Europe - Stocks (General News)

Europe - Stocks (General News)

Postby kennynah » Wed May 07, 2008 7:42 pm

Rolls-Royce Group

the world's economies lives on....halellujah....

****************

07 May 2008 11:35 GMT


Rolls-Royce Group 1Q Order Intake Worth Almost $15 Bn
Edited Press Release


LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Rolls-Royce Group said Wednesday that 2008 has started well and the order intake in the first quarter was worth almost $15 billion.

Speaking to shareholders at the annual general meeting the Chief Executive, Sir John Rose, said the balance sheet and the Group's financial position remain "strong."

"I can confirm that Rolls-Royce continues to make strong progress. The Group's increasingly global nature, our access to growing international markets and the scale of our order book all support your Board's confidence that Rolls-Royce will continue to deliver growth across all four of our business sectors", Rose said.

The high levels of activity in the oil and gas industry are benefiting the marine and energy businesses and current activity in the defence business remains strong.

Civil aerospace business continues to enjoy significant order intake particularly in Asia and the Middle East. However, the credit shortage and increased fuel costs are inevitably putting pressure on the airline industry, the Chief Executive said.

"Looking to the future, the breadth and diversity of the Group's products and services, its lack of dependence on any one programme or geographical region and the progress being made with managing costs will help the Group to respond effectively to the unpredictable economic environment", Rose said.

"Current trading is consistent with our expectations that we will grow underlying revenue and profit and generate a positive cash flow in 2008", he added.
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Re: European Stocks

Postby winston » Tue May 27, 2008 4:31 pm

There is a Lyxor Europe ETF 2806 listed in HK

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Cheapest European Stocks Since 2002 to U.S. Slide (Update1)
By Alexis Xydias and Michael Tsang

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks are the cheapest in at least six years versus U.S. equities, and may only get cheaper as the majority of companies in the region miss earnings estimates.

First-quarter corporate profits in western Europe dropped 25.3 percent, 7.9 percentage points more than at American companies, data compiled by Bloomberg showed, as a U.S. slowdown and a record-high euro eroded overseas earnings. European Central Bank interest rates widened last month to 2.6 percentage points above U.S. borrowing costs when adjusted for inflation, the most since the euro was introduced in 1999, further stifling profits.

``The biggest earnings disappointments have been in euro- land,'' said Franz Wenzel, 50, Paris-based deputy director for investment strategy at AXA Investment Managers, which oversees about $831 billion. ``The U.S. has been at the epicenter of the problems, but the shockwaves are more felt here in the euro zone. Cheap valuations are a direct result.''

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX are the least expensive indexes of the world's 10 biggest markets by capitalization, with price-earnings ratios ranging between 12.1 and 13.5, Bloomberg data show. Companies in the FTSE 100 this month fetched about half as much as those in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index relative to profits, the widest gap in at least 15 years.

French and German equities trade at discounts of 40 percent or more. Less than two years ago, U.K. and U.S. valuations were about the same, while German stocks were at a premium in 2004.

Valuation Gap

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index, which has fallen 13 percent this year, is valued at 12.7 times earnings, 45 percent less than the S&P 500's ratio of 23. The gap has never been bigger than the 45 percent discount of the last three weeks, according to weekly Bloomberg data dating back to 2002.

The Stoxx 600 today fell 0.2 percent to 317.72 at 9:07 a.m. in London.

With the benchmark for American equities having traded at a four-year high relative to profit this month, only Chinese stocks -- valued at 26.2 times earnings -- are pricier among the world's 10 biggest markets.

For the U.S. and Europe, the gap has widened as 2,014 European companies tracked by Bloomberg through yesterday posted a combined 25.3 percent decline in first-quarter earnings. About 5,375 American companies had a 17.4 percent profit drop, the data showed.

Earnings for seven of 10 industries in Europe have trailed analysts' projections. Overall, 57 percent of the 926 companies with earnings estimates tracked by Bloomberg reported disappointing results. In the U.S., 44 percent of companies have missed consensus forecasts.

`Expecting Too Much'

For the year, analysts estimate profits at Stoxx 600 companies will slip 0.8 percent, the first contraction in six years. At the start of 2008, they predicted 11 percent growth, Bloomberg data show. Estimates for S&P 500 companies have been cut to 6.8 percent growth from 15 percent.

``The U.S. economy is further past the current difficulties,'' said Kilian de Kertanguy, 32, manager at Cholet- Dupont Gestion SA in Paris, which oversees $3.9 billion. ``European earnings are impacted by the U.S. slowdown and analysts are expecting too much.''

Bic SA, the world's biggest maker of disposable pens, fell last month to the lowest in 17 years relative to earnings after posting a 39 percent profit drop. The euro eroded the value of U.S. sales for the Clichy, France-based company, sending its price-earnings ratio down to 8.91.

The euro reached a record $1.6019 on April 22, after climbing 18 percent in the previous 12 months.

BMW Earnings

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world's largest luxury carmaker, trades at 7.6 times profit. The 67 percent discount to S&P 500 companies is the biggest since May 2003. The Munich-based automaker said on April 29 that earnings fell 17 percent as slower U.S. economic growth reduced values for used cars and increased bad debts in the sales-financing unit.

While European companies are being hurt overseas by the U.S. slowdown and the euro's advance, their central banks have also left them at a disadvantage compared with their U.S. rivals.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, who reduced interest rates three times since December, said this month that U.K. inflation may exceed the government's 3 percent ceiling for several quarters, signaling cuts may be on hold. The ECB has kept rates steady since last June to tame consumer-price inflation that rose to the highest in almost 16 years in March. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve slashed rates seven times to 2 percent from 5.25 percent in August.

`Follow the Leader'

``The ECB doesn't want to seem like it's a case of follow the leader or just mimic what the U.S. is doing,'' Laszlo Birinyi, who oversees $350 million as president of Birinyi Associates Inc. in Westport, Connecticut, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Adjusting for inflation, the interest rate for the 15-nation euro area climbed to 0.7 percent last month, increasing the real gap with U.S. borrowing costs, which stood at minus 1.9 percent. The 2.6 percentage point difference is the widest since the ECB took over European monetary policy in 1999.

The valuation gap between European and American stocks is too big to pass up, even if the ECB holds off on cutting rates this year, said David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Funds, which oversees $304 billion.

`Catches a Cold'

``There is an opportunity in Europe right now,'' Kelly said on Bloomberg Television from Newton, Massachusetts. ``People say when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. It's the other way around. They are faring better through this turmoil than we will.''

Economic growth for countries in the European Union will reach 1.8 percent this year, according to the Washington-based International Monetary Fund. That's more than triple the 0.5 percent projected growth rate for the U.S.

Still, Sergi Martin, chief executive officer at Credit Andorra's Credi Invest asset-management unit, says his firm is trimming European holdings to buy U.S. shares.

``Certainly stocks are cheaper in Europe,'' said Andorra La Vella, Andorra-based Martin, 36, who oversees $9 billion. ``But there are fears that disappointments in corporate results will be bigger.''
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Re: European Stocks

Postby winston » Wed May 28, 2008 11:58 am

European `Bear Market' to Last, Morgan Stanley Says
By Sarah Thompson

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- A bear market in European stocks will last another six to 12 months and a ``superbearish'' scenario featuring a prolonged period of stagflation can't be ruled out, the region's top-ranked strategists at Morgan Stanley said.

``We are not bullish on the remainder of 2008 as we think the bear-market rally is over,'' the strategists, led by London- based Teun Draaisma, wrote in a note dated May 23. ``We have a real-estate crisis, a credit crunch, an inflation problem, an oil crisis'' and peak margins, they said.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index tumbled 27 percent from June 1, 2007, through March 17, 2008, on concern the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market would push the world's largest economy into a recession. That met the common definition of a bear market -- a 20 percent drop from a high within 12 months.

The Stoxx 600 then rebounded 15 percent from its 2008 low through May 19 as Bear Stearns Cos. was rescued and the Federal Reserve pledged to act as the lender of last resort for securities firms. The gauge has since lost 4.7 percent, amid concern that record high oil prices will curb earnings.

First-quarter corporate profits in western Europe have dropped 25.3 percent, 7.9 percentage points worse than for American companies, data compiled by Bloomberg showed, as a U.S. slowdown and a record-high euro also eroded overseas earnings.

That helped make the Stoxx 600 the cheapest in at least six years versus the Standard & Poor's 500 Index relative to earnings, according to Bloomberg data.

`Right Approach'

``Equities may look cheap, but only if earnings forecasts are correct,'' Draaisma wrote. ``At some point in 2008 we will go through another phase of equity weakness based on the earnings downturn. We suspect that waiting for that moment, and buying into that weakness, is the right approach.''

Earnings for seven of 10 industries in Europe have trailed analysts' projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Overall, 57 percent of the 926 companies with earnings estimates tracked by Bloomberg reported disappointing results.

For the year, analysts estimate profits at Stoxx 600 companies will slip 0.8 percent, the first contraction in six years. At the start of 2008, they predicted 11 percent growth, Bloomberg data show.

The Stoxx 600 last week was valued at 12.7 times earnings, 45 percent less than the S&P 500's ratio of 23. The gap has never been bigger than the 45 percent discount of the last three weeks, according to weekly Bloomberg data dating back to 2002.

Morgan Stanley, the second-largest U.S. securities firm, was rated first for its European equity strategy in last year's Thomson Extel survey.
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Re: European Stocks

Postby winston » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:06 pm

European banks to write down US$15b more: JP Morgan

EUROPEAN banks will likely take further mark-to-market writedowns of 9.5 billion euros (US$14.7 billion) for the rest of the year, according to JP Morgan Securities, which now expects total writedowns for 2007 and 2008 to be higher at about 30.6 billion euros.

The brokerage, which previously saw writedowns for 2007 and 2008 totalling 24.9 billion euros, said the estimate change was mainly due to writedowns on monoline counterparty exposures that have risen by 4.8 billion euros.

JP Morgan estimates that Germany's Deutsche Bank will need to take additional write-downs of 3.6 billion euros while Swiss bank Credit Suisse will have to take write downs of 2.1 billion Swiss francs.

The brokerage said Societe Generale will need to further write-downs of 1.8 billion euros while Natixis SA will need to record writedowns of 1.4 billion euros more.

JP Morgan, however, said the worst of the markdowns appear to have been taken, adding that capital remained scarce in the banking industry and that it saw ongoing pressure to de-leverage driven by credit investors, rating agencies, and local regulators.

JP Morgan maintained its 'neutral' view on the European wholesale and investment banks sector.
-- REUTERS
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Re: European Stocks

Postby winston » Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:58 pm

Lehman Says Sell Europe Stocks on Higher Rates, Buy U.S. Shares
By Alexis Xydias

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Investors should sell continental European stocks and buy U.S. shares because interest rates and labor costs are likely to rise in Europe, according to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. strategist Ian Scott.

In a note to investors today, London-based Scott cut his recommendation on continental European stocks to ``underweight'' from ``overweight.'' He took the inverse strategy for U.S. shares.

``Earnings revisions strongly favor U.S. stocks,'' which by some measures ``appear rather more cheaply priced, relative to continental Europe than has been the case for several years,'' the note said.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said June 5 that officials may raise interest rates next month to combat the fastest inflation in 16 years.

The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro zone, has dropped 18 percent this year as of 11:07 a.m. in London. That compares with an 8 percent decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the U.S.
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Re: European Stocks

Postby winston » Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:54 pm

Europe's Unappealing Stocks
Commentary by Michael R. Sesit

June 21 (Bloomberg) -- The current mix of deteriorating economic growth, accelerating inflation, sky-high oil prices, increasingly hawkish central bankers, growing concerns about corporate earnings and rising interest rates may look like the ideal environment for a contrarian investor.

Unless you are prepared to risk losing a good chunk of your portfolio, don't take the bait. Now is no time to be brave -- especially if you're an investor in European equities.

``The market is waking up to the idea that global interest rates are too low; in fact, they remain below inflation,'' said Karen Olney, chief European equities strategist at Merrill Lynch & Co. in London. ``Negative real rates are hardly an antidote to inflation.''

Not too long ago, Europe was a major bright spot for proponents of the decoupling thesis -- the one that held that if the $13.2 trillion U.S. economy slumped, stronger economic growth elsewhere would shield other segments of the world from the fallout.

From an economic perspective, that has somewhat been the case. While the 27-nation European Union matched the U.S. gross domestic product's 2.5 percent year-over-year growth in the first quarter, the 15-country euro area's 2.2 percent didn't.

From a stock-market perspective, the thesis was a dud. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index has fallen 19 percent this year and 26 percent in the past 12 months. Britain's FTSE 100 Index is off 13 percent since year end; Germany's DAX has shed 18 percent; the French CAC-40 Index has dropped 20 percent; Italy's S&P/MIB Index has declined 23 percent; and the Swiss Market Index is off 17 percent.

No Turnaround

By comparison, in afternoon trading on June 20, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 9.6 percent since the end of December, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average had given up 10 percent.

So why not be a hero and bet on a turnaround? The simple answer is because the big money is running the other way. A net 27 percent of asset allocators hold fewer equities than the amounts dictated by their benchmarks -- the most negative view of stocks in 10 years -- according to a Merrill Lynch survey of 204 fund managers responsible for $718 billion in assets, conducted from June 6 to June 12.

A net 34 percent of European investors are ``overweight'' cash relative to benchmarks, compared with 3 percent in April, and a net 29 percent said the euro area is the region they would most want to ``underweight'' over the next year. Seventy-four percent said the euro is overvalued, which isn't good news for a region heavily dependent on exports.

The perception of Britain is even uglier. A net 38 percent of managers are underweight U.K. equities, while 61 percent said the pound was overvalued.

Bravery may win medals. Unfortunately, too often they are awarded posthumously.
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European Economic Data & News

Postby millionairemind » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:51 pm

Here is another one of our GIC investments that is held for the "long term"

UBS tumbles on news it eyeing Paine Webber sale

Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:20am EDT
By John O'Donnell

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Investors took fright on Monday that UBS faced further losses after news that it was considering the sale of the heart of its U.S. wealth management business, broker Paine Webber.

UBS is under pressure from the Swiss financial watchdog and one of its top shareholders, Olivant, to overhaul its business after more than $37 billion in writedowns during the global credit turmoil.

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that as part of a company-wide review it is now examining a sale of the U.S. broker it bought nearly eight years ago for about $10 billion.

UBS stock slid by more than 4 percent on the news, making it one of the biggest fallers among European banks. It was trading down 3.2 percent at 21.70 Swiss francs at 6:05 a.m. EDT.

Peter Thorne, an analyst at Helvea, said investors may take this as a signal that the troubled Swiss bank needed the money to patch up growing problems.

"Two years ago, it was almost unthinkable that they would sell it," said Thorne. "It is not exactly the family silver but almost. In my mind, it has been slated for disposal ever since the crisis broke."

Landsbanki Kepler analyst Dirk Becker said investors were worried there could be an imminent profit warning, ahead of the bank's quarterly results in early August.

He added that a sale of Paine Webber "would not be positive".

"That was part of their strategy to grow in wealth management. Any sale would be an emergency operation."

In the June edition of a staff magazine, UBS Chairman Peter Kurer pledged to take a "hard look" at the group's strategy while underlining the need for every business to generate "sufficient profits".

Many analysts see the U.S. wealth management business made up almost entirely of the Paine Webber operation -- the name has since been ditched -- as a natural candidate for sale.

Senior bankers say it could make an attractive buy for Bank of America (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) or Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Paine Webber, which was bought as a bridgehead into North America, suffers from higher costs and thinner margins than the lucrative Swiss business.

It burns through almost nine out of ten dollars in revenues to pay 8,200 brokers and other costs. Costs at UBS's wealth management business in Switzerland and elsewhere outside the United States eat up just half of income.

The U.S. market has been tough to crack. While UBS's Swiss business has predominantly very wealthy customers, the U.S. operation is more "downmarket".

Paine Webber, which sells investment advice and stock tips on commission, has proven largely unsuccessful in tapping America's super-rich.

It made just 183 million Swiss francs ($180 million) pretax profit in the first three months of this year compared to more than 1.4 billion francs earned before taxes in banking for the rich elsewhere in the world, including Switzerland. (Editing by Paul Bolding)

($1=1.016 Swiss Franc)
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch

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Re: European Stocks

Postby millionairemind » Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:54 am

No Joy For UBS
Vidya Ram and Miriam Marcus 07.01.08, 7:00 PM ET

LONDON - UBS is looking for a facelift, hoping that by giving its board an overhaul of corporate governance, it will be rejuvenated. Unfortunately for the bank, its past continued to haunt it on Tuesday, as concerns about second-quarter write-downs and an investigation by the U.S. Department Justice weighed down its shares.

Instead of giving some much hoped-for clarification on future losses it might be due to report, the Swiss bank announced changes to its corporate governance on Tuesday.

This was a response to activist investors who had criticized the close ties between the bank's board and its management, but it did not address fears about second-quarter write-downs that could top the total $37.0 billion that have already been announced. (See "Write-Down Panic Over UBS.")

UBS (nyse: UBS - news - people ) fell 4.6%, or 0.98 Swiss francs (96 cents), to 20.46 Swiss francs ($20.06), on Tuesday in Zurich. Later in New York, it edged up to $20.35, which was a loss of 31 cents, or 1.5%, from the Monday U.S. close.

Analysts are expecting UBS to post write-downs between $2.0 billion and $9.0 billion for the second quarter and to take a hit on auction rate securities, and on its Alt-A and subprime portfolio.

UBS might have been expected to provide some sort of quarterly update, as it has done before, but no statement emerged. Its official second-quarter results are to be released Aug. 12.

The bank instead said Tuesday that four board members, Stephan Haeringer, Rolf A. Meyer, Peter Spuhler and Lawrence A. Weinbach were resigning, and would be replaced at an extraordinary general meeting on Oct 2. The bank is also taking on Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat who had been seen as a possible replacement for Chairman Marcel Ospel, as a senior independent director.

UBS also said it would make a clear-cut distinction between responsibilities: the board of directors would be responsible for setting strategy and supervising the business, while the chief executive and executive board would focus on management of the bank.

The chairman's office, established by Ospel, was being disbanded and its responsibilities would be split between several committees. (See "Losses Pry Ospel From UBS")

"It’s nothing really inspiring. Most major companies the size of UBS already have such systems in place," said Dirk Becker of Landsbanki-Kepler in Frankfurt.

UBS' headache doesn’t end there. On Monday, the United States Justice Department asked the Miami Federal Court to enable the Internal Revenue Service to serve a "John Doe" summons to UBS. This would allow it to obtain information about possible tax fraud by people whose identity is unknown. "Reputation-wise, it’s a big disaster for UBS," said Becker.

The order "directs UBS to produce records identifying U.S. taxpayers with accounts at UBS in Switzerland who elected to have their accounts remain hidden from the IRS," the Justice Department said in a statement.

UBS said it was aware that the judge in Florida granted the IRS permission to issue a civil summons. "UBS looks forward to working with the IRS to address the summons," a spokeswoman said.

Reuters contributed to this article.
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch

Disclaimer - The author may at times own some of the stocks mentioned in this forum. All discussions are NOT to be construed as buy/sell recommendations. Readers are advised to do their own research and analysis.
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European Economic Data & News

Postby millionairemind » Fri Jul 04, 2008 3:09 pm

Another bank to follow Northern Rock soon??? :P Things don't look that pretty.. be careful out there.


Banks bail out Bradford & Bingley after TPG walks away

By Katherine Griffiths, Financial Services Editor
Last Updated: 7:17am BST 04/07/2008

Texas Pacific Group has walked away from a deal to inject cash into Bradford & Bingley, forcing the stricken bank to fall back on investors for an emergency cash injection.

TPG decided just before 10pm yesterday evening to abandon its deal to buy 23pc of B&B for £179m after learning that the ratings agency Moody's was about to downgrade the bank for the second time in five weeks.

Under the terms of its contract, TPG was allowed to terminate the deal if B&B's credit rating fell by two notches. Its decision to walk away was revealed by Robert Peston's blog on the BBC website last night.

In an extraordinary turn of events, B&B will now receive a capital injection of about £400m from four large investors - Standard Life, Legal & General, Prudential and Insight, part of HBOS.

B&B said today that details of the enlarged rights issue will be released in due course.


The same four had backed a plan by entrepreneur Clive Cowdery to inject £400m, but B&B's board rejected the proposal. Mr Cowdery walked away last Friday.

In the past few days, it has become clear to B&B and those close to the bank that Moody's was going to downgrade B&B. Moody's had already cut B&B's rating on June 3, citing its rising arrears and uncertain outlook.

As it became clear late yesterday afternoon that the second downgrade was coming, the City regulator, the Financial Services Authority, asked TPG to make its intentions clear.

TPG's investment committee convened an emergency meeting and the decision went right up to the US firm's head, David Bonderman. The firm decided that the investment, at 55p a share, was too expensive.

The FSA put TPG under pressure for a definite answer because it wanted to be able to present a stable solution to the stock market this morning. Sources close to the regulator believe its biggest fear at the moment is a repeat of the Northern Rock crisis, which led to hundreds of customers queuing around the block.

Northern Rock was nationalised in February. The FSA is angry with TPG's decision to walk away.


B&B's shares are expected to fall significantly this morning. Close to midnight the bank issued a statement saying: "The Board has been informed by Moody's of its decision to downgrade inter alia the Group's senior unsecured and long-term debt ratings from A3 to Baa1 and to maintain the short-term rating at P2.

In light of this downgrade, TPG has informed the group that it intends to enforce its right to terminate the Subscription Agreement entered into on 2 June 2008 with respect to its £179m investment."

B&B's chairman Rod Kent is expected to be forced to resign by B&B's shareholders, who have been furious with the way the bank has handled its search for new capital.

An extraordinary general meeting planned for Monday to vote on the TPG deal and a rights issue to raise £258m will be scrapped. The four new backers will also put their cash in at 55p a share. The bank will rush through the new capital raising as quickly as possible.

Mr Kent said last night: "Bradford & Bingley continues to be well-funded and the capital raising will reinforce our position as one of the better capitalised banks and one of the leading mortgage and savings banks in the UK."
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch

Disclaimer - The author may at times own some of the stocks mentioned in this forum. All discussions are NOT to be construed as buy/sell recommendations. Readers are advised to do their own research and analysis.
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Re: European Stocks

Postby millionairemind » Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:41 am

Swiss banks may need to raise $68 billion more
Bank regulators to demand higher capital reserves, newspaper reports

By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch

Last update: 1:51 p.m. EDT July 6,

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Swiss banking giants UBS and Credit Suisse may need to raise $68 billion more in capital to meet new demands from their bank supervisor, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday.

The newspaper Sonntag quoted a parliamentarian as saying the nation's Federal Banking Commission would require additional capital of about $39 billion for UBS and $29 billion for Credit Suisse

The banks would likely have to sell equity to raise the capital, thus diluting current shareholders' stake in the companies, the report said.

UBS has written down $37 billion since the subprime crisis erupted last year, while Credit Suisse has written down about $10 billion, according to AFP.

Another Swiss paper, Sonntagszeitung, reported that the banking commission sent its proposals for new regulations to the banks last week.

Those regulations could include provisions restricting lending by limiting leverage of assets, as proposed last month by Philipp Hildebrand, vice chairman of the Swiss central bank's governing board.

Credit Suisse objected to the demands, with a spokesman telling Sonntagszeitung that "measures must be targeted at the actual problems, and from our point of view, the leverage ratio and capital buffers are not the case."
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch

Disclaimer - The author may at times own some of the stocks mentioned in this forum. All discussions are NOT to be construed as buy/sell recommendations. Readers are advised to do their own research and analysis.
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