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Moody’s Changes China Outlook to Positive From Stable
Moody’s Investors Service changed China’s ratings outlook to “positive” from “stable,” citing the government’s success in steering the nation through the global financial crisis.
The rating action affects the government’s A1 foreign and local currency bond ratings. The ratings company also raised Hong Kong’s outlook to positive from stable.
Record new lending and a stimulus package of spending on roads, power plants and low-cost housing has driven the rebound in the world’s third-biggest economy after exports collapsed. The nation’s foreign-currency reserves swelled to a record $2.273 trillion in September as the recovery attracted more money from abroad.
The rating action also affects China’s A1 country ceilings for foreign and local currency bank deposits, and its A1 ceilings for foreign and local currency bonds, Moody’s said. The ceilings act as a cap on ratings that can be assigned to the domestic or foreign currency obligations of other entities domiciled in the country.
“With net foreign assets equal to 36 percent of GDP -- bolstered by more than $2 trillion in official foreign exchange holdings -- only a handful of highly rated advanced industrial economies, such as Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, have a stronger international investment position than China,” Moody`s said.
Regards
Swastika PMS...
Stocks having EX-DATE Today:
GABRIEL Interim Dividend 0.30, GRAUER WEIL Dividend 0.40, HCL INFOSYS Dividend 3.00, PSUBNK BEES Dividend 6.00, SHRIRAM TRAN Interim Dividend 2.00
Regards
Swastika PMS...
Stocks having EX-DATE Today:
GABRIEL Interim Dividend 0.30, GRAUER WEIL Dividend 0.40, HCL INFOSYS Dividend 3.00, PSUBNK BEES Dividend 6.00, SHRIRAM TRAN Interim Dividend 2.00 ...
Reports suggest that few bollywood actresses may be queried by IT & ED for receiving favors during Koda`s reign, one of them ex brand ambassador of Jharkhand.
But Koena Mitra was dropped barely two days after being chosen as brand ambassador for Jharkhand and Dhoni was the new brand ambassador on 12.01.2008. So Dhoni`s account also needs to be probed into. Is that the reason why Indian skipper looks off-color and distracted on field.
ibnlive. in. com/news/koena-dropped-dhoni-is-jharkhand-brand-ambassador/56315-3.html
ibnlive. in. com/news/reports-reveal-kodas-bollywood-links-actresses-under-scanner/104789-37.html...
a return gift for 5 years.......
when freddie will be in gains.. every year they declare huge losses...
Murli Deora allocates 12.42 MMSCMD gas to RIL
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Minister of Petroleum Shri Murli Deora an important member of Empowered Group of Ministers while deciding additional allocation of 50 MMSCMD of KGD-6’s gas on 27th October 2009 granted/gifted around 12.42 MMSCMD gas to various units of RIL including RIL’s captive power plants .
Noteworthy to mention here is that in previous meetings of EGOM dated 28th May 2008 and 23rd October 2008 where Gas utilization Policy (as it stands today) was decided, Captive Power plants figure no where in the list of priorities, even Petrochemicals and Refineries figured quite low in the priority list.
Also apt to mention here is that RIL’s counsel Mr. Harish salve (in the final hearings in RIL-RNRL gas dispute) has been tom tomming before Supreme Court that RIL does not have enough gas for it’s internal consumption.
Break up of gas allocation to RIL
•Petrochemicals: RIL cornered the total 1.918 MMSCMD gas allotted to Petrochemicals which went to RIL (RIL Gandhar - 1.168 and RIL Nagothane - 0.75)
•Refineries: Total allocation is 5 MMSCMD firm plus fallback (temporary basis) 6 MMSCMD. RIL’s Share in allocation 50% i.e., firm 2.5 plus fallback 3 MMSCMD. Thus half of the total allocation was given to RIL.
•Captive Power Plants: Out of total fallback allocation of 10 MMSCMD for captive power plants, RIL’s share of new allocation is 50% equivalent to 5 MMSCMD.
•Hence, RIL’s share of total gas comes to 12.42 MMSCMD with 4.42 MMSCMD in firm category plus 8 MMSCMD in fallback category.
•RIL is currently purchasing gas at the rate of US$ 9/MMBTU a gift of 12.42 MMSCMD of gas at US$ 4.2/MMBTU entails a cost difference of around $5/MMBtu, the resultant savings for RIL work out to more than $700 million or approximately Rs 3,200 crores per year. Thus leading to huge savings of more than Rs 16000 crores for the next five years.
GUJARATHI...
OTHER CLOSURES
Also closed on Friday were:
-- United Security Bank, of Sparta, Georgia, with assets of $157 million. Ameris Bank, of Moultrie, Georgia, agreed to assume all the deposits. FDIC and Ameris Bank entered a share-loss transaction on approximately $123 million of United Security Bank`s assets.
-- Home Federal Savings Bank, of Detroit, with $14.9 million in assets and $12.8 million in deposits. Liberty Bank and Trust Co, of New Orleans, agreed to assume all the deposits and essentially all of the assets.
-- Gateway Bank of St Louis, of St Louis, Missouri, with $27.7 million in assets. The bank`s sole office will reopen on Saturday as a branch of Central Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, which assumed Gateway`s assets.
-- Prosperan Bank, of Oakdale, Minnesota, which had assets of $199.5 million and deposits of $175.6 million. FDIC entered an agreement with Alerus Financial, National Association, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, to assume all of Prosperan`s deposits. It purchased approximately $173.9 million of Prosperan`s assets in a share-loss agreement with FDIC.
The FDIC insurance fund`s balance went negative as of the end of the third quarter, but the FDIC is careful to emphasize that it has plenty of access to cash to operate and protect bank deposits. The agency has estimated the total cost of failures will reach $100 billion from 2009 through 2013.
The FDIC board will meet next week to finalize its proposal to have banks prepay three years of industry assessments, which would give the government cash to handle the rising tide of bank failures.
During the current financial crisis, Seattle-based lender Washington Mutual became the biggest bank to fail in U.S. history. It had $307 billion in assets when it was closed in September 2008 while suffering from losses from soured mortgages and liquidity problems.
GUJARATHI...
Big California bank fails, has China branches
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United Commercial Bank, a big San Francisco bank with branches in China, was closed by state regulators on Friday and its banking operations were acquired by East West Bancorp Inc, also active in both nations.
East West said the transaction made it the second-largest independent bank in California. Based in Pasadena, East West has 137 U.S. branches, including offices in New York, Atlanta, Boston and Seattle, and four in China.
United Commercial Bank, with assets of $11.2 billion, was the 120th U.S. bank to fail this year. Regulators closed four other banks on Friday, in Georgia, Michigan, Missouri and Minnesota. Failures already were the highest since 1992.
Banks are struggling to clean up their balance sheets as loans made during the credit boom continue to deteriorate. The FDIC has said the pace of failures will remain elevated through next year.
Last year 25 institutions were closed by regulators, compared to three in all of 2007.
Dominic Ng, chief executive of East West Bank, said the transaction was "a transformational event" that strengthened his bank`s position. East West`s assets increased to $19 billion, from $12.5 billion.
United Commercial Bank had 63 U.S. branches, a branch in Hong Kong and a subsidiary, UCB-China, in Shanghai. They will reopen as part of East West Bank.
China`s Banking Regulatory Commission said UCB-China had ample liquidity and capital. It said the bank had total assets of 2.667 billion yuan. With liabilities of 1.754 billion yuan, its net assets were 913 million yuan, the regulator said in a statement posted on its website, cbrc.gov.cn.
The CBRC said it would work closely with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) to maintain the stability of UCB-China.
It said it had conducted a preliminary examination of East West Bank`s fitness to take over UCB-China and was now deliberating on the matter in accordance with Chinese laws.
Minsheng Banking Corp owns 9.9 percent of UCBH Holdings Inc, the parent of United Commercial Bank, which was the biggest lender in the United States serving the Chinese community.
Minsheng, China`s first listed non-state lender, raised its stake from 4.9 percent in December 2008.
East West agreed to assume $10.2 billion of United Commercial Bank`s assets and entered a loss-share transaction with the FDIC on approximately $7.7 billion of the assets. FDIC estimated the bank closure will cost its deposit insurance fund $1.4 billion.
The California Department of Financial Institutions cited inadequate capital and other weaknesses in closing United Commercial Bank. The agency said the bank had been unable to increase its capital reserves sufficiently.
Source : Reuters
GUJARATHI...
Freddie Mac posts $5 billion loss
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Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a "prolonged deterioration" in housing.
Increases in the value of securities Freddie Mac held over the period helped buoy its net worth, however, erasing its need to tap government funds for a second straight quarter to stay solvent while continuing to buy and guarantee home loans.
Including a $1.3 billion dividend payment on senior preferred stock bought by the Treasury in previous quarters, Freddie Mac`s third-quarter loss increases to $6.3 billion.
The home funding company`s loss comes amid a rise in provisions for credit losses to $7.6 billion in the quarter, up 46 percent compared with the previous quarter, as delinquencies worsened on loans it guarantees. Provisions will remain high this quarter, it added.
"I would say we are just beginning to see the impact of the chargeoffs on their guarantee book," said Janaki Rao, vice president of mortgage research at Morgan Stanley in New York.
Its larger rival Fannie Mae on Thursday said it would need $15 billion from the U.S. Treasury after a whopping $18.9 billion third-quarter loss.
Results at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are widely watched as a barometer of the U.S. housing market since they own or back nearly half of outstanding mortgages.
The losses have presented a dilemma to Congress as it wants to protect taxpayers` money but is also counting on the companies to undertake foreclosure prevention efforts which are significantly adding to expenses.
In order to ease the terms of loans under the Obama administration`s Making Home Affordable refinancing program, the companies must buy the mortgages out of securities, and write down their value. Seeking alternatives to foreclosures also means bad loans sit on their books longer.
Despite signs of recovery in home sales and prices, rising delinquencies and unemployment levels mean the housing market is still fragile, Freddie said. High unemployment, foreclosures and excess inventory will impede the recovery "for some time" and push house prices lower, the company said.
This means that Freddie Mac`s survival will continue to depend on support from the government, which forced the company and Fannie Mae into conservatorship in September 2008.
Freddie Mac has taken $51.7 billion since then while Fannie Mae`s draw will rise to $60.9 billion.
For Freddie Mac, "the positive net worth without the help from the Treasury is significant, but it is too early to say whether an end to conservatorship is ahead," Rao said.
Starting in 2010, the company will begin accounting for $1.8 trillion in mortgage-backed securities it guarantees on its balance sheet to meet new guidelines. This will increase interest income and interest expenses, and could have a significant negative impact on net worth, it said.
Source : Reuters
GUJARATHI
...
NEW DELHI: The National Highways Authority of India today said it is negotiating with the Asian Development Bank for a $400-million (about Rs 1,800
crore) loan, and the deal may get through by the next month.
"We are negotiating with ADB for a $400 million loan...We will close the deal by end of this year... the money is required next year," NHAI Member-Finance A Didar Singh told PTI.
The government needs about Rs 3.31 lakh crore to meet its target of developing 35,000 kms of national highways over the next five years.
"Out of the total requirement of Rs 3.31 lakh crore, about 1.97 lakh crore will come from the private sector and the rest would be arranged by NHAI," Singh said.
NHAI, which is responsible for development and maintenance of national highways, meets its financial needs through cess on sale of fuel, borrowings from international lending agencies and the financial market.
Singh said the contracts for about 100 highway projects would be awarded by March next year.
The length of national highways is about 70,548 km, representing only two per cent of the country`s total road network, but carry about 40 per cent of the road traffic.
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Unemployment in U.S. Jumps to 10.2%, Payrolls Fall by 190,000
The unemployment rate in the U.S. soared to a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October and employers cut more jobs than forecast, underscoring why Federal Reserve policy makers say interest rates will remain low until the labor market recovers.
Payrolls fell by 190,000 workers last month. The jobless rate gained from 9.8 percent in September and exceeded 10 percent for the first time since 1983. Monthly losses accelerated after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008 and peaked at 741,000 in January.
Today’s report showed factory payrolls dropped 61,000 after decreasing 45,000 in the prior month. The decline included a gain of 4,600 jobs in auto manufacturing and parts industries.
Sales of cars and light trucks rebounded last month after plunging in the wake of the government’s so-called cash-for- clunkers incentive plan. Vehicles sold at a 10.5 million annual pace in October, up from a 9.2 million rate in September.
Payrolls at builders declined 62,000 after a loss of 68,000 in September. Financial firms cut payrolls by 8,000, after 9,000 reductions the prior month.
Service industries, which include banks, insurance companies, restaurants and retailers, subtracted 61,000 workers after cuts of 105,000 the prior month. Retail payrolls decreased by 39,800 after a decline of 44,200. Government payrolls were unchanged from the prior month, the report showed.
The so-called underemployment rate -- which includes part- time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking -- reached a record 17.5 percent from 17 percent in September.
Temporary workers rose by 34,000, the first gain since December 2007, when the recession began.
The U.S. economy expanded last quarter for the first time in a year, growing at a 3.5 percent pace as government incentives spurred consumers to spend more on homes and automobiles.
Regards
Swastika PMS...
Bulk Deals Snap Shot - 06 November 2009, Friday
IN BOTH BSE & NSE:-
Total Selling of 1791601 shares of XL Telecom, Morgan Stanley Mauritius Company Ltd. was the SELLER of 1678440 shares and Goldman Sachs Investments Mauritius I Ltd. was the SELLER of 113161 shares.
Regards
Swastika PMS...
Bulk Deals Snap Shot - 06 November 2009, Friday
IN NSE:-
Net Selling of 126260 shares of Excel Infoways
Net Selling of 55185 shares of Ispat Industries by Jaypee Capital Services Ltd.
Selling of 1029844 shares of Polaris by Orbitech Limited
Regards
Swastika PMS...
Bulk Deals Snap Shot - 06 November 2009, Friday
IN BSE:-
Net Buying of 77732 shares of Cat Technologies
Buying of 320000 shares of Interworld Digi
Trading of 471336 shares of JK Lakshmi Cement, Buying action done by Copthall Mauritius Investment Limited
Selling of 4210000 shares of L&T by Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius Private Ltd and 4013534 shares were bought by HSBC Global Investment Fund
Selling of 75000 shares of Nagarjuna Agric
Net Selling of 350000 shares of Shri Ganesh Spinning
Selling of 231725 shares of Suarj Stainless by Suraj Impex Pvt. Ltd.
Selling of 150000 shares of Vision Corp
Regards
Swastika PMS
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