Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Price-to-earnings ratio
Price-to-earnings ratio – A popular way to compare stocks selling at various pricelevels. The P/E ratio is the price of a share of stock divided by earnings per share for a 12-month period.For example, a stock selling for $50 a share and earning$5 a share is said to be selling at a price-to-earningsratio of 10.
Prime rate
Prime rate – The lowest interest rate charged by commercial banks to their most credit-worthy customers; other interest rates, such as personal, automobile, commercial and financing loans are often pegged to the prime.
Profit-taking
Profit-taking – Selling stock that has appreciated in valuesince purchase, in order to realize the profit. The term is often used to explain a downturn in the market following a period of rising prices.
Prospectus
Prospectus – The official selling circular that must be given to purchasers of new securities registered with theSecurities and Exchange Commission. It highlights themuch longer Registration Statement file with the Commission.
Proxy
Proxy – Written authorization given by a shareholder to someone else to represent him or her and vote his or her shares at a shareholders meeting.
Prudent Man Rule
Prudent Man Rule – An investment standard. In some states, the law requires that a fiduciary, such as a trustee, may invest the fund's money only in a list ofsecurities designated by the state - the so-called legal list. In other states, the trustee may invest in a security if it is one that would be bought by a prudent person of discretionand intelligence, who is seeking a reasonable income and preservation of capital
Peugeot and Opel halt talks on further tie-up
LONDON/FRANKFURT/PARIS (Reuters) - General Motors and alliance partner PSA Peugeot Citroen have halted talks on a deeper tie-up amid misgivings aboutthe French carmaker's worsening finances and government-backed bailout, people familiar with the matter said.
The companies, already pursuing an operational partnership announced in February, had also been exploring a full combination of Peugeot with GM 's European unit Opel , which isbased in Germany.
Two sources with direct knowledge of those discussions said they were broken off after Peugeot accepted a state guarantee for its lending arm last month and announced a further deterioration of its cash position.
The automakers have agreedto a "pause" in early-stage talks on a Peugeot-Opel deal, said one of the sources.The government bailout is"sabotaging the plan", he added.
"They now consider that anydeeper tie-up is unlikely before 2014, when the market picks up," another source said.
"The government bailout conditions rule out French job cuts, which means a deal can't happen any faster," he said. "It would be politically impossible to have all the cuts falling on the German side."
A Peugeot spokesman said there were no Opel tie-up talks currently in progress, breaking a month of silence since such talks were first reported.
"There are no such discussions underway," the spokesman said, declining tocomment on past conversations.
GM is "fully focused on earning the benefits from thealliance that we have identified", a Detroit-based spokesman for the U.S. company said, citing previously announced plans.He refused to elaborate on any other discussions.
With their costly French and German plants and exposureto austerity-strapped southern European markets, Peugeot and Opel are major casualties of Europe's protracted slump in auto sales, which has left the industry struggling with surplus capacity.
Peugeot, which is burning though 160 million euros ($200 million) of cash a month, is scrapping 10,000 jobs and a domestic plant. GM, which predicts European losses of $1.5-1.8 billion this year, is in union talks to close an Opel factory in Bochum, Germany.
An imminent tie-up would have required deeper plant and workforce cuts on both sides, the same sources said.
One option discussed wouldhave seen GM transfer Opel to the new combined entity along with a $5 billion cheque to offset future lossesand restructuring, according to one of the people. That could have allowed the U.S. automaker to expunge the underperforming division from its own accounts.
Unlike 15 percent state-owned Renault, Peugeot has no government shareholder.But political influence has grown as its finances weakened, leading to the 18.5 billion euro refinancing deal that put a ministerial representative on the board.
Unveiling the bailout, including a 7 billion euro state guarantee, ministers said they would expect to beconsulted on strategy and sounded a cautious note on the GM alliance.
"Peugeot needs to build alliances," Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said in an October 23 interview withdaily Liberation.
"But we need to ... measure their consequences for our country and obtain Peugeot's commitment to preserve all its French sites," he told the newspaper.
Montebourg's office did not immediately return calls andmessages seeking comment for this story.
The French bailout stirred doubts in Detroit, which further deepened with Peugeot's warning that net debt would rise in 2012 as the group consumes cash faster than it can sell assets.
Peugeot shares have plunged 57 percent this year, compared with a 25 percent gain by GM, which last month posted $1.48 billion in third-quarter profiton strong U.S. sales.
"GM is looking at this and saying, 'What the heck are we doing here?'" said a person familiar with the company's thinking.
"Peugeot's incentives to cooperate may have changed because the Frenchgovernment is at the table," he said. "They're not going to want to have Opel building Peugeot product."
GM and Peugeot announcedplans in February and Marchto pool European purchasing, logistics and vehicle program, including aproject dropped last month for a future small car for Brazil.
The deal also saw GM pay$400 million for a 7 percent stake in its troubled French partner.
The decision to shelve a deeper tie-up may renew critical scrutiny of the existing alliance plan, already questioned by some investors.
The dropped car program inBrazil, where Peugeot needs a partner to cut costs, hurts the company "in the area where they needed help themost", Credit Suisse analyst Erich Hauser said.
Peugeot has sacrificed other relationships and markets to pursue the broader GM alliance, which is now falling short of early expectations.
Ford, a longstanding engine partner, said in April it would stop making larger diesels with Peugeot, and BMW dissolved their hybrid parts venture to team up with Toyota instead.
The companies, already pursuing an operational partnership announced in February, had also been exploring a full combination of Peugeot with GM 's European unit Opel , which isbased in Germany.
Two sources with direct knowledge of those discussions said they were broken off after Peugeot accepted a state guarantee for its lending arm last month and announced a further deterioration of its cash position.
The automakers have agreedto a "pause" in early-stage talks on a Peugeot-Opel deal, said one of the sources.The government bailout is"sabotaging the plan", he added.
"They now consider that anydeeper tie-up is unlikely before 2014, when the market picks up," another source said.
"The government bailout conditions rule out French job cuts, which means a deal can't happen any faster," he said. "It would be politically impossible to have all the cuts falling on the German side."
A Peugeot spokesman said there were no Opel tie-up talks currently in progress, breaking a month of silence since such talks were first reported.
"There are no such discussions underway," the spokesman said, declining tocomment on past conversations.
GM is "fully focused on earning the benefits from thealliance that we have identified", a Detroit-based spokesman for the U.S. company said, citing previously announced plans.He refused to elaborate on any other discussions.
With their costly French and German plants and exposureto austerity-strapped southern European markets, Peugeot and Opel are major casualties of Europe's protracted slump in auto sales, which has left the industry struggling with surplus capacity.
Peugeot, which is burning though 160 million euros ($200 million) of cash a month, is scrapping 10,000 jobs and a domestic plant. GM, which predicts European losses of $1.5-1.8 billion this year, is in union talks to close an Opel factory in Bochum, Germany.
An imminent tie-up would have required deeper plant and workforce cuts on both sides, the same sources said.
One option discussed wouldhave seen GM transfer Opel to the new combined entity along with a $5 billion cheque to offset future lossesand restructuring, according to one of the people. That could have allowed the U.S. automaker to expunge the underperforming division from its own accounts.
Unlike 15 percent state-owned Renault, Peugeot has no government shareholder.But political influence has grown as its finances weakened, leading to the 18.5 billion euro refinancing deal that put a ministerial representative on the board.
Unveiling the bailout, including a 7 billion euro state guarantee, ministers said they would expect to beconsulted on strategy and sounded a cautious note on the GM alliance.
"Peugeot needs to build alliances," Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said in an October 23 interview withdaily Liberation.
"But we need to ... measure their consequences for our country and obtain Peugeot's commitment to preserve all its French sites," he told the newspaper.
Montebourg's office did not immediately return calls andmessages seeking comment for this story.
The French bailout stirred doubts in Detroit, which further deepened with Peugeot's warning that net debt would rise in 2012 as the group consumes cash faster than it can sell assets.
Peugeot shares have plunged 57 percent this year, compared with a 25 percent gain by GM, which last month posted $1.48 billion in third-quarter profiton strong U.S. sales.
"GM is looking at this and saying, 'What the heck are we doing here?'" said a person familiar with the company's thinking.
"Peugeot's incentives to cooperate may have changed because the Frenchgovernment is at the table," he said. "They're not going to want to have Opel building Peugeot product."
GM and Peugeot announcedplans in February and Marchto pool European purchasing, logistics and vehicle program, including aproject dropped last month for a future small car for Brazil.
The deal also saw GM pay$400 million for a 7 percent stake in its troubled French partner.
The decision to shelve a deeper tie-up may renew critical scrutiny of the existing alliance plan, already questioned by some investors.
The dropped car program inBrazil, where Peugeot needs a partner to cut costs, hurts the company "in the area where they needed help themost", Credit Suisse analyst Erich Hauser said.
Peugeot has sacrificed other relationships and markets to pursue the broader GM alliance, which is now falling short of early expectations.
Ford, a longstanding engine partner, said in April it would stop making larger diesels with Peugeot, and BMW dissolved their hybrid parts venture to team up with Toyota instead.
What's the Fiscal Cliff About?
The "fiscal cliff" is a combination of dramatic spending cuts and tax increases mandated to take effect beginning January 2013 if Democratic and Republican lawmakers cannot bridge their differences on how best to reduce the nation's budget deficit and debt.
WHAT IS IT?
The Budget Control Act of 2011, set into law in a grudging political compromise in August that year, forces the government to slash spending by $1.2 trillion over 10 years from Jan. 1, 2013. Next year's cuts, called "sequestration," would be about $109 billion.
What's the Fiscal Cliff About? Also on that date, a package of tax reductions set or extended in 2010 to spur economic growth, as well as an extension of unemployment benefits, willexpire, meaning taxes will rise significantly for most Americans.
WHY WILL THIS HAPPEN?
Democrats and Republicans have long been deadlockedover whether to address a$1 trillion-plus annual budget gap with higher taxes or lower spending.
The BCA was a poison-pill deal designed to force themto find a less austere compromise, but neither sidewould budge before the Nov. 6 election. Now that the vote has passed, they only have a few weeks to find a solution to beat the year-end deadline.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE CLIFF IS NOT AVOIDED
Together the higher taxes paid and lowered spending could slice the $1.1 trillion deficit racked up in fiscal 2012 (ended September 30)by almost $500 billion next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office,vastly improving the government's financial picture.
Recessions: Good for Our Health? But the CBO estimates the shock treatment would send the country back to recession and push the unemployment rate to 9.1 percent.
Deep cuts would come to both defense and non-defense spending. Government suppliers and contractors would lose business, and temporary furloughs could be in store for tens of thousands of federal employees.
Taxes and automatic paycheck deductions would increase for most Americans, reducing the cash they havefor spending, and taxes on capital gains and dividends would rise, hitting investors.
WHAT IS IT?
The Budget Control Act of 2011, set into law in a grudging political compromise in August that year, forces the government to slash spending by $1.2 trillion over 10 years from Jan. 1, 2013. Next year's cuts, called "sequestration," would be about $109 billion.
What's the Fiscal Cliff About? Also on that date, a package of tax reductions set or extended in 2010 to spur economic growth, as well as an extension of unemployment benefits, willexpire, meaning taxes will rise significantly for most Americans.
WHY WILL THIS HAPPEN?
Democrats and Republicans have long been deadlockedover whether to address a$1 trillion-plus annual budget gap with higher taxes or lower spending.
The BCA was a poison-pill deal designed to force themto find a less austere compromise, but neither sidewould budge before the Nov. 6 election. Now that the vote has passed, they only have a few weeks to find a solution to beat the year-end deadline.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE CLIFF IS NOT AVOIDED
Together the higher taxes paid and lowered spending could slice the $1.1 trillion deficit racked up in fiscal 2012 (ended September 30)by almost $500 billion next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office,vastly improving the government's financial picture.
Recessions: Good for Our Health? But the CBO estimates the shock treatment would send the country back to recession and push the unemployment rate to 9.1 percent.
Deep cuts would come to both defense and non-defense spending. Government suppliers and contractors would lose business, and temporary furloughs could be in store for tens of thousands of federal employees.
Taxes and automatic paycheck deductions would increase for most Americans, reducing the cash they havefor spending, and taxes on capital gains and dividends would rise, hitting investors.
NY Attorney General In $210M Madoff Settlement
REUTERS
The New York State AttorneyGeneral’s office on Tuesday announced a $210 million settlement with Ivy Asset Management, an investment firm that steered money to Bernard Madoff.
“Today’s settlement brings accountability for one of the worst financial frauds in American history, and justice to defrauded investors,” saidAttorney General Eric T. Schneiderman in a statement.
Schneiderman said Ivy AssetManagement, a unit of Bank of New York Mellon ( BK ), violated its duties as an investment advisor by putting its own financial interests ahead of its clients.
“An investment adviser should apprise its clients of risks, but Ivy deliberately concealed negative facts it uncovered in its due diligence of Madoff in order to keep earning millions of dollars in fees. As a result, itsclients suffered massive and avoidable losses," he said.
The firm was paid $40 million in fees between 1998and 2008 for steering clientsto Madoff, according to the statement.
In conducting due diligenceinto Madoff’s investment strategies Ivy Asset Management allegedly discovered that Madoff wasn’t doing everything he claimed.
Madoff was arrested in December 2008 and sentenced to 150 years in prison six months later for masterminding arguably the largest financial fraud in history.
The New York State AttorneyGeneral’s office on Tuesday announced a $210 million settlement with Ivy Asset Management, an investment firm that steered money to Bernard Madoff.
“Today’s settlement brings accountability for one of the worst financial frauds in American history, and justice to defrauded investors,” saidAttorney General Eric T. Schneiderman in a statement.
Schneiderman said Ivy AssetManagement, a unit of Bank of New York Mellon ( BK ), violated its duties as an investment advisor by putting its own financial interests ahead of its clients.
“An investment adviser should apprise its clients of risks, but Ivy deliberately concealed negative facts it uncovered in its due diligence of Madoff in order to keep earning millions of dollars in fees. As a result, itsclients suffered massive and avoidable losses," he said.
The firm was paid $40 million in fees between 1998and 2008 for steering clientsto Madoff, according to the statement.
In conducting due diligenceinto Madoff’s investment strategies Ivy Asset Management allegedly discovered that Madoff wasn’t doing everything he claimed.
Madoff was arrested in December 2008 and sentenced to 150 years in prison six months later for masterminding arguably the largest financial fraud in history.
Australia’s Swan warns of U .S. Fiscal Cliff to world economy
The U.S. needs to end itspolitical gridlock in order to avert the so-called fiscal cliff that is jeopardizing a “fragile”recovery in the global economy, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said.
“Without action by Congress, the consequences would be very grave,” Swan said in his e-mailed weekly note yesterday. “The world cannot afford to see a continuation of the gridlock that has bedeviled the U.S. political system in recent years.”
President Barack Obama , claiming a mandate from voters after his Nov. 6 re-election, faces opposition over his call foran immediate tax-cut extension for people earning less than$250,000 and insistence that top earners pay more.
The U.S. faces $1.2 trillion in mandated spending reductions and tax boosts over a decade starting Jan. 1 should Congress fail to agree to reduce theU.S. deficit, which totaled$1.09 trillion in fiscal 2012.
Obama has offered no public concessions to House Speaker John Boehner , who has cited public support for the re-elected House Republican majority for hisstance of backing no increases in tax rates. Obama and Boehner will meet at the White House Nov. 16, along with HouseDemocratic Leader Nancy Pelosi , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell .
Swan, who held discussions with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in Washington last week, called for the Democrats and the Republicans to work together to avoid the cliff.
“Congress must heed President Obama’s call to work together to find common ground and get the U.S. budget back on asustainable long-term track while also continuing to support jobsand economic growth,” Swan said.
The president wants to letGeorge W. Bush-era tax cuts lapse on income of individuals above$200,000 and of married couples above $250,000. That would push the top tax rate to 39.6 percent from 35 percent.
The Senate, controlled by Democrats, and the House, controlled by Republicans, have each passed one-year extensions of their own proposals. The policies preferred by Democrats would lead to about $58 billion in higher taxes on top earners in 2013.
Concern about the impact of a potential political stalemate over the fiscal cliff has already had an impact on global markets. On Nov. 10, the euro slid the most in four months versus the yen on concernthe U.S. budget showdown will push the world’s biggest economy into recession and Greece will struggle for more rescue funds.
The European Commissionon Nov. 7 forecast that the17- nation euro economy will expand 0.1 percent in2013, down from a May forecast of 1 percent. It cut the estimate for Germany, Europe’s largesteconomy, to 0.8 percent from 1.7 percent.
The Congressional BudgetOffice has said the U.S. economy would slow by as much as 0.5 percent next year if Congress fails to prevent measures to reduce the deficit from kicking in on Jan. 1.
While Australia , the world’s 12th-largest economy, has shown resilience to the global slowdown by expanding at an annual pace of about4 percent in the first half of the year, Swan said the lack of a political compromise over the fiscalcliff would threaten all economies.
“The impact could stretch far beyond the U.S., striking a severe blow to the fragile global recovery,” Swan said. “No one should underestimatethe urgency of averting this kind of dire scenario.”
To contact the reporter onthis story: Jason Scott in Perth at jscott14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net
“Without action by Congress, the consequences would be very grave,” Swan said in his e-mailed weekly note yesterday. “The world cannot afford to see a continuation of the gridlock that has bedeviled the U.S. political system in recent years.”
President Barack Obama , claiming a mandate from voters after his Nov. 6 re-election, faces opposition over his call foran immediate tax-cut extension for people earning less than$250,000 and insistence that top earners pay more.
The U.S. faces $1.2 trillion in mandated spending reductions and tax boosts over a decade starting Jan. 1 should Congress fail to agree to reduce theU.S. deficit, which totaled$1.09 trillion in fiscal 2012.
Obama has offered no public concessions to House Speaker John Boehner , who has cited public support for the re-elected House Republican majority for hisstance of backing no increases in tax rates. Obama and Boehner will meet at the White House Nov. 16, along with HouseDemocratic Leader Nancy Pelosi , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell .
Swan, who held discussions with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in Washington last week, called for the Democrats and the Republicans to work together to avoid the cliff.
“Congress must heed President Obama’s call to work together to find common ground and get the U.S. budget back on asustainable long-term track while also continuing to support jobsand economic growth,” Swan said.
The president wants to letGeorge W. Bush-era tax cuts lapse on income of individuals above$200,000 and of married couples above $250,000. That would push the top tax rate to 39.6 percent from 35 percent.
The Senate, controlled by Democrats, and the House, controlled by Republicans, have each passed one-year extensions of their own proposals. The policies preferred by Democrats would lead to about $58 billion in higher taxes on top earners in 2013.
Concern about the impact of a potential political stalemate over the fiscal cliff has already had an impact on global markets. On Nov. 10, the euro slid the most in four months versus the yen on concernthe U.S. budget showdown will push the world’s biggest economy into recession and Greece will struggle for more rescue funds.
The European Commissionon Nov. 7 forecast that the17- nation euro economy will expand 0.1 percent in2013, down from a May forecast of 1 percent. It cut the estimate for Germany, Europe’s largesteconomy, to 0.8 percent from 1.7 percent.
The Congressional BudgetOffice has said the U.S. economy would slow by as much as 0.5 percent next year if Congress fails to prevent measures to reduce the deficit from kicking in on Jan. 1.
While Australia , the world’s 12th-largest economy, has shown resilience to the global slowdown by expanding at an annual pace of about4 percent in the first half of the year, Swan said the lack of a political compromise over the fiscalcliff would threaten all economies.
“The impact could stretch far beyond the U.S., striking a severe blow to the fragile global recovery,” Swan said. “No one should underestimatethe urgency of averting this kind of dire scenario.”
To contact the reporter onthis story: Jason Scott in Perth at jscott14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net
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