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The top-tier Asian economic data cupboard on Thursday is bare, meaning regional markets will probably feed off U.S. earnings, banking sector woes, debt ceiling developments and geopolitical events for direction. This was followed up on Wednesday by Meta (META.O), whose shares surged 12% after hours after the company’s strong earnings beat. First Republic Bank's (FRC.N) shares plunged to another record low, but PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) jumped 8% after beating estimates and stemming deposit outflows. The yuan was used in 48.4% of transactions, Reuters calculated, while the dollar's share declined to 46.7%. China added to its Treasuries holdings in February, but not enough to make up for the fairly heavy selling in January.

☆ Few Banks Are Hedging Interest-Rate Risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Matt Grossman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Few U.S. banks protected themselves against rising interest rates during the Federal Reserve’s monetary-tightening campaign last year, according to a research paper that says unhedged securities holdings are more widespread than investors might realize. The paper—“Limited Hedging and Gambling for Resurrection by U.S. Banks During the 2022 Monetary Tightening?”—contends that hundreds of other banks share that risk, which played a role in the collapse last month of Silicon Valley Bank. The paper didn’t single out individual institutions, instead presenting an analysis of aggregate data.

☆ Cirrus Logic slumps as analyst says Apple to abandon button design change
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) supplier Cirrus Logic Inc (CRUS.O) tumbled about 12% after a renowned analyst said the iPhone maker will abandon the solid-state button design for premium variants of its iPhone 15 series of smartphones. Amid speculation Apple would use a button format that remains static, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, known for his accurate predictions related to Apple's product launches, said in a blog post the company decided to abandon the design shift. "Investors had anticipated that the new solid-state button design would increase suppliers' revenues and profits," Kuo said. Shares of integrated circuit maker Cirrus Logic have hit their lowest in over two months and are set for their worst day in about two years. Cirrus Logic declined to comment.

[1/2] European Central Bank and SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) logos are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. SVB, which does business as Silicon Valley Bank, was not immediately available for comment. "Silicon Valley Bank is shedding light on vulnerabilities across the US banking sector, primarily in the bond holdings that many large institutions hold," said Karl Schamotta, Chief Market Strategist at Corpay. “The current liquidity run on Silicon Valley Bank is having a knock-on effect on the wider banking system," said Rick Seehra, Prudential Lead at Bovill. But banking experts said SVB's issues were unique and the worries about the broader sector were not warranted.

"In response...the FOMC continued to rapidly increase interest rates and reduce its securities holdings," the report said, and also "anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate." The document noted that U.S. financial conditions have tightened since the Fed's last report to Congress in June, and hinted that the impact of monetary policy was intensifying in some corners of the economy. Business loans by banks grew through 2022 "but decelerated in the fourth quarter," the report said. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will discuss the report and Fed policy in back-to-back congressional hearings next week, appearing at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee and Wednesday at 10 a.m. before the House Financial Services Committee. It will be Powell's first testimony since the Republican party took control of the House after the November midterm elections.

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The global nickel market flipped from deficit to surplus over the course of 2022, according to the International Nickel Study Group (INSG). Indonesia's mined nickel production expanded by 48% to 1.58 million tonnes in 2022, according to the INSG. However, as Indonesian production of Class II nickel rises, the Class I market shrinks. Around 70% of the physical nickel supply chain is now priced at a discount to the LME benchmark. LME nickel volumes slumped by 28% last year and January's activity was 60% lower than that of January 2022.

☆ Exclusive: CME to launch nickel contract using prices from new platform -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Pratima Desai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

CME want a nickel contract, they are planning to base it on traded prices on GCH's physical platform," one of the sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. In response to a request for comment, CME said: "We cannot comment on whether we are developing any particular product." Nickel industry sources said illiquidity meant LME nickel prices often did not represent the fundamentals of the market. "There aren't really any alternatives to the LME contract at the moment and the market needs a liquid contract. Using ShFE's nickel contract is difficult for non-Chinese firms as they need to be affiliated with a local entity and because it is priced in yuan.

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb 22 (Reuters) - Although China's selling of U.S. Treasury securities over the past year raises multiple geopolitical questions, it's merely switching to other dollar bonds - casting doubt about a more alarming strategic investment shift. Beijing's stash of U.S. government bonds ended last year at $862.3 billion, the lowest since May, 2010, according to Refinitiv data. Meanwhile, China's holdings of U.S. agency bonds last year rose by $50.9 billion and valuation effects accounted for $34.8 billion. This means the real increase was $85.9 billion, substantially more than the decline in Treasuries holdings. "Maybe the big story is there is no sign that China's dollar holding portfolio has changed much.

☆ Bank earnings become a post-Covid parlor game
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Chief among the mysteries is how much interest banks will harvest in 2023 and beyond. Even then, the link between benchmark interest rates and the rate banks actually charge is getting harder to forecast. Bank of America boss Brian Moynihan said that depositors who used to have roughly $3,500 with the bank now have almost four times more. Goldman just laid off 6% of its workforce, but it remains bigger than it was in 2019; Bank of America says it’s still hiring. To that end, the fog is arguably less troublesome for Goldman and Morgan Stanley than it is for JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup (C.N).

The TGA is a liability on the Fed's balance sheet. This means that when the TGA goes down, reserves go up, effectively administering an injection of liquidity into the system. chartThis runs counter to the Fed's current stance of pursuing a tighter monetary policy, of which draining liquidity from the system via QT is a part. Mark Cabana, head of U.S. rates strategy at Bank of America, calculates that since the Fed's QT program got underway last May, the Fed's balance sheet has shrunk by $406 billion and the TGA has dropped $422 billion. "Fed QT to date has been largely absorbed by lower TGA," he and his team wrote in a recent note.

☆ Cramer's lightning round: I like Entegris
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Loading chart...ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd : "I don't trust it. Loading chart...CF Industries Holdings Inc : "I like Mosaic more, but I like CF a lot." It's very plain vanilla, nothing really exciting about it, but that's okay." Loading chart...Clearfield Inc : "Lately, since this year began, when you see a stock go down, you've got to be very careful. Loading chart...Steel Dynamics Inc : "I like Steel Dynamics, but I love Nucor ."

LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - March 2022 will go down in the history books as the moment the global nickel market broke down. The search is on for a new nickel price discovery process. Global Commodities Holdings (GCH) thinks it has a solution, a blast from the LME's own distant past that could have far-reaching consequences for industrial metals trading. This is self-evidently true of the LME nickel contract, which simply could not absorb the scale of short positions accumulated by China's Tsingshan Group. It may not just be nickel players keeping a close eye on GCH's proposed new metals pricing solution.

☆ Mosaic misses profit estimates on lower fertilizer prices, Hurricane Ian damage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Mosaic Co (MOS.N) on Monday became the latest fertilizer maker to miss third-quarter profit estimates, hurt by damage from Hurricane Ian and cooling prices of crop nutrients. Prices of nutrients such as phosphates and potash have cooled from the near record highs they touched earlier this year as farmers cut back on fertilizer use to rein in costs. Reuters GraphicsRivals Nutrien Ltd (NTR.TO), CF Industries Holdings Inc (CF.N) and Intrepid Potash Inc (IPI.N) missed quarterly profit estimates last week, with top fertilizer maker Nutrien also cutting its full-year earnings forecast. Adjusted earnings in its potash segment more than tripled to $871 million, but earnings in its phosphate segment were flat. Excluding items, however, the company earned $3.22 a share, missing Wall Street consensus of $3.40 as per Refinitiv data.

☆ Even Barry Sternlicht is getting hammered by rising rates. A recent deal his $6 billion firm backed out of shows how.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The scuttled deal shows how rising rates have hit Starwood CEO Barry Sternlicht's bottom line. It has canceled its plans to purchase the Stamford, Connecticut, mortgage originator Luxury Mortgage Corp., according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The situation with Luxury Mortgage, however, shows how rising rates have also affected Starwood's bottom line. A budding partnership was upended by rising ratesIn recent years, Starwood has become one of Luxury Mortgage's biggest customers. Luxury Mortgage's business has also been strained in recent months.

☆ A decades-long bear market could hit the US stock market as the Fed gets serious about reducing its $9 trillion balance sheet, hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US stock market could fall into a decades-long bear market similar to Japan in 1989, according to hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein. Weinstein told the Financial Times the Fed's quantitative tightening will drive the decline lower. Weinstein, who runs the near $5-billion hedge fund Saba Capital, told the Financial Times that the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening policies will drive big declines in asset prices. The hedge fund manager is holding onto credit default swaps as insurance against further equity losses, as he believes a recession will ultimately lead to corporate defaults and widening credit spreads. There's a lot of fear, but there's been a lot of time for people to think about [the issues]," Weinstein said.

☆ Cramer's lightning round: Stay long on CF Industries
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

I say, stay long." Loading chart...Dutch Bros Inc : "I want you to put half the position on now, and then half when it goes below $30. I'm going to have to say, once again, [don't buy.]" Loading chart...Cano Health Inc : "I like the healthcare space, I think they do quality healthcare work, and I'm going to have to say that I think it's worth buying." I have to say, [don't buy]."

☆ Exxon Mobil signs first carbon capture deal with CF Industries
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailExxon Mobil signs first carbon capture deal with CF IndustriesExxon Mobil's Dan Ammann joins CNBC's David Faber to discuss the company's first carbon capture deal with CF Industries Holdings.

Exxon says it will transport and store underground 2 million metric tons of CO2 per year produced starting in 2025, when CF Industries opens a $200 million CO2 compression facility in Louisiana to process emissions from its ammonia production. He declined to comment on financial terms of the deal with CF Industries. Exxon signed a parallel agreement to use Enlink Midstream's network to transport the CO2 to the storage site. While critics view carbon sequestration as greenwashing by polluters, Exxon says the business can achieve double-digit percentage returns while limiting planet-warming gases. The Louisiana initiative is part of the company's planned $15 billion investment by 2027 in low carbon operations.

The Fed's relentless interest rate-raising campaign, and resulting worldwide surge in the dollar, is tightening global financial conditions at an alarming pace. Many feel this should put global financial leaders on the highest contagion alert. China's central bank has asked major state-owned banks to be prepared to sell dollars overseas to stem the yuan's descent. chartchartEINSTEIN & INSANITYThere are signs that the recent global market turmoil is opening eyes in Washington. Perhaps surprisingly then, the last time G7 central banks acted together in FX was in 2001, selling yen for dollars.

☆ Morning Bid: Asia's FX doom loops
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBanknotes of Japanese yen and U.S. dollar are seen in this illustration picture taken September 23, 2022. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterAnd the dollar. Central banks will find it hard to break this doom loop. And talking of doom loops, if Asian central banks sell chunks of their U.S. Treasuries holdings to support their domestic currencies, U.S. yields rise, Treasuries are more attractive, investors pile in, and the dollar strengthens. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Union Pacific says track congestion hurting ability to meet demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA Union Pacific rail car is parked at the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail) Toronto Yard in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada March 20, 2022. REUTERS/Chris HelgrenApril 21 (Reuters) - Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) said on Thursday congestion on tracks was hurting its ability to meet shipping demand even as price hikes helped the U.S. railroad operator top market expectations for quarterly results. Freight shipment demand, however, has allowed companies including Union Pacific to raise prices and mitigate the impact of congestion, labor shortage and rising costs. Total operating revenue in the quarter rose to $5.86 billion, topping analysts' expectations of $5.72 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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