MARCHIONNE: USA, FIAT'S GREAT OPPORTUNITY. TODAY AUCTION/EXAMINATION FOR BTPs ON THE EVE OF G2O
Compare managers. Yesterday Tim Cook, Steve Jobs' successor, addressed the first assembly of Apple after the founder's death. And he disappointed those waiting for the first dividend in Apple's history. “The liquidity we have – he added – is much higher than what we need for our business”. “We are evaluating – added Cook – the possible choices on the matter”. But an "active discussion" is underway within the board on this, confirming that Apple's leadership is no longer monocratic. The big news, in fact, comes from the governance front: from now on, the board of directors will be appointed by the majority of the shareholders, as the Calpers pension fund has been asking for for years and no longer by co-optation by the CEO, as was the case at the time of the legendary Jobs.
There are other problems, but none the less the optimism of Sergio Marchionne, who faced the interview/duel with his fiercest critic within the tricolor borders, that is Massimo Mucchetti. In the long confrontation, Marchionne judges it "unbearably racist to portray me as a man without a country" and lets it be known that: 1) Chrysler will not reopen the abandoned sites, therefore a third of US demand for home products will have to come from outside, i.e. Mexico, Canada or Europe; 2) Fiat will thus be able to export to the USA as long as the country knows how to exploit the opportunity. “We need competitive costs, the full and flexible use of plants and a direction in the relationship between industry and research”; 3) If the strategy is followed, “every Italian plant will stay in its place. We have everything to seize the US opportunity, but if it doesn't happen we'll have to withdraw from two of the five sites in operation”.
Consob has decided not to renew the ban on short selling of financial securities. From Monday, therefore, it will be possible to go back to operating shorts on banks and insurance companies. As was foreseeable after the decision to that effect by the authorities of Belgium and France. But as chance would have it, the abolition of the anti-lowdown parachute coincides with the hottest phase of the Fonsai battle which, directly or indirectly, concerns a significant slice of the stock market: Fonsai itself, Premafin, Milano Assicurazioni, Unipol, Mediobanca, Unicredit and Generali itself, while committed to staying as far away as possible from the duel between its shareholders. Consob itself, which is about to conclude the hearings in the Commission of the various protagonists, now has the hottest potato in its hand: the request for exemption from the takeover bid on Fonsai made by Unipol as part of the plan that passes from Premafin which weak point of the Ligresti chain has become the decisive hub of the conflict.
Early until yesterday it remained suspended all day and in the final auction closed up 37% on the wave of Matteo Arpe's Sator offer and Palladio Finanziaria, which does not seem to have made any inroads among the lending banks. On the other hand, Fondiaria-Sai lost 13%, Milano Assicurazioni -10% and Unipol -3,4%. Generali, on the eve of the board meeting on the first data of 2011, closed down by 0,6%.
The Milan Stock Exchange is down 1,4%. The other European Stock Exchanges did better: Frankfurt fell by 0,5%, Paris closed almost unchanged, London rose by 0,2%. The yield of the ten-year BTP is unchanged at 5,53%, the spread with the Bund is 363 points.
The market is positioning itself in view of the upcoming month-end auctions. Between tomorrow and Monday, the Treasury will issue securities for an amount between 15 and 16,5 billion, including Ctz, indexed, and BOTs. But new clouds are looming in the sky of government bonds that bring an air of recession.
“Europe has entered a mild and temporary recession, but we can already see the first signs of recovery”. Yesterday EU Commissioner Olli Rehn dressed up as a compassionate doctor, but without much success. The numbers, alas, speak for themselves: in 2012 the Eurozone economy will retreat by 0,3%, against a previous forecast of growth of 0,5%. The Italian GDP, in particular, this year will suffer a contraction of 1,3%, while the previous November estimate indicated a growth of 0,1%. The 2012 forecasts for Germany (+0,6% against the previous +0,8%) and France (+0,4% against the previous +0,6%) have been revised downwards.
Seen through Italian eyes, in short, the recession seems anything but sweet. But the same is not true for Germany where, for the fourth month in a row, business optimism has grown. In short, beyond the Rhine, the “glass half full” rule applies. But the rise in crude oil prices in euros could contribute to making the pill more bitter. Yesterday Brent prices reached 93,63 euros per barrel, beating the previous record which stood since 3 July 2008.
Positive session for Wall Street. The S&P 500 rises by 0,43% to 1363, the Dow Jones marks +46%, the Nasdaq is even more lively +0,36%. The US markets were driven by the good news coming from the US economy: the index that measures consumer expectations elaborated by Bloomberg rose in February for the fourth consecutive month, reaching the levels of April 0,81. The price index Home prices rose 2008% in December, the same change from the previous month, economists were expecting a 0,7% increase. Finally, new jobless claims remained unchanged at 0,1, economists had expected to rise to 351. The good intonation of the American markets has also shaken up the Asian price lists. Tokyo rises by 355%, Korea by 0,33%, reflecting Hong Kong -0,4%.
The sharp decline of the Milan Stock Exchange was largely caused by the decline of the banks. Unicredit fell by 6,1%, MontePaschi -3,2% PopMilano -3,3%, Banco Popolare -3,5%, Intesa -2,2%. The effects of 2011, including the writedowns of Hellenic bonds, are being felt throughout Europe. In Paris the disappointing results of Credit Agricole e Dexia led the two banks to close down by 4% and 6,5% respectively.
in Frankfurt Commerzbank it fell by 6,5%. The negative primacy certainly belongs to Royal Bank of Scotland: £2bn of losses after £1,1bn in the previous year. Also in this case the devaluation of Greek bonds had a significant impact.
Sharp slowdown also for car stocks (Stoxx index -1,6%). Fiat fell by 4,4%, Fiat Industrial -2,4%. In Germany Volkswagen lost 2,3%. Finmeccanica rose by 0,6%.
Among the utilities, A2A fell by 1,7%, downgraded by Citigroup, Enel gained 0,2%, promoted by Citigroup itself to neutral from sell: the target price was raised to 3 euros from 2,8 euros . Strong drop for Mediaset -3,4% due to the disappointing results of the activities in Spain.
