Opening Bell: 06.01.10
Hedge Funds Post Biggest Monthly Losses Since Lehman Aftershock (Bloomberg)
Paulson’s Advantage fund dropped 6.9 percent through May 21, dragging it to a year-to-date loss of 3.3 percent, according to investors with knowledge of the results, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Halvorsen’s Viking Global fund fell 3.4 percent in the same span and 2.9 percent for the year. Bacon’s Moore Global declined 7.7 percent as of May 20 and 4.8 percent in 2010, investors said.
Spanish Bank Asks for $3 Billion from Rescue Fund (Reuters)
Spain's second-biggest savings bank Caja Madrid has asked for up to 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) from a government rescue fund set up to promote mergers among the country's network of unlisted savings banks, a source close to the company said on Tuesday. The government has set a June 30 deadline to tap money from the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB).
China Property Risk Is Worse Than In US (FT)
“The housing market problem in China is actually much, much more fundamental, much bigger than the housing market problem in the US and UK before your financial crisis,” Li Daokui, a professor at Tsinghua University and a member of the Chinese central bank’s monetary policy committee said in an interview. “It is more than [just] a bubble problem.”
AIG Rejects New Offer (WSJ)
AIG rejected Prudential PLC's bid to renegotiate the U.K. insurer's $35.5 billion purchase of AIG's main Asian life-insurance unit, dealing the takeover what is likely to be a fatal blow and raising questions about the future of Prudential and its Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam.
Solutions For A Crisis In Its Sovereign Stage (FT)
Nouriel Roubini: "The largest financial crisis in history is spreading from private to sovereign entities. At best, Europe’s recovery will suffer as the collapsing euro subtracts from growth in its key trading partners. At worst, a disintegration of the single currency or a wave of disorderly defaults could unhinge the financial system and precipitate a double-dip recession."
Swiss Report Slams Government Over UBS Crisis (Reuters)
The 360-page report, the result of a 15 month inquiry by two parliamentary committees and 59 closed-door hearings with senior Swiss officials, showed the government waited for five months before decisively stepping in to tackle UBS's credit woes in September 2008.
Michael Lewis: Shorting Reform (NYT)
To: Wall Street chief executives
From: Your man in Washington
Re: Embracing the status quo
Bees Attack Wall Street (Cipriani) (NYP)
House Approves Bill Ending Hedge Funds' Tax Break (NYT)
“If you sell a building, a bond, or a business, you are taxed for capital gains in this country,” said Pam Olson, a former Treasury official who now represents the private equity industry. “This would make us the only business in America denied capital gains treatment, which is discriminatory and unfair.”
Nomura Triples Pay to Top Executives After Bouncing Back From Record Loss (Bloomberg)
Chief Executive Officer Kenichi Watanabe and his executive team received average compensation of 145 million yen ($1.6 million) for the 12 months ended March 31, up from 41.5 million yen a year earlier, according to the report.