GM to file for Chapter 11 protection General Motors will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Monday, in a humiliating fall from grace for a symbol of America's industrial might and the world's biggest carmaker for much of the 20th century, the FT said. The government said on Sunday night that it would provide an additional $30.1bn in financing to get the company through bankruptcy, which would be the third largest in US history. Lex also comments on GM's "fin de viècle". See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56422/gm-to-file-for-chapt
| Nomura staff warm to western contracts Nomura has persuaded half of its jobs-for-life Japanese investment bankers to give up their local contracts and adopt more volatile western deals, in the mould of the Lehman Brothers operations it acquired last autumn. Kenichi Watanabe, Nomura's chief executive for just over a year, told the FT that "more than 50 per cent" of the 1,600 investment bank staff in Japan had filled out registration forms for Lehman-style contracts that would cut their basic pay and make them easier to sack, in exchange for potentially higher performance-related bonuses. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56423/nomura-staff-warm-to
| MPs' expenses are distraction from recession The furore over MPs' expenses is proving a damaging distraction from the serious economic questions that need to be addressed by all the main political parties, business leaders have warned. Employers are becoming alarmed that measures to fight the recession are being neglected as Westminster's focus turns inwards, the FT said. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56430/mps-expenses-are-dis
| Investors sceptical on stock market rebound The majority of the world's leading investors do not believe the recent strong performance of stocks and other risky assets is sustainable, according to a report by Barclays Capital released on Monday. The report shows that just 17.5 per cent of the 605 investors interviewed for BarCap's quarterly FX investor sentiment survey - including central banks, asset managers, hedge funds and international corporate customers - think risky assets have further to rise, the FT said. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56426/investors-sceptical-
| Demand applies brakes to plummeting house prices A shortage of new homes for sale has ended house price falls, the Times reported, citing figures published on Monday by Hometrack. The housing market analyst said that the average house price stayed the same from April to May at £155,600, the first time in 20 months that its survey has not shown a month-on-month decline in prices. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56434/demand-applies-brake
| Generali backs eastern Europe buy-out group Generali, the Italian insurer, has launched a new private equity venture targeting central and eastern Europe in partnership with PPF, the Czech financial group created by Petr Kellner, one of the richest men in the region. The venture, named PPF Partners, has already raised €615m ($869m) from Generali, PPF and Mr Kellner himself. The move is a surprise as Generali has taken a cautious approach to private equity, the FT said. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56432/generali-backs-easte
| US probes target British business British-linked businesses are the prime foreign targets of US corporate bribery probes, according to research published by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on Monday that highlights how UK companies and executives are being caught up in Washington's purge on international corporate corruption. The cases - which can lead to huge corporate fines and jail sentences for executives - are likely to add to international pressure on Britain to mount corruption prosecutions of its own after its much-criticised scrapping of a probe into BAE Systems' Saudi Arabian arms deals, the FT said. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56431/us-probes-target-bri
| US and China eye economic co-ordination Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, begins two days of top-level economic talks in Beijing on Monday amid a tightening focus on the need for the US and China to co-ordinate their exit strategies from the financial crisis. Mr Geithner will stress the US desire for China to gain influence in multilateral economic debates in the hope that this will assuage China's dissatisfaction at the current economic order, the FT said. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56424/us-and-china-eye-eco
| Cadbury sees India as cocoa growth market Cadbury is looking to build on its dominant position in India's chocolate market by turning the country into a regional centre for cocoa production, the FT said. The UK-based producer of brands such as Cadbury's Dairy Milk and Bournville said India was proving to be one of its most resilient markets, with profit continuing to grow at about 20 per cent a year, and sales at 30 per cent - in spite of the global recession. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56429/cadbury-sees-india-a
| US energy braced for hurricane pressure Rising reinsurance rates and falling capacity have left some insurers and US energy producers with more to fear than in past years as the Gulf of Mexico hurricane season begins on Monday, the FT reported. A severe storm season would put "big pressure" on the Gulf energy industry, according to brokers at Marsh, as producers have been left with little or no insurance cover. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56427/us-energy-braced-for
| Bonuses are back, baby Don't sell the Lamborghini just yet, counsels FT columnist and M&A correspondent Lina Saigol. According to a report issued by pay consultants Johnson Associates last week, expect a rebound in bonuses for 2009 on the back of strong first-quarter earnings. Bankers in equities, fixed income, currencies and interest rates could see an increase of between 20 to 30 per cent on 2008 bonuses, while multi-year guarantees are also flooding the market. See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56428/bonuses-are-back-bab
| Overnight markets: Up Asian markets rose on Monday, buoyed by an expansion in Chinese manufacturing and extending their longest monthly winning streak since 2007, Bloomberg reported. The MSCI Asia Pacific index had rallied 1.5 per cent by noon in Tokyo, where the Nikkei had hit a near eight-month high by the end of the morning session. Asian markets (Mon)
04:10 BST
Nikkei up 75.08 (0.8%) at at 9,597.58
Topix up 11.87 (1%) at 906.41
Hang Seng up 284.42 (1.57%) at 18,455.42 US markets (Fri)
S&P500 up 12.31 (1.36%) at 919.14
DJIA up 96.53 (1.15%) at 8,500.33
Nasdaq up 22.54 (1.29%) at 1,774.33
European markets (Fri)
Eurofirst 300 up 1.96 (0.23%) at 862.17
FTSE100 up 30.40 (0.69%) at 4,417.94 Currencies
04:07 BST
€/$ 1.416 (1.3862)
$/¥ 94.8 (96.4100)
£/$ 1.6236 (1.5959) Commodities
04:00 BST
Brent Crude (ICE) up $0.61 at $66.13
Light Crude (Nymex) up $0.62 at $66.93
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up $5.20 at $984.00
Copper (Comex) up $3.90 at $223.65 10-year government bond yields (%)
04:05 BST
US 3.51 (3.61)
UK 3.80 (3.79)
Germany 3.68 (3.63)
Japan 1.48 (1.49) Sources: FT, Bloomberg See this article online.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/06/01/56433/overnight-markets-up
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