Brazil may be willing to tolerate inflation of 6% or more so long as it can keep unemployment below 6% in time for next year’s election, says Tony Volpon, head of emerging markets Americas at Nomura Securities in New York.
From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/04/18/brazils-high-wire-act/
By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Lousy job numbers and fears of global financial discord initially sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 175 points on Friday, but the index proved remarkably resilient and bounced back to close down just 44 points at the end of the day.
However, the sell-off is starting again today and the two stocks below that closed sharply lower to end the week last week are also continuing their free fall today.
A triumvirate of turmoil
Closely tied to the global financial situation is the unease investors are feeling toward National Bank of Greece as questions rose over its acquisition of Eurobank. The so-called “troika” of the European Union, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund are questioning the absorption because the combination of the two would make its assets almost equal to Greece‘s GDP and the equivalent of more than a third of all the deposits in Greek banks. Already considered “too big to fail,” their union would create substantial pressure if the financial turmoil spreads.
Greece‘s banks are in the middle of a recapitalization plan under the country’s bailout from the troika, and if the proposed synergies of this massive merger are not realized and National Bank of Greece runs into trouble, it would be nearly impossible to find a buyer for it should it fall apart because of its size.
That point became moot today as the two banks called off their merger because they couldn’t raise the necessary capital to complete the transaction. While National Bank of Greece fell a modest 8% on Friday, it’s down an additional 11% as of this writing. Despite saying that talks could always resume, both banks said they couldn’t guarantee they’d be able to sell 10% to private investors. It seems pretty clear the troika’s reservations doomed this deal’s chances.
F5 drops another fifth
After dramatically missing even its internal quarterly estimates, F5 Networks lost nearly 20% of its value Friday, falling to levels not seen since September 2011.
It preannounced earnings and indicated that its North American business was dragging down operations such that adjusted profits would come in somewhere between $1.06 and $1.07 per share on revenue of $350.2 million. That’s well below the consensus Wall Street view of $1.23 per share on $376 million in revenue, but also completely missing its own guidance of $1.21 to $1.24 per share on between $370 million and $380 million in revenue. That’s a near 15% miss on profits and an 8% skew on revenue.
Nomura Securities thinks it’s a company-specific issue, pointing to its new product lineup having several telecom-focused features that might have delayed purchasing decisions, which is reminiscent of what Riverbed Technologies went through last year as it began transitioning to a more diversified product line. This year is viewed as the time when it should gain some traction, though fourth-quarter results were less than impressive.
Yet analysts are still downgrading the stock today, with Citigroup, Piper Jaffray, and Topeka Capital …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Toyota Industries Corporation Completes Acquisition of Cascade Corporation
KARIYA, Japan & FAIRVIEW, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Toyota Industries Corporation (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6201) (“TICO“) and Cascade Corporation (NYS: CASC) (“Cascade”) today announced that TICO has successfully completed its acquisition of Cascade for $65.00 per share in a transaction valued at approximately $760 million.
The transaction creates a leading global materials handling business with a wider spectrum of high-quality and innovative products related to the lift truck business. While wholly owned, Cascade will continue to be based in Fairview, Oregon and will operate as an independent subsidiary of TICO. Cascade’s strict policies on confidentiality regarding competitive information will remain unchanged. TICO recognizes and respects the importance of this policy to customers and to the continued success of the business.
TICO completed the acquisition of Cascade through a tender offer and a short-form merger, without a vote or meeting of Cascade’s shareholders. In the merger, each outstanding share of Cascade’s common stock not purchased in the tender offer or otherwise owned by TICO was converted into the right to receive the same $65.00 consideration that was provided in the tender offer, less any required withholding taxes and without interest. Cascade’s common stock will cease to be traded on the NYSE. TICO intends to de-register Cascade’s common stock as promptly as practicable following the effective time of the merger.
Nomura Securities is serving as exclusive financial advisor to TICO and White & Case LLP is serving as legal advisor in connection with the transaction. BofA Merrill Lynch is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Cascade, and Miller Nash LLP is serving as Cascade’s legal advisor.
About Toyota Industries Corporation
Toyota Industries Corporation is a leading transportation equipment company engaged primarily in the manufacture and sale of automobiles, materials handling equipment and textile machinery, as well as in the logistics business in Japan and internationally. Toyota Industries Corporation‘s common stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange where it trades under the symbol “6201”. For more information about Toyota Industries Corporation, please visit www.toyota-industries.com.
About Cascade Corporation
Cascade Corporation is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of materials handling load engagement devices and related replacement parts, primarily for the lift truck industry and to a lesser extent, the construction industry. For more …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Toyota Industries Corporation Announces Successful Completion of Cash Tender Offer for Shares of Cascade Corporation
KARIYA, Japan–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Toyota Industries Corporation (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6201) (“TICO“) today announced the successful completion of the tender offer by Industrial Components and Attachments II, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of TICO, for all outstanding common shares of Cascade Corporation (NYS: CASC) (“Cascade”) for $65.00 per share (the “Offer”). The Offer expired at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on Wednesday, March 27, 2013. Based on preliminary information provided by the depositary, as of the expiration of the Offer, 10,276,861 shares of common stock of Cascade were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn (including 491,605 shares tendered pursuant to notices of guaranteed delivery), representing approximately 91.8% of the outstanding shares. All of such shares have been accepted for payment in accordance with the terms of the Offer.
The waiting period applicable to the Offer and the transaction under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR Act”), expired on March 26, 2013. On March 27, 2013, the Antitrust Division notified TICO and Cascade that it had decided to close its investigation of the purchase of the shares and the merger. Accordingly, the condition of the Offer relating to the expiration or termination of the HSR Act waiting period was satisfied.
TICO, together with its subsidiaries, intends to make prompt payment for the shares of common stock of Cascade validly tendered in the Offer. TICO will then purchase additional shares from Cascade pursuant to the merger agreement and complete and close the merger and acquisition of Cascade without the approval of Cascade’s remaining shareholders. All outstanding shares of common stock of Cascade, other than shares owned by TICO, Purchaser or Cascade (or any of their respective subsidiaries), will be canceled and converted into the right to receive cash equal to the $65.00 offer price per share without interest thereon and less any applicable withholding taxes. In addition, upon consummation of the merger, the common stock of Cascade will cease to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Upon consummation of the merger, Cascade will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of TICO. While wholly owned, Cascade will continue to be based in Fairview, Oregon and will operate as an independent subsidiary of TICO. Cascade’s strict policies on confidentiality regarding competitive information will remain unchanged. TICO recognizes and respects the importance of this policy to customers and to the continued success of the business.
Nomura Securities is serving as exclusive financial …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Steve Schaefer, Forbes Staff
On January 2, 2011, Joe Peta was walking to work on the equities trading desk at Nomura Securities when he was hit by an an ambulance in downtown Manhattan. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Reuters
Filed under: Currency, International Trade, Federal Reserve, World Markets, Interest Rates
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK — The stars are aligning for U.S. dollar bulls. For more than a decade, good times in such markets as stocks and real estate were bad news for the greenback. Investors tended to use the U.S. dollar only as a life jacket when storms raged in risky markets.
Now, though, rather than serving as a hiding place, the dollar is benefiting from the stock market‘s surge to new highs and the improvement in U.S. economic data. The dollar nudged down a tad from a seven-month high against a basket of currencies on Thursday even as the Dow Jones industrial average surged to another record high despite interest rates remaining at record lows.
For instance, the dollar has gained fairly steadily against the yen. In January, it was trading at 86.67 yen to the dollar. On Thursday it was trading at 96.06 to the dollar. Likewise, the British pound has fallen from 1.62 to 1.51 to the dollar so far this year.
The moves suggests the dollar has entered a multi-year bull cycle, and marks a major shift in its behavior against other asset classes.
“Certainly, all the pieces are slowly coming into place for a bull market for the dollar,” said Paresh Upadhyaya, director of currency at Pioneer Investments in Boston, which had assets under management of $204 billion as of the end of last year.
The dollar has outperformed eight out of nine major G-10 currencies so far this year. Political uncertainty in Italy has re-ignited fear about the euro zone’s ongoing debt crisis. Weak economic growth and the prospects of aggressive monetary easing in Japan and Britain have driven the yen and sterling to multi-year lows.
To be sure, there are those who caution that spending cuts from Washington could put a damper on economic growth and the Federal Reserve has pledged to keep interest rates low for the foreseeable future.
Still, capital flows and futures positioning bears out the attitude to U.S. assets.
Cross-border inflows into U.S. stocks are tracking at about $100 billion to $150 billion for 2013, compared with a net neutral level in recent years, according to Nomura Securities. Futures activity shows increased bets on the dollar from speculators.
Commercial Property Sales Affected
And stocks aren’t the only U.S. asset drawing in overseas capital. A recovering commercial property market, where transactions have rebounded by more than four-fold from their post crisis-low in 2009, is also enticing foreign investment.
Purchases of commercial real estate by foreign buyers totaled $24.18 billion in 2012, according to Real Capital Analytics, which tracks the commercial real estate market. That’s up 1.6 percent from the year before …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
The string of record closes for the Dow Jones Industrials continued today, but it’s hard to think of today’s three-point gain as anything more than a technicality. Broader market benchmarks all fell on the day, as tensions in Washington started to escalate once more as House Republicans announced their outline to reduce the budget deficit dramatically over the next three years. With a competing plan expected from the Senate soon, wrangling over the federal budget could continue for the foreseeable future, introducing yet another set of uncertainties for investors.
Caterpillar suffered the biggest loss among Dow stocks, falling more than 1.5% as fears about recent weakness in industrial activity in China continue to challenge the company’s long-term growth thesis. Nevertheless, while the Chinese economy may have to deal with decelerating growth, its growth rates will remain well above those of the developed world, and that should help give Caterpillar superior prospects compared to more domestically focused peers.
General Electric also fell, losing almost 1% as an analyst at Nomura Securities said yesterday that the recent gains in GE‘s stock already reflected most of its positive future potential. Coming on the heels of the company’s own warning in its annual report that political crises like the budget debate could lead to a reduced willingness among U.S. corporations to spend money on capital expenditures, investors need to consider whether GE‘s roughly 30% rise since last June has pushed the stock up too far too quickly.
Outside the Dow, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores plunged nearly 13% after announcing that same-store sales fell 0.5% in its most recent quarter after adjusting for an extra week in this year’s quarter. With the spinoff suffering from many of the same problems that parent Sears Holdings continues to face, the advantage that Sears Hometown has is that its small size makes it more nimble and able to adjust strategies to take advantage of changing conditions. If its move to scale back on consumer electronics succeeds, Sears Hometown may rebound sharply from today’s losses in the long run.
Caterpillar is more than just a global leader in construction machinery. It’s also a benchmark for the entire global economy. Find out whether Caterpillar is pointing to a stronger recovery by reading our premium research report on the stock, which includes expert analysis of the company’s growth initiatives and future prospects. Just click here to access it now.
The article Why Caterpillar Fell Short on the Dow’s 6th Record Day originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter: @DanCaplinger. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Matt Thalman, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
After a seven-day winning streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Average , today may be the day when investors begin to take profits. As of 12:55 p.m. EDT, the blue-chip index is up less than a point, having traded within a tight range all day. There are more losers than winners on the Dow, but a big gain by Merck is helping to keep the index afloat.
It’s important for long-term individual investors to remember that day-traders, money managers, and other Wall Street types will begin taking profits now that the markets have run so high so quickly. If the Dow falls in the short term, don’t panic or follow the herd off the cliff.
The S&P 500 is down 0.23%, while the NASDAQ has lost 0.4%.
Today’s Dow laggards
The Dow’s big pharmaceutical stocks are heading in opposite directions today. Shares of Merck rose by 3.3% after an independent monitoring board gave the company’s cholesterol drug Vytorin a pass, allowing its drug trial to continue. This drug could be a blockbuster for Merck, similar to Pfizer‘s Lipitor.
Speaking of which, Pfizer is seeing much less success today, with shares down 0.8%. Shares began falling this morning after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a warning that Pfizer’s antibiotic Zithromax can cause a life-threating irregular heartbeat. A research study performed by The New England Journal of Medicine back in May concluded that Pfizer’s drug carried a higher risk of cardiovascular death than various other antibacterial drugs.
Shares of Cisco are lower by 1.3% today after Standpoint Research downgraded the stock this morning from a buy to a hold. Cisco did recently hit a new 52-week high at $21.98, which may have prompted Standpoint’s analysts to change their rating.
Another Dow stock moving lower after a recent downgrade is General Electric . Yesterday, Shannon O’Callaghan from Nomura Securities downgraded the stock from buy to neutral, although he kept his price target at $24 per share. General Electric‘s stock is currently down 1%.
For GE, the financial crisis struck a blow, but management took advantage of the market‘s dip to make strategic bets in energy. If you’re a GE investor, you need to understand how these bets could drive this company to become the world’s infrastructure leader. At the same time, you need to be aware of the threats to GE‘s portfolio. To help, we’re offering comprehensive coverage for investors in a premium report on General Electric, in which our industrials analyst breaks down GE‘s multiple businesses. You’ll find reasons to buy or sell GE today. To get started, click here now.
var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Macquarie Announces Senior Hires to Sales and Sales Trading Effort in Boston
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Macquarie Securities, the institutional equities arm of Macquarie Group (“Macquarie”) (ASX: MQG; ADR: MQBKY), today announced two senior equities hires in a further enhancement to its Boston-based US equity sales and sales trading team.
These new hires expand on a range of senior leadership appointments the firm made to its US institutional equities business in July 2012.
Ken Savio, Senior Managing Director and Head of Macquarie Securities USA, said: “Ryan and Steven have a proven track record of excellence in servicing top-tier institutional accounts that are important to our firm. The high caliber of their combined experience demonstrates our continued and deliberate effort to recruit outstanding professionals who are able to contribute immediately to Macquarie and enhance our client-focused offering.”
About Macquarie Group
Macquarie Group (Macquarie) is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. Macquarie’s main business focus is making returns by providing a diversified range of services to clients. Macquarie acts on behalf of institutional, corporate and retail clients and counterparties around the world. Founded in 1969, Macquarie operates in more than 70 office locations in 28 countries. Macquarie employs approximately 13,400 people and has assets under management of over $353 billion (as of September 30, 2012). See www.macquarie.us for more information.
About Macquarie Securities Group
Macquarie Securities Group operates as a global institutional securities house covering sales, research, ECM, execution and …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Capping off a tumultuous financial year, Sony has decided to sell off its shares in DeNA, the company that owns popular games portal and social network Mobage. Sony expects to gain $437 million (or 40.9 billion yen) from the sale. The shares were purchased by Japanese company Nomura Securities.
This could mark a decision by Sony to move away from mobile gaming, instead choosing to focus on the Playstation brand. Freeing up some money with this sort of sale would be a good way to go about that.
Sony revealed the PlayStation 4 last month. DeNA, meanwhile, has produced popular social games in Japan based on brands such as Final Fantasy and Infinity Blade.
Sony will sell off its holdings in mobile game firm DeNA for about US$440 million, the latest in a string of deals that could boost its bid for a profitable year.
The Tokyo-based electronics firm said Monday it will sell its 13 percent share stake, or 17.7 million shares, it holds in the mobile game company to Japanese financial giant Nomura Securities. The profits from the deal will be booked as income for the current financial year, which runs through March.
The stock sale is yet another large deal for Sony that will be recorded as a profit on its balance sheets for the current period. Heading into the last month of its fiscal year, the company has also recently announced the sale of a large Tokyo office complex for $1.2 billion, the sale of its U.S. headquarters for $1.1 billion, and the sale of shares in a medical subsidiary for $150 million.
Sony aims for a modest profit of about $210 million this year. That would mark its first return to the black in five years, a key goal of new CEO Kazuo Hirai.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld
By Kevin Chen, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
In a move to strengthen the company’s capital structure, Sony has struck a deal to sell 17.7 million shares of DeNA, a social games company, to Nomura Securities . Sony expects to realize gains of 40.9 billion yen ($437.3 million). The official selling price of the shares will be disclosed tomorrow evening, March 5. Once the sale closes on March 7, the cash will count as as income during the fourth quarter for the current fiscal year ending in March 31, 2013.
As noted in a statement on Feb. 7, Sony has undergone an investigation to transform its business portfolio and reorgainze its assets to strengthen its corporate structure. Sony made this deal under these stated goals.
The article Sony Sells $437 Million DeNA Shares to Nomura originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Kevin Chen has no position in any stocks mentioned, and neither does The Motley Fool. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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