Greek debt deal: a haircut or a decapitation?

The Press Association: Bond shock for Greek deal investors

Investors participating in a deal to slash Greece's massive debt would face an overall loss on their bond holdings of more than 70%, it has emerged. European leaders at a summit in Brussels said a final debt deal could be signed off in the coming days, together with a second multibillion-euro bailout package designed to save the country from a potentially disastrous bankruptcy.

Illinois bonds rated lowest in the country

Illinois bond rating ranked lowest in US - The Daily Eastern News: News

The Moody's Investors Service, Inc. downgraded the Illinois bond rating from an A1 to an A2 making it the lowest in the nation, and institutions like Eastern are tied to the rating. Three primary companies, which are Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch Ratings, determine the level of assurance that entities like Illinois will pay its debts.

Rain in South America Lowers Corn And Soybean Prices

Corn, Soybean Futures Decline as Rain Aids South American Crops - Businessweek

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Corn fell for the first time in eight sessions and soybeans dropped the most in four months on speculation that rain in South America will boost crop potential, reducing demand for supplies from the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter.

Softs - Highlights of the Day

SOFTS HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories Of The Day - NASDAQ.com

YAOUNDE, Cameroon -(Dow Jones)- A caterpillar infestation in Cameroon's leading cocoa-growing South-West Region is threatening the locality's mid-crop cocoa harvests, several farmers and traders there told Dow Jones Newswires Monday, although it is as yet unclear as to the extent of any damage caused to the crop.

Copper Gains For First Month In Three

Copper Pares First Monthly Gain in Three; Tin Outshines Peers - Businessweek

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell, trimming the first monthly gain since October, with a muted response from the Chinese market to the recent rally. Tin advanced by the most this month since at least 1992 and was poised to become the best performer this month among 80 commodities tracked by Bloomberg.

Natural Gas Down 1.6% On Supply Overhang

US GAS: Futures Settle -1.6% At $2.713/mmBtu Amid Oversupply | Fox Business

NEW YORK – Natural-gas futures settled 1.6% lower Monday amid worries that an even a late winter cold snap won't help overcome the huge supply overhang in the market.

Revised weekend forecasts showing normal and below-normal temperatures in the densely populated eastern U.S. in the early part of February pushed prices up early in the session. But with the outlook for above-normal temperatures for the western two-thirds of the nation still in place, the gains quickly evaporated.

Regulatory action against UBS for rogue trades likely

Regulators Likely to Penalize UBS Over Trading Scandal - WSJ.com

DAVOS, Switzerland—British and Swiss regulators are likely to begin enforcement proceedings against Swiss bank UBS AG for shortcomings that allowed a London trader to make unauthorized trades last year, according to people familiar with the situation.

MF Global Cash "Vaporized"

Missing Funds at MF Global May Have 'Vaporized' - WSJ.com

Nearly three months after MF Global Holdings Ltd. collapsed, officials hunting for an estimated $1.2 billion in missing customer money increasingly believe that much of it might never be recovered, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The nasty side effects of low rates

Heard on the Street: The Negative Effect of Low Rates - WSJ.com

The world's major central banks all speak the same language: extremely low rates for longer. The Federal Reserve may hold rates close to zero until late 2014. The Bank of England is considering more bond buying, while the European Central Bank may cut rates further. The Bank of Japan has been stuck close to zero for more than a decade. But the risk is that persistently low rates start having negative, distorting effects.

Cost of borrowing for Portugal hits a new high

Portugal Borrowing Costs Hit New Highs - WSJ.com

LONDON—Concerns that Greece's delay in striking a deal with private creditors could infect other European economies brought unwelcome attention to Portugal, where borrowing costs Monday pushed into euro-era highs.

And I thought I had a bad year . . .

Former UBS Trader Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud - NYTimes.com

LONDON — A former UBS trader, Kweku M. Adoboli, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of fraud and false accounting that led to a $2.3 billion trading loss at UBS last year.

Currencies for the upcoming week

Currencies: What's in store this week? | Interactive Investor

Comments from the Bank of England saw markets scaling back their expectations of an increase in the UK central bank's asset purchase program at the end of February, but the possibility of such action is still widely expected. To that end economic fundamentals will be closely watched to see if there is any cause for concern regarding a continued softening of the British economy.

Commodities: At the crossroads?

COLUMN-Commodity investment at the crossroads: John Kemp | Reuters

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Investors' enthusiasm for commodity indices and other investment products has supported a huge expansion in banks' commodity desks as well as the number of specialist commodity funds and hedge funds. The question is whether it can be sustained if returns do not start to improve.

Loonie weakens for first day in four

Canadian dollar weakens as European fear persists | Business | Reuters

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, but still remained within striking distance of parity, as weekend Greek debt restructuring talks failed to produce a deal ahead of a key European Union leaders summit.

Broker says Swiss central bank to soften

Swiss central bank will soften currency stance, broker - FTAdviser.com

Currency specialist Hifx has predicted that the Swiss National Bank may step back from its pledge to devote unlimited resources to maintain a minimum exchange rate against the euro following a recent slump in the comparative value of the franc.

Ivory Coast to provide more cocoa supply

Cocoa Leads Declines in Raw Materials: Commodities at Close - Bloomberg

Cocoa fell the most since May on a report that Ivory Coast will start selling beans before the next harvest season begins in October. Coffee slid, and sugar was little changed.

Euro short investors still short . . . so far

IMM CFTC: Euro short investors not rattled despite the rally | TradingFloor.com

Despite the recent EUR rally, which has seen it rebound above 1.30 versus the dollar, hedge funds and large investors continued to increase their bearish view on the European currency in the week to last Tuesday. They net sold another 11,000 futures contracts taking the total short position to a new record of 171,400 contracts, the equivalent of EUR 21.4 billion. This was the fifth week in a row that EURO short positioning reached a new record.

Post-Mortem: CFTC Comittment of Traders Report

Commodity CFTC: Rally attracting further hedge fund buying | TradingFloor.com

Last week hedge funds increased bullish bets to the most in two months as the strong January rally in commodities continued. A total of 97,000 futures and options contracts were added bringing the total to a net long of 979,000 contracts among the 24 US traded commodities that we track in this report. The rise corresponds to a nominal increase of USD 8 billion to 88 billion.