Salient to Investors: The median economist expects: Britain to fall 0.1 percent in Q4 and grow 0.2 percent in Q1 2013; and the UK economy to fall 0.1 percent in 2012 and rise 1.1 percent in 2013. Germany to fall 0.1 percent in Q4 and rise 0.2 percent; and rise 0.3 percent in both
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Net buying of long-term US equities, notes and bonds totaled $3.3 billion in September versus $90.3 billion in August and versus the median economist estimate of $50 billion. Millan Mulraine at TD Securities said the slowdown was due in part to the improvement in global sentiment towards Europe,
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Q3 earnings of 58 percent of 62 companies on the Bovespa index missed analysts’ estimates versus 62 percent that missed in Q2 and 60 percent that missed in Q1. 67 percent reported sales higher than expected – Rodolfo Amstalden at Empiricus Research said the divergence is in part due to increasing costs in a tight labor market. Analysts
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: George Soros and Och-Ziff Capital Mgmt added stakes in AIG in Q3. Daniel Loeb at Third Point and Richard Perry at Perry Capital reported AIG stakes in Q3. Josh Stirling at Sanford C. Bernstein said primary insurers are trading at levels well off recent highs. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-15/soros-joined-och-ziff-betting-on-aig-before-sandy-struck-u-s-.html
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Owi Ruivivar at Goldman Sachs Asset Mgmt said: If surging demand continues for Asian bonds and distorts prices for a long period of time, the likelihood of asset bubbles increases because prices do not fully reflect economic fundamentals. Supply and demand have become the dominant drivers of bond valuations rather
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a stake in Deere, Precision Castparts, and Wabco Holdings and cut consumer products stocks including Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble in Q3. Berkshire has been reducing holdings of consumer-products stocks in 2012. Eli Lustgarten at Longbow Research said there is a massive need to increase productivity in the world’s farm
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: MacNeil Curry at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said an Ending Diagonal Triangle trading pattern indicates the 2-month rally in the US Dollar Index is poised to end. The Ending Diagonal Triangle indicates a weakening trend that is on the verge of reversal. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-15/dollar-index-faces-ending-diagonal-triangle-technical-analysis.html
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: From January 1, 2013, UK advisers will be banned from accepting commissions from asset managers and instead charge clearly delineated fees. In 2009, the Review of Financial Studies said the cost of investing in British funds is higher than anywhere in the developed world aside from Scandinavia and Canada – and average 2.21 percent of
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Victoria Mio at Robeco Hong Kong said China’s leadership change removes the biggest overhang for the nation’s equities as the new government is determined to carry out reforms. Mio said implications on the economy are neutral near term as China is expected to maintain the current monetary and fiscal policies. Barclays
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s MOVE index, which measures price swings based on options, fell to 55.6, the least since June 5, 2007. The yield gap between yields on 10-yr notes and 10-yr TIPS fell to 2.35 percent, the lowest in almost 10 weeks and versus the average 2.18 percent over the
READ MORE... →