Business Top Stories
• Wall St Week Ahead: The market is oversold, but major signs say "sell"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Normally a big decline would set up Wall Street for a technical rebound. But that may not be the case next week, even after the market posted its worst weekly loss for the year and the S&P fell for six straight sessions. With the corporate earnings season drawing to an end and recent U.S. economic data raising doubts about the pace of growth, the S&P 500, which is down 7.3 percent so far in May, could decline further next week as concerns about the financial health of Europe persist. ...
• Historic Facebook debut falls flat
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The historic initial public offering of Facebook Inc did not go as planned on Friday, as the social networking company's sky-high valuation combined with trading glitches left the stock languishing near its offering price at the market close. Facebook shares began trading late Friday morning and opened 11 percent above the $38 offering price, but after peaking at about $45 slid rapidly at the end of the day to close at $38.23. The IPO was the third-largest in U.S. history and valued eight-year-old Facebook at $104 billion. ...
• Dewey to consider bankruptcy filing: source
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ailing law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf is considering a bankruptcy filing as new debtholders take a more aggressive track, shifting away from earlier attempts at an out-of-court liquidation, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. The majority of Dewey's partners have quit as a result of concerns about compensation, and $225 million in bank loans and bond debt. ...
• Manulife, Metlife submit bids for ING Asia sale: sources
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Manulife Financial Corp and Metlife are among the companies that have submitted first round bids for ING's entire Asia life insurance business, sources said on Saturday, in what could be the largest Asia M&A insurance deal ever. ING's long awaited sale of Asian life insurance and the asset management units will help the Dutch bancassurer to partly repay the 3 billion euros ($3.81 billion) of state aid plus the 50 percent premium it still owes the Dutch government. The bids were submitted late on Friday and the indicative offers ranged between 6-7 billion euros ($7.6-$8. ...
• Solow lawsuit over Citigroup disclosures dismissed
(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc and its Chief Executive Vikram Pandit on Friday won a dismissal of New York real estate developer Sheldon Solow's lawsuit accusing them of securities fraud for hiding the bank's risks during the 2008 financial crisis. U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan said Solow failed to show that the defendants had materially misled him about Citigroup's liquidity and capitalization, or that his stock losses were caused when the bank's risks were realized. Sweet had in November dismissed an earlier version of Solow's complaint, but gave the plaintiff a chance to replead. ...
• Analysis: JPMorgan to be haunted by change in risk model
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's decision to radically change the way risk was measured in its Chief Investment Office is likely to dog the bank in the developing crisis over the big trading losses it has suffered. The move, which allowed the bank to disguise the level of risk that the CIO was taking in its trading, could become a major focal point of investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI, former regulators said. It also will likely become part of investor cases in lawsuits against the bank and its executives. ...
• Morgan Stanley made big bet on Facebook
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lead Facebook Inc underwriter Morgan Stanley took a bet earlier this week when it increased the size of the social networking firm's $16 billion initial public offering and it boosted the price. Thanks to massive hype surrounding Facebook's historic public offering, the wager looked safe. But a rocky first day of trading has raised questions about whether it paid off. After a delayed start to trading, Facebook's shares spent much of the day struggling to stay above the $38 IPO price - and ended with just a 23-cent gain. ...
• Under pressure, Chesapeake cuts director pay
(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp , under growing pressure from shareholders to improve corporate governance, reduced the compensation for its outside directors by 20 percent and eliminated their use of its aircraft for personal travel, the company said on Friday. Chesapeake and its board have come under fire in recent weeks after Reuters reported, among other things, that Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon had taken out more than $1 billion in previously undisclosed loans using his interest in company wells. ...
• CFTC opens probe into JPMorgan trading loss: source
(Reuters) - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has opened an investigation into possible wrongdoing at JPMorgan Chase & Co in connection with the bank's multi-billion-dollar trading loss, a source familiar with the probe told Reuters. The agency will soon disclose the existence of the investigation, the source said on Friday. Earlier on Friday, the New York Times reported that the CFTC had opened an enforcement case, quoting people briefed on the matter. The CFTC would join the FBI and the U.S. ...
• Galleon prosecutor aims to cement legacy in Gupta trial
NEW YORK (Reuters) - It was during a quiet afternoon in the sixth week of the insider-trading trial of hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam that prosecutor Reed Brodsky sprang one of those rare surprises usually seen only in the movie version of a courtroom drama. Brodsky, a federal prosecutor since 2004, seemed to catch defense lawyers and witness Richard Schutte off guard with a blistering cross-examination in the 2011 trial. The former Rajaratnam right-hand man was forced to admit that the biggest investor in a new hedge fund he launched was none other than the Galleon founder. ...
• Banks' rising bad loans add to Spanish troubles
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish banks' bad loans rose in March to their highest in 18 years, underscoring the problems facing the government as it drafts in independent auditors in an attempt to reassure investors it can clean up the sector. The Bank of Spain said bad loans rose to 8.37 percent of banks' outstanding loans, the highest since August 1994 and up from 8.3 percent in February, which was also revised higher. The data was released before Spain names auditors on Monday to assess how bad the losses are likely to get, and how much cash banks will need to rebuild their balance sheets. ...
• U.S. says will bar some Motorola Mobility phones
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some Motorola Mobility smartphones infringe on a Microsoft patent and will be barred from importation to the United States, a U.S. trade panel said on Friday. The order by the U.S. International Trade Commission has been sent to President Barack Obama, who has 60 days to consider whether to overturn it for policy reasons. The legal fight at the ITC is one of dozens globally between various smartphone makers. Google's Android system has become the top-selling smartphone operating system, ahead of mobile systems by Apple, Microsoft, Research in Motion and others. ...
• Messy Facebook debut marks weak day on Wall Street
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Friday after a sloppy debut by Facebook Inc spoiled hopes that a spectacular open for the most-anticipated stock sale in years would brighten the mood in what has been a gloomy month for equity markets. Shares of Facebook, the social networking giant, were volatile in the busiest day ever for a trading debut. After early gains of more than 10 percent, Facebook shares fell back to the $38 issue price, ending up just 0.6 percent at $38.23. It was the Nasdaq's most actively traded stock, with more than 566 million shares traded. ...
• Hedge funds dump $2 billion in gold over a week: CFTC
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge funds and other money managers liquidated more than $2 billion in gold futures over a week, trade data on Friday showed, before a forceful rebound in the precious metal potentially tripped up some of them. The majority of fund managers also appear to have bet wrongly against wheat, as suggested by the data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission which showed a net "short" or bearish position against the grain which finished this week with its highest weekly gain in 16 years. "It's still early to say if this rebound in wheat and gold will hold. ...
• Historic Facebook debut falls short of expectations
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The historic initial public offering of Facebook Inc did not go as planned on Friday, as the social networking company's sky-high valuation combined with trading glitches left the stock languishing near its offering price at the market close. Facebook shares, which opened up 11 percent, closed at $38.23 after a nail-biting last half hour of trading when the shares dipped to their $38 IPO price. Most investors had predicted a first-day pop. More than 576 million shares changed hands, setting a trading volume record for U.S. market debuts. ...
• Europe thinks the unthinkable on Greece
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - European officials are working on contingency plans in case Greece bombs out of the euro zone, the EU's trade commissioner said on Friday, as European share prices tumbled and Germany warned of continuing financial turmoil. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, one of Greece's harsher critics, said market unrest fuelled by the euro zone debt crisis could last another year or two. "Regarding the crisis of confidence in the euro ... in 12 to 24 months we will see a calming of the financial markets," he said. ...
• GM passes on running TV ads during 2013 Super Bowl
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co will not advertise in next year's Super Bowl because it is too expensive, the top marketing executive for the U.S. automaker said three days after the company announced it was dropping paid ads on Facebook Inc. The 2013 Super Bowl will be broadcast by CBS Corp, which is selling 30-second ads for as much as $4 million. Spots on NBC's broadcast of this year's National Football League championship game, the most heavily watched annual event on U.S. television, cost about $3.5 million per 30-second spot. NBC is majority-owned by Comcast Corp. ...
• MF Global to get $168 million back from JPMorgan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co , under scrutiny for its ties to collapsed commodities firm MF Global, will return $168 million to the estate of MF's broker-dealer, the estate's trustee announced on Friday. James Giddens, tasked with winding down the estate and recovering as much money as possible for its trader clients who lost money when the firm went bust, said JPMorgan will return "excess collateral" that was held in its estate when the bankruptcy began. ...
• UAW president sets goal to stem money losses by 2014
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers aims to break even by mid-2014, as the American union looks to bolster its political and bargaining clout. For the past five years, the UAW has relied heavily on selling its war chest of stocks, bonds and property to bridge the gap between its annual funding and costs. The union believes this approach is untenable in the long run and its goal is to "have it turned around" in two years by adding members and managing costs, UAW President Bob King said in an interview on Friday. ...
• Spain's Repsol cancels LNG cargoes to Argentina
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Spain's Repsol has canceled its contract to supply Argentina with liquefied natural gas (LNG), just weeks after the country seized control of the energy company's majority stake in YPF , a document obtained by Reuters on Friday showed. Argentina relies on LNG imports to meet between 20 percent and 30 percent of domestic natural gas consumption. Repsol was to supply 10 cargoes to Argentina this year out of 80 from all suppliers to help meet peak demand from June to September. ...
