring an emergency, the city sidestepped that requirement. The right to challenge whether a debtor is entitled to file is a key difference between municipal and corporate bankruptcy. Under Chapter 11, a corporation automatically gains the right to try to cancel contracts and seek other help from a court as soon as it files. The case is In re San Bernardino, 12-bk-28006, U.S. Bankruptcy Court , Central District of California (Riverside). To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Church in federal court in Detroit at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Dunn at [email protected]

2013

san-bernardino-judge-streamlines-eligibility-contes

China Sets November for Key Economic Meeting for Communist Party

By Paul Panckhurst

2013-08-28T03:03:11Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/china-sets-november-for-key-economic-meeting-for-communist-party.html

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China’s Communist Party set a key meeting on economic policy for November, providing a focus for investors seeking details on how the leadership will support a slowing economy. The Beijing plenary meeting of the party’s Central Committee, which includes President Xi Jinping , Premier Li Keqiang , government ministers and the heads of the biggest state-owned enterprises and banks, will discuss deepening reforms, according to a report last night from the state-run Xinhua News Agency. The November gathering will be the third full meeting of the current Central Committee. It was at such a third plenum in late 1978 that Deng Xiaoping and his allies inaugurated a series of economic reforms that began to open up China to foreign investment and loosen state controls over the economy. “We expect a comprehensive list of reforms to be provided,” Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong , said in a note today. The changes will be “critically important for the economic outlook,” Zhang said. China ’s leadership has already said that it will rely on forces such as urbanization to sustain expansion in coming years as the population ages and higher wages erode manufacturers’ global competitiveness. Statements from the November meeting may flesh out details, as investors look for clues on reforms, such as to the household-registration, or hukou, system which impedes labor mobility. The Xinhua report cited a statement from the Communist Party’s Political Bureau following a meeting yesterday. The body of the 25 top party officials also approved a five-year plan through 2017 for improving anti-corruption efforts, Xinhua said, one day after the graft trial of ousted Politburo member Bo Xilai concluded with prosecutors calling for a severe punishment. Big shifts in economic policy must be ratified by the Central Committee , a group of about 200 people picked every five years by a party congress and from whose ranks come the top civilian and military officials in China. To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Panckhurst in Beijing at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at [email protected]

2013

china-sets-november-for-key-economic-meeting-for-communist-party

Legal Pot Sellers Say Armored-Car Companies Halt Service

By Jennifer Oldham

2013-08-28T06:01:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/legal-pot-sellers-say-armored-car-companies-turn-away.html Steve DeAngelo says his staff may need to carry cash in personal vehicles to pay Harborside Health Center’s bills after his armored car provider told his co-founder that a federal agency ordered it to stop serving cannabis businesses. “The only way we have to pay our bills is transporting cash from point A to point B,” said DeAngelo, executive director of the medicinal marijuana collective based in Oakland, California , with 128,000 patients. “This includes 15 percent of our $30 million-a-year gross that goes to the cities of San Jose and Oakland and the state of California for our taxes,” he said. “This is a huge threat to the safety of my patients and staff, and beyond that it’s a huge threat to the general public.” DeAngelo isn’t alone. Several large marijuana dispensaries in California and Colorado received similar notices from their armored vehicle services, said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Washington-based National Cannabis Industry Association . The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the matter, Ellen Canale, a spokeswoman, said by e-mail in response to repeated requests. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration referred questions to the Justice Department, its parent agency. The end of armored-car service to some marijuana dispensaries underscores ongoing tension between federal law, under which cannabis remains illegal, and laws in 20 states and the District of Columbia that legalized medical marijuana consumption, plus measures in Colorado and Washington that allow those 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of pot. Federal Response Attorney General Eric Holder hasn’t provided a federal response to the laws in Washington and Colorado that will also allow retail sales of pot next year. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the conflicts between state and federal marijuana laws on Sept. 10, Chairman Patrick Leahy , a Vermont Democrat, announced Aug. 26. Federal laws bar banks from offering accounts to pot shops, forcing medical marijuana firms to pay their sales taxes and other bills in cash. Cannabis businesses also are unable to obtain credit cards. DeAngelo’s car service, Dunbar Armored Inc., didn’t return calls and messages for comment. Fox, of the cannabis trade group, said that other medical marijuana dispensaries affected by the issue didn’t want to come forward because of security concerns. Unsecured Cash “In Colorado, one of our larger members told us that the DEA told their armored-car provider they couldn’t provide services,” he said. “As you can imagine, no one who is being put in a situation where they have to have large amounts of cash unsecured is going to want their name in the paper.” The suspension of armored-car service is the latest in what marijuana advocates say is an increasing number of federal enforcement actions against cannabis firms. Federal officials have conducted 270 raids on medical cannabis providers since the start of the Obama administration, compared to 260 during George W. Bush ’s eight years in office, according to a June report by Washington-based Americans for Safe Access, a nonprofit representing patients. The review found that the Obama administration spent more than $289 million over four and a half years on enforcement, about $100 million more than Bush did in his eight years in office. ‘Safe Facility’ Harborside Health Center’s DeAngelo said his collective is being audited by the Internal Revenue Service , which asked for detailed financial records. His seven-year-old not-for-profit assured the city of Oakland in a safety plan it filed before it opened that it would use armored car services and that this is “one of the reasons the city felt we would run a safe facility,” he said. Rebecca Kaplan , an at-large Oakland City Council member, said the city’s confident its regulation of dispensaries keeps them safe, yet it’s concerned the end of armored-car service places residents in harm’s way. “There is no benefit to shifting medical cannabis funds out of armored cars and into public vehicles,” said Kaplan, who was re-elected to a second four-year term last year. “To require medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the nation to use unguarded cash systems

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wouldn’t understand they are creating an environment to support muggings, to support burglaries and to support crime,” she said. City Attorney Kaplan said she called the city attorney’s office to explore the city’s legal options. DeAngelo credits Harborside’s investment in a 36-camera security system, biometric locks and a bank vault that is reinforced with 18 inches of concrete with preventing criminal incidents. Keeping cash on the premises may render that plan moot, he said. “Some businesses do not want to go public because they fear they would be targeted for violent robberies,” he said. “I also naturally have that concern. I think this is such an outrageous threat to public security that somebody had to be willing to stand up and talk about it.” To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Oldham in Denver at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at [email protected]

2013

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Sohu Jumps Amid Qihoo Acquisition Bet: China Overnight

By Belinda Cao

2013-08-28T20:40:05Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/sohu-jumps-amid-qihoo-acquisition-bet-china-overnight.html

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Sohu.com Inc. (SOHU) led gains among Chinese equities in New York on speculation Qihoo 360 Technology Co. is a step closer to buying a stake in its Sogou online search engine unit. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese stocks in the U.S. rose 0.5 percent to 95.84 yesterday, gaining for the first time this week. Online news portal Sohu jumped the most since May 20, while Qihoo, China ’s second biggest search engine, slid for the first time in a week on concern its sale of convertible bonds will sink its stock value. Digital map provider AutoNavi Holdings Ltd. tumbled 14 percent, the most on record, on plans to offer free navigation applications. Qihoo said last month that it’s in initial talks to buy Sohu’s Sogou search unit. The Beijing-based company sold $550 million of five-year convertible bonds, according to a statement yesterday. Proceeds of the sale will probably be used to fund Qihoo’s partial acquisition of Sogou, Hong Kong-based 86Research Ltd. said in a note to clients. “Sohu’s share rally should be driven by a possible deal that it will sell stake in Sogou to Qihoo,” Henry Guo, an analyst at ABR Investment Strategy LLC, said by phone from San Francisco . “With the bond sale, Qihoo’s existing share value will be diluted.” The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) , the largest Chinese exchange-traded fund in the U.S., slipped 0.2 percent to a one-week low of $34.99. The S&P 500 Index added 0.3 percent as energy shares rallied. Baidu Competition Sohu, a Beijing-based online news portal, advanced 4.6 percent to $63.40, the highest price since May 20. Chief Executive Officer Charles Zhang said in May the company was seeking strategic investment for its Sogou search unit to compete with Baidu Inc. (BIDU) for Internet users and advertising. Qihoo’s American depositary receipts dropped to $77.88, after a five-day rally sent the shares to a record $79.26. The company is offering convertible notes due in September 2018 that carry an annual interest rate of 2.5 percent, and investors have the option to convert the bonds to shares of Qihoo before the maturity date, it said. The issuance will dilute the value of existing shareholders by at least 4 percent, according to ABR’s Guo. Qihoo’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Xu declined to comment on the status of talks with Sohu in an Aug. 27 interview in Beijing. Cnooc Ltd. (883) , China’s biggest offshore oil explorer, jumped 3.8 percent to a six-week high of $202.68. The ADRs, each representing 100 underlying shares in the Beijing-based company, traded 1 percent above its Hong Kong stock, the biggest premium in a week. Free Apps Oil futures rose 1 percent to a two-year high in New York and Brent climbed to a six-month high in London on concern mounting tension between the U.S. and Syria will threaten oil supplies from the Middle East . AutoNavi, which provides digital map content to companies from Sina Corp. to Apple Inc., plunged to $12.54, the biggest decline since its U.S. listing in July 2010. The company said yesterday it will offer free premium navigation apps for Apple and Android smartphones in China, seeking to deepen the penetration of its mobile products. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China’s biggest e-commerce company invested $294 million in AutoNavi in May for a 28 percent stake. The free offering will reduce AutoNavi’s revenue, while contribution from Alibaba’s acquisition won’t boost sales until the second half of next year, according to Andy Yeung, a New York-based analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Second-quarter profit dropped to $3.8 million from $8.8 million a year earlier while sales also declined, Beijing-based AutoNavi said yesterday in a statement. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) tumbled 2.2 percent to 9,765.19. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent to 2,101.30, falling the first time this week. To contact the reporter on this story: Belinda Cao in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tal Barak Harif at [email protected]

2013

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Thailand’s Bonds, Baht Drop as Syria Tensions Deter Risk-Taking

By Yumi Teso

2013-08-28T09:23:20Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/thailand-s-bonds-baht-drop-as-syria-tensions-deter-risk-taking.html

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Thailand ’s government bonds fell, pushing the 10-year yield to the highest level since 2009, and the baht weakened as the prospect of U.S. military action against Syria deterred risk-taking. The baht touched a three-year low as official data showed Thai manufacturing dropped 4.5 percent in July from a year earlier, the fourth month of declines. The price of Brent crude has risen 4.4 percent in two days on concern international oil supplies will be disrupted as the U.S., France and Britain move closer to action against Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus last week. The yield on the 3.625 percent sovereign notes due June 2023 rose seven basis points, or 0.07 percentage point, to 4.37 percent as of 3:54 p.m. in Bangkok, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the highest level for a benchmark 10-year security since November 2009. “Geopolitical risk is worsening the market sentiment for emerging-market assets,” said Tsutomu Soma , manager of the fixed-income business unit at Rakuten Securities Inc. in Tokyo. “Thailand’s economic data remains weak, adding to downward pressure on the baht and other assets in the nation.” Global funds sold $1.2 billion more Thai government bonds than they bought this month through yesterday and pulled a net $1.2 billion from local equities, exchange data show. The baht fell 0.3 percent to 32.26 per dollar and reached 32.31 earlier, the weakest since Aug. 2, 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. One-month implied volatility, a measure of expected moves in the exchange rate used to price options, climbed 12 basis points to 7.67 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Yumi Teso in Bangkok at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at [email protected]

2013

ailand-s-bonds-baht-drop-as-syria-tensions-deter-risk-taking

Clooney Cracks Jokes, Bullock Panics in Venice Opener

By Farah Nayeri

2013-08-28T23:00:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/clooney-cracks-jokes-bullock-panics-in-venice-opener.html Swathed in state-of-the-art astronaut suits, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock drift merrily through outer space, soaking up the views and engaging in non-stop earthly banter. “How are you feeling?” asks Clooney, who plays the seasoned astronaut Matt Kowalski in Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity.” “Like a Chihuahua that’s been tumble-dried,” barks Bullock, alias Ryan Stone, a medical engineer on her maiden space voyage. Within minutes, their shuttle is wrecked by satellite debris, leaving them stranded and dangerously short of oxygen. “Gravity” opened the Venice Film Festival yesterday, with Clooney and Bullock triggering mob scenes all around. At the news conference, Clooney batted away a few odd interventions

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clooney-cracks-jokes-bullock-panics-in-venice-opener

Tepco Says Contaminated Water Tank Leak May Have Started in July

By Jacob Adelman

2013-08-28T02:41:23Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/tepco-says-contaminated-water-tank-leak-may-have-started-in-july.html

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The leak at a contaminated water storage tank discovered last week at the Fukushima plant may have continued since last month before it was detected and the tank drained, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) said. Crews found elevated levels of radiation in July near where the leak was ultimately detected on Aug. 19, Mayumi Yoshida, a spokeswoman for the utility known as Tepco, said today by phone. Tepco originally characterized the leak as a small one before determining by the change in the tank’s water level that 300 metric tons of contaminated water had escaped. A protective barrier around the tank didn’t stop the leak because a valve in the concrete structure had been left open, Tepco said. Japan ’s Nuclear Regulation Authority last week labeled the leak a “serious incident” in its worst assessment of the problems at Fukushima since the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 caused reactors to melt down. To contact the reporter on this story: Jacob Adelman in Tokyo at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Rogers at [email protected]

2013

epco-says-contaminated-water-tank-leak-may-have-started-in-july

Intesa Subordinated Bonds Gain on Offer to Exchange for New Debt

By John Glover

2013-08-28T16:06:04Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/intesa-subordinated-bonds-gain-on-offer-to-exchange-for-new-debt.html

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Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP) ’s subordinated bonds gained after Italy ’s second-biggest lender offered to swap the securities for new notes that will meet toughened regulatory requirements. The European Union is phasing in new rules on regulatory capital meaning that existing junior notes will gradually be disqualified from January 2014, the bank said in a statement. To act as Tier 2 capital, a layer of debt that helps protect senior obligations from loss, bonds must in future be structured so they can absorb losses if the issuer needs to be propped up. “The usefulness of the existing bonds as capital will start to taper off from next year,” said Roger Francis, a credit analyst at Mizuho International Plc. “It’s a question of cost-effectiveness.” Turin-based Intesa Sanpaolo’s 1.13 billion euros ($1.5 billion) of 6.625 percent bonds due May 2018, which the issuer is offering to buy back at 107.75 cents, gained 2 cents on the euro to 107.18, according to Bloomberg prices. The lender’s 1.45 billion euros of 5 percent notes maturing in May 2019 gained 2.5 cents to 102.5, the price at which the bank said it will buy them back. “The exchange offer is aimed at allowing Intesa Sanpaolo to optimize the composition of its regulatory capital,” the bank said in the statement. The new notes will pay 4.5 percentage points more than the benchmark 10-year mid-swap rate, the bank said in the statement. They will be denominated in euros and will have the same aggregate amount as the notes accepted in the exchange. Intesa Sanpaolo said it will accept all the bonds in the series that are covered by the offer. To contact the reporter on this story: John Glover in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shelley Smith at [email protected]

2013

intesa-subordinated-bonds-gain-on-offer-to-exchange-for-new-deb

Improving Visa Rules for Skilled Workers

By Charles E. Schumer

2013-08-28T20:31:15Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/improving-visa-rules-for-skilled-workers.html Norman Matloff's op-ed article , ``Stop Blaming Indian Companies for Visa Abuse,'' claims that a Senate reform bill scapegoats India for visa abuses. It is important to clarify that the legislation neither targets companies nor immigrants from India or any other countries in its reform of the H-1B visa system. The reforms in our bipartisan bill affect all companies the same way, whether they are based in India or Indiana, Boston or Beijing. In general, the Senate bill greatly expands access to H-1B visas, by raising the annual cap from 65,000 visas to as many as 180,000 visas a year based on market demand for highly skilled immigrant employees. Because this bill helps high-tech companies and highly skilled immigrants, it is endorsed by every major high-tech organization and groups representing highly skilled immigrants. The Senate bill, however, does make critical changes to ensure that the H-1B visa process only allows companies to hire foreign workers when they are needed, not when they are replacing the jobs or lowering the wages of American workers. Here is what is happening today. Rather than using the system solely to supplement gaps in the domestic workforce

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improving-visa-rules-for-skilled-workers

Rupee Jumps Most Since 2009 on RBI Support; Bonds, Stocks Rally

By Adi Narayan, Jeanette Rodrigues and Shikhar Balwani

2013-08-29T05:19:32Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/rbi-to-sell-dollars-to-oil-firms-as-rupee-drops-most-in-20-years.html

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India ’s rupee surged the most since 2009, rebounding from a record low, on speculation a central bank plan to supply dollars to top oil importers will cool demand for foreign exchange. Bonds and stocks rallied. The Reserve Bank of India will provide foreign currency to state-run Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp., which the authority will repurchase after a specified period, according to a statement on its website late yesterday. The rupee plunged the most in 20 years yesterday on concern a surge in oil prices amid political tension over Syria will worsen India’s current account and push the economy toward its biggest crisis since 1991. “The RBI’s measure has brought relief to the markets but it should have come much earlier than now when policy makers have their backs to the wall,” K. Ramanathan, chief investment officer at ING Investment Management Pvt. in Mumbai, said by phone. “The Syria situation is the joker in the pack. If it gets resolved, the rupee should find more support.” The rupee gained 2.1 percent to 67.4600 per dollar as of 10:13 a.m. in Mumbai, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It rose as much as 2.9 percent earlier, the biggest intraday gain since May 2009. The currency plunged 3.9 percent to an unprecedented 68.8450 yesterday. Today’s advance pares the rupee’s drop this year to 19 percent, still the worst performance among 24 emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The yield on the 7.16 percent government bonds due May 2023 fell 15 basis points, or 0.15 percentage point, to 8.81 percent, according to data from the Clearing Corporation of India Ltd.’s website. That’s the biggest drop since Aug. 22. The S&P BSE Sensex (SENSEX) index of local shares rose 0.7 percent today to 18,125.78 after touching the lowest level since September 2012 yesterday. Dollar Demand The RBI’s plan to supply dollars to oil companies via foreign-exchange swaps may boost the rupee toward 65 per dollar, Priyanka Kishore, a strategist at Standard Chartered Plc in London , said in an e-mail yesterday. The three biggest state refiners buy about $300 million each day from the local spot market , she estimates. The central bank sold dollars to oil firms during the global financial crisis in 2008. Costlier imports are pressuring on India’s balance of payments at a time when the prospect of a cut in U.S. stimulus is fueling fund outflows. The current-account deficit widened to a record 4.8 percent of gross domestic product in the year ended March 31. Syria Concern The possibility of military action by the U.S. and its allies against Syria, after they concluded the regime used chemical weapons against civilians, has fanned concern that political unrest in the region will disrupt Middle East oil supplies. A 7.6 percent jump in Brent crude this month is set to boost costs for Asia ’s third-largest economy, which imports 80 percent of its oil requirements. Since July, Indian policy makers have curbed derivatives trading, restricted cash supply and asked foreign investors to prove they aren’t speculating on the rupee, in attempts to arrest the currency’s slide. One-month implied volatility in the rupee, a measure of expected moves in the exchange rate used to price options, fell 61 basis points to 21.63 percent today, after touching the highest level since January 2009 yesterday. The move by RBI “will help somewhat but it’s still too weak a signal and will not make me change my view on the rupee,” Benoit Anne , head of emerging-market strategy at Societe General SA in London, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I continue to be concerned as we need to see a more heavy hand from the authorities in India.” Three-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts advanced 1.1 percent to 69.67. Forwards are agreements to buy or sell assets at a set price and date. Non-deliverable contracts are settled in dollars. To contact the reporters on this story: Adi Narayan in Mumbai at [email protected] ; Jeanette Rodrigues in Mumbai at [email protected] ; Shikhar Balwani in Mumbai at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Wong at [email protected]

2013

rbi-to-sell-dollars-to-oil-firms-as-rupee-drops-most-in-20-years

American Obsession With Race Doesn’t Help Poor

By Clive Crook

2013-08-28T19:47:50Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/american-obsession-with-race-doesn-t-help-poor.html One wonders what Martin Luther King Jr . would have made of today’s event at the Lincoln Memorial . The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom of Aug. 28, 1963, is remembered partly for his “I Have a Dream” speech . Could he have dreamed that within two generations a black American president would stand at the lectern to praise his vision? And how far would that remarkable fact atone, in his view, for the country’s lingering failure to give black Americans their full measure of economic and social equality? Barack Obama has often emphasized the paradox. The country that elected him to its highest office is still divided by race

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2013

american-obsession-with-race-doesn-t-help-poor

Japan Shares Fall as Yen Holds Gains Amid Syria Tension

By Anna Kitanaka

2013-08-28T00:05:23Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/japan-shares-fall-as-yen-holds-gains-amid-syria-tension.html

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Japanese shares declined, with the Topix (TPX) index heading for a third day of losses, as the yen held gains against the dollar amid heightened tensions over Syria . The Topix lost 1.7 percent to 1,114.23 as of 9:00 a.m. in Tokyo, with all 33 industry groups falling. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 1.9 percent to 13,283.33. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent. The measure fell the most since June 20 yesterday, amid growing tension over possible military action in Syria. U.S. President Barack Obama is working with allies to reach agreement on limited action against Syria after concluding the regime used chemical weapons against civilians. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sparked losses in global equities on Aug. 26 when he said President Obama believes Syria must be held accountable for the “moral obscenity” of using chemical weapons against its people, stoking concern unrest may disrupt Middle Eastern oil supplies. West Texas Intermediate crude advanced to the highest level in 18 months yesterday and extended gains today. Western powers told the Syrian opposition to expect a strike against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces within days, Reuters reported, citing sources who attended a meeting. To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah McDonald at [email protected]

2013

japan-shares-fall-as-yen-holds-gains-amid-syria-tension

Brazil Central Bank Copom Statement on Rate Decision

By Matthew Malinowski

2013-08-28T22:44:01Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/brazil-central-bank-copom-statement-on-rate-decision.html

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Following is a translation of the statement by Brazil’s central bank on its interest rate decision today. “Giving continuation to the adjustment of the benchmark interest rate, the Copom decided unanimously to raise the Selic rate to 9 percent a year, without bias. The committee considers that this decision will contribute to put inflation on a decline and assure that this trend will persist next year. The following board members voted for this decision: President Alexandre Antonio Tombini, Aldo Luiz Mendes, Altamir Lopes , Anthero de Moraes Meirelles, Carlos Hamilton Vasconcelos Araujo, Luiz Awazu Pereira da Silva, Luiz Edson Feltrim and Sidnei Correa Marques.” To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Malinowski in Brasilia at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andre Soliani at [email protected]

2013

brazil-central-bank-copom-statement-on-rate-decision

Homebuilder LGI Files for $125 Million Initial Public Offering

By Mohammed Hadi

2013-08-28T11:45:03Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/homebuilder-lgi-files-for-125-million-initial-public-offering.html

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LGI Homes Inc., a builder of homes for first-time buyers, filed for a U.S. initial public offering. LGI, which builds houses in Texas, Arizona , Florida and Georgia , will seek as much as $125 million in the offering, according to a regulatory filing today. The amount is a placeholder used to calculate fees and will probably change. Homebuilder confidence surged in August to the highest level since November 2005, as the U.S. housing market recovers from its worst crash since the 1930s. Re/Max Holdings Inc., a real estate brokerage franchiser, filed for an IPO earlier this month. LGI, which focuses on converting renters into buyers, has been profitable every year since it began operations in 2003, according to the filing. The company had revenue of $96 million in the six months through June. The sale is being managed by Deutsche Bank AG, JMP Securities LLC, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. LGI, based in The Woodlands, Texas , plans to list its shares under the ticker LGIH. To contact the reporter on this story: Mohammed Hadi in Hong Kong at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeffrey McCracken at [email protected]

2013

omebuilder-lgi-files-for-125-million-initial-public-offering

Revamping ‘Ford Pinto’ of Rail Cars Urged by Group

By Jim Snyder

2013-08-28T20:19:11Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/revamping-ford-pinto-of-rail-cars-urged-by-group.html The head of a rail safety group compared a widely used train tank car to the recalled Ford Pinto in urging U.S. regulators to require upgrades that would prevent accidents like a Quebec derailment that killed 47 people. Karen Darch, the co-chairman of a coalition of communities around Chicago formed in response to a merger of railroads, said regulators dragged their feet in mandating safety improvements to the car, known as the DOT-111, amid evidence showing the tankers are more prone to rupture in a derailment than other types. “Unfortunately, your combined track record has been less than stellar when it comes to improving the crash-worthiness of the DOT-111 tank car

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dangerous hazmat like crude and ethanol in this country and in Canada ,” Darch, mayor of Barrington, Illinois , told a panel of Federal Railroad Administration and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration officials today. Regulators had known since 1991 that the rail car has “a high propensity to rupture in derailment scenarios,” she said in comparing it Ford Motor Co. (F) ’s Pinto, which in the 1970s was recalled amid questions that a flawed fuel tank would catch fire in a rear-end collision. In response to safety concerns, U.S. rail companies have since 2011 added safety features to new DOT-111s to reduce the risks of a spill or catastrophic accident. Regulators are reviewing whether more steps are needed. ‘Impractical, Impossible’ Cheryl Burke, a rail safety executive for Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) in Midland, Michigan , said retrofitting all DOT-111s in use was “impractical if not impossible.” While she said Dow supports efforts to make rail transport safe, tank cars can’t be expected to be “completely impervious to the substantial forces that occur in significant rail accidents, particularly high-speed derailments.” Regulators should do a risk-analysis to determine whether particular rail fleets should be upgraded, Burke said. Deborah Hersman , the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board , said in a 2012 letter to regulators that the DOT-111 had a “high incidence of tank failures during accidents.” Phaseout Urged According to the NTSB, about 69 percent of the U.S. rail tank car fleet are DOT-111s. A Canadian Senate committee said in a report this month the government should consider accelerating the phaseout of tank cars. U.S. regulators are reviewing safety rules for transporting hazardous materials in response to the July 6 train derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec. Some of the 72 cars, which were carrying crude from North Dakota ’s Bakken formation to a New Brunswick refinery, were DOT-111s. U.S. and Canadian regulators this month imposed emergency rules designed to prevent trains that are parked and unattended from rolling free. The Federal Railroad Administration now prohibits operators from leaving trains hauling hazardous materials without an operator, unless receiving prior authorization, and requires employees to report to dispatchers the number of hand brakes used. Canadian investigators have said that not enough force was applied to the hand brakes to the train in Quebec to keep it from moving. Advisory Panel The U.S. Railroad Safety Advisory Committee , which develops new safety standards and includes officials from the government, industry and labor unions, is also studying whether further actions are required. It is meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue. The panel convened today took public testimony about what changes regulators should make. James Stem, national legislative director for Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union, said railroads should be required to have more than one worker on a train. The train in Quebec, which was operated by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd., had a crew of one and was parked overnight when it broke free and rolled into the town, where it derailed and exploded. The number of crude shipments by rail has increased by 443 percent since 2005. North Dakota accounts for much of the increase. About 75 percent of its oil heads to refineries by rail, with pipelines covering the remainder. Robert Fronczak, assistant vice president for environmental and hazmat safety and operations at the Association of American Railroads , encouraged regulators to ensure shippers accurately describe the types of tank cars being used along with the cargo being carried. Some rail operators may be using cars certified for the least hazardous loads to carry fuel that warrants a more robust rail car, he said. The government should provide some assurance that “the commodities being transported are being transported correctly and being declared correctly,” Fronczak said. To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Snyder in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at [email protected]

2013

revamping-ford-pinto-of-rail-cars-urged-by-group

Syria Strike Plans Advance as Allies Seek Support to Act

By Terry Atlas and Joe Sobczyk

2013-08-28T19:33:26Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/syria-strike-plans-advance-as-allies-seek-support-to-act.html

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The U.S. and the U.K. today said they are prepared to take military action against Syria without authorization from the United Nations Security Council. After Russia objected to a UN resolution offered by the U.K. authorizing action to protect civilians, a State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. will take “appropriate” action without the international body’s approval. “We do not believe the Syrian regime should be able to hide behind the fact that the Russians continue to block action” at the UN, Marie Harf told reporters today. “By far the best thing would be if the United Nations could be united, unlikely as that seems in the face of the vetoes from Russia and China that we’ve had in the past,” U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters in London . “But we have to try to do that. We’re clear that if there isn’t agreement at the United Nations, then we and other nations still have a responsibility on chemical weapons.” The U.S. and its NATO allies began presenting their justification for military action against Syria as they advanced plans for launching strikes and prepared evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said after a meeting of allies today in Brussels that evidence from a “wide variety of sources” implicates the Syrian government in the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that killed as many as 1,300 Syrians in eastern suburbs of Damascus, the capital. International Threat Using language that provides a basis for collective military action, he said, “We consider the use of chemical weapons as a threat to international peace and security.” President Barack Obama and allied leaders are working to define the objectives of a military strike on Syria, according to a U.S. official. Any use of force won’t be limited to a one-day operation, said the official, who asked not to be identified discussing war-planning efforts. The U.S. is concerned that letting the Syrian government go unpunished would send a signal to other countries, including North Korea, that have large inventories of chemical weapons, as well as making it likely that the Assad government will attack civilians with such weapons again, according to the U.S. official. While the U.S. has warships and submarines carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles ready for action in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, any military move may still be days away, in part because a team of UN weapons inspectors needs at least two more days to complete its report. Syrian Request British Prime Minister David Cameron today acceded to Labour Party leader Ed Miliband’s demand that the inspectors be allowed to complete their report before Parliament begins a debate on whether to authorize military action against Syria. At the UN today, Syrian ambassador Bashar Jaafari asked Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to extend the inspectors’ investigation to include government allegations that rebel groups have used chemical weapons against Syrian troops on three occasions this month. Amid the diplomatic dueling, the Obama administration is consulting with NATO allies including the U.K., France , Germany , and Turkey , as well as Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, to determine which countries would participate in a military operation, the official said. The alleged chemical weapons attack has fed calls for deeper global involvement in the 2 1/2-year Syrian civil war, with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal calling for a “decisive and serious international stance,” the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported today. Other Options Among the options being explored are how to deter and degrade Syria’s chemical-weapons capability and defeat the Assad government’s defense capabilities, another U.S. official said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy deliberations. Separate discussions are being held on whether, when and how to accelerate and expand military and intelligence assistance to mainstream Syrian rebels groups in an effort to prevent extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda from reaping the benefits of Western attacks on the Assad regime, said a third U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss possible covert action programs. The prospect of a military confrontation in the Middle East, a region that produces 35 percent of the world’s oil, has rumbled through markets. Stock markets in the region slumped for a second day today as oil reached a two-year high. Oil Rising West Texas Intermediate oil climbed 0.8 percent to $109.89 a barrel as of 2:50 p.m. in New York after rising as much as 3 percent to $112.24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.5 percent after the gauge sank 1.6 percent yesterday. To bolster domestic and foreign support for military action, the Obama administration is working on declassifying intelligence to provide evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces are responsible for the chemical attack. That information will be viewed skeptically after flawed intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s supposed stockpile of weapons of mass destruction was used to justify the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq , according to Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington . The“systematic misuse of intelligence by policy makers before and after” the invasion of Iraq “did much to discredit the U.S. and its allies, to destroy trust in intelligence reports that cannot reveal every source and method, and in the motives of U.S. officials,” Cordesman said in a report posted today on the CSIS website . Damaged Credibility Any limits and flaws in the intelligence “will fuel every anti-American conspiracy theory in the region,” he said. The confrontation with Syria will be at the forefront when Obama, Cameron and French President Francois Hollande join other leaders of the Group of 20 nations next week, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia . Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of Russia in Global Affairs, a Moscow-based foreign affairs magazine, said Putin’s government may boost aid to Assad’s regime in response to a strike against Syria. The differences with the West may freeze relations for some time. “The situation you have today will remain and will get worse,” Lukyanov said in a telephone interview. If the U.S., U.K. and France lead military action against Syria, for Putin “the long-term the desire not to deal with the West will be very strong.” Chinese Opposition China signaled its opposition. The People’s Daily newspaper, published by the ruling Communist Party, carried an editorial today saying that some countries had passed a “verdict” on Syria before all facts were in and that action should only be taken in response to reliable investigations. Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria, told a news conference in Geneva today that he’s waiting to see what evidence is produced that Assad’s regime used chemical arms and that any action must have UN sanction. “International law is clear,” Brahimi said. “It says military action must be taken after a decision by the Security Council.” UN chemical inspectors today visited the site of alleged attacks in the Ghouta area, UN Secretary-General Ban said at a news conference in The Hague. Members of the U.S. Congress, who don’t return from recess until Sept. 9, have been pressing Obama to seek their approval for any action by U.S. forces. Some, such as Representative Adam Smith of Washington, warned against getting dragged into the Syrian civil war. Congressional Doubts “Simply lashing out with military force under the banner of ‘doing something’ will not secure our interests in Syria,” Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. Cameron also is encountering resistance. Opposition leader Ed Miliband offered tentative support for possible attacks after meeting Cameron yesterday, while saying his Labour Party won’t vote for military action over Syria without UN involvement. If Labour opposes military action, Cameron may struggle to win approval from the House of Commons, as some of his own Conservative lawmakers have publicly expressed reluctance to back such a move. As in the U.S., polls in Britain show a majority of the public opposes further involvement in the Syrian conflict. Israel’s Defenses Israel ’s military bolstered defenses near the northern border, deploying a second Iron Dome missile defense system outside the city of Haifa and putting an Arrow missile defense battery on alert for medium-range weapons, the Ynet news site reported, without saying where it got the information. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a strike on Syria would be a “disaster for the region,” according to the state-run Iranian Students News Agency. “This kindling of fire is like a spark in a room stocked with explosives because the consequences of it are unknown,” he was quoted as saying today in a meeting with officials. To contact the reporters on this story: Terry Atlas in Washington at [email protected] ; Joe Sobczyk in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Walcott at [email protected]

2013

syria-strike-plans-advance-as-allies-seek-support-to-ac

SQM Falls in Chile After Low Prices Lead to Profit Miss

By Eduardo Thomson

2013-08-28T20:30:30Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/sqm-falls-in-chile-after-low-prices-lead-to-profit-miss.html

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(Corrects name of research firm in seventh paragraph.) Soc. Quimica y Minera de Chile SA , the country’s largest fertilizer producer, slid to the lowest in five years after the company reported a bigger-than-expected drop in profit as potash prices fell. SQM retreated 1.3 percent to 12,820 pesos at 1:30 p.m. in Santiago, the lowest since November 2008. The benchmark Chilean IPSA (IPSA) index advanced 0.2 percent. Net income fell 44 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier to $107 million, trailing the $136 million average of six estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Potash prices were falling even before the collapse in July of an agreement between Russian and Belarusan producers that had helped to prop up global prices, SQM said. “We find more negatives than positives” in the earnings report, Banchile-Citi analysts Juan Tavarez, Raimundo Perez and Felipe Jiman Koh said today in an e-mailed note. Second-quarter volumes dropped in the iodine and lithium segments, SQM said. Overall sales contracted 17 percent to $566 million. SQM’s shares tumbled 22 percent on July 30 and 31 after Russia ’s OAO Uralkali, the world’s largest potash producer, announced the end of a trade agreement with its Belarusan counterpart Belaruskali. Management’s statements on earnings for the rest of the year have become “increasingly cautious given higher competition in lithium and iodine and price pressure in potash,” the Banchile-Citi analysts wrote. The company is the worst performer this year on the IPSA, falling 53 percent as the index dropped 17 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Eduardo Thomson in Santiago at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at [email protected]

2013

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F1 Builder Said Close to Selling Unit to Birla

By George Smith Alexander and Abhishek Shanker

2013-08-28T10:39:13Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/f1-builder-said-close-to-selling-unit-to-birla.html

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Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla is close to buying a cement unit for 37 billion rupees ($547 million) from the company that built India’s only Formula One track, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Birla’s UltraTech Cement Ltd. (UTCEM) , India’s biggest maker of the construction material, may announce the deal to acquire Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. (JPA) ’s Gujarat unit as early as next week, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is confidential. Completing the transaction may take about six months, the person said. The sale may help Jaiprakash reduce part of its $10 billion debt and boost UltraTech capacity by about 9 percent. The proposed purchase will allow UltraTech to boost market share as rivals including Holcim Ltd. expand in Asia ’s third-largest economy. The price for the Gujarat plant per ton of capacity is 20 percent cheaper than Holcim’s offer to combine its Indian units, according to Sanjeev Kumar Singh, an analyst at Centrum Broking Pvt., and IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd. “From a long term perspective UltraTech will benefit from the expanded capacity at an attractive cost,” said Mumbai-based Kumar. “Any new cement project in India will today require at least three to four years because of the stricter norms and delays in land acquisition for a project. The returns for UltraTech should be fairly good.” Valuations Fall UltraTech fell 5.6 percent to 1,463.70 rupees, while Jaiprakash rose 3.9 percent to 33.75 rupees at close of trade in Mumbai. India’s benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index gained 0.2 percent. Prices on Jaiprakash’s 5.75 percent dollar-denominated convertible debt fell 12 cents to $72.88, yielding 14.98 percent, according to Standard Chartered Plc prices. Askari H Zaidi, a spokesman for Jaiprakash, and Pragnya Ram a spokeswoman of the Birla group, declined to comment. The companies have been in discussions for more than a year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. UltraTech had offered about 43 billion rupees for the Gujarat unit, two people familiar with the process said in November. The valuation has since fallen because of concerns about production at one of Jaiprakash’s mines, the people said. Jaiprakash’s parent, the Jaypee Group, is seeking to reduce debt by 150 billion rupees by selling its cement plants in southern and western India, some of its power generation units and property, Suren Jain, managing director at Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd. (JPVL) , said in an interview this month. Inaugural Race “The money from the sale will help Jaiprakash in lowering debt, though it may not be enough,” said Ajit Motwani, an analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services. The company is selling assets to cut costs and reverse a two-year decline in profit, as a cash crunch prompts Indian lenders to raise interest rates for the first time since 2011. The group’s liabilities increased fivefold in five years as it expanded the groups power, sports and construction businesses. The company has also developed a 5.13-kilometer (3.19-mile) Formula One track called the Buddh International Race Circuit, built on the outskirts of India’s capital, New Delhi . The inaugural race was held in 2011. Jaiprakash started talks with Birlas after it terminated negotiations with CRH Plc (CRH) , the world’s second-largest maker of construction materials. CRH on Oct. 9 said it terminated talks with Jaiprakash to buy the operations, which include a 4.8 million metric ton grinding facility and a clinker plant. The cement unit of the group is the country’s third largest, according to a company presentation. The group plans to sell about 30 percent of its cement capacity of 35 million tons, Jain said without elaborating. UltraTech has an installed capacity of 54 million tons a year, according to the company’s website . It plans to increase capacity by 10 million tons in the next 20 months to 64.45 million tons, Birla said on July 29. Demand Forecast That will add to cement supply, which exceeds demand in India. Credit Analysis & Research Ltd. forecasts the gap will only narrow by 2016. “For us, consolidation has been the name of the game,” Birla said on Aug. 30, 2012 at the company’s annual general meeting. “We, as the last man standing, have the best chance of being the first man forward - to consolidate market positions, to show superior performance and get an edge over competition.” Birla, who also controls the world’s largest rolled aluminum maker, is targeting a 63 percent increase in revenue for the group to $65 billion by 2016. The proposed purchase price values capacity at Jaiprakash’s Gujarat unit at $133 a ton, according to Centrum’s Singh. That compares with $166 a ton that Holcim’s Ambuja Cement Ltd. (ACEM) ’s plan to acquire stake in unit ACC Ltd. Remove Hurdles India’s gross domestic product probably grew 4.6 percent in the three months ended June 30, according to a median estimate of 41 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. That’s the slowest pace of growth in more than four years. The government is scheduled to release the data on Aug. 30. Birla is betting on an economic recovery in the $1.8 trillion economy. To revive growth Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ’s government is reviewing progress of the power, road and port projects and trying to remove hurdles. “Our highest priority is to get the investment cycle restarted,” Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters yesterday in New Delhi. Indian power projects worth $12.75 billion, stalled because of a lack of fuel linkages, will sign supply accords with Coal India Ltd. by Sept. 6, he said. Cement consumption may expand at a compounded average growth rate of 7.9 percent in the three years to 2016 led by demand from power and road projects, according to a research by Credit Analysis & Research. Demand grew 5.6 percent in the three years to March 31, data show. “The consolidation will be good for the cement industry,” Centrum’s Singh said in a phone interview. “The short term challenges of slowing cement demand will not be sustained as not much new capacities are coming up and very soon demand should catch up with supplies.” To contact the reporters on this story: George Smith Alexander in Mumbai at [email protected] ; Abhishek Shanker in Mumbai at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Philip Lagerkranser at [email protected] ; Jason Rogers at [email protected]

2013

f1-builder-said-close-to-selling-unit-to-birla

Batista’s OGX Cash Drop Prompts U-Turn on Bids: Corporate Brazil

By Peter Millard and Rodrigo Orihuela

2013-08-28T03:00:01Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/batista-s-ogx-cash-drop-prompts-u-turn-on-bids-corporate-brazil.html

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OGX Petroleo (OGXP3) & Gas Participacoes SA’s decision to abandon nine oil exploration licenses is underscoring former billionaire Eike Batista ’s race to halt a cash drain and focus on restructuring $3.6 billion in bonds. Batista agreed to pay 3.4 million reais ($1.4 million) to return the licenses, which OGX acquired for 280 million reais on May 14 after outbidding BP Plc and A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S. The move leaves OGX with 35 blocks to develop in Brazil and Colombia, including areas holding the Tubarao Martelo offshore field where it has an agreement to sell 40 percent to Petroliam Nasional Bhd. for $850 million. OGX’s debt restructuring, which Petronas says is a requirement for its deal, looms as the next major event in the fall of 56-year-old Batista, a Rio de Janeiro entrepreneur who amassed and lost more than $30 billion after his commodities startups failed to turn profits. Batista this month agreed to cede control of port operator LLX Logistica SA to EIG Global Energy Partners LLC as he attempts to convince companies including Glencore Xstrata Plc to buy a stake in mining unit MMX Mineracao & Metalicos SA or its assets. “The main challenge right now is negotiations with bondholders and making sure the deal with Petronas goes well,” Manuel Fernandes, the head of accounting and consulting company KPMG LLP in Rio de Janeiro, said by telephone. “My understanding is that the assets are for sale and the company is trying to find a new partner to run the business.” ‘First Time’ OGX bondholders hired Rothschild to advise on a debt restructuring, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said this month, asking not to be identified because the selection process is private. OGX’s press department in Rio didn’t respond to a request to comment on its cash holdings and progress on selling a stake to Petronas. Batista’s flagship company, the worst-performing major oil stock in emerging markets this year, returned licenses where it was unable to find partners, it said yesterday. The second-highest bidders now have the option of matching OGX’s offers to take over the projects, Brazil’s oil regulator ANP said in an e-mailed reply to questions. “It’s the first time I’ve seen something like that,” Fernandes said. “The company’s financial situation is so deteriorated it’s not even able to comply with the bonus.” OGX’s cash fell 72 percent in the second quarter to $325 million, less than its average quarterly capital expenses in the past year. OGX probably will run out of cash by the end of September without the Petronas injection, Deutsche Bank AG analyst Marcus Sequeira said in a note to clients. OGX’s $2.56 billion in bonds due in 2018 trade at 17 cents on the dollar. ‘Light on Cash’ The company made the right decision to curb its exploration campaign and focus on extracting oil it has already found, Lucas Brendler, who helps manage about 4 billion reais at Geracao Futuro Corretora in Porto Alegre, Brazil , said by telephone. It needs to advance with its last hope to boost sales, the Tubarao Martelo offshore field, where it plans to start pumping before the end of this year, he said. “We saw it as something positive because the company is very light on cash, and there’s the issue of the debt,” Brendler said. “It’s still hard to see what the future holds.” OGX shares are down 84 percent this year, the steepest loss among oil companies from developing countries tracked by Bloomberg with a market value of at least $100 million. Deutsche Bank has a target price of 10 centavos for the stock. ‘Comfortable Position’ The exposure of Brazil’s state development bank BNDES to companies controlled by Batista and his EBX Group Co. is diminishing as the entrepreneur sells assets, Luciano Coutinho , president of the bank, told lawmakers in a congressional hearing in Brasilia yesterday. Coutinho named Batista’s sale of a controlling stake in LLX and power company MPX Energia SA’s share sale as transactions that benefited the bank. “We have a very comfortable position in connection with EBX,” Coutinho said, putting BNDES’s lending to Batista companies at about 6 billion reais. “So far, BNDES hasn’t had any losses from operations with EBX.” OGX’s failures at producing oil in the Campos Basin cast doubts on its ability to extract at Tubarao Martelo with Petronas, Ruaraidh Montgomery, a senior analyst at oil and gas researcher Wood Mackenzie, said by phone from Houston. “It’s still going to be dependent on how Martelo performs, and that’s not at all certain,” Montgomery said. “You look at all the fields around Martelo and they are all very difficult carbonate producers.” ‘Wildly Overestimated’ OGX planned to surpass production rates at state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA at Campos by targeting an older layer of the Earth’s crust holding carbonate reservoirs formed from ancient reefs. The highly-pressurized deposits would forfeit the crude with less of a fight than the sandstone formations in the same basin where Petrobras had been drilling for decades, OGX said before it raised 6.7 billion reais in an initial public offering in 2008. The geology proved to be more difficult than OGX expected, with flow rates varying sharply across the fields it discovered. OGX will abandon three projects it previously declared commercial in Campos and may halt work at Tubarao Azul, its first crude-producing field, next year. Tubarao Azul is shut after pumps malfunctioned at all three wells. “One thing that’s very clear: they didn’t appraise the fields properly before putting out that production target of 1.4 million barrels a day in 2019,” Montgomery said. “They wildly overestimated the oil in place.” To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Millard in Rio de Janeiro at [email protected] ; Rodrigo Orihuela in Buenos Aires at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Attwood at [email protected]

2013

batista-s-ogx-cash-drop-prompts-u-turn-on-bids-corporate-brazi

Hogs Drop as Cheaper Feed Signals More Pork Output; Cattle Gain

By Elizabeth Campbell

2013-08-28T15:03:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/hogs-drop-as-cheaper-feed-signals-more-pork-output-cattle-gain.html

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Hog futures declined for the first time in four sessions on concern that a plunge in the cost of livestock feed will spur an increase in U.S. pork supplies. Cattle prices gained. Corn futures fell for the second day in Chicago and are down 39 percent in the past year on signs U.S. farmers will harvest a record crop this year. Cheaper grain can increase pork production as farmers boost feed rations. Wholesale pork fell 0.2 percent to 99 cents a pound yesterday, the lowest in almost five weeks, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. “We have very adequate hogs around,” Lawrence Kane, a senior market adviser at Stewart-Peterson Group, said in a telephone interview from Yates City, Illinois . “Hog numbers have remained fairly stable.” Hog futures for October settlement fell 0.3 percent to 86.275 cents a pound at 9:57 a.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose 2.6 percent in the previous three sessions. Cattle futures for October delivery rose 0.4 percent to $1.27225 a pound on the CME. Prices were down 4.2 percent this year through yesterday. Feeder-cattle futures for October settlement advanced 0.6 percent to $1.5795 a pound. To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at [email protected] .

2013

ogs-drop-as-cheaper-feed-signals-more-pork-output-cattle-gain

OTP Falls to 2013 Low on Banks’ Loan Plans: Budapest Mover

By Marton Eder

2013-08-28T11:53:26Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/otp-falls-to-2013-low-on-banks-loan-plans-budapest-mover.html

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OTP Bank Nyrt., Hungary ’s biggest lender, dropped for a third day to the lowest this year after the country’s banks said they would assume losses as part of plans to phase-out foreign-currency mortgages. Shares fell as much as 1.9 percent and were down 0.5 percent to 4,170 forint by 12:40 p.m. in Budapest, the lowest level since Dec. 28 on a closing basis. Banks would assume a burden of “several hundreds of billions of forint over a period of several years,” Mihaly Patai, head of the Banking Association, told reporters yesterday after presenting proposals to Economy Minister Mihaly Varga . Hungary’s lenders, burdened by the largest bank tax in Europe and a levy on financial transactions, face additional losses as the government plans to phase out $8 billion in foreign-currency mortgages. Borrowers fell behind on payments as the forint plunged and the Swiss franc soared following the 2008 global credit crisis. “Uncertainty is still weighing on OTP’s share price,” Akos Kuti , the Budapest-based head of research at Equilor Befektetesi Zrt., said in an e-mailed note. OTP has slumped 8 percent in August, extending a 4.7 percent decline in July, when the government announced its plans. The slump in emerging-market assets fueled by political tension in Syria and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will reduce the size of its asset purchases have added to the shares’ losses. Hungary’s cabinet is set to discuss the banks’ proposal today and talks are scheduled to continue tomorrow. “Should a deal be finally reached, that would help the shares a lot,” Zsolt Kondrat, an economist at MKB Bank Zrt., the Hungarian unit of Bayerische Landesbank , said in an e-mailed note. The share’s 14-day relative strength index fell to 36.3, the lowest in more a month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A reading below 30 suggests to some traders a stock may be poised to rise. To contact the reporter on this story: Marton Eder in Budapest at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wojciech Moskwa at [email protected]

2013

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Treasuries Halt Four-Day Gain Before GDP, Jobless Claims Data

By Mariko Ishikawa and Candice Zachariahs

2013-08-28T03:06:20Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/treasuries-halt-four-day-gain-before-gdp-jobless-claims-data.html

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Treasuries fell, halting a four-day gain, before U.S. data forecast to show applications for unemployment benefits declined, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to pare stimulus as early as next month. The five-year yield rose from the lowest in more than a week before a $35 billion auction today. Government bonds in Australia and Japan advanced as tension over possible military action in Syria boosted demand for haven assets. The jobless claims data will shape expectations for U.S. payrolls data due Sept. 6, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) “It’s interesting today that U.S. 10-years have weakened given the geopolitical backdrop,” said Tony Morriss , the Sydney-based head of interest-rate research at ANZ Bank. “Focus is already shifting to the payrolls number, which we consider to be most important in shaping expectations not only of the taper in September, which almost looks to be a done deal, but on projecting when the Fed might have sufficient confidence in the recovery to eventually lift short-term interest rates.” The U.S. 10-year yield rose one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 2.72 percent at 11:33 a.m. in Tokyo, after dropping 19 basis points in the previous four sessions, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The 2.5 percent benchmark note due in August 2023 fell 3/32, or 94 cents per $1,000 face value, to 98 3/32. Bond Auctions The U.S. government is scheduled to sell $35 billion of five-year securities today and $29 billion of seven-year bonds tomorrow after $34 billion of two-year notes were sold at a lower-than-forecast yield yesterday. The two-year notes drew a yield of 0.386 percent, compared with a forecast of 0.390 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of seven of the Federal Reserve’s 21 primary dealers. The bid-to-cover ratio rose to 3.21, the most since April. The yield on the current two-year note was little changed at 0.39 percent. The five-year yield rose 2 basis points to 1.54 percent after touching 1.51 percent yesterday, the lowest in more than a week. Investors bid for 2.46 times the amount of five-year notes on offer last month versus 2.45 at the June auction. Revised figures from the Commerce Department tomorrow may show U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 2.2 percent annualized rate in the second quarter, compared with an initial estimate of 1.7 percent, according to the median projection of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Analysts in a separate poll expect a Labor Department report will show tomorrow initial jobless claims fell 5,000 to 331,000 in the week ended Aug. 24 from the previous period. Data due Sept. 6 may show nonfarm payrolls rose by 170,000 this month, while unemployment rate held at 7.4 percent, according to median estimates of economists in Bloomberg surveys. Fed Operation The Fed will purchase as much as $3.5 billion of notes today, according to the New York Fed website . The central bank’s debate about when to taper $85 billion in monthly bond buying has roiled financial markets around the world and sparked a selloff in fixed-income assets. The U.S. central bank will vote to scale back stimulus at its Sept. 17-18 meeting, according to 65 percent of economists surveyed this month by Bloomberg. The Fed will probably reduce its purchases of Treasuries rather than mortgage bonds, Mohamed El-Erian, the chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., which oversees world’s biggest bond fund, said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday. Treasuries have fallen 0.5 percent this month, according to the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bond Index. (BUSY) German bunds have dropped 0.9 percent in the same period, while Japanese government bonds have returned 0.4 percent. Syria Tension The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares fell 1.5 percent as the U.S., France and the U.K. stepped closer to a military strike against Syria. U.S. President Barack Obama is working with allies to reach agreement on limited action against the nation after concluding the regime used chemical weapons against civilians. Japan’s 10-year yield slid 1 1/2 basis points to 0.725 percent, after touching 0.72 percent, the lowest since Aug. 21. Australia’s 10-year yield dropped four basis points to 3.89 percent. “Any data has basically been trumped by the rising tensions in Syria and bonds have rallied,” said Martin Whetton, an interest-rate strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Sydney. “That’s how it should play out today as well in the Treasury market and for global bond markets.” To contact the reporters on this story: Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo at [email protected] ; Candice Zachariahs in Sydney at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at [email protected]

2013

reasuries-halt-four-day-gain-before-gdp-jobless-claims-data

Sri Lanka’s July Tourist Arrivals: Summary

By Manish Modi

2013-08-28T07:16:58Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/sri-lanka-s-july-tourist-arrivals-summary-table-.html

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Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka rose 9.5 percent in July over a year ago to a total of 98,944 persons. The following is a table showing July tourist arrivals from the Sri Lanka Tourist Board. Source: Sri Lanka Tourist Board To contact the reporter on this story: Manish Modi in New Delhi at [email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at [email protected] .

2013

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Sembcorp Expands Water Operations in China at Industrial Parks

By Randall Hackley

2013-08-28T10:50:24Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/sembcorp-expands-water-operations-in-china-at-industrial-parks.html

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Sembcorp Industries Ltd. (SCI) , the largest utility in Southeast Asia , is expanding operations in China with water-treatment projects at two industrial parks in Liaoning province. The wastewater-treatment works to be developed at Panjin Fine Chemical Industrial Park and Panjin Liaodong Bay New District will cost about S$62.7 million ($49 million), Singapore-based Sembcorp said today in a statement. Panjin Fine Chemical Industrial Park is in Panjin City, where China’s third-biggest oil field, Liaohe Oil Field, is located, it said. Sembcorp also owns and operates the Fujairah 1 water and power plant, one of the world’s largest hybrid desalination plants, in the United Arab Emirates. To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Hackley in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Randall Hackley at [email protected]

2013

sembcorp-expands-water-operations-in-china-at-industrial-parks

Merchants Ask for Swipe-Fee Status Quo During Fed Appeal

By Andrew Zajac

2013-08-28T16:29:43Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/merchants-ask-for-swipe-fee-status-quo-during-fed-appeal.html

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The U.S. Federal Reserve ’s rules for debit-card transaction fees and processing should remain in place while the central bank appeals a decision throwing out the regulations, according to retailers who oppose the new directives. Retailers “vastly prefer the status quo” to the “unregulated ‘free for all’ which would likely subject merchants to interchange fees well in excess of the Fed’s currents standard,” lawyers for retail interests wrote in papers filed today in federal court in Washington . The merchants’ filing was in support of the Fed’s Aug. 26 request that the rules be left in place pending the central bank’s appeal. The Fed is seeking to reverse U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling that it wrongly set the cap on debit-card transaction fees, known as swipe fees, at about 21 cents for each transaction, and neglected to bolster competition among payment networks. If the Fed loses the appeal, it should be required to issue new rules within four months, retailers said in today’s filing. The case is NACS v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System , 11-cv-02075, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington). To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Zajac in federal court in Washington at [email protected] . To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at [email protected] .

2013

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Treasuries Fall as 5-Year Note Auction Demand Lowest Since 2009

By Susanne Walker and Cordell Eddings

2013-08-28T21:09:40Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/treasuries-fall-as-5-year-note-auction-demand-lowest-since-2009.html

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Treasuries (USGG5YR) fell for the first time in five days after the U.S. sale of $35 billion in five-year notes drew the least demand in four years. The bid-to-cover ratio, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount of securities offered, was 2.38, the lowest since July 2009 and compared with an average of 2.74 for the past 10 sales. With a 1.5 percent coupon, Treasury will issue the securities as a reopening of an August 2011 debt sale. Benchmark 10-year yields rose before a report tomorrow forecast to show the economy grew more last quarter than previously estimated, fueling speculation the Federal Reserve may start to curtail monetary stimulus. “It was a mediocre auction,” said Charles Comiskey , head of Treasury trading at Bank of Nova Scotia in New York , one of 21 primary dealers that are required to bid at the auctions. “People are waiting for more clarity from the Fed and it will come with the unemployment report and with the Fed meeting.” The current five-year yield rose six basis points, or 0.06 percentage point, to 1.58 percent at 4:59 p.m. in New York after dropping 16 basis points during the previous three days, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The 1.375 percent note maturing in July 2018 fell 1/4, or $2.50 per $1,000 face value, to 99 2/32. The 10-year yield added six basis points to 2.77 percent. Auction Outcome Treasury trading volume at ICAP Plc, the largest inter-dealer broker of U.S. government debt , dropped to $292 billion, from $325 billion yesterday. The figure is down from a 2013 high of $662 billion reached on May 22 and up from a low of $148 billion on Aug. 9. The 2013 average is $312.7 billion. The five-year notes sold today drew a yield of 1.624 percent, compared with a forecast of 1.618 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of eight of the Fed’s 21 primary dealers. Treasury said the notes will have the same CUSIP number as seven-year notes sold in August 2011 that carry a 1.5 percent coupon and have about five years of remaining maturity. “Accidental reopenings are very rare, and can be somewhat disruptive, but today’s shouldn’t be a big deal,” said Ted Wieseman, an economist at Morgan Stanley in New York. “The impact will be a slightly lower financing liquidity premium, if anything.” Wieseman said Fed, through its bond-buying program, owns $14 billion of the previously issued securities. Market Outcomes “It will be difficult to squeeze in the repo market because it’s a behemoth,” said David Keeble , head of fixed-income strategy at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in New York. “We have a lot more liquidity in the five-year sector.” The repurchase, or repo, market is based on short-term lending and borrowing of Treasuries and other securities. Indirect bidders at the auction, an investor class that includes foreign central banks, purchased 40.3 percent of the notes, compared with an average of 44.2 percent for the past 10 sales. Direct bidders, non-primary-dealer investors that place their bids directly with the Treasury, purchased 12.7 percent of the notes at the sale, compared with an average of 15.9 percent for the past 10 auctions. Five-year notes have lost 2.6 percent this year, versus a loss of 3.1 percent for Treasuries overall, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. The five-year securities returned 2.3 percent in 2012, while Treasuries overall rose 2.2 percent. Today’s offering is the second of three note auctions this week totaling $98 billion. The government sold $34 billion in two-year debt yesterday at a yield of 0.386 percent, and will sell $29 billion in seven-year securities tomorrow. Bond Outflows The sales will raise $38.1 billion of new cash, as maturing securities held by the public total $59.9 billion, according to the Treasury. Treasuries have lost 3.1 percent this year, including 0.5 percent this month through yesterday, according to the Bloomberg World Bond Indexes. (BUSY) U.S. bond mutual funds suffered their biggest redemptions since June last week as yields reached a two-year high. Bond funds had withdrawals of $11.1 billion in the week ended Aug. 21, the Washington-based Investment Company Institute said today in an e-mailed statement. It was the largest move out of bond funds since the week ended June 26, when $28.2 billion was withdrawn. Treasuries rose yesterday amid speculation the U.S., France and Britain are moving closer to military action against Syria after the nation’s government allegedly used chemical weapons. A United Nations team is on the ground to gather evidence to establish use of chemical warfare, Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said today. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government has denied the use of chemical weapons. Allies Discuss The U.K. is drafting a United Nations resolution to condemn last week’s suspected chemical attack. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said today the UN resolution would authorize action to protect civilians in Syria. Treasury 10-year note yields dropped 11 basis points in the two days ending yesterday on Syria’s crisis. U.S. 10-year securities yielded 27 basis points more than bonds in an index of Group of Seven debt, down from 42 basis points more on Aug. 21, the most since May 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on closing prices. The U.S. central bank purchased $3.3 billion of notes maturing from August 2021 to August 2023 today, according to the New York Fed’s website. Debate about when policy makers will taper $85 billion in monthly bond buying has roiled financial markets around the world in the past three months and sparked a selloff in fixed-income assets. Gross domestic product grew at a 2.2 percent annualized rate in the second quarter, compared with an initial estimate of 1.7 percent released July 31, according a Bloomberg survey before tomorrow’s Commerce Department report. To contact the reporters on this story: Susanne Walker in New York at [email protected] ; Cordell Eddings in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at [email protected]

2013

reasuries-fall-as-5-year-note-auction-demand-lowest-since-2009

Lloyd’s Internal Probe Said to Be Focus of N.Y. Inquiry

By Greg Farrell

2013-08-29T04:01:01Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/lloyd-s-internal-probe-said-to-be-focus-of-n-y-inquiry.html

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A New York regulatory investigation of Lloyd’s of London for possible violations of Iran sanctions law has led to a government request for files of an internal probe by the insurer, a person familiar with the matter said. Lloyd’s, along with Swiss Reinsurance Co. (SREN) , were among several companies reported July 1 to be the subject of the inquiry by New York’s Department of Financial Services, or DFS. Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky asked the insurers about their procedures to avoid violations of the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012, according to a letter from the department. Lawsky has now asked for details on a Lloyd’s probe, which was triggered by his initial request for information, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Lloyd’s disclosed to Lawsky’s office July 30 that it has contracts with two firms, Glencore Xstrata Plc (GLEN) and Trafigura Beheer BV, that were linked to alleged shipments of aluminum to Iran, the person said. “Reviewing all aspects of managing agents’ performance is part of the day-to-day role of overseeing the Lloyd’s market,” Matt Drage, a Lloyd’s spokesman, said in a statement. “This includes conforming with all applicable international sanctions, which we have always done.” The DFS said in the June 25 letter that it learned that several insurers issued coverage that applied to trades made with Iran , including one policy issued by a group of European domiciled companies. The policy and the resulting claim payment “would likely violate the IFCPA,” the DFS said, referring to the act. Ron Klug, a DFS spokesman, declined to comment on the probe. ‘Legal Obligations’ “Swiss Re is aware of its legal obligations and has a robust program in place to assure full compliance,” Michael Gawthorne, a spokesman for the Zurich-based company, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, said when the probe was first reported. “Any suggestion that Swiss Re is in violation of trade sanction laws against Iran is without merit.” In the June letter to the insurance companies, the DFS said it is seeking information about insurers’ plans for compliance and due diligence to avoid violations of the law. The regulator asked the companies for a copy of every policy issued to Glencore or Trafigura that will remain in force after July 1, according to the letter. Trading Pattern The department cited news reports of “a pattern of trades” made by Glencore and Trafigura with Iranian entities. At least one trade involved Glencore’s shipment of alumina to the Iranian Aluminum Co. in exchange for processed aluminum. Century Aluminum Co. (CENX) said in a regulatory filing in March that affiliates of Glencore entered into sales contracts last year with entities controlled by Iran. Non-U.S. affiliates of Glencore, Century’s largest shareholder, entered into sales contracts for wheat and coal and sale and purchase contracts for metals and metal oxides, the company said. Besides Lloyd’s and Swiss Re, companies contacted by the DFS include Hannover Re Ltd., XL Insurance Ltd. and Assured Guaranty Re Ltd. Assured said it wasn’t contacted by the regulator. Representatives for the other companies couldn’t be reached for comment. To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Farrell in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at [email protected]

2013

oyd-s-internal-probe-said-to-be-focus-of-n-y-inquiry

Andhra Bank and Canara Bank CDs Deals: Indian Money Market

By Pooja Saraf

2013-08-28T13:58:55Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/andhra-bank-and-canara-bank-cds-deals-indian-money-market.html

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Following is a table showing certificate of deposits dealt by Indian companies. The data has been provided by LKP Securities Limited, NVS Brokerage Ltd, SPA Securities Ltd. and Trust Financial Consultancy Services. T = Tentative C = Confirmed Deal Date Sect Mty Date Qtm(Crs.) Rate Buyer Seller Contrb Status 28-Aug-13 CANARA 03-Mar-14 11.58 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 ANDHRA MAR-14 11.60 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 CANARA 06-Mar-14 11.58 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 SBOP 17-Sep-13 25 10.55 PRINCI CAN MF LKPS T 28-Aug-13 ANDHRA 24-Mar-13 11.60 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 PNB 03-Sep-13 10.45 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 SBT 13-Dec-13 11.70 NVSB T 28-Aug-13 CANARA 03-Mar-14 11.58 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 SBOP 17-Sep-13 10.55 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 CANARA 24-Mar-14 11.60 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 CORPI 05-Jun-14 50 11.20 LKPS T 28-Aug-13 PNB 05-Mar-14 25 11.70 SPAS T 28-Aug-13 SBOP 12-Sep-13 25 10.40 LKPS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 14-Feb-14 100 11.75 NABARD IDFC MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 IDBI 21-Feb-14 100 11.75 NABARD IDFC MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 ANDHRA 27-Dec-13 75 11.75 NABARD MF TFCS T 28-Aug-13 YES BK MAR-14 11.90 LKPS T 28-Aug-13 PNB 03-Sep-13 10.40 LKPS T 28-Aug-13 OBC 10-Sep-13 100 10.40 TAURUS LKPS T Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service Provider ID: a46f25d55b25489db65a26f864aa867e

2013

andhra-bank-and-canara-bank-cds-deals-indian-money-marke

NATO Chief Pins Chemical Attack on Syrian Regime, Urges Response

By James G. Neuger

2013-08-28T15:09:00Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/nato-chief-pins-chemical-attack-on-syrian-regime-urges-response.html NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Syrian government appears to have been behind last week’s massacre of civilians with chemical arms near Damascus and urged an international response. “Information available from a wide variety of sources points to the Syrian regime as responsible for the use of chemical weapons in these attacks,” Rasmussen said in an e-mailed statement after representatives of the 28 allied governments met in Brussels today. “Any use of such weapons is unacceptable and cannot go unanswered. Those responsible must be held accountable.” Rasmussen gave no indication of a role for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in any attack on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. NATO’s only current regional involvement lies in protecting the southeastern border of Turkey , an alliance member, with batteries of Patriot missiles. The U.S., Britain and France

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the vanguard of preparing a military strike on Syria , while some allied countries won’t make up their minds until the United Nations assesses whether chemical weapons were used last week. “NATO allies expressed their full support to the ongoing UN investigation,” according to the statement. “They deplored that the Syrian regime failed to provide immediate and secure access for the United Nations inspectors to the sites of the attacks.” Opposition groups say more than 1,300 people were killed in last week’s attacks. To contact the reporter on this story: James G. Neuger in Brussels at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at [email protected]

2013

nato-chief-pins-chemical-attack-on-syrian-regime-urges-response

Vestas Advances as BofAML Sees 50% Upside: Copenhagen Mover

By Christian Wienberg

2013-08-28T08:02:11Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/vestas-advances-as-bofaml-sees-50-upside-copenhagen-mover.html

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Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS) rose the most among Copenhagen’s benchmark stocks today after Bank of America Merrill Lynch said the Danish turbine maker’s share price could gain 50 percent in a year as profits return. Vestas rose as much as 5.2 percent, making the stock today’s biggest winner in the Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen 20 index. (KFX) The shares rose 4.5 percent to 103.90 kroner at 10:00 a.m. local time with trading volume at 47 percent of the three-month daily average. Vestas shares have more than tripled in value this year as an inflow of new orders drove investor confidence that the company will start making money again. BofA Merrill Lynch today started coverage of the share with a buy recommendation saying earnings will be helped by cost cuts, stronger management, higher prices and more global demand for its turbines. “We see Vestas as a restructuring story in an industry witnessing less overcapacity, better pricing discipline, stabilizing orders and improving onshore wind economics,” BofA Merrill Lynch analysts, including Pinaki Das, said in a note to clients. The bank set a price estimate on the share of 150 kroner, indicating a premium to yesterday’s closing price of about 50 percent. Vestas last week said Ericsson AB’s Anders Runevad will replace Ditlev Engel as chief executive officer on Sept. 1. The company switched chairman in 2012 and got a new chief financial officer earlier this year. “Vestas’s leadership has completely changed providing an opportunity for rebuilding credibility with investors,” BofA Merrill Lynch said. “We anticipate new management to push for further restructuring (more cost reductions) as well as increasing the focus on profitability and on growing the high margin service activities.” Separately, Stoxx Ltd. said late yesterday that Vestas will enter the Stoxx Europe 600 Index as of Sept. 23. To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Wienberg in Copenhagen at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Brogger at [email protected]

2013

vestas-advances-as-bofaml-sees-50-upside-copenhagen-mover

Ex-BofA High-Yield Strategist Melentyev to Join Deutsche Bank

By Mary Childs

2013-08-28T13:46:40Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/ex-bofa-high-yield-strategist-melentyev-to-join-deutsche-bank.html

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Oleg Melentyev, who is departing Bank of America Corp. (BAC) , will join Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG as head of U.S. credit strategy in New York . Melentyev will report to Dominic Konstam, global head of rates research, according to an e-mailed statement today. “Oleg will play a critical role in supporting Deutsche Bank’s U.S. credit research, supporting our ongoing commitment to the sector,” Konstam said in the statement. “Oleg is well-versed in macroeconomic issues and bottom-up credit analysis, making him the perfect candidate for this role.” Melentyev didn’t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. He joined Merrill Lynch & Co. in 2001, according to records from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. lender by assets, bought Merrill Lynch in 2009. Michelle Falkenstein, a spokeswoman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, confirmed the departure yesterday and declined to comment further. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the biggest U.S. bank by assets. To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Childs in New York at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at [email protected]

2013

ex-bofa-high-yield-strategist-melentyev-to-join-deutsche-bank

Asia Bond Risk Jumps to 2-Month High, Credit-Default Swaps Show

By Yusuke Miyazawa

2013-08-28T01:51:05Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/asia-bond-risk-jumps-to-2-month-high-credit-default-swaps-show.html

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The cost of insuring corporate and sovereign bonds against non-payment in Asia excluding Japan rose to the highest in more than two months, according to traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan jumped 8 basis points to 175 basis points as of 8:13 a.m. in Hong Kong, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. prices show. The gauge, which advanced 9.7 basis points yesterday, is set for its highest close since June 24, according to data provider CMA. The Markit iTraxx Australia index increased 7 basis points to 129 as of 10:14 a.m. in Sydney, according to National Australia Bank Ltd. prices. The benchmark is poised for its biggest one-day gain since June 24 and its highest close since July 12, according to CMA, which is owned by McGraw-Hill Cos. and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the private market. The Markit iTraxx Japan index rose 3 basis points to 100 basis points as of 9:14 a.m. in Tokyo , according to Citigroup Inc. prices. The measure, which has ranged from 90.9 to 110.2 this quarter, is on course for its biggest one-day increase since July 25, according to CMA. Credit-default swap indexes are benchmarks for insuring bonds against default and traders use them to speculate on credit quality. An increase signals deteriorating perceptions of creditworthiness, while a drop suggests the opposite. The swap contracts pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities if a borrower fails to meet its debt agreements. To contact the reporter on this story: Yusuke Miyazawa in Tokyo at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Katrina Nicholas at [email protected]

2013

asia-bond-risk-jumps-to-2-month-high-credit-default-swaps-show

China Agbank’s Quarterly Profit Jumps as Bad-Loan Costs Drop

By Bloomberg News

2013-08-29T01:48:56Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/china-agbank-s-profit-jumps-as-bad-loan-provisions-decrease.html

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Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. , the nation’s third-largest lender by market value, posted a 22 percent increase in second-quarter profit as it set aside less money for bad loans, while lending and fee income rose. Net income climbed to 45.3 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) from 37 billion yuan a year earlier, based on first-half figures published by the Beijing-based lender yesterday. That exceeded the 42.6 billion-yuan median estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News . The lender’s profit expanded faster than earnings at Bank of Communications Co. (3328) and China Construction Bank Corp. (939) after it stepped up debt recovery, improved credit-risk management and wrote off some bad loans. Those measures also helped Agricultural Bank, whose 420 million customers exceed the population of any country except China and India , post a smaller increase in soured loans than competitors. “Asset quality has been good so far, though our concerns remain unalleviated,” Sophie Jiang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Religare Capital Markets, wrote in a research report yesterday. “Concerns remain over the outlook, especially that of infrastructure loans.” China’s policy makers announced a national audit of local governments on July 28 amid concern some may struggle to repay borrowings. Rural Credit Agricultural Bank boosted loans in rural areas and credit to smaller firms and individuals. Lending to so-called small and micro enterprises grew 5.1 percentage points faster than the total during the first half. Fee income from settlement and clearing, sales of wealth management products and custodian services also jumped. Shares (1288) of Agricultural Bank rose 2.7 percent, the biggest intraday gain in almost two weeks, to HK$3.38 in Hong Kong as of 9:34 a.m. local time, narrowing this year’s drop to 12 percent. The stock is the worst performer among the five largest Chinese lenders. Second-quarter profit at Bank of Communications, the fifth-largest lender, increased 13 percent, while No. 2 Construction Bank’s earnings climbed 9.7 percent. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. , the nation’s biggest lender by market value, will report first-half earnings today, along with Bank of China Ltd., the fourth-largest. Minsheng Bank China Minsheng Banking Corp. (1988) , the nation’s first private lender, yesterday reported a 20 percent increase in second-quarter profit, in line with analysts’ estimates. Shares of Minsheng rose 3.2 percent to HK$8.38 in Hong Kong . Agricultural Bank set aside 10 billion yuan as provisions for soured loans in the second quarter, compared with 12 billion yuan a year earlier, boosting the bad loan coverage ratio to 344.5 percent as of June 30. The bank’s nonperforming loans rose to 86.7 billion yuan as of the end of June from 85.7 billion yuan in March, representing 1.25 percent of total advances. The average bad-loan ratio of the five biggest banks stood at 0.97 percent as of June 30, according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission. Agricultural Bank’s overdue loans, a broader measure that shows loans with principal or interest past due by at least one day, rose 7.5 percent to 94.5 billion yuan during the first six months. Construction Bank this week posted a 17 percent rise in loans overdue during the same period. Mortgage Growth Outstanding loans at Agricultural Bank stood at 6.9 trillion yuan at the end of June, an increase of 8 percent from the beginning of the year. Residential home loans, which accounted for 62 percent of its retail loan book, increased 13.2 percent in the first half to 1.2 trillion yuan. “Mortgages remain a key strategic focus for the bank’s loan book expansion,” May Yan, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Barclays Plc, wrote in a note today. Chinese banks’ asset expansion will slow in the second half as economic growth may weaken further, Agricultural Bank President Zhang Yun said at a press conference in Beijing yesterday. That will lead to slower earnings growth in the rest of the year, he said. Net interest margin, a measure of lending profitability, narrowed to 2.74 percent for the bank in the first half from 2.85 percent a year earlier as the central bank cut interest rates twice starting in June last year while competition for deposits intensified. The industry’s margins will contract further in the second half as policy makers continue liberalizing rates, Zhang said. Deteriorating Outlook “We do expect the earnings outlook to deteriorate in the second half,” when Chinese banks tend to book more expenses and provisions than earlier in the year, Grace Wu, an analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets Hong Kong Ltd., said yesterday. “If income growth slows going forward, then the ability to control costs will be much more important for ABC. It has less flexibility in that regard.” In the first half, Agricultural Bank’s net income climbed 15 percent to 92.4 billion yuan, according to yesterday’s statement. Second-quarter profit was derived by subtracting the first-quarter figure from first-half earnings. Net interest income rose 7.3 percent to 180 billion yuan in the first six months, while fee income from items including credit cards and custodial services rose 22 percent to 47.6 billion yuan. Agricultural Bank’s capital-adequacy ratio fell to 11.8 percent as of June 30 under new capital requirements that took effect at the beginning of this year. Its core Tier 1 ratio dropped to 9.11 percent. Both measurements are higher than China’s minimum regulatory requirement, which calls for systemically important banks to have a minimum core Tier 1 ratio of 6.5 percent and total ratio of 9.5 percent by the end of 2013. The levels required will climb by 0.4 percentage points annually for the following five years. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Jun Luo in Shanghai at [email protected] ; Stephanie Tong in Hong Kong at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at [email protected]

2013

china-agbank-s-profit-jumps-as-bad-loan-provisions-decrease

Bill Clinton Enlisted By Obama to Promote U.S. Health Law

By Alex Wayne

2013-08-28T17:13:36Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/bill-clinton-enlisted-by-obama-to-promote-u-s-health-law.html Bill Clinton agreed to lend his weight to President Barack Obama ’s effort at educating people about the U.S. health-care overhaul , a helping hand needed to combat confusion as key parts of the law begin Oct. 1. Clinton, a two-term U.S. president who left office in 2001, will promote the Affordable Care Act in a Sept. 4 speech from his museum in Little Rock , Arkansas , according to a statement today from his philanthropic foundation. A White House aide, Dan Pfeiffer , welcomed Clinton’s help and quipped on Twitter that the former president is “the Secretary of Explaining Stuff.” Obama has called on the former president’s star power before, including during his 2012 re-election campaign. Clinton appeared at high-dollar fundraising events and in campaign ads that culminated in a rousing speech to the Democratic National Convention that helped to clarify Obama’s economic policies and accomplishments for independent and undecided voters. “He generally is very effective at what people call retail politics; talking about things as they directly affect people’s lives,” Robert Blendon, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston , said in a telephone interview. The challenge now is to surmount political opposition and public confusion about the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the largest regulatory overhaul of health care since the 1960s. More than 40 percent of people remain unsure whether the law is still on the books, according to a poll today by the Kaiser Family Foundation , a nonprofit based in Menlo Park , California . Public Concern “People who are concerned about this bill are afraid that things in their lives aren’t going to go right

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insurance rates may go up, they may have to change policies, their taxes are going to go up,” Blendon said. The Affordable Care Act aims to reduce medical costs and extend insurance coverage to at least half of the nation’s 50 million uninsured. A key pillar of the law starts Oct. 1, when people who lack health insurance can begin buying coverage through new marketplaces in every state called exchanges. The Obama administration is racing to publicize the opportunity, particularly in states run by Republicans who have rejected the law and aren’t helping to implement it. Opinion of the health law has been largely unchanged since Obama signed, with slightly more Americans opposed than in favor, Blendon said. Even Clinton will have trouble turning that around, though the transition into “the second phase of this issue,” where Americans begin to experience the law’s benefits and costs first hand, offers an opportunity, he said. ‘Critical Role’ Clinton plans to speak about “the critical role a high quality, affordable and accessible health care system plays in the” U.S., according to the Clinton Foundation statement. Clinton’s own attempt to overhaul the U.S. health-care system in 1993 ended in disaster when Congress failed to pass legislation and his party lost control of the House of Representatives in the 1994 elections. Democrats steered clear of the issue for more than a decade thereafter. Clinton’s popularity has grown since he left office in January 2001. A Gallup poll last year showed about 70 percent of Americans view the former president favorably. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Wayne in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at [email protected]

2013

bill-clinton-enlisted-by-obama-to-promote-u-s-health-law

U.K. Stocks Fall for Second Day Amid Concern Over Syria

By Inyoung Hwang

2013-08-28T16:06:16Z

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/u-k-stocks-fall-for-second-day-amid-concern-over-syria.html

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U.K. stocks fell for a second day as concern grew that the U.S. and allied nations will take military action against Syria. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) led declines in the FTSE 100 Index (UKX) as the price of oil climbed to a 17-month high, while Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) rose more than 1 percent. Meggitt Plc (MGGT) , the largest provider of wheels and brakes for military aircraft, lost 1.1 percent after agreeing to buy Piezotech LLC. The FTSE 100 slipped 10.91 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,430.06 at the close in London, paring an earlier retreat of as much as 0.7 percent. The benchmark gauge slid 0.8 percent yesterday after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the Obama administration will hold Syria accountable for the chemical-weapon attacks that opposition groups say killed as many as 1,300 people. The index has climbed 9 percent this year. “The situation with Syria has expressed itself through the oil price, and we’re seeing two airlines being among the biggest declines in the FTSE 100,” Keith Bowman, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London, said by telephone. “Although Syria itself isn’t a major economy and doesn’t hold a strategic position in the oil industry, there is concern over the broader implications for the Middle East.” The U.S., France and Britain have moved closer to military action against Syria, laying out the justification, putting forces into place and rounding up allies in the region. Armed Response The countries will focus any armed response on Syria’s weapons capabilities, rather than directing their efforts at deposing President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. and U.K. officials said. British Prime Minister David Cameron said in London that any course of action would be legal and proportionate. The volume of shares traded in FTSE 100-listed companies was 18 percent greater than the average of the last 30 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The broader FTSE All-Share Index slid 0.3 percent today, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index retreated 0.5 percent. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, speaking to business leaders in Nottingham, England, said officials are ready to add stimulus if investor expectations for higher interest rates rise too far and undermine the recovery. Travel and leisure companies posted the third-largest decline of the 19 industry groups in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, as West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1 percent to $110.11 a barrel at 11:58 a.m. New York time. IAG, the owner of British Airways, tumbled 4.5 percent to 287 pence. EasyJet Plc (EZJ) , Europe’s second-largest discount carrier, retreated 1.8 percent to 1,212 pence. Shell Gains Shell, Europe’s biggest oil producer, added 1.8 percent to 2,130 pence. Tullow Oil, which operates rigs in East Africa, rose 1.2 percent to 1,026 pence. Meggitt fell 1.1 percent to 526.5 pence, the lowest price in two months. The company said it has signed an agreement to buy Piezotech for $41.2 million in cash. The deal will strengthen Meggitt’s sensing-systems business, according to a statement. Kenmare Resources Plc (KMR) plunged 8.6 percent to 27 pence for the biggest drop since June 21. The minerals producer posted a net loss of $10.2 million in the first half, compared with a profit of $38.8 million in the year-earlier period. Chime Communications Plc (CHW) slipped 1.3 percent to 310 pence. The sports-marketing company reported that its operating profit and pretax profit both fell 73 percent in the first half. G4S Plc (GFS) climbed 2.9 percent to 252.40 pence. The security-services company said it has found buyers for two businesses to raise 100 million pounds ($155 million) and has lined up an additional 150 million pounds of potential disposals. G4S sold 141 million new shares, or about 10 percent of its equity, to existing investors at 247 pence each. Chief Executive Officer Ashley Almanza has made reducing the company’s net debt of 3.2 times earnings a priority. To contact the reporter on this story: Inyoung Hwang in London at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at [email protected]

2013

u-k-stocks-fall-for-second-day-amid-concern-over-syria