FT Alphaville

Japan’s economy grew at the fastest pace in a year last quarter || Lawyers for JPMorgan Chase have demanded that Bloomberg hand over data logs || Richemont chairman to take a break || IRS chief quits over Tea Party scandal || UK High Court rules Goldman Sachs tax deal lawful...

In the M&A hall of shame, Rio Tinto’s top-of-the-market $37bn acquisition of Alcan (in CASH) is right up there. In this century, at least. It was a truly disastrous deal that nearly killed the Anglo-Australian mining company and its after-effects are being felt to this day. Just ask Tom Albanese.Continue...

Japan falls on bank forecasts || Japanese Q1 GDP beats forecasts || JP Morgan wants Bloomberg employee logs || RP Martin removes CEO and one director || Chinese FDI misses || Spanish banks brace for push on NPLs || Cameron 'open to ideas' on RBS || The few who set...

Japan’s economy grew at the fastest pace in a year last quarter, with solid growth in consumer spending and exports suggesting the expansionary policies of Shinzo Abe, prime minister, are delivering quick and tangible results. Government data on Thursday showed that real gross domestic product increased by 0.9 per cent in...

We are, of course, talking about iron ore which has slipped into bear market territory overnight (defined here as 20 per cent fall from a recent high). Continue reading: An unusual bear market...

All-time highs for the S&P 500, the Dow — and Google. The company’s shares hit $916.38 during trading, closing above $915, a 3.3 per cent gain. The S&P 500 rose 0.51 per cent (Reuters). Elon Musk will buy $100m of stock in his company’s offering. Tesla Motors announced the raising...

Deutsche Bank’s Stuart Parkinson and Rineesh Bansal kick off their tale of RoRo on a controversial subject: where did the phrase risk-on/ risk-off originate. We’ve had some outlandish claims sent our way in the past. A colleague who shall remain nameless once claimed he had invented RoRo (and the question mark)...

Quite a lot to ponder really. Members of the IMF’s executive board were set to meet on Wednesday to discuss whether to approve lending to Cyprus, more or less behind closed doors. But maybe not so much this time. It looks like Stockwatch in Cyprus has obtained a copy of...

Nikkei 15,000 comes courtesy of a weak yen and increasing earnings expectations which carry some potentially elevated valuations with them. If you need any evidence of how sensitive the Nikkei has become to the yen’s rise, here’s a chart to ease your suffering: But there are other things at work here....

FT Alphaville’s series on the rise of the collaborative economy has so far looked at a new type of growth, how peer-to-peer lending is a return to full-reserve banking, and the link between social networks and evolutionary game theory. In the latter post we considered the value of reciprocity and collaboration,...

So writes the FT’s Martin Wolf in his column today, which starts out noting that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations exceeded 400 parts per million last week, the highest level in 4.5m years. As he says, if we take a prudential view of public finances, then surely a similar approach to...

Elsewhere on Wednesday, - What does Japan mean for everyone else? - Just make the banks… smaller. - On outrageous and overreaching action.Continue reading: Further reading...

Nikkei reaches 15,000, yen weakens || HSBC announces $2bn - $3bn more cost cuts || JC Flowers buys debt collector Cabot || Sinopec issues jumbo $3.5bn bond || Some JPMorgan shareholders targeting other directors, not Dimon || Three Chinese airlines cancel flights after threats || Wolf on climate change Continue reading:...

There it goes: Continue reading: Nikkei 15,000...

FURTHER FURTHER READING - Why investors can’t imagine a collapse of the bond market.Continue reading: The Closer...

Abuse of official secrecy. It’s been one of the more corrosive but — by definition — shadier aspects of the eurozone crisis. It can take the form of a report on money-laundering in Cyprus. Or the opaque process by which Troika debt sustainability analyses are drawn up. Emergency liquidity assistance...

Bloomberg withdrawal (BBG wɪðˈdrɔːəl) noun. Definition: Removal of all meaningful work space elements other than the desk, chair, phone, and headache tablets. Detachment from all those who matter in one’s work (and possibly also personal) life. Feeling of uncertainty that accompanies the suspicion that their terminal is somehow betraying them. Typically arises from reports...

This Fobor based paragraph is from a Bank of America Merrill Lynch note published earlier in the month which the FT’s Robin Wigglesworth brought to our attention: In a world of zero rates, where $19.4 trillion of government bonds (that’s 48% of the total market) is trading below 1%, it’s little...

Japanese government bonds have kept stumbling. Small beer anywhere else in the world, but considering the policy experiment ongoing over there it’s worth keeping an eye on. We’re not too excited yet but here’s a chart of five and ten year yields and some speculation anyway…Continue reading: JGBs: “Yes I would,...

We suggest watching this story… It looks like EU competition regulators paid some unannounced visits to oil company offices around Europe on Tuesday — note the reason:Continue reading: This is a raid, oil price reporting edition...