China
Metal Probe Weighs on Copper Outlook - (online.wsj.com) Hedge
funds and other money managers are increasing their bets against copper,
according to U.S. data, amplifying pressure on prices following allegations of
fraudulent metal-backed financing in China. The wagers are likely to further
weigh on the outlook for one of the world's most heavily traded metals, as the
effects of an official probe on stockpiles in the eastern Chinese port of
Qingdao continue to ripple across global markets. The port's operator has
confirmed that Chinese authorities are investigating allegations of fraud
relating to stockpiles of metals, though the government hasn't commented
publicly. Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued Friday
showed hedge funds, institutional investors and other large speculators
increased their short positions in New York copper futures and options in the
week ending Tuesday to 29,063 contracts, compared with 25,734 a week earlier
and 21,802 three weeks ago. The CFTC publishes such data on a weekly basis.
The rise extends a buildup of copper shorts
since early June, which had snapped four straight weeks of decline. Long
positions have fallen to 28,750 contracts in the latest CFTC report, compared
with 42,800 in late May. "These investigations are a threat to the copper
price," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in
Chicago, which manages $66 billion. "There's a great deal of shadow
inventory that's not being calculated and it could hurt the prices when it hits
the market."
Stocks
are ‘dangerously overvalued,’ M&A deals suggest - (www.marketwatch.com) Here’s one sign a significant stock market
decline might occur sooner rather than later: the rapid acceleration of recent
merger and acquisition activity. This past week saw news of another big deal,
led by medical-device maker Medtronic’s announcement of its $43 billion bid to
acquire rival Covidien. At the current pace, M&A deals could reach
$3.51 trillion this year, the most since 2007, according to data provider Dealogic.
It wasn’t a fluke that a surge in M&A activity coincided with that year’s
market top, according to Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, a professor at Harvard Business
School and an expert in the field. “Each of the last five great merger waves on
record” — going back more than 125 years — “ended with a precipitous decline in
equity prices,” he says. Some experts have found that merger activity surges
when stocks are richly priced, at least in part because companies can use their
inflated shares to pursue acquisitions.
Iraqi
military facing ‘psychological collapse’ after losses, desertions - (www.washingtonpost.com) The
300 U.S. advisers authorized to assist the Iraqi security forces will find an
army in crisis mode, so lacking in equipment and shaken by desertions that it
may not be able to win back significant chunks of territory from al-Qaeda
renegades for months or even years, analysts and officials say. After tens of
thousands of desertions, the Iraqi military is reeling from what one U.S.
official described as “psychological collapse” in the face of the offensive
from militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The desperation
has reached such a level that President Nouri al-Maliki is relying on
volunteers, who are in some cases receiving as little as a week’s military
training, to protect his ever-shrinking orbit of control.
Judge
Who Sentenced Saddam Hussein To Death Has Been Executed By ISIS, Local Media
Reports - (www.zerohedge.com) Back
in 2006, after the second US invasion of Iraq culminated if not with the
discovery of the WMDs (which were the pretext for the invasion in the first
place), but the unearthing (literally) and kangaroo court trial of Saddam
Hussein, the US was quick to announce "mission accomplished." Recent
events have made a mockery of that claim, however what is truly the straw that
broke the back of poetic justice, to mix metaphors, are reports from local
media that as part of its blitz-campaign to take over northern Iraq, ISIS
found and the promptly executed Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman, the judge who
sentenced Saddam to death: a death which to many was the crowning moment of the
second US invasion of Iraq, and the confirmation of successful US foreign
policy. It goes without saying that if true, the murder of the man who
indirectly did the US bidding in slamming the book shut on the Saddam regime
(and with it US claims of Iraqi "liberation") and was responsible for
Saddam's death, means the last "Mission Accomplished" posted can now
be safely taken down.
The
US Healthcare System: Most Expensive Yet Worst In The Developed World - (www.zerohedge.com) One month ago we showed that
when it comes to the cost of basic (and not so basic) health insurance, the US
is by far the most expensive country in the world and certainly among its
"wealthy-nation"peers. It would be logical then to think that as a
result of this premium - the biggest in the world - the quality of the healthcare
offered in the US among the best, if not thebest, in the world. Unfortunately,
that would be wrong and, in fact, the reality is the complete opposite: as
a recent study by the Commonweath Fund, looking at how the US healthcare system
compares internationally, finds, "the U.S. fails to achieve better
health outcomes than the other countries, and as shown in the earlier editions,
the U.S. is last or near last on dimensions of access, efficiency, and
equity." In other words: most expensive, yet worst in the
developed world.
Iraq
Insurgents Reaping Wealth as They Advance - (www.nytimes.com)
Iran Sees Lack of Will as Clock Ticks on Nuclear Talks - (www.bloomberg.com)
Iran Sees Lack of Will as Clock Ticks on Nuclear Talks - (www.bloomberg.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment