STEVE JOBS LEAVES TIM COOK AS APPLE CEO
S&P 500 FUTURES DOWN $52 BILLION
“I have always said that if the day came when I could no longer fulfill my commitments as CEO of Apple, I would immediately inform you first. Unfortunately that day has come." Thus begins the letter with which Steven P. Jobs, the genius who created Apple, the number one company in the world by stock market value and the most successful technological "mine", announces his resignation from the top after closed exchanges. In his place, as CEO, Jobs himself has designated Tim Cook, current chief operating officer of Apple, adding his intention to maintain the position of chairman of the board and to continue working as a simple executive. Jobs, on sick leave since last January, has been battling cancer for years: he underwent successful pancreatic surgery in 2004 and had a liver transplant in 2009. The letter from Jobs, 55, continues: “I am convinced that Apple's most innovative and brilliant years are yet to come. And I hope to play my part in the new role”. Markets' first reaction to the news was a 500% drop in S&P 0,6 futures, or $52 billion, according to Bloomberg data. Apple stock recorded a decline of 5,1%. Apple has a weight of 3,2% in the Standard & Poor's 500 basket, 9,33% in the Nasdaq composite and 15% in the Nasdaq 100 index. Jobs' main competitors: Samsung rises by 3,5%, HTC, a fierce rival in smartphones, by 3,2%.
STRONG REBOUND IN ASIAN PRICE LISTS IN TOKYO
NIKKEI INDEX UP 2%
While waiting for Jackson Hole, Asian price lists are also awakening. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index rises by 2%, while Hong Kong, beaten to a close by the Singapore Stock Exchange in the fight to win Manchester United's IPO, scores an increase of 1,55%. Close behind is the Korean Kospi (+1,4%). Acer shares collapsed in Taiwan (-7%) after the PC giant announced that, for this year, "it will be impossible" to close with a profit. In short, the PC sinks under the blows of the Apple iPad. The price of gold has retreated to 1754 dollars an ounce.
ON WALL STREET THE BULL ADVANCES IN THE CESARINI AREA
THE HEDGES COVER UP WAITING FOR BERNANKE
A rise in the "Cesarini area" to use football jargon. This is what happened yesterday on Wall Street, where the rise took hold only in the final stages, allowing the main indices to close the third consecutive session with a plus sign. At the end of the day, in fact, the Standard & Poor's 500 was up 15,25 points (+1,3%), on a par with the Dow Jones (+1,3%, up 144 points) while the Nasdaq stopped to +0,8 percent. Meanwhile, the yield on the 2,293-year t bond climbed back to 4 per cent. What is the turning point in the finale? The positive data on durable goods (+XNUMX%, double the expected) has nothing to do with it, given that the numbers were known from the beginning of the session. The most logical explanation, according to the New York Times, can be found in the coverage of hedges funds on the financial sector: pending Ben Bernanke's words in Jackson Hole, tomorrow afternoon Italian time, speculation tends to limit risk.
BANK ON AMERICA AND MC GRAW HILL AT THE BARRIER
THE GOLD BUBBLE DEFLATED (-7% IN TWO DAYS).
The case study on the subject is undoubtedly Bank of America, back from a disastrous August in which the stock lost 36 percent until yesterday. An ordeal, which began with the announcement of the loss in the second quarter of 9,3 billion dollars due to the decision to spend in one go the 14 billion dollars agreed to settle the subprime lawsuit of the subsidiary Countrywide. Since then, speculation has pounded mercilessly, in the belief that Bofa was forced to raise capital or end up in the arms of a competitor (Jamie Dimon's JP Morgan main suspect). But yesterday, suddenly, there was a sharp turnaround: Bofa regained 11 per cent, driving the entire financial sector upwards (+3%) while a memo was circulated in the bank's offices in which denied the merger with JP Morgan and defined the content of a report that indicated the institution's capital needs at 200 billion as “simply wrong”. In short, a market at the mercy of rumors, sensations or more simply fears that hopes that this time Bernanke's compass will be able to point the right course.
Another theme under the spotlight is the Mc Graw Hill stew: a rally on Wall Street for the group which, with a rise of 5,8%, reaches 40,67 dollars. The stock capitalizes on the indications contained in a Bloomberg report. According to the document, which cites research by JP Morgan, the company could be worth 40% more if split. In the last month, the shares of the company that controls the S%P's rating agency lost 7,3%.
The gold bubble has deflated as quickly as a soufflé. Yesterday, in New York, the yellow metal lost 104 dollars an ounce in value in a single session, plummeting to 1757,30. Gold had gained, from August 5 to last Monday's record high at 1917, 16 per cebto since last August 5. But, in just two sessions, the decline was more than 7 percent, thus eroding half of the gains. Only in March 2008 were equally violent tremors-i.
FIAT TRAILES UP THE BUSINESS PLACE
BANKS IN RECOVERY, BPM TOWARDS INCREASE
A Fiat-branded lift. A novelty for Piazza Affari (+1,86% Ftse/Mib index at 14.981 points) in an August that saw the Lingotto shares lose around 42%, only slightly recovered in yesterday's session, dominated by the Agnelli galaxy: Fiat Industrial topped the main basket with a leap of 6,83% to 6,02 euros, Fiat Spa gained 6,63% to 4,214 euros. All while at the Rimini meeting Sergio Marchionne declared that for the moment the targets are confirmed and will not be reviewed before the end of the third quarter. Marchionne, after the collapse of the Fiat stock in recent weeks, has once again pointed out that the Turin-based group has no financial solidity problems and that it has no intention of resorting to a capital increase. However, this year, according to the top manager, the Italian four-wheeler market could reach its lowest point since 1996.
Brilliant performance also for Finmeccanica and Pirelli: the defense giant showed an increase of 5,24% to 4,94 euros, while the Bicocca group rose by 4,56% to 5,27 euros. Milan too, like the rest of Europe, is waiting for Bernanke's speech. And, to a lesser extent, Consob's decision on the possible extension of the ban on short selling in financial sector securities. In the meantime, the banking sector tried to raise its head: Intesa SanPaolo gained 2,28% to 1,12 euros, Unicredit 1,83% to 0,891 euros, Ubi Banca 1,39% to 2,634 euro, Monte dei Paschi 1,26% at 0,434 euro. Popolare di Milano is still in the red (-0,25% to 1,57 euros) despite yesterday's press release denying the press rumors about a possible postponement of the capital increase up to 1,2 billion euros, approved by the shareholders at the meeting last July. The institute in Piazza Meda then reiterated that the procedure for issuing the increase continues within the terms and times according to the calendar defined at the time.
Another strong theme: the maneuver. Yesterday, the issue of the Robin tax held the stage, for better or for worse. The Senate Industry Committee has in fact suggested the application of the Robin Tax rate to all concessionary companies, including motorways and telecommunications, but potentially also airports and local services. The emergence of this eventuality therefore weighed on Atlantia (-3,36% at 10,35 euro, black shirt of the Ftse Mib) and Telecom Italia (-0,73% at 0,817 euro), hit by sales from the very first jokes. On the other hand, Enel Green Power (+3,95% to 1,551 euros) is the utility rewarded most by purchases on the hypothesis of eliminating the Robin Tax for companies active in the renewable energy business.
