10.50 The numbers that come from Germany they make themselves heard on the performance of the European price lists. After the last few sessions in recovery, this morning the continental stock exchanges all opened down by more than one percentage point. To drag them down are the disappointing data on the trend of German GDP in the second quarter, which recorded much lower growth than expected. The growth of the European locomotive was only 0,1% compared to the January-March period (while analysts' estimates spoke of +0,5%) and 2,8% on an annual basis. After last week's negative data on the French economy and the slowdown in Italy and Spain, the latest performance in Berlin seems to confirm that stagnant growth is now a virus that has infected the entire Eurozone. This is enough to trigger sales: one hour after the start of trading, Frankfurt lost 2,70% and Paris 2,32%. London and Milan are also bad, in the red by 1,13 and 2,13% respectively.
GOOGLE BUYS MOTOROLA MOBILE FOR 12,5 BILLION
AND THE BULL UNLEASHES HIS RACE: THE PREY RISES BY 55%
After the suffering of the past week it took a "whipping" to put the business back in the front row. And the whip, just on the day of August, has arrived: Google has in fact announced the purchase for 12,5 billion dollars of Motorola Mobility, the mobile technology company born from the split of the old Motorola. The stated goal is to accelerate the development of "Android" technology to oppose Apple, in a challenge that promises to be titanic. "This operation - said Larry Page, CEO of Google since April - will make a strong contribution to improving Android, to the great benefit of consumers". In reality, a certain perplexity prevails on Wall Street, which has punished Google with a reduction: how will manufacturers, such as Samsung and Htc, which already adopt Android, react? Those who certainly gain are the shareholders of Motorola who, at the announcement, saw the shares jump up by 55,3 percent. To the delight of raider Carl Icahn, who had fought for the "split" of Motorola and is now making a billionaire increase in his investment.
THE M&A SEASON HAS STARTED
BUFFETT HAS ALREADY FILL UP
Beyond the specific content of the deal, the Google-Motorola operation confirms in a sensational way that the stock market crashes have opened the door to many purchasing opportunities to the benefit of the big names in the price list, starting with Google, Microsost or Apple . In fact, Standard & Poor's 500 companies have cash liquidity in excess of $150 trillion. Alone, the trio of "three dear enemies" (Google, Apple and Microsoft) exceeds 3 billion. The trend is confirmed by the news that Time Warner has purchased the fiber network of the Carlyle Group in cash for 4,1 billion dollars, while, in the field of oil equipment, Transoceanic has invested XNUMX billion in the purchase of Akers drilling. Meanwhile, Wall Street looks to the example of Warren Buffett's Berkswhire Hathaway. The Omaha essay continues to go against the grain. Yesterday he issued a warning to America asking for a sharp increase in taxes for the richest ("it is absurd that I pay less than my secretary") and revealed his list of discounts "in a sale list": General Dollar, Verisk, increased stake in Wells Fargo and numerous other companies. After collecting the capital gain in Kraft at the time of the split.
TOKYO RESPONDS WITH A RAISE
SONY LEADS THE RACE (+1,2%)
Tuesday's Asian session was characterized by the return of purchases on the wave of news arriving from Wall Street: the Google-Motorola operation and Warren Buffett's portfolio. In great evidence in Tokyo Sony (+1,2%), even better Samsung in Seoul (+4%). The Korean stock, stopped in mid-August, scored a rise of 4%, while the Nikkei 225 consolidates Monday's gains with an increase of 0,3% one hour after the end of trading.
FERRAGOSTO FROM RECORD TO WALL STREET
EUROPE AND ASIA ALSO GROWING
Ferragosto positive for open markets. Among other things, the excellent performance of Unilever and Novartis supported the trend of the blue chips. The London Stock Exchange closed up 0,55% at 5.349,28, while the Frankfurt Dax closed up 0,36%% at 6.019,32 points and in Paris, the Cac closed up 0,78 % to 3.239,06 points. The ECB, which after five months of interruption has resumed buying government bonds to ease the tensions involving the bonds of Spain and Italy: it bought government bonds for 22 billion euros, a weekly record since the program started.
Monday had already started brightly in Asia, where the markets tried to recover some of the ground lost in the week of the great fear. The increase was robust in Tokyo, (+1,4% the Nikkei 225) also thanks to the news that the impact of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster on gross domestic product (-1,3% in the second quarter) was very more limited than expected. However, the lists of Australia (+2,6%) and Hong Kong (+3,3%) performed even better, while China closed with a gain of 1,3%. Confirming the more relaxed atmosphere of the markets is the step back of gold (1.737 dollars an ounce) and the step forward of crude oil prices (86,37 dollars a barrel for the WTI). But it was Wall Street's roaring start that set the tone for Taurus. In early trading, the Dow Jones scored an increase of 138,20 points (+1,2%) to 11.407, the Standard & Poor's 500 rose by 17,10 points (+1,7%), the Nasdaq up by 29,69 points (+1,2%). Then the Bull picked up speed thanks to the push of Motorola (+55%), the financial and energy sectors.
At the end of the session, the Dow Jones recorded an increase of 213 points, equal to 1,9 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 25.68 points, or 2.18 percent, at 1,204.49 while the Nasdaq composite closed 47.22 points, up 1.8 percent, at 2,555.20. The yield on the T bond, meanwhile, climbed to 2,28 percent from 2,25 on Friday. Among the financials, the leap of Bank of America stands out +8%, thanks to the sale of the credit card business to the TD group. Closely followed by Citigroup (+4%) and Morgan Stanley (+5%). During the week there will be macro examinations of great importance on the front of the conjuncture of the housing market, inflation and industrial production.
Three appointments that will determine the direction of travel of Wall Street. In this context, it is worth reporting the summary of Goldman Sachs' outlook: after the fall, risky assets (shares in the lead) are now undervalued, while the rest is overvalued. Goldman Sachs sees world GDP growth, despite the crisis, up 4 percent in 2011 (+4,4% in 2012) thanks to emerging markets. Corporate profits will rise from an average of 6 percent in US stock exchanges to +18% in Japan. As far as Europe is concerned, the recovery will start in the last quarter of 2011 and could continue into 2012.
SPOTLIGHTS ON ON THE MERKEL-SARKOZY SUMMIT
TODAY THE MANEUVER FACE THE EXAMINATION OF THE MARKETS
The European financial week, on the other hand, gets underway today thanks to three tests that will measure the state of health of the system after the stress of past trials. In the order:
a) the outcome of the Franco-German summit on the future of the European Union which has taken on dramatic colors after the crisis which hit the Paris banking stock. In anticipation of the summit, voices in favor of the launch of Eurobonds have multiplied.
Giulio Tremonti is aiming in that direction, in this case supported by a large majority of consensus, George Osborne himself, British chancellor of the exchequer, declared that "it is an idea to be evaluated with great attention". And George Soros himself has invited Europe to provide itself with common financial instruments to avoid succumbing to speculation. But, on the eve of the summit, the usual cold shower arrives from Berlin. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, in an interview with Spiegel, said he was against Eurobonds “as long as individual countries conduct an autonomous and divergent fiscal policy. We need different rates, capable of rewarding or punishing the fiscal and economic policies of the various countries". In short, there cannot be a single financial direction without an analogous cooperation in fiscal and budget matters.
b) The fact remains that Sarkozy, whose popularity is declining sharply, must emerge from the top with some concrete results. Angela Merkel, however, on the one hand is looking at the reaction of the markets, which are urging the German leadership to take initiatives, but on the other she is well aware of the obstacle of 23 September when the "Europe package" will face examination by the Bundestag.
c) the decisions of the Swiss National Bank which tomorrow, in harmony with the federal government, would like to link the quotations of the franc to the euro, in an attempt to curb a race to revaluate the currency which is having devastating effects on the economy of the confederation . A maneuver which, if successful, will have significant political effects for the European Union. Last week the authorities in Bern signed a fiscal deal with Germany, according to a model that could be applied to the entire EU. Until now, the Italian Minister of the Economy Giulio Tremonti has opposed it, however today he is greatly weakened both in Rome and, consequently, in Brussels.
d) The vote of the financial community on the maneuver launched, at least in general terms, by the Italian government on Friday afternoon. Beyond the criticisms and the great parliamentary maneuvers, the fate of the provision is linked to the trend of the BTPs or the BTP/Bund spread: the yield of the BTPs in Frankfurt fluctuates on 5,03%, the spread on the Bund is 270 points basis.
