European Stocks Decline, U.S. Futures Drop

October 31, 2011

European stocks dropped, paring their biggest monthly gain since July 2009, as some investors remain reluctant to buy equities before the euro area’s leaders explain how they will fund their expanded bailout facility. U.S. index futures and Asian shares fell.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S tumbled 19 percent as the biggest maker of wind turbines cut its forecasts for revenue and margins based on earnings before interest and taxes this year after delays in expanding production at its new plant in Germany. HSBC Holdings Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd. led bank and commodity- company shares lower.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 1.1 to 246.18 at 10:32 a.m. in London, paring its monthly gain to 8.8 percent, the largest advance in more than two years. The gauge slipped 0.2 percent on Oct. 28, having rallied 3.6 percent the previous day, after the euro area’s leaders said they will boost their rescue fund’s capacity in a bid to stem the debt crisis. The gauge jumped 4.2 percent last week, its fifth straight weekly gain.

“Traders are unlikely to be in a risk-on mood like they were on Thursday until they receive more clarity,” said Jonathan Sudaria, a trader at London Capital Group. “With the European Central Bank press conference and the Group of 20 at the latter part of this week, traders may prefer to sit on the sidelines until then.”

Futures contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December retreated 0.9 percent and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index plunged 2.4 percent, its biggest slide in four weeks.

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EU May Struggle to Keep Euphoria as Post-Summit Scrutiny Deepens

October 29, 2011

European leaders may struggle to maintain the euphoria that drove the euro to its biggest one-day gain in more than a year as scrutiny deepens on their latest attempt to stem the region’s turmoil.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet called for “swift implementation” if financial stability is to be restored, Germany’s Bild Zeitung reported in an extract of an interview to be published tomorrow.

The weaknesses of Europe’s common currency area, ranging from its design to a persisting dearth of bank funding and anemic economic growth, weren’t properly addressed in this week’s accord to stem investor panic, said Harvard University economist Kenneth Rogoff andJonathan Loynes at Capital Economics Ltd. in London.

“My read of this is that the markets are cheered that they’re still alive,” Rogoff, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist, said as a compensated speaker at the Bloomberg FX11 Summit in New York Oct. 27. “Even in a fairly short period, doubts will start to grow again.”

Ten hours of bargaining by European leaders at the 14th crisis summit in 21 months culminated in an early-morning agreement Oct. 27 to bolster the region’s crisis-combat toolbox by boosting their rescue fund to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) and persuading bondholders to take 50 percent losses on Greek debt. Measures also included a recapitalization of European banks and a potentially bigger role for theInternational Monetary Fund.


FDIC backs ban on banks trading for own profit

October 12, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — Banks would be barred from trading for their own profit instead of their clients under a rule federal regulators proposed Tuesday.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. backed the draft rule on a 3-0 vote. The ban on so-called proprietary trading was required under the financial overhaul law.

Critics on the left dismissed the effort as weak and marred by loopholes. And banks argued that it would hurt the economy. The FDIC’s vote now puts the rule out for public comment.

The Federal Reserve has also approved a draft of the proposal, called the Volcker Rule after former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker.

For years, banks had bet on risky investments with their own money. But when those bets go bad and banks fail, taxpayers could be forced to bail them out. That’s what happened during the 2008 financial crisis.

A ban on proprietary trading could help President Barack Obama in next year’s election by showing he has pushed for tougher policies to curb risky trading on Wall Street.

A harder line with bankers might also help Obama win over protesters on Wall Street. Many say Obama was too lenient on the banks because he continued the bailouts that had begun under President George W. Bush.

Congress and Obama had hoped the Volcker Rule would blunt such criticism. But they left most of the details for regulators to sort out. It’s unclear how strictly the ban will be enforced.

At least one of the protesters on Wall Street was willing to give the rule a chance. Robert Eatman, who was protesting in New York on Tuesday, called the rule a “decent effort.”

Eatman worked on Wall Street for 20 years as an office manager and in other positions at securities firms. He said that if financial rules for banks hadn’t been relaxed in the late 1990s, “the foundation for this reform would have been in place” already.

Under the draft rule, banks must hold investments for more than 60 days. Regulators determined that that was enough time to limit speculative trading.

Senior and mid-level managers would be required to make sure bank employees comply with the restrictions. But the rule doesn’t say what happens if they don’t.

Traders should not be paid in a manner that encourages risk-taking, but the rule doesn’t outline what that entails.


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