US & World Daily Markets Financial Briefing 30-03-2009

Get our Daily Trade Signals and Grain Newsletter along with a copy of the CBOT Introduction to Agricultural Futures and Options Book for Free! The grain trading professionals at MF Global can guide you in the right direction with your trading. Click here to Get your Free Grain Trading Kit Today

US Stocks Set For Beating Amid Auto Bankruptcy Fears

Wall Street was bracing for a bloodbath Monday morning in New York after a White House task force gave General Motors' and Chrysler's comeback plans a thumbs down and cautioned that bankruptcy may be the next step for both.

General Motors' chairman and chief executive officer Rick Wagoner was forced out and is stepping down with immediate effect. The Obama Administration will continue to provide operating funds for the next few weeks, but has given the companies a final deadline, threatening bankruptcy if the beleaguered auto giants do not step up their efforts to reorganize.

As of 6:15 am ET, the S&P Futures were down 19 points, the NASDAQ Futures were down 29 points, and the Dow Futures were down 180 points.

Stocks pulled back on Friday as a relief rally from the previous few session ran out of steam. March was shaping up to be a solid month, with the major averages moving out of technical bear market territory, but this is shaping up to be a brutal week, with the news from the Detroit completely taking the wind out of Wall Street sails.

The major averages all ended Friday's session firmly in negative territory after ending Thursday's trading at one-month closing highs. The Dow closed down 148.38 points or 1.9 percent at 7,776.18, the Nasdaq closed down 41.80 points or 2.6 percent at 1,545.20 and the S&P 500 closed down 16.92 points or 2 percent at 815.94.

This comprehensive trading toolkit sports a new efficient & intuitive interface and an expanded arsenal of technical analysis resources. Easy access to powerful tools, highly developed charting technology, Dow Jones news, and an advanced level of customization, sophistication & convenience set VT Trader™ apart from other Forex trading platforms. Click here

Monday, Biogen Idec, Inc said it named Robert Hamm as its Chief Operating Officer, or COO, effective immediately. Hamm, who has been Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations & Technology at the company since 2007, replaces Hans Peter Hasler, who is leaving the company.

Energy stocks were set to tumble after the price of oil dropped nearly $2 to $50.50 a barrel in early electronic dealing. The dollar was taking a beating versus the yen, but was higher versus the euro and sterling.

While there are no major economic reports due to be released on Monday, there are several key reports that will be released over the course of the week, including the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report on Friday.

President Obama will speak Monday before heading across the Atlantic to the London summit of the G20 group of industrialized and emerging economies.

"Ensuring that there is concerted action around the globe to jump start economic growth and that we are advancing a regulatory reform agenda to ensure that this crisis never happens again" will be the key messages of the London trip, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Saturday.

Asian stocks were pummeled on Monday, with Tokyo's Nikkei dropping 390 points and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong losing 663 points.

In European intraday dealing the FTSE of the UK was down 99 points, the CAC of France was down 149 points, and the DAX of Germany was down 81 points.

Do you want to trade the e-mini S%P profitably without the cumbersome technical analysis? Take the guess work of out of trading, and trade with automated Price Action method only. Proven and Consistent. Click here to find out more

Carmakers weigh on US woes

Carmakers are among the main fallers in Europe after the US government said "structured bankruptcy" was a possibility for car giants General Motors and Chrysler.

US President Obama's administration said it would only fund the companies for a few weeks during which time they will have to develop viable restructuring plans.

Meanwhile, Rick Wagoner, the chairman and chief executive of General Motors, agreed to step aside.

GM has asked for an additional $16.6bn on top of $13.4bn already lent to it by the US government. The group has repeatedly warned that it could still go bankrupt if sales do not recover next year. Its losses over the past four years have totalled more than $80bn.

On this side of the pond, the board of Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, last night ousted its chief executive Christian Streiff.

Streiff will be replaced by Philippe Varin, chief executive of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus, in June.

“Given the extraordinary difficulties currently faced by the automotive industry, the Supervisory Board decided unanimously that a change in the senior leadership position was necessary,” said chairman Thierry Peugeot.

Elsewhere in the sector, Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, Renault and Fiat are all lower.

Across the markets, the German DAX has fallen 142 points to 4,061, the French CAC is down 62 points at 2,777, while the Swiss market dropped 67 points to 4,804.

The Bank of Spain has taken over regional savings bank Caja Castilla La Mancha. It is the first time the Spanish government took over a financial institution since the start of the global crisis.

Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale are all stuck in the red.

Economic sentiment in the 16 countries eurozone dropped to new record lows in March, the European Commission reported Monday.

The monthly Economic Sentiment Indicator fell to 64.6 in March , while the February figure were revised down to 65.3 from 65.4. Analysts expected an improvement to 65.6 in March.


CAC 40 - Risers
Air France-KLM (AF) € 6.70 +1.82%
GDF Suez (GSZ) € 26.75 +0.66%
France Telecom (FTE) € 17.10 +0.56%

CAC 40 - Fallers
Dexia (DEXB) € 2.60 -9.03%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 8.38 -8.91%
Renault (RNO) € 15.44 -8.72%
BNP Paribas (BNP) € 29.72 -7.84%
Michelin (ML) € 27.68 -7.72%
Peugeot (UG) € 14.25 -7.14%
ArcelorMittal SA (MT) € 14.89 -7.06%
Societe Generale (GLE) € 28.53 -5.37%
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) € 1.33 -5.01%
ST Microelectronics (STM) € 3.66 -4.54%

Eurozone economic sentiment at record low

Economic sentiment in the 16 countries eurozone dropped to new record lows in March, the European Commission reported Monday.

The monthly Economic Sentiment Indicator fell to 64.6 in March , while the February figure were revised down to 65.3 from 65.4. Analysts expected an improvement to 65.6 in March.

“The further deterioration in economic sentiment in March bodes ill for investment, employment and consumer spending across the erozone,” said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight.

“By revealing that companies' selling-price expectations and consumers' inflation expectations are both at record lows, the European Commission's survey adds to already strong evidence that underlying inflationary pressures are diminishing rapidly.”

Archer said the survey reinforces the already compelling case for the ECB to cut interest rates further on Thursday. IHS Global Insight expects the bank to deliver another 50 basis points reduction from 1.50% to 1.00%.

Come Into the LIVE Online Trading Session and Watch Us Make at Least 1 Point ($500 - $2000 a Day). The LIVE Trading Session is Completely FREE! - Sign Up Now here!

Auto, financial fears push Nikkei down 4.5%

The Nikkei fell on Monday with banking and auto stocks leading declines.

Shares in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial dropped 5.5% to 497 yen while Mizuho Financial lost around 8% after Goldman Sachs cut the stock to "sell" from "neutral."

Comments by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that some banks may need "large amounts" of government help sparked renewed concern about the outlook for company earnings.

Car makers also came under pressure after the US government said General Motors and Chrysler need to revise their recovery plans to justify more government help. The government taskforce said bankruptcy remains an option for the car giants. Shares in Honda fell 6.3% to 2,310 yen and Toyota dropped 3.1% to 3,150 yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 390 points to 8,236 in Tokyo.

The Hang Seng fell into the red on Monday with banking stocks spearheading losses while falling commodity added further pressure.

Refining giant China Petroleum & Chemical over 2% after it posted a sharp fall in 2008 net profit. China Construction Bank slumped over 5% after it posted a significant fall in fourth-quarter profit. ICBC fell 3.8% after a three day winning streak.

Chalco fell almost 10% after it warned it would report first quarter losses. A slide in crude oil futures sent shares in Cnooc down 4%.

The Hang Seng was down 636 points at 13,483 in late trading in Hong Kong.

For stock market quotes, company information and stock charts, click here

General Motors, Marks & Spencer, Dunfermline Building Society

Rick Wagoner, the chairman and chief executive of General Motors (GM) is to step down as part of an agreement with the White House to get more federal aid for the struggling carmaker.

The Obama administration is believed to have asked Mr Wagoner, who has led GM since 2000, to give up his dual post, reports the Times.

Peugeot Citroën ousted its chief executive yesterday as the French carmaker continues to struggle with a slump in consumer demand. Christian Streiff will be replaced by Philippe Varin, chief executive of Corus, the Anglo-Dutch steel maker, reports the Times.

President Barack Obama is voicing optimism that this week’s crucial G20 summit will set the framework for recovery, saying that world leaders know they must “deliver a strong message of unity” for the sake of the global economy, the FT reports. Obama played down talk of a split between the US and the leading continental European economies, notably Germany and France.

Taxpayers could be forced to take on tens of millions of pounds of bad debts from Scotland's biggest building society after Alistair Darling said that reckless lending had driven it to the brink of collapse. Parliament could be told as early as today that some parts of Dunfermline Building Society have been sold and that the taxpayer will be assuming responsibility for some or all of its bad debts, reports the Times.

Britain's financial services industry is set to cut a further 15,000 jobs in the next three months to counter record falls in income and sharply declining profitability, a Confederation of British Industry survey says today. The sector is already slashing jobs at the fastest rate since 1993 to cut costs and cope with steep falls in business volumes, the CBI said. Investment plans have also been heavily scaled back, reports the Independent.

Marks and Spencer shareholders would have the chance to vote on whether an independent chairman should be appointed by July next year under a resolution proposed by the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum on Sunday.
Pressure has been building on M&S to resolve concerns about an eventual successor to Sir Stuart Rose, who was elevated from chief executive to executive chairman of the company last year, reports the FT.

Sir Richard Greenbury, the former head of Marks & Spencer and architect of Britain's Boardroom Governance Rules, has thrown his weight behind Sir Stuart Rose, the embattled M&S incumbent. Sir Richard's backing comes amid growing discontent among leading M&S shareholders over Sir Stuart's role as combined chairman and chief executive, reports the Times.

Companies borrowed $1,500bn in the bond markets during the first quarter, but global merger and acquisition activity slumped 36% year-on-year. Groups seen as relatively safe – in non-cyclical industries or with high credit ratings – took advantage of investor appetite for corporate debt, raising a record $825.6bn in the first three months of 2009, fuelled by a desire to cut reliance on bank lending, reports the FT.

Banks operating in Britain will be banned from using tax havens if they sign up to a draft code of practice drawn up by the government to address a row over their aggressive tax planning. The draft, which also gives the tax authorities the final say over whether they consider a deal to be avoidance, is more radical than businesses expected when it was announced by Alistair Darling last month, the FT writes.

Discover the best (and worst!) performers on the NASDAQ, Euronext, FTSE and other global markets. Click here.

Silicon Investor Services