Deal pushed through by Greek PM

Greek PM pushes through cuts deal | World news | The Guardian

At almost the twelfth hour Athens has done it again: with all eyes in Europe's major capitals focused on it, the country appeared to pull back from the brink early on Thursday morning and instead choose to adopt furiously unpopular austerity measures in return for the rescue loans that are keeping its economy afloat.

Can't Buy Me Love ~ The Beatles

What the Price of Gold Means for Valentine's Day Shoppers - WSJ.com

The high price of gold may send some Valentine's Day jewelry shoppers reeling—or at least prompt them to consider alternatives, like silver and titanium.

Todd Reed

Todd Reed cuff, 18-karat gold with rose cut diamonds and raw diamond cubes ($66,000).

"I'm always shocked when I see how high the prices are," says Ann Burr Tenthoff, a 39-year-old video producer from Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. "I have to remind myself, 'Oh right, gold is through the roof.' So maybe I haven't been buying as much, or I've been buying smaller things."

‘Ugly Year’ for Commodities Traders

Hedge Fund Snaps Seven Annual Gains in ‘Ugly Year’: Commodities - Businessweek

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Coleman is suspending a three-decade trading career to focus on risk after a year in which the Merchant Commodity Fund he co-founded lost 30 percent and its assets contracted twice as much. Assets fell to about $550 million last month, from $1.56 billion at the end of 2010, said Singapore-based Coleman, who gave up trading to become chief risk officer. The biggest losing bet was in sugar before a 10-month decline ended with winning wagers in oil, fuels, sugar and soybeans, he said. The assets of the hedge fund, started in June 2004 with $10 million, are now traded mostly by co-founder Doug King.

LEAKED EU DRAFT TREATY ON MONETARY STABILIZATION DATED JANUARY 27, 2012

Leaked EU Draft Treaty dated January 27, 2012

Leaked EU draft in full of the Treaty On Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union dated January 27,2012.  If you want to know what the EU economic summit leaders are doing read this leaked draft of the treaty on monetary stabilization.

Bond Euphoria Sparked By Trigger-Happy Central Banks

Trigger-happy central banks spark bond euphoria - Telegraph

Corporate bonds have enjoyed a spectacular rally over the last month as central banks flood the world with liquidity, and cash-rich companies bask in glory as gilt-edged assets.

6 month high for Brent Crude

COMMODITIES-Brent hits 6-month high; copper one-week peak | Reuters

London-traded Brent settled at $117.20 

a barrel, rising 97 cents.

With Less Gas From Russia, Italy Is Drawing Down Heating Oil Reserves

Italy Gets Less Gas From Russia Than Sought as Stockpiles Fall - Businessweek

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Italy imported 13 percent less natural gas from Russia than it requested as colder-than-usual weather stoked demand for the heating fuel, depleting reserves.

Italy’s natural gas to hit upper price limits

Italy’s natural gas balancing price expected to hit upper limits | 08/02/12 | ICIS Heren

Thursday's balancing price on the Italian natural gas platform is expected to outturn at €82.80/MWh, market sources said, up from Wednesday's level of €34.02/MWh, following a decision from the regulator. With the PSV Day-ahead trading at €65.00/MWh and the Within-day price reaching €72.50/MWh, traders said on Wednesday that most participants were heavily buying on the Italian hub, in order to have long positions and to be able to sell volumes on the balancing platform, PB-Gas, at the maximum possible price.

EU government debt: Who owes what?

Europe government's debts: how much do they owe? | News | guardian.co.uk

€10,320,106,100,000: that is the total amount owed by the 27 governments of the European Union. Published today on a quarterly basis for the first time, the figures show a big increase across the contitnent - up from 60.3% of GDP in Q3 2008 to a whopping 82.2% now. Of that debt, €8.2tn is owed by governments in the eurozone - which is marginally down in the last quarter but still represents 87.4% of those countries' combined GDP. And is up from 67.7% in 2008.

Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?

Austerity is turning Germany into a basket case too | Business | guardian.co.uk

Exports down by 4.3% in December. Industrial production down by 2.9% in the same month. An economy on the skids? It certainly looks that way. Are we talking about Greece? No. Portugal? Think again. The economy in question here is Germany, which has started to post the sort of data that smacks of a double-dip recession in Europe's biggest economy.

Is splitting the EU a solution?

A solution to the eurozone crisis: it's the real economy, stupid | Frank-Walter Steinmeier | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Europe is debilitated by the effects of two years of desperate crisis management. The prescribed treatment resembles the old practice of bloodletting on ailing patients. Growing debts are paid with more loans, and new loans are made dependent on increasingly severe austerity measures. The results are a greater risk of recession, higher interest rates on refinancing loans, and the need for runaway financial aid to the southern eurozone countries. Greece is a dramatic portent of the direction things could take. Record-breaking unemployment of over 22% in Spain and record interest rates on Portuguese bonds show that the crisis fever is far from abating. Portugal, Spain and even Italy have still not managed to extricate themselves from the downward spiral of recession and debt. It is a vicious circle that increases the risk of a split in the eurozone – something that would have been unthinkable in 2009.

Good demand for bonds - slightly lower in late trade

TREASURIES-Bonds slightly lower in late trade | Reuters

Treasuries fell slightly in lat trade after a $24 billion sale of 10 year debt offering a yield over 2% brought good demand.

Go west smart man

Wall Street Brain Drain Reverses as Mathmatons Migrate to Tech | Betabeat — News, gossip and intel from Silicon Alley 2.0.

“If you’re a smart Ph.D from MIT, you’d never go to Wall Street now,” one hedge fund executive told the magazine. “You’d go to Silicon Valley. There’s at least a propsect for a huge gain. You’d have the potential to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. It looks like he has a lot more fun.”

The end of Wall Street as we knew it

Is This the End of Wall Street As They Knew It? -- New York Magazine

After surprisingly successful financial reform, public vilification, and politics that have turned against them, the Masters of the Universe are masters no longer.

Francois Hollande: If elected will he spark next euro crisis?

Francois Hollande will spark next euro crisis - Matthew Lynn's London Eye - MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Tulle sounds like a pleasant enough little place. A pretty market town in central France, it is in the heart of some fine farming country, and has a fine old cathedral. Still — and meaning no disrespect to its 15,000 people — a few years in charge of its parking permits and refuse collection hardly seems like the best qualification for dealing with potentially the greatest economic crisis that Europe has faced since the end of World War II.

Colder weather spells higher prices for EU natural gas

turning colder again - severe overnight frost united kingdom - uk forecast

A bitterly cold day to come through most of England, wales and the south and east of Scotland. The best sunshien through today is going to be across the Midlands, SW England, Wales and northern Englajnd as well as southern Scotland. There will be more cloud across East Anglia and the southeast, and this could produce an odd snow flurry. Cloudier skies in western Scotland and Ireland, with some outbreaks of rain across western coasts. Highs at 1C over much of the country, but to 4C in Ireland and western Scotland.

Unemployment hides drop in labor force

Unemployment Decline Masks U.S. Labor Force Drop: Economy - Businessweek

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The unemployment rate’s unexpected drop to a three-year low has overshadowed a less-positive labor- market development: fewer Americans are looking for work. Last week’s Labor Department announcement that the jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent in January sent stocks and bond yields higher. The same report showed the share of working-age people in the labor force had declined to the lowest level in 29 years.

Atwater hedge fund is shutting down

Atticus Vets Shutter Hedge Fund | FINalternatives

A difficult fundraising environment for start-up hedge funds has claimed another victim. Atwater Capital, founded two years ago by a pair of Atticus Capital veterans with seed capital from Atticus founder Timothy Barakett, is liquidating and returning money to investors, Financial News reports. The firm threw in the towel after it was unable to reach critical asset mass, sources said.

Mett the Glenstrata deal makers

Meet the 'Glenstrata bankers'

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are advising Glencore on the deal. They both led last year’s initial public offering of the commodities trader alongside Credit Suisse. Xstrata named four banks, including long-term relationship banks JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, as well as Goldman Sachs and Nomura International.

Barclays Capital wins Xstrata advisory role

BarCap muscles in on Xstrata advisory mandate

Glencore and Xstrata yesterday confirmed the long-awaited agreement on a merger, with the new entity to be called Glencore Xstrata International, should the deal go ahead. It is understood that Barclays Capital, which has been making steady ground in the European M&A league tables in recent years, has won a last-minute role on the deal, according to three sources familiar with the deal.

Sudan borrowing $2 Billion from Qatar to shore up its currency

Qatar Loans Sudan $2 Billion Amid Slipping Currency | LoanSafe

Source: Sudan Tribune -- The government of Qatar is set to loan Sudan USD $2 billion as the country enters a phase of deep economic crisis that was compounded by the secession of the oil rich South less than a year ago.

Critics wrong on Bernanke economy: I guess I like it fine . . . so far

Bernanke Economy Shows Critics Wrong on Fed - Bloomberg

The numbers are proving Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s critics wrong. More than a year after Republicans from House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio to presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas warned that the Fed’s second round of asset purchases risked a sharp acceleration in prices, the surge has failed to materialize. The personal-consumption-expenditures price index rose 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending in December, near the central bank’s 2 percent target.

Bonds flat in front of Greek deal

TREASURIES-Bonds flat; await Greek deal before 10-yr sale | Reuters

NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries prices
held steady on Wednesday in volatile trading in
advance of a $24 billion sale of new 10-year government debt.

California gold rush: There's still gold worth fighting over in them thar hills!

AP Enterprise: CA mine dispute recalls wild past

California's Gold Rush was more than a century-and-a-half ago, but its Wild West spirit lives on in a dispute between government agencies and a landowner in the Sierra Nevada foothills that some officials describe as one of the most egregious cases of illegal mining they have ever encountered.

2012 oil demand to be unchanged

EIA projects 2012 oil demand around 2011 levels - Commodities - Futures Magazine

Geopolitics and support from the macro price drivers sent oil prices higher yesterday...including WTI, which has been the main laggard in the oil complex. WTI found additional support as modest profit taking selling hit the surging Brent/WTI spread after a recommendation by GS to sell the spread. Even with a round of spread selling the Brent/WTI spread is still hovering around the $17/bbl level (premium to Brent) and still overvalued with more downside to come. Finally, last night's API inventory report (see below for more details) showed a small draw in PADD 2 and a small build in Cushing, Okla. crude oil stocks, which is mostly neutral at the moment. The more important or more widely followed report will be the EIA report that will be released later this morning. As I have been discussing for several weeks the order of oil price drivers has changed with the macro or external price drivers playing a more secondary role while geopolitics and fundamentals are playing a more primary role in setting the direction of oil prices.

ICE Sees Rising Revenue And More Commodities Traded

UPDATE: ICE Sees 2012 Revenue Rising On Commodities Trade - WSJ.com

IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) expects its revenue in 2012 to grow by at least 10% thanks to rising demand for the derivatives exchange operator's commodity markets, with profits seen benefiting from a reduced tax rate, according to a senior executive. Atlanta-based ICE reported on Wednesday a 28% rise in fourth-quarter earnings due to solid trading volume in the commodity exchange operator's futures contracts and over-the-counter energy business. Ongoing growth in ICE's energy and agricultural commodities futures markets, as well as increased participation from emerging market countries, will drive "double-digit revenue growth" in 2012, Scott Hill, chief financial officer, said on a conference call Wednesday.

BlackRock Says QE3 Unlikely - Bill Gross Disagrees

BlackRock’s Doll Says QE3 Unlikely in Contrast to Gross - Businessweek

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc., the world’s biggest asset manager, says the Federal Reserve will refrain from conducting a third round of debt purchases as the economy grows. The outlook contrasts with that of Bill Gross, who runs the world’s largest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co. and says the Fed may buy several more times. The central bank has purchased $2.3 trillion of debt in two rounds of quantitative easing known as QE1 and QE2 as it seeks to support the world’s biggest economy. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Jan. 25 that he’s considering another program of purchases.

BlackRock Bearish on Bonds

Treasuries Fall as Asian Stocks Gain; BlackRock Bearish on Bonds - Businessweek

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell for a second day, the first back-to-back loss in two weeks, as gains in Asian stocks reduced investor appetite for debt before the U.S. sells 10-year notes today and 30-year bonds tomorrow.

Binary Options Daily Analysis – Greek Hopes Push up Euro, Treasuries Slide

Inside Futures: Relevant trading-focused information authored by key players in the futures, options and forex industries

Indecision gripped European traders, leaving the major indexes mixed at the close. The CAC40 rose .2%, while the DAX slipped .2%, and the FTSE closed flat. Excitement abated over the potential merger of Xstrata and Glencore, as several major shareholders said they’d vote against the deal, sending shares of both companies down roughly 4%.

Italy and Spain yields fall

EURO GOVT-Italy, Spain yields fall on Greek deal optimism | Reuters

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Italian and Spanish government bond yields fell on Wednesday, narrowing the spread over German Bunds which came under pressure on optimism Greek politicians would finally reach agreement on reforms needed to secure further financial aid.

Gold tests $1,750

Gold tests $1,750 as Greece buys more time | Reuters

(Reuters) - Spot gold briefly rose above a resistance level of $1,750 an ounce on Wednesday, as investors waited for Greece to grind towards a deal on a rescue package that it urgently needs after missing a string of deadlines.