Early Headlines: Trade Imbalances Hinder Growth (IMF), India’s Submarine Killer, Twitter Swings 21%, Greek Stock Market to Open, China Anti-Corruption Purge Spreads and More

Early Bird Headlines 29 July 2015

Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.

Global

• IMF Says Global Growth Still Being Held Back by Trade Imbalances (Bloomberg) Countries with large current-account surpluses such as China and Germany need to boost domestic demand to help correct imbalances that are limiting global growth, the IMF said.
• Banks fail to persuade regulators to dilute new buffer rules (Channel News Asia) The Financial Stability Board (FSB) plans to finalize rules that require the world’s top 30 banks to have enough liquid assets to cover 16% to 20% of liabilities, despite disapproval from industry leaders. Major banks say the rules, which will be finalized by September’s end, exceed what is necessary to ensure taxpayers won’t need to help banks in trouble. The FSB wants the top 30 banks to hold enough equity and long-term bonds so that if they fall into trouble they have enough resources without calling on taxpayers.

U.S.

• Twitter shares fall as growth of monthly users slows (Reuters) It was reported in ‘What We Read Today‘ yesterday that Twitter stock had traded up as much as 10% after the company announced much better than expected revenue growth. But after that was posted it was discussed in the conference call that Twitter user growth in the second quarter was a miniscule 2 million, up to a new total of 304 million. Later aftermarket trading has seen the stock down 11%. So, aftermarket trading in NYSE:TWTR has seen a swing of 21%.
  

EU

• This Chart Tells You Why It’s So Hard to Bet Against the Euro (Bloomberg) The euro remains trading at about $1.10 in spite of the investor consensus that the euro should be weaker – A look at the order book of one of Germany’s biggest banks shows traders aren’t putting their money where their mouth is. The pattern of bid and ask orders for Tuesday (t) and Monday (t-1) is representative of what the situation has been for a number of days.

Greece

• Denials fly in war of nerves over Greek debt talks (Reuters) The creditors are disturbed that former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakas “continues to heap abuse on the creditors in his blog“. Econintersect: The serfs will not bow suitably to the vassals and the nobles.

Conflicting statements and denials flew between Athens and Brussels on Tuesday in a war of nerves highlighting the depth of mutual mistrust over a new round of negotiations on an 86 billion euro bailout that started this week.

Any hope of a fresh start in fraught relations between Greece’s leftist government, purged of its most radical members, and the institutions representing its creditors, appeared to be dashed by the flurry of assertions and rebuttals.

Differences included the pace and conduct of bailout talks, whether or not Greece needs to enact further laws before a deal, the reopening of the Athens stock exchange, and the activities of former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who continues to heap abuse on the creditors in his blog.

The two sides couldn’t even agree on when the talks began.

• Greek Stock Market on Course to Reopen as ECB Gives Assent (Bloomberg) The European Central Bank on Tuesday approved proposals for trading rules to end the four-week closure, according to a spokeswoman for the Athens Stock Exchange. The timing of the move and any trade restrictions will be decided by a finance ministry decree, said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be identified in line with policy. The ECB’s Executive Board discussed the plan at a weekly meeting Tuesday. While the central bank isn’t formally responsible for stock market regulation, policy makers were concerned that a reopening could worsen the liquidity position of Greek lenders. There may be restrictions on trading with money from Greek bank accounts because of the liquidity concerns.

India

• Submarine Killers: India’s $61 Billion Warning to China (Bloomberg) The build-up of India’s navy is mostly aimed at deterring China from establishing a foothold in the Indian Ocean. But it also serves another goal: Transforming India’s warship-building industry into an exporting force that can supply the region, including U.S. partners in Asia wary of China’s increased assertiveness.
  

China

• Chinese New Stock Investors Drop to Record Low After Stock Rout (Bloomberg) The number of new stock investors in China fell to the lowest level on record, suggesting that an almost $4 trillion rout in the equity market may be scaring away novice traders. New stock investors totaled 391,500 in the week ended July 24, a 26 percent decline from the previous week, according to data from the China Securities Depository and Clearing’s website. The number is the smallest since the government started releasing the figures in May, and compares with a high of 1.64 million in the week ended May 29. Econintersect: The term “record low” is a ludicrous designation when the weekly data has been recorded for only ten weeks!
• As China’s State Funds Buy Stocks, Individual Investors Cash Out (Bloomberg Business) China’s efforts to rekindle investor enthusiasm for the stock market are gaining little traction as margin traders cash out and new equity-account openings tumble. Speculators reduced bets using borrowed money to the lowest level in four months on Tuesday. Waning interest in equities among China’s 90 million investors underscores the challenge of supporting a market where individuals account for more than 80% of trading.
• Xi Swats ‘Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes’ as Graft Push Goes Small (Bloomberg) After three years of a campaign that has brought down more than 100 senior officials, including top generals, a former top presidential aide and China’s retired security chief, Chinese President Xi Jinping is broadening his anti-corruption campaign. His new campaign is targeting corruption in rural villages where petty cadres hold sway. After “hunting tigers” Xi will also now seek out mosquitoes that are usually “buzzing around the corner” and “sucking blood,” according to Xinhua News Agency (official government media).

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