THE BAZOOKA OF THE ECB DOES NOT KILL THE BEAR
The small EU-branded bazooka went into action, without however knocking down the Bear. There ECB fired the first shot with a maxi-liquidity injection of 489 billion, a 3-year repurchase agreement which benefited 523 European banks. But operators reacted by selling Italian BTPs and Spanish Bonos: the yield on the ten-year BTP rose by 17 basis points to 6,70%, the spread with the German Bund widened again to 477 points. What are the reasons for an at first sight surprising drop? The markets are probably waiting to learn more about the strategies of the banks, especially the Italian ones which have booked around a quarter (23%) of the loans, with a request for 116 billion, well above the approximately 40 billion of bonds guaranteed by the Bank of Italy issued in the previous days. The possible destinations are, in order: the repayment of bonds maturing in 2012; the purchase of BTPs; the reopening of credit to households and businesses; the parking of liquids at the ECB itself in the absence of sufficient equity capital to carry trade on a large scale.
The result is that, after the initial euphoria, the stock traders preferred to cash in the previous day's gains. And the markets went lower. In Milan the FtseMib index fell by 0,9%, Paris -0,9%, Frankfurt -0,9%, London -0,6%. The euro lost all of the morning's gain to 1,304 against the dollar, from 1,308 at the previous close. Meanwhile, official confirmation has arrived: Italy is heading towards recession. In fact, for the first time since 2009, gross domestic product decreased by 0,2% from one quarter to the next.
WEATHERBAG. UNCERTAIN TIMES WAITING FOR DRAGONS The performance of the Asian stock markets signals the nervousness of the markets towards the euro: Tokyo falls by 0,79%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong by 0,44%. Futures signal an uncertain start, even if a recovery is not excluded. The highlight of the day will be Mario Draghi's press conference, after the meeting with the European Systemic Risk Board.
ORACLE DEPRESSES WALL STREET. The American Stock Exchange opens lower due to hi-tech, then recovers thanks to the 335 million dollar fine paid by Bank of America for the many irregularities committed by Countrywide, the financial company specializing in subprime mortgages. In the end, the Dow Jones closes at +0,03%, the S&P 500 does better at +0,19%, the Nasdaq blames the drop by one percentage point for the plunge Oracle, down 13% after announcing results for the last quarter and forecasts for the current quarter lower than expected: this is the confirmation that the European crisis has also affected investment decisions in technological innovation. The colossus Rim, which has been in crisis for some time, is an exception. The Blackberry company rose 11% on the wave of rumors of a possible merger by Microsoft-Nokia or Amazon. Finally, reveals the New York Times, another billionaire deal is looming. Yahoo! He is finalizing the sale of the stakes in China to the shareholder Alibaba and in Japan of the stake in Softbank. It is a 17 billion deal conducted on a razor's edge: the parties are identifying a way to not pay a single cent to the taxman. All mono is country…
FONSAI, LIGRESTI IN RETREAT. Seat in sharp decline for Fondiaria-Sai which, pending tomorrow's board of directors called to discuss interventions to strengthen equity, lost 7,22% at 0,72 euro. More contained decreases for Premafin (-1,46% to 0,12 euro) and Milan (-1,56% to 0,21 euro). Yesterday the managing director of Fondiaria Sai, Emanuele Erbetta, was at Isvap: a meeting lasting about an hour and a half, dedicated to the issue of the solvency index that the authority wants to return above the safety threshold of 120 percent. Company representatives have asked to be able to obtain a waiver on the timing of the response on governance and the capital increase already set for December 24th. The meeting in Consob is scheduled for today. A summit was also held between the company's independent directors who addressed the issue of strengthening the group's capital with the advisor Goldman Sachs. Fonsai belongs to a series of "groups with questionable management which, however, are important assets for the country" Unicredit CEO Federico Ghizzoni said on Radio 24 in the morning. The bank, shareholder and creditor, sees no alternative to the increase which would reduce the share of the Ligresti to no more than 15%.
IMPREGILO, GAVIO'S ULTIMATUM. Small pause in the rise of the shares Impregile it -2% after the share has gained around 53% since September, the Gavio group does not seem willing to grant extensions to Fonsai: by tomorrow, therefore, take or leave the offer for 33% of Igli, the box in which 29% of the construction company is deposited, at 3,6 euros. It's easy for Fonsai to say yes. But at this point Atlantia, the third shareholder who is not interested in the offer, could exercise the right to acquire half of the shares for sale in view of an alliance with Salini which has reached 15% of the capital and has launched, through the specialized company Georgeson, the collection of proxies in view of an extraordinary meeting. In short, a tough financial clash is looming but, for once, in the framework of alternative industrial choices: concentrate on construction together with Salini or continue with the partial diversification of activities, in support of the lords of the motorways.
EDISON, SPARROW LEADS THE COUNTERATTACK. "Take or leave: Edison (+0,07% on the Stock Exchange ed) all a Edf, Edipower in Delmi, including Alpiq's share. Delmi and Edipower may also merge in the future, creating the second largest Italian electricity producer". Here is the new electric battle plan illustrated by Graziano Tarantini, president of the A2A CDS, at the end of the summit with Minister Corrado Passera. The French will have to accept "if they don't want war, otherwise we will be forced to move on the terrain of hostility and there are many tools..." added the councilor Bruno Tabacci, representative of the Municipality of Milan in A2A who was keen to clarify that the proposal, compared to the Zuccoli award, "is totally another film". Among the Italian shareholders, this time, “there is unity. The situation seems to me to be under control from the point of view of the effects. It is the only way to arrive at a fairly clean cut with a relevant industrial policy plan”. No intervention by the CDP or even a consortium is foreseen. Edipower is worth 1 billion” covered by the proceeds from the sale of the Edison stake”. The A2A dividend? "Let's first see how we get out of the operation" replied Tarantini. Meanwhile, Edison's board of directors, after an analysis by the advisors Crédit Suisse e Goldman Sachs on the company's financial needs was updated to 29 December. “I don't want any questions, no comments”, was the reaction of EDF financial director Thomas Piquemal as he left Edison's headquarters.
BPM, THE LAST BITTER ACT OF THE CONVERTENDO. Big battle today also at the bondholders' meeting bpm: the early maturity of the convertible from 2013 June 29 to 2011 December 50, on which the shareholders' meeting will have to decide today, "will cause the bondholders to lose between 70 and 1,1%". Complaint "Altroconsumo" which filed a complaint with Consob "to rekindle the spotlight on the forced change of the game rules, decided unequivocally while the game is still in progress". Federconsumatori, on the other hand, announced that it had mandated a team of lawyers to file a class action as soon as possible which could oblige the institution to make new provisions and to review the terms of the convertible, with a further review of the strike and the increase in shares to be issued. In Piazza Affari the banks, which were all up in the morning, almost all closed down: with the exception of Intesa which rose by 4,3%. Unicredit lost 2,8%, Mediobanca -1,8%, Banco Popolare -4,2%, Pop.Emilia -3,5%, Ubi -3,9%, MontePaschi -XNUMX%.
FIAT CLOSES THE RUSSIAN GAME. The sell-off also hit industrial stocks, with Prysmian which lost 4,6%, Finmeccanica -2,1%, Pirelli -2,3%. Fiat -1,3% . However, Lingotto has almost completed the search for a Russian partner. The agreement for the construction of a plant in St. Petersburg will be signed by March. "Fiat has found a serious Russian partner," commented Alexey Chichkanov, head of the city's investment and strategic projects committee. "It will be a modern factory, with large production volumes." No comment on the identity of the partner, but some sources inside the negotiations claim it is Sberbank, an institution that includes Alessandro Profumo on the board. Auto sales in Russia are expected to increase by 12% within the next year. The goal of Fiat is to produce 120 cars a year. Telecom Italia was down 1,7%, Enel lost 0,9%, but Enel Green Power was up 1,1%. Among the mid caps, a positive day for Landi Renzo, up 6%, and Beni Stabili, which rose 6% after winning a 50 million euro dispute with the tax authorities. De Longhi lost 6%.
