Opening Bell: 09.27.12
Spain Gears Up For Day Of Cuts After Riots (Reuters)
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will enact further cutbacks as his efforts to bring down one of the euro zone's largest public deficits have been undermined by falling tax revenues in a recession. "We know what we have to do, and since we know it, we're doing it," Rajoy said in a speech in New York on Wednesday. "We also know this entails a lot of sacrifices distributed ... evenly throughout the Spanish society," Rajoy said in an address to the Americas Society. Thousands of anti-austerity demonstrators demanding that Rajoy resign gathered for a second night on Wednesday in Madrid near the national parliament, which was guarded by hundreds of police.
Ex-Credit Suisse Banker Arrested In UK (WSJ)
U.K. authorities arrested Kareem Serageldin, former global head of the Swiss bank's Structured Credit Trading business. He was taken into custody Wednesday by the Metropolitan Police in London outside the U.S. Embassy. Mr. Serageldin, 39 years old, was among three people charged criminally in the U.S. in a high-profile case in February. Mr. Serageldin, a U.K. resident, didn't formally answer the charges. His lawyer said then he did nothing wrong. Mr. Serageldin represents the highest-level Wall Street executive to be charged in a case relating to the 2008 financial meltdown.
No Plans For Twitter IPO Or Sale (AP)
FYI: Twitter is not readying a stock public offering, nor is it seeking to be sold to another group, CEO Dick Costolo said yesterday. In an interview on CNBC, Costolo brushed aside any suggestion of an imminent initial public offering or sale. The question of an IPO is “a decision we’ll make when we think the time is right for us,” he said.
M&A Slumps to Lowest Level Since Financial Crisis’s Nadir (Bloomberg)
“Executives have the cash, but they don’t have the conviction,” said Andrew Bednar, head of advisory at Perella Weinberg Partners LP, the New York-based investment bank. “I don’t see any miraculous change in the M&A markets for the foreseeable future.” This quarter’s slowdown has been most pronounced in Europe, where takeovers accounted for about $92 billion, or 21 percent, of global activity, the continent’s lowest share since 2010. The Americas accounted for $248 billion of transactions, and there were $104.5 billion in the Asia-Pacific region.
Shark Attacks Spark Kill Orders To Protect Aussi Beaches (BW)
The government of Western Australia said it plans to track, catch and if necessary kill sharks threatening beachgoers after a record five fatal attacks in the state in the past year. Officials will be allowed to destroy sharks “posing an imminent threat,” Fisheries Minister Norman Moore said in an e- mailed statement today as he announced a A$6.85 million ($7.1 million) protection, research and education program. Previously the state only issued kill orders following a shark attack. Tourism operators in Western Australia are attempting to lure domestic and international visitors to the state’s 12,000- kilometer-long (7,500-mile) coastline, which is studded with pristine beaches. The most recent attack saw a 24-year-old surfer taken by a five-meter great white shark on July 14 off an isolated beach about 160 kilometers north of the state capital Perth.
Hedge Fund Managers Face Lower Pay In Wake Of Weak Returns (NYP)
As of the end of the second quarter, only 43 percent of hedge funds had cleared the performance hurdle known as high-water marks over the past 12 months, according to data from fund tracker Hedge Fund Research. For many, those that fail to hit their marks by the end of the year will forgo their usual fee of 20 percent of profits until clients have recovered from losses.
SEC Looks For The 'Kill Switches' (WSJ)
The Securities and Exchange Commission has in recent days requested details from major broker-dealers about the internal controls of their automated trading systems, which direct the buying and selling of shares on exchanges and electronic-trading venue, according to people with knowledge of the review. The agency also wants to know about any recent malfunctions and how they were handled as well as how firms can override their computers and shut them off.
Jobless Claims Fall More In US To Two Month Low (Bloomberg)
Applications for jobless benefits decreased 26,000 to 359,000 in the week ended Sept. 22, the lowest since July, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast 375,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. There was nothing unusual in last week’s data, a Labor Department spokesman said as the figures were released to the press.
Ed Sullivan window-smasher back in court for punching straphanger (NYP)
Two months after pleading guilty to a late night, drunken, window-smashing rampage at the Ed Sullivan Theater, James Whittemore was back in Manhattan Criminal Court today for allegedly socking a fellow straphanger in the nose on a Harlem A-train platform. “I lost it,” the diminutive 23-year-old admitted to The Post of throwing the first punch at an apparently deranged homeless man who’d gotten “in my face.” “It’s the Irish in me.” The would-be NYC actor had won his 15-minutes of fame — and a mention on David Letterman’s Top 10 list — two summers ago, after he was found passed out drunk on the broken-glass-covered and urine-soaked carpeting of the lobby of the theater, home to the “Late Show.”