Written by Gary
Friday morning and U.S. stock index futures are up fractionally with a promise of a green opening. Dark clouds are forming as Greece edged closer to default despite assurances from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that the doomsayers are wrong.
China stocks have tumbled into correction territory, while the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance towards lifting interest rates kept the dollar on the back foot.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
European markets are higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 is up 0.95% while Germany’s DAX is up 0.43% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.32%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Tsipras optimistic on Greek debt deal as banks bleed ATHENS (Reuters) – Greeks pulled more than 1 billion euros out of their banks in a single day, banking sources said on Friday, as the country edged closer to default despite assurances from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that the doomsayers are wrong. | |
Greek PM Tsipras Speaks At St. Petersburg Forum In Russia – Live WebcastWhile the ECB is deciding the fate of Greece whether or not it will hike Greek ELA yet again in another emergency meeting (according to preliminary Reuters reports the answer is yes), Greek PM Tsipras is speaking live at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, just meters away from the “isolated” Putin. Live webcast after the jump.
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Troika Exploits Greek Bank Run As Varoufakis Slams “Pernicious” Banking Sector “Leaks”As expected, no progress was made between Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis and EU finance ministers at Thursday’s Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg. Varoufakis warned his counterparts that Europe was very close to “accepting” a Greek “accident”, something the FinMin said EU officials have a “moral duty” to avoid before “uncontrollable events” occur. Varoufakis also implicitly accused the troika of attempting to incite a bank run. While it wasn’t entirely clear what Varoufakis meant by “uncontrollable events,” it seems likely he’s referencing the fact that while politicians may be able to push back their own self-imposed deadlines as many times as they wish even to the point of rendering the entire effort “ridiculous”, ” to use German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel’s words: ‘the reality on the ground in Greece is that the economy is collapsing on itself and deposit flight is now running above at 750 million euros each day. Put simply: an acute crisis of confidence among the Greek populace now risks plunging the country into a state of emergency. In an attempt to address the quickly deteriorating situation, Brussels looks set to impose capital controls as early as this weekend and has scheduled an emergency summit on Monday. EU finance ministers will reportedly hold another meeting ahead of the summit. WSJ has more:
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Frontrunning: June 19Greek PM optimistic on debt deal as banks bleed (Reuters) Greek central bank chief says banking system stable (Kathimerini) ECB Said to Confer on Emergency Greek Aid Amid Cash Flight (BBG) More tax “avoidance”: Citigroup to shift European retail banking HQ to Dublin (Reuters) Florist’s tip led police to Charleston shooting suspect (USAToday) Asian shares edge higher on Fed caution, China sell-off intensifies (Reuters) Toyota in damage control mode after American exec arrested (Reuters) Venezuela Oil Loans Go Awry for China (WSJ) The Shale Industry Could Be Swallowed By Its Own Debt (BBG) Goldman to Summer Interns: Leave the Office by Midnight ( | |
U.S. futures higher a day after Nasdaq set record high(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Friday, a day after the Nasdaq Composite index broke its last standing milestone from the dot-com era as it set a record intraday high. | |
Asian shares edge higher on Fed caution, China sell-off intensifiesHONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares rose for a third consecutive day on Friday even as China stocks tumbled into correction territory, while the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance towards lifting interest rates kept the dollar on the back foot. | |
Exclusive: Citigroup to shift European retail banking HQ to DublinLONDON (Reuters) – Citigroup is planning to shift the headquarters of its European retail banking operation to Dublin from London to benefit from lower costs and capital requirements. | |
Europe Markets Show Caution Not Contagion on GreeceGreece has in the past been the spark that has set off explosive financial fireworks. Yet European markets are showing few signs of panic, even after Thursday’s Eurogroup meeting ended with no deal. | |
Regulation A+ Set To Go Live TodayThe government is prepared to finally enact one of the two remaining (and arguably most important) titles of the US JOBS Act. Regulation A+, as it’s colloquially known, is an amendment to the existing, albeit anemic, Regulation A exemption. A+ increases the total amount of capital a company can raise from $5 million to $50 million in a 12 month period, but comes with several caveats that won’t make it a feasible fundraising method for most startups. A+ is divided into two tiers. Tier 1 allows companies to raise up to $20 million from any interested person. However, the offerings are subject to Blue Sky laws, which means companies could shell out tens of thousands of dollars before raising a dime. Tier 2 lets companies raise up to $50 million, but they’re required to file audited financials and additional ongoing reporting with the SEC. This can also lead to a cost of thousands that many startups (the very companies this amendment claims it will help) won’t be able to fork over. The vast majority of companies haven’t bothered with Regulation A in the past — they mostly turn to Rule 506 of Regulation D. In 2012, for example, there were only eight Regulation A offerings that raised around$ 34.5 million compared to 7,700 Regulation D offerings that raised a total of approximately $7 billion. Maybe it’s because the previous cap was a paltry $5 million, or maybe it’s because companies were (and still will be under Tier 1) required to comply with every single state’s Blue Sky laws. Tough to say, but when the cost of taking a company public isn’t much more than a pr … | |
Chinese Stocks Stagger to End of Rough Week Before falling more than 10 percent this week, mainland stocks had risen to nearly $10 trillion in market value, up from $3 trillion a year ago. | |
Toyota in damage control mode after American exec arrestedTOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp moved into damage control mode on Friday after its new communications chief Julie Hamp, an American and its first senior woman executive, was arrested on suspicion of illegally bringing pain killers into Japan just two months after her appointment. | |
Exclusive: Gazprom building global alliance with expanded Shell ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – Gazprom is building a global strategic alliance with energy major Royal Dutch Shell that will include asset swaps and allow the Russian gas giant to penetrate new markets, its chief executive told Reuters. | |
Airbus warns Europe to keep politics out of drone project: paperPARIS (Reuters) – Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders urged European governments not to place overly onerous political requirements on a joint project to develop drones, adding that the aerospace group could drop out if such conditions were not met. | |
Hochtief says wins $1.23 billion U.S. rail contractFRANKFURT (Reuters) – Hochtief said its subsidiary Flatiron had won a $1.23 billion contract to construct the first high-speed rail system in the United States as part of a joint venture team. | |
South Korea court to rule on U.S. fund’s bid to block Samsung deal by July 1 SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean court on Friday said it will rule by July 1 on U.S. hedge fund Elliott’s injunction request to block a Samsung C&T Corp shareholder vote on an $8 billion takeover bid from Cheil Industries Inc . | |
Behind Chicago’s Rift With Moody’sMoody’s Investors Service’s move last month to downgrade Chicago’s credit rating to junk status highlights a tough new stance from the firm. Chicago’s mayor has called the move irresponsible; other municipalities are also dropping Moody’s. | |
Index Choice Explains Big Performance Differential For International Dividend ETFsUnderstanding the underlying index composition is critical to ensure that we know exactly what exposure we?re getting. |
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