Liberty assures no job losses at Tata Steel UK if bid succeeds

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Asia markets lose ground ahead of US jobs data; Nikkei down 0.3%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Asian shares opened lower on Friday after Wall Street ended mixed, as investors await closely watched April US non-farm payroll numbers.

“Markets will be slightly more nervous around the Friday release of the non-farm payrolls number (expected at 200,000) after ADP employment growth came in at 154,000, well below the market consensus of 195,000,” said Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG, in a Thursday note.

The US payrolls number will likely influence expectations of whether the Federal Reserve will pull the trigger on an interest rate hike in June.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.01 percent in early Asian trade, giving back gains from Thursday’s session, weighed heavily by the energy subindex, down 1.54 percent, while the financials subindex shed 1.17 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.34 percent, after the market returned from a three-day holiday. On Monday, the benchmark index closed down 3.1 percent.

The US dollar/Japanese yen currency pair was at 107.36 at 08:24 a.m. HK/SIN time, down from levels over 111.50 last week. The currency pair this week tapped its lowest levels since October 2014, when the Bank of Japan launched its second massive round of quantitative easing. The yen is generally seen as a safe haven currency.

Markets in South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand are shut for public holidays.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, continued to rise. At 6:38 a.m. SIN/HK, it stood at 93.761, after dipping under 92 earlier this week to test the lowest levels since January 2015.

IG’s Nicholson said the greenback’s moves at this point could be key for the direction of markets.

“Markets at the moment at increasingly looking like they may be ready to roll over,” he said in a Friday note. “The two decisive factors that could cause an equity market sell-off would be a sustained rally in the US dollar and a sell-off in oil prices, both of which have usually induced weakness in equities of late.”

Crude oil gained on Thursday, after a wildfire in Alberta, Canada, appears set to cut oil output. U.S. crude futures rose 1.2 percent, settling at $44.32 a barrel in Thursday’s US session, while Brent futures settled up 0.9 percent, or 39 cents at $45.01.

Energy shares were lower in Australia, with Origin Energy down 0.11 percent and Santos lower by 0.12 percent.

Major resource producers were lower to flat, with Rio Tinto down 0.36 percent, while Fortescue Metals and BHP Billiton were nearly unchanged.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia will issue a statement on Friday about its surprise monetary policy decision on Wednesday to cut rates by 25 basis points.

In the US on Thursday, the Nasdaq composite finished down 0.18 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 closed nearly flat.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Druckenmiller: Get out of the stock market, own gold

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Legendary billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller told Sohn Investment Conference attendees to sell their equity holdings Wednesday.

“The conference wants a specific recommendation from me. I guess ‘Get out of the stock market’ isn’t clear enough,” said Druckenmiller from the conference stage in New York. Gold “remains our largest currency allocation.”

The billionaire investor expressed skepticism about the current investment environment due to Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policy and a slowing Chinese economy.

“The Fed has borrowed from future consumption more than ever before. It is the least data dependent Fed in history. This is is the longest deviation from historical norms in terms of Fed dovishness than I have ever seen in my career,” Druckenmiller said. “This kind of myopia causes reckless behavior.”

Read More Gundlach: These are the best bets in slow-growth economy

He believes US corporations have not used debt in productive investments, but instead relied on financial engineering with over USD 2 trillion in acquisitions and stock buybacks in the last year.

This is finally showing up on the books of companies as operating cash flow growth in US companies has gone negative year-over-year, while net debt as gone up, according to the investor.

Druckenmiller was negative on China’s economy going forward and believes recent attempts at further stimulus in the Asian country will not work and “aggravated the over-capacity in the economy.”

“Higher valuations, limits to further easing..the bull market is exhausting itself,” he said.

Druckenmiller is chairman and chief executive officer of the Duquesne Family Office.

His hedge fund track record is unparalleled, generating annualized returns of 30 percent during his investment career. The Duquesne fund never had a down year, according one of his investors Ken Langone.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Jeffrey Gundlach: Donald Trump will win

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Bond guru Jeff Gundlach trusts his instincts when it comes to his investments. Now he has a prediction about the presidential race: Donald Trump will win.

The CEO of DoubleLine, which manages $84 billion for clients, told CNBC he’s apolitical but said, “I think it’s important for investors to deal with reality.”

Another reality will likely be that Trump will have a very large deficit while in the Oval Office, Gundlach added.

“He’s very comfortable with debt. We know that about Donald Trump,” he said in an interview with CNBC’s Closing Bell from the Sohn Investment Conference Wednesday.

In fact, he said the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is just like another man many in the GOP idolize: former President Ronald Reagan.

“Reagan was a debt-based economic guy and I think Trump will be,” Gundlach noted.

“It will probably look like it’s working at first. The question is, will the boost to the economy from infrastructure projects and the like off-set the potential drag from shrinking global trade.”

Trump won a decisive victory in the Indiana primary Tuesday. That led both Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich to suspend their campaigns.

So how should an investor position their portfolio? Look at arms manufacturers, said Gundlach. He would avoid companies that are susceptible to global trade slowdowns, particularly those related to Mexico and China.

While Trump may moderate some of his positions, he will attempt some of what he’s promised, Gundlach believes.

“Donald will have to at least try to build a wall, at least try to do something with jobs, try to help the median America. How far he’ll go, I don’t know,” he said. “He can’t say ‘I was just kidding.'”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Google challenges Apple in India with credit card alternative

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Apple has been ‘the biggest wealth destroyer’ for investors

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Asian markets mostly lower, ASX down 1.2%, Hong Kong down 1%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Asian markets traded on the back foot, after US stocks fell overnight amid renewed global growth concerns and as oil prices lost ground.

“Equity market sentiment seems to be rolling over globally as the wind begins to come out of the oil price rally,” said Angus Nicholson, market analyst at spreadbetter IG, in a note Wednesday.

Oil prices retreated overnight, with US crude futures settling down 2.5 percent at USD 43.65 a barrel, while Brent futures settled down 1.9 percent at USD 44.97.

In Sydney, the ASX 200 fell 1.23 percent, weighed by losses in the energy subindex, down 3.48 percent, and the materials subindex, which was lower by 4.47 percent.

Chinese mainland markets opened flat to higher, with the Shanghai composite was up 0.10 percent, while the Shenzhen composite was 0.41 higher.

Across the Korean strait, the Kospi was trading 0.55 percent lower. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index shed 1.03 percent.

Major resource producers were all lower, with shares of Rio Tinto falling 4.99 percent, while Fortescue Metals was down 2.28 percent.

BHP Billiton shares tumbled 8.2 percent as investors digested news of the Australian miner getting slapped with a 155 billion real ($43 billion) civil lawsuit against iron miner Samarco, Vale and BHP Billiton for a dam spill in November in Brazil, Reuters reported.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar/U.S. dollar pair traded at 0.7477 as of 9:52 a.m. HK/SIN time. That’s down from levels a tad above 0.77 Tuesday afternoon before the Reserve Bank of Australia surprised markets by announcing a 25 basis point interest rate cut to a record low 1.75 percent.

The dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, was trading at 93.09 at 9:42 a.m. HK/SIN time, firming after dipping under 92 overnight, tapping the lowest levels since January 2015. Overnight, the Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart reaffirmed that the Federal Reserve would not back-peddle on policy and that two rate hikes were certainly possible.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 last traded on Monday, when it closed down 3.1 percent; the market was closed Tuesday for the Constitution Day holiday and is closed Wednesday for the Greenery day public holiday.

Major US indexes closed mixed, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 0.78 percent, the S&P 500 finishing 0.87 percent lower and the Nasdaq composite down 1.13 percent, its lowest close since March 14.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

EU Commission cuts euro zone GDP growth forecast

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

European stocks lower amid bank earnings; Miners, autos slide

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

BNP Paribas net profit rises but investment bank takes hit

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow