Investment

S

Agence France-Presse — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:00:05 +0000

Agence France-Presse

India faces at least "a one-in-three" chance of losing its prized sovereign grade rating, global ratings agency Standard and Poor's has warned, amid new threats to economic growth and reforms.

The announcement surprised the finance ministry which had been pitching for a ratings upgrade, saying the government has taken strong steps to improve India's public finances, promote investment and revive growth.

High-yield bond funds see lower demand after record rally

Thomson Reuters — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:45:20 +0000

Thomson Reuters

Commodity prices mainly retreat

Agence France-Presse — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:31:19 +0000

Agence France-Presse

Commodity prices mostly weakened this week, hit by a stronger dollar and falling demand for raw materials amid persistent concerns about the state of the troubled global economy, according to analysts.

Figures published Wednesday revealed that the dogged recession across the eurozone has snared key economy France.

In Brussels, French President Francois Hollande tipped 'zero' growth on the national level, blaming an EU-wide, German-led austerity trap -- and hitting out at banks for holding back on lending.

Hedge funds selling gold after propping market a month ago

Thomson Reuters — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:46:24 +0000

Thomson Reuters

Investor group calls on SEC to review change in JPMorgan voting

Thomson Reuters — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:15:33 +0000

Thomson Reuters

Initial public offerings scheduled to debut next week

The Canadian Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:02:15 +0000

The Canadian Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The following is a list of initial public offerings planned for the coming week. Sources include Renaissance Capital, Greenwich, CT (www.renaissancecapital.com) and SEC filings.

Week of May 20

Alcobra Ltd. - Tel Aviv, Israel, 2.275 million ordinary shares, priced $10 to $12, managed by Aegis Capital. Proposed Nasdaq symbol ADHD. Business: Israeli drug company developing a non-stimulant ADHD treatment.

Shares of Tableau Software soar in trading debut after raising $254.2M in IPO

The Canadian Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:01:20 +0000

The Canadian Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Tableau Software shares soared in their trading debut Friday after the company and some of its investors raised about $254.2 million in its initial public offering.

Seattle-based Tableau Software Inc. provides software that helps businesses convert data into visual presentations.

The shares jumped $17.50, or 56 per cent, to $48.50 in morning trading. Earlier, the company sold 5 million shares for $31 each and total proceeds of $155 million. Certain shareholders sold an additional 3.2 million shares at the same price for $99.2 million.

Tokyo stocks down 0.12% by break

Agence France-Presse — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:46:33 +0000

Agence France-Presse

Tokyo stocks lost 0.12 percent Friday morning after US stocks dipped following recent record-breaking gains.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 17.69 points to 15,019.55 by the break, but the Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.25 percent, or 3.11 points, to 1,248.34.

Japanese shares faced selling pressure from the outset as foreign hedge funds took profits, brokers said.

Money fund assets fell by $1.04 billion to $2.582 trillion in most recent week

The Canadian Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:01:29 +0000

The Canadian Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets fell $1.04 billion to $2.582 trillion for the week that ended Wednesday, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds fell $1.30 billion to $892.45 billion, the Washington-based mutual fund trade group said Thursday. Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category fell $910 million to $705.2 billion. Tax-exempt retail fund assets fell $380 million to $187.24 billion.

Multi-million losses forced out top BNP trader

Agence France-Presse — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:16:52 +0000

Agence France-Presse

A senior trader with BNP Paribas left the French bank last year after his US-based unit traded losses of over $10 million, the Financial Times reported late Thursday on its website.

Lionel Crassier, US head of equities at the time, was ordered back from New York in March after he lost the bank between $10 million (7.7 million euros) and $25 million, according to sources cited by the newspaper.

"We decided in March 2012 to transfer a member of staff from New York to Paris who demonstrated poor trading judgment," the bank told the FT.

He subsequently left the bank.

CPP Investment Board reports 10.1 per cent return, assets grow to $183 billion

The Canadian Press — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:01:08 +0000

The Canadian Press

TORONTO - The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board says it's working to strengthen its foothold in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil as it strives to keep up with shifts in the global economy.

"If you look at market cap and GDP, the trend is clear that the balance of economic activity is moving, at least on a proportional basis, to the developing world," said Don Raymond, the board's chief investment strategist.

"We will broadly mirror that in both our active and passive portfolio activities."

T. Rowe Price CIO lines up with JPMorgan's Dimon

Thomson Reuters — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:02:07 +0000

Thomson Reuters

Foreigners bought $1.2B in securities in March: StatsCan

The Canadian Press — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:01:41 +0000

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says non-resident investors acquired $1.2 billion of Canadian securities in March, led by investment in government bonds.

The agency says the purchases of bonds were largely moderated by continued reductions in foreign holdings of money market instruments.

It says Canadian investors added $3.8 billion of foreign securities to their holdings in March, following a $4.3 billion acquisition in February.

Foreign investment in Canadian bonds slowed for a second straight month, reaching $5.2 billion in March.

UK campaign group loses Goldman Sachs tax case

Agence France-Presse — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:45:53 +0000

Agence France-Presse

Britain's High Court on Thursday rejected a challenge by a campaign group over the legality of a so-called "sweetheart" tax deal between British tax authorities and US investment banking giant Goldman Sachs.

Campaigners UK Uncut Legal Action claimed that the taxpayer was effectively deprived of up to £20 million ($30.5 million, 23.7 million euros) in tax under the deal struck in 2010.

The group alleged that the deal was allowed to go ahead to avoid causing "major embarrassment" to finance minister George Osborne after the bank became "aggressive" and allegedly made threats.

UK campaign group loses challenge to Goldman Sachs tax deal with British government

The Canadian Press — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:33 +0000

The Canadian Press

LONDON - A U.K. pressure group has lost its legal challenge to what it called a "sweetheart" tax deal between U.K. authorities and Goldman Sachs.

UK Uncut Legal Action, which campaigns against tax avoidance, had sought a High Court declaration that it was unlawful for the investment bank to avoid a multimillion pound interest bill on unpaid tax on bonuses.

Judge Andrew Nicol ruled Thursday that the decision was not unlawful even if it was not a "glorious episode."