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New York State Delays $900 Million World Trade Offer, Citing `Conditions' - (www.bloomberg.com) New York state’s Liberty Development Corp. delayed the sale of $900 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the 4 World Trade Center project, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said. The issue was postponed “due to market considerations,” according to a statement released today. A separate $375 million floating-rate offering is also being delayed.
Spain on debt tightrope - (www.ft.com) The evidence of previous eurozone sovereign debt crises suggests investors should now be nervously shunning Spanish government bonds after Portugal’s request for a bail-out. Yet exactly the opposite has happened. When Greece and Ireland needed rescuing last year, yields on Spanish debt rose sharply in the primary and secondary markets. As Ireland struggled through the first stage of its financial nightmare in November, the interest rate spread between Spanish and benchmark German 10-year bonds rose to a euro-era record of just less than 300 basis points, reflecting the higher perceived risk of Spanish paper and the effects of “contagion” across the eurozone. But as the crisis has spread this year to Portugal, a neighbouring economy with close financial and commercial ties to Spain, investors have been so relaxed about the possible impact that the spread between German and Spanish bonds has even narrowed, to about 175bp on Monday. The share prices of the country’s banks have bounced from early-January lows.
Dennis Gartman: Suddenly this looks like an ominous top - (www.businessinsider.com) Suddenly, the market is looking ugly, notes Dennis Gartman in his morning note: THE S&P FUTURE: An Ominous Top?: It’s been a bull market of incredible magnitude for several months, but now the market is showing signs of internal weakness as the RSI makes several lower highs and as the index itself seems to have stalled well below its previous top. Be careful if bullish; be very, very careful.
IMF, EU Officials Meet in Lisbon to Prepare Portuguese Bailout - (www.bloomberg.com) International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank officials will be in Lisbon today as they start preparing an estimated 80 billion- euro ($116 billion) aid program for Portugal, the third euro- region nation to request a bailout in a year. The European Union aims to reach an agreement on the aid package on May 16, three weeks before the country’s June 5 early election, which was prompted by the resignation of Prime Minister Jose Socrates after parliament rejected his deficit- cutting plan. Portugal’s bid for emergency aid last week opened what European officials say will be the final chapter in the debt crisis that erupted in Greece last year, spread to Ireland and triggered speculation that the 17-nation euro area might not survive in its current form.
JPMorgan, Bank of America Earnings May Show Weaker Revenue as Loans Stall - (www.bloomberg.com) U.S. banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) may report weak revenue for the first quarter after lending by the industry dropped in almost every category. Bank loans and leases fell $87.4 billion to $6.97 trillion from the end of 2010 through March 30, or 1.3 percent, according to Federal Reserve data. Deposits at U.S. banks rose the same percentage to $7.97 trillion, showing households and businesses are still hoarding cash instead of borrowing, analysts said. “While loan growth tends to be seasonally weak in the first quarter, this quarter is tracking worse than seasonality would suggest,” Barclays Capital Inc. analysts led by Jason Goldbergwrote in an April 8 report. “We fear companies have been disappointed.”
Is A "Grand Bargain" Brewing? - (www.businssinsider.com) Ever since the collapse of the financial system in 2008, and the subsequent ballooning of federal debt, there has been talk in elite policy circles about a "grand bargain" to "fix" America's terrifying balance sheet. Specifically, the "grand bargain" would see reduced government spending on discretionary items, health and pensions (the Democratic "give" on the deal) in exchange for reduced Pentagon spending and higher taxes (the Republican "give" on the deal). For exactly as long, political analysts have declared the "grand bargain" DOA -- dead on arrival. These pronouncements of immediate death were backed up by lengthy essays on the dysfunction of Washington's political culture, the dysfunction of the major political parties, the hideous influence of lobbyists and "special interests," the dysfunction of the electorate's thought process with regards to benefits and their costs, etc, etc, etc. You've read that piece or something like it twenty times.
OTHER STORIES:
Asian Central Banks Want to Add Yuan to Reserves, Tetangco Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Japan Sees Greater Hit to Economy as Its Nuclear Crisis Deepens - (www.bloomberg.com)
German March Inflation Unexpectedly Quickens to Two-Year High - (www.bloomberg.com)
German Investor Confidence Fell More Than Forecast in April - (www.bloomberg.com)
Japan Rice Buying May Outstrip Supply on Hoarding, Marubeni's Shibata Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Japan May Raise Nuclear Accident Rating as Radiation Increases - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Import Prices Increase More Than Forecast on Higher Food, Fuel Costs - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Trade Deficit Narrowed in February as Imports Decrease - (www.bloomberg.com)
Budget Cuts Raise Doubt on Course of Recovery - (www.bloomberg.com)
Gas Prices Rise, and Economists Seek Tipping Point - (www.nytimes.com)
Fed Plays Down Inflation - (online.wsj.com)
Spending Deal Faces Rough Ride in House - (online.wsj.com)
Price Rises Sap Global Recovery, IMF Report Says - (online.wsj.com)
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