BAGS LIMIT DAMAGES. MILAN -0,38%
A GLIMPSE IS OPENING ON THE GREEK CRISIS
After a day of sometimes marked declines, the European stock exchanges reduced their losses in the final session: in Milan, the Ftse/Mib fell by 0,38% to 16.012, London -0,06%, Paris -0,25%. Frankfurt goes up by 0,3%. Behind the improvement is the joint note issued this afternoon by the trio troika inspectors (Monetary Fund, ECB and the European Union) at the end of yet another tour in Greece: Athens, we read, should receive the check for 8 billion euros at the beginning of November. In response to these statements, a spokesman for the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said that the decision on the tranche of aid to Greece was still open. The euro is traded at 1,359 against the dollar from 1,364 at the previous closing: yesterday the euro gained almost 2% reaching, compared to the greenback, the levels of three weeks ago. Oil is down: Wti at 84,7 dollars a barrel (-1%) and Brent at 108,1 dollars (-0,9%).
TRICHET: THE CRISIS HAS GONE WORSE
THE BANKS OF ATHENS CRUSH
Before the signal from the inspectors, the day was dominated by drama speech that Jean Claude Trichet gave to the European Parliament. "The most important and urgent thing to do - said the outgoing ECB president - is to restore confidence in sovereign debt: it is fundamental, otherwise we would be exposed to new crises like those of 2008". Meanwhile, while the transfer of responsibilities between Berlin and Paris continues and Italy raises problems of method, things are falling apart: "The crisis, which is now systemic, has worsened in the last three weeks and the institutions must act quickly, without further delays which would otherwise aggravate the situation”.
Already today - Trichet added, speaking in his role as head of the European Systemic Risk Board - we see sinister signs: the difficulties for the large European banks to raise funds in dollars rather than the refusal to make loans in foreign currency. Pending developments on the Greek front, the fate of the Piigs is divided. The situation of the banks in Athens (stock market down by 3%) is increasingly difficult: Piraeus Bank (-17,72%), Alpha Bank (-13,59%) and National Bank of Greece (-11,58%) are under pressure as default risk increases. On the contrary, the Bank of Ireland bucked the trend in Dublin (+5,38%), demonstrating that the banking crisis is on its way out.
UNICREDIT +6,74% RETURNS ABOVE 1 EURO
12-MONTH BOT YIELDS FALL
The bond market moved slightly below yesterday's levels in the morning in which the Treasury placed 9,5 billion euros in short-term bonds, equal to the entire amount offered, with yields down on the previous auction and good demand: for the 1-year tranche (from 7 billion) the average rate fell to 3,570% from 4,153% of the September issue. For the 74-day tranche, the rate is 1,735%. The recovery of Unicredit continues +6,74%, beyond the 1 euro mark below which it had fallen on 10 August last. The market assumes, in the face of fluctuations of this magnitude, that some fund of a certain importance is entering the capital. In 13 sessions the stock recovered 60% of its value. Fitch changed its outlook on Generali -1,82% to 'negative' from 'stable' confirming its issuer and financial strength ratings at 'A+' and 'AA-' respectively. The company's ratings are influenced by the creditworthiness of the Italian state as it holds about 51 billion euros in government bonds and also by the Italian economic scenario as a whole, Fitch wrote in a note. Instead, Ubi +3,87%, Banco Popolare +3,20% and Monte Paschi +0,97% rose.
BPM TITLES DOWN, ARPE TAKES THE STAGE
GOLDMAN PUNISHES YOU, CITI BEATS STM
Bpm shares were down (-1,02%), supported in the morning by the news that Matteo Arpe is back in serious contention to lead the Milanese institute. Arpe will probably participate in the meetings promoted by the Fabi/Fiba list with the employee-members of Bpm to present their project to relaunch the institute. Marcello Messori, the economist president of Assogestioni, the first candidate on the list presented by the Fabi and Fiba-Cisl trade unions, turned to Arpe, who specified that he does not possess Bpm securities, who took a tough position against the Friends of the Bpm, which ended up in the spotlight for the role it would have played in managing bank employee promotions. For the future of the bank, the key appointment is the shareholders' meeting on 22 October which will have to appoint the new supervisory board, provided that in the meantime the Bank of Italy approves the new statute which introduces dual governance. After that, the supervisory board will appoint the five managers of the management board who will be responsible for the operational guidance of the bank.
Claim for Telecom Italia (-2,62%) after six upward sessions in which 9% was recovered. Goldman Sachs cut its valuation to short from neutral this morning and added the stock to its list of European companies to sell. Same treatment, from neutral to sell, for Telecom Italia savings, down 1,3%. The report states that the downgrade is motivated by expectations of a contraction in Italy's GDP in 2012, by Telecom Italia's precarious strategic positioning in the market arena and by the limited space for cost cutting.
Stm also fell, losing 4,07%. Yesterday, the share of the leading European producer gained 5,7% and since the beginning of October the increase is 12%. Behind today's decline is the sell fired by Citigroup: the American broker brought the target price to 4,8 euros. Rbs analysts have instead warned that Stm will present weak data for the quarter on October 24th. Finally, Exane Bnp Paribas reiterated its cautious view on the entire semiconductor industrial chain: for the French broker, in the second half of the year, there will be a progressive deterioration of the scenario. Once again the final rush of the Fiat share + 1,15% while Fiat Industrial, which was down for most of the day, even rose by 2,59%. Pirelli closes at -0,09%.
“SMALL CAP” FLIGHTS. CLASS TO THE STARS
RETELIT + 27% IN ONE WEEK
The Class title skyrockets +17,93%, after the suspension due to excessive increases. Yesterday the publishing group announced the sale of MF Honyvem, a company specializing in business information, to Cerved for an enterprise value (assets plus debt) of 45 million euro, 70% owned by Class and 30% by Intesa Sanpaolo. In Class' balance sheet, 70% of MF Honyvem was registered for 9,4 million euros. The capital gain realized by Class is equal to 13 million euro. A remarkable figure for a company that has a capitalization of 41,5 million on the Stock Exchange.
Retelit's rally +7,5% continues in Piazza Affari. of the last sessions. The stock has rallied more than 27% since last Wednesday. Today the company released a note in which it specifies that the president Virginia Filippi, independent director and head of the executive committee, has resigned (as already communicated yesterday) "without indicating the reasons". Retelit is a telecommunications operator specializing in the supply of broadband services, which has the Libyan LPTIC – Lybian Post Telecommunications Information Technology Company as a major shareholder, with a 14,8% stake. Wall Street is down slightly with the Dow Jones falling 0,35% while the Nasdaq is down 0,2%. Tonight the spotlights will turn on Alcoa (-0,8%), the largest aluminum producer in the United States which, as has become customary, will officially kick off the quarterly season tonight by communicating data after the close of trading.
Meanwhile, the share of 99 Cents Only Stores, the chain of 289 discount stores distributed throughout the United States, acquired by Ares Management LLC and a Canadian pension fund for about 1,6 billion dollars in cash, is up on Wall Street. The stock is up 4,4% to $21,38. Since the beginning of 2011 they have gained 29%. This is an amicable transaction agreed with the founding family who will continue to hold a minority stake in the company. Since the outbreak of the subprime crisis, discount chains have become the favorite targets of acquisitions in the United States to attract customers who are moving away from traditional chains for economic reasons
