Financial News

Stocks rallied Tuesday as worries about Dubai’s debt problems eased, gold hit a record above $1,200 and GE and Comcast moved closer to a deal on NBC Universal.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 127 points, or 1.2%, closing at the highest point since Oct. 2, 2008. The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 13 points, or 1.2%, and closed just short of a 14-month high. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) rose 31 points, or 1.5%, and remained short of a 14-month high hit a week ago.

Bets that Dubai’s debt problems won’t have a major impact on U.S. institutions lifted stocks late Monday and through Tuesday’s session. Stocks also reacted to the day’s better-than-expected economic readings on construction spending and pending home sales.

"The market is treating Dubai like a non-event and continuing to trade on momentum," said Joe Clark, market analyst at Financial Enhancement Group.

He said that the momentum is likely to keep stocks aloft or even push them higher through year-end, despite the already substantial run up since the March lows.

Since bottoming at a 12-year low March 9, the Dow has gained nearly 60%, the S&P 500 has gained 64% and the Nasdaq has gained 72%.

Investors also kept an eye on auto sales, which were down from October but mostly higher from a year ago. After the close, GM said CEO Fritz Henderson has resigned and will be temporarily replaced by Chairman Ed Whitacre, until a successor is found.

The weak dollar also played a role in the day’s advance, boosting commodity prices and stocks, continuing a trend that’s been in place all year.

Gold touches $1,200: COMEX gold for December delivery rallied $18 to settle at $1,199.10 an ounce, after rising as high as $1,202.70. It’s the first time the precious metal has ever traded at this level.

Company news: AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) said it is wiping out $25 billion of its government debt by selling stakes in two of its life insurance subsidiaries to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Shares gained 8.6%.

General Electric (GE, Fortune 500) has reportedly reached a deal to buy Vivendi SA’s 20% stake in NBC Universal for about $5.8 billion, moving GE closer to its goal of partnering with Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) to create one of the largest U.S. media companies.

GE is looking to sell a 51% stake in NBC Universal to Comcast, while retaining a 49% stake in the company that is valued at around $30 billion.

Dubai and world markets: Dubai World, the city-state’s main investment arm, said it is in talks to restructure $26 billion in debt, cooling worries that it might go into default and wipe out the investment of its creditors.

Global markets slumped last week after the Dubai government asked to defer payments for at least six months on $60 billion in debt owed by Dubai World and Nakheel, its real estate arm.

Overseas markets surged, with London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 all closing with gains of more than 2%. Asian markets rallied too, with Japan’s Nikkei ending 2.4% higher.

Autos: Major automakers reported sales in November that met or topped expectations. But any improvements year-over-year were easy, given the dismal results in November 2008. On a monthly basis, sales slumped from October levels.

Among the standouts: General Motors reported a 1.8% drop in November sales from a year ago, versus forecasts for a drop of 1.3%. But sales were down 15% from October levels. Ford Motor’s sales were little changed from a year ago and down 10% from October.

ISM index: The November manufacturing index from the Institute for Supply Management fell to 53.6 from 55.7 in October, surprising economists who were looking for ISM to fall to 55. However, any reading over 50 implies expansion in the sector.

Pending home sales: Signed contracts to buy homes rose 3.7% in October, the ninth monthly increase in a row, according to a National Association of Realtors report released Tuesday. Pending home sales were expected to have fallen 1% after rising 6% previously.

Other economic news: Construction spending in October was unchanged, the government reported. Spending fell 1.6% in September and was expected to have fallen 0.5% in October, according to analysts’ estimates.

President Obama is due to announce his strategy on Afghanistan in a speech Tuesday night from West Point.

The dollar and oil: The dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for January delivery rose $1.47 to $78.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bonds: Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.27%, from 3.20% late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers four to one on volume of 1.13 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by two to one on volume of 2.20 billion shares. 

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The jury deciding the fate of former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno is deadlocked, for the moment, on most of the criminal allegations against Bruno.

Jurors told U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe on Tuesday afternoon that they have reached a unanimous verdict on two of the eight felony counts of mail and wire fraud facing Bruno. The announcement is the first confirmation of the jury’s progress on deciding whether to convict or acquit Bruno, 80.

However, the jury—made of seven women and five men—also said it has not yet been able to reach a unanimous agreement on any of the remaining six counts against Bruno. Jurors did not say which two counts they’ve reached a decision on, or what their verdict is on those counts.

Sharpe instructed the jury to continue deliberating. Jurors will resume their talks by 8:30 a.m. Wednesday; it will be their fourth day of deliberations.

The jury has no deadline for reaching a verdict. However, Sharpe may have to declare a mistrial if jurors cannot reach unanimous agreement on all of the counts facing Bruno.

Bruno, of Brunswick, is accused of intentionally and illegally covering up his outside business consulting activities while serving as a state legislator. Bruno maintains he is innocent.

The trial wrapped up on Nov. 23. That day, federal prosecutors and Bruno’s defense attorneys spent five hours on their closing arguments, attempting to summarize evidence and testimony from 70 witnesses who appeared at trial.

Visit albany.bizjournals.com for breaking news about the jury’s deliberations and its verdict.

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The total number of bankruptcies filed in the third quarter surged 33% in 2009 and is at the highest level since 2005, according to data released Wednesday.

The American Bankruptcy Institute, an industry research firm, said 388,485 bankruptcies were filed during the last quarter, compared to 292,291 filed during the same period in 2008, according to data released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Filings for the first nine months of the year climbed 35% to 1,100,035, compared to 841,496 filings during the same period in 2008. A total of 1,117,771 bankruptcies were filed last year.

"The spike in bankruptcy filings for both consumers and businesses reflect the continuing effects of today’s weak economy," said ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano in a statement. "With unemployment surpassing 10% and credit to businesses remaining tight, consumers and businesses are increasingly turning to the financial relief of bankruptcy."

Bankruptcies are at the highest level since 2005, when 2,078,415 were filed before Congress passed amendments to the Bankruptcy Code, said ABI.

In October 2005, Congress implemented legislation making it more difficult for filers to prove they should be allowed to clear their debts in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, forcing more to file under Chapter 13. The law triggered more Americans to rush to file for bankruptcy in the months before the law went into affect.

The ABI report said business bankruptcy filings rose 32% in the third quarter of 2009 to 15,177, and filings for the first nine months of the year totaled 45,510, topping the total 43,546 business bankruptcies filed in 2008.

Personal bankruptcies increased 33% to 373,308 during the last quarter, led by a 42% hike in Chapter 7 filings, which totaled 265,721. The number of consumers filing Chapter 13 bankruptcies rose 15% to 107,142 filings in the third quarter, according to ABI.

During a twelve-month period ending Sept. 30 2009, the report said total filings increased more than 34% to 1,402,816, compared to 1,042,993 in the same period of 2008.

Nevada had the highest rate per capita filings in the country, with 10.49 residents per thousand filing for bankruptcy in the year ended Sept. 30. The state also had the highest rate of filings for chapter 7 bankruptcies at 7.53.

Tennessee had the highest rate of filings for Chapter 13 bankruptcies in the 12-month period with 4.36 people per thousand. 

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Swiss bank UBS is threatening to move its headquarters out of Switzerland if the authorities impose too many new regulations in the wake of the global financial crisis, Swiss weekly paper Sonntag CH said.

Oswald Gruebel, chief executive of Switzerland’s biggest bank by assets, made the threat in a speech to businessmen last week, citing the possibility that the authorities would force major banks to reorganize as holding companies, the paper said on Sunday.

A UBS spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

Gruebel spoke to the Zurich Business Club on Thursday at a closed-door event at which reporters were not present.

The idea of forcing banks in Switzerland to operate as holding companies is part of the discussion on supervising banks deemed “too big to fail.”

Switzerland’s relatively small economy is dominated by two mega-banks, UBS and Credit Suisse.

Swiss National Bank Vice-Chairman Philipp Hildebrand, noting total banking assets are more than seven times the size of Swiss gross domestic product, said earlier this month that the country urgently needed tougher regulatory standards than other countries given the relative size of its banks. [ID:nLI129832]

The Swiss government bailed out UBS in October 2008 by injecting 6 billion Swiss francs ($5.95 billion) in return for a stake of some 9 percent, subsequently sold at a profit.

UBS also originally planned to transfer some $60 billion in illiquid assets to the central bank, but this was later reduced to $39 billion.

Swiss regulators believe that forcing multinational banks to operate as national institutions in different countries, controlled by a central holding company, would allow the authorities in a crisis to rescue the Swiss company while letting foreign subsidies go under, the paper said.

But such a structure would oblige the bank to inject capital into the subsidiaries, which would be expensive.

In such circumstances it would be logical to move the holding company abroad, the paper quoted Gruebel as saying.

Gruebel is not the only banker to threaten a move.

Bankers and hedge funds in London often say they will move to Switzerland if UK regulation and taxation becomes too oppressive.

($1=1.009 Swiss Franc)

(Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

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