Record
S&P 500 Masks 47% of Nasdaq Mired in Bear Market - (www.bloomberg.com) Beneath
the U.S. stock market’s record-setting gains, trouble is stirring. About 47 percent of
stocks in the Nasdaq Composite (CCMP)Index are down at least 20 percent from their
peak in the last 12 months while more than 40 percent have fallen that much in
the Russell 2000 Index
and the Bloomberg IPO Index. That contrasts with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX), which has closed at new highs 33 times in
2014 and where less than 6 percent of companies are in bear markets, data
compiled by Bloomberg show. The divergence shows the appetite for risk is
narrowing as the Federal Reserve reins in economic stimulus after a five-year
rally that added almost $16 trillion to
equity values. It’s been three years since investors saw a 10 percent decline
in the S&P 500 and
they’re starting to avoid companies that will suffer the most when the market
stumbles, said Skip Aylesworth, a portfolio manager for Hennessy Funds in Boston.
Calpers
to Exit Hedge Funds, Divest $4 Billion Stake - (www.bloomberg.com) The California Public Employees’ Retirement System plans to divest the entire $4 billion
that it has with hedge funds, saying they’re too expensive and complex. The
decision to eliminate 24 hedge funds and six hedge fund-of-funds, isn’t related
to the performance of the program, said Ted Eliopoulos, the interim chief
investment officer. The board of the $298 billion pension, known as Calpers,
hasn’t decided where to invest the money after the pullout, which will take
about a year, he said. “We concluded that we would eliminate the hedge fund
program in order to reduce the complexity, reduce the costs in the program,
particularly in relation to our view that given the scale of Calpers, we would
not be able to scale a hedge fund program to a size that would really move the
needle,” Eliopoulos said today in an interview.
State
Department orders 5,000 Body Bags and 160,000 hazmat suits for African Ebola
outbreak - (www.dailymail.uk.co) The U.S. Agency for International Development
ordered 5,000 body bags from a Florida company last month as part of its
planned response to an outbreak of the Ebola virus in western Africa. And
as President Obama prepares to enlarge America's aid to affected countries, a
company that makes protective clothing says the State Department, which
oversees USAID, has invited bids for 160,000 hazmat suits. The body-bag
purchase came on August 19, just after the World Health Organization said the
epidemic had killed 1,000 people. That death toll is now greater than 2,400. The
size of the contracts indicates how seriously governments are taking the
threat, especially considering that all 5,000 body bags were destined only for
Liberia – one of three countries whose citizens have been hammered with new
disease cases and paralyzed with fear. And the purchase says nothing about what
resources might be coming as part of other nations' contributions.
Election
Throws Sweden Into Turmoil as Nationalists Advance - (www.bloomberg.com) Sweden’s
election threw the nation’s political establishment into turmoil as backing for
the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats more than doubled, leaving the largest
Nordic economy facing a hung parliament. The three-party Social Democratic
opposition led by Stefan Loefvenwon 43.7 percent, versus 39.3 percent for the
four-party government of Prime MinisterFredrik
Reinfeldt,
with all the votes counted. The Sweden Democrats garnered 12.9 percent to
become the third largest party. The result, which sent the krona lower, marks
an end to eight years of rule by Reinfeldt’s conservative-led coalition, which
delivered successive rounds of tax cuts without adding to Sweden’s debt. The
premier said he will hand in his resignation today as the responsibility of
forming a new government falls to the Social Democrats, which won the most
votes.
[Bloomberg]
Emerging Market Stocks Extend Rout With Currencies; Ruble Slides – (www.bloomberg.com) Emerging-market
stocks fell for an eighth day and currencies slid on speculation the U.S. is
moving closer to raising interest rates and on signs China’s
economy is
slowing. Russia’s ruble weakened to a record for a third day. The MSCI Emerging
Markets Index dropped 0.5 percent to 1,055.78, posting the longest rout since a
10-day loss in November. Russia’s Micex Index slid 0.3 percent, while stock
markets in the Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia lost at least 0.7 percent.
Brazil’s Ibovespa rallied following the worst weekly drop since May 2012. Data
on Chinese industrial production and retail sales over the weekend missed
estimates, underscoring the risks of a deeper slowdown. Some of the factors
that becalmed developed nations are raising risks for emerging markets, the Bank for International Settlements said.
German
Anti-Euro Party Advances in Merkel Homeland Voting - (www.bloomberg.com)
Swedish Opposition Ousts Government Without Gaining Majority - (www.bloomberg.com)
Swedish Opposition Ousts Government Without Gaining Majority - (www.bloomberg.com)
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