morning all
Goodyear to buy Cooper Tire for $2.8 billion, nearly doubling China presence
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co said it would buy Cooper Tire & Rubber Co in a $2.8 billion deal to beef up its portfolio in the high-margin light truck and SUV segments and strengthen its presence in North America and China. Shares of Cooper, which has historically had stronger margins than Goodyear, surged 20% in premarket trade while Goodyear stock down 4%.
The deal, announced on Monday, nearly doubles Goodyear’s presence in China and broadens distribution for Cooper replacement tires through Goodyear’s network of 2,500 retail stores in the country. U.S. and China, the two largest tire markets in the world, account for about one-third of global industry volume.
The combined company will also benefit from Goodyear’s original equipment and Cooper’s strength in the rapidly growing light truck and SUV product segments. The global tire industry was hard hit in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic led to a sharp decline in demand for replacement tires and original equipment, forcing automakers to halt production.
However, industry experts expect a rebound in auto demand this year, fueled by the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, record low interest rates and healthy consumer savings as people held off spending money on large purchases during the pandemic. Under the terms of the deal, the implied cash and stock consideration for Cooper shareholders is $54.36 per share, representing a premium of 24% to its closing price on February 19.
Goodyear expects about $165 million in run-rate cost synergies within two years after the deal closes. Goodyear shareholders will own about 84% of the combined company while Cooper shareholders will own about 16%. Goodyear intends to fund the cash portion of the deal, expected to close in the second half of 2021, through debt financing. The combined company will be headquartered in Akron, Ohio.
Separately, Cooper reported a nearly 3% fall in quarterly revenue, while net income attributable to the company fell 25.8% to $37.99 million the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.
Lazard is serving as lead financial advisor for Goodyear while Goldman Sachs & Co LLC is advising Cooper.
https://www.reuters.com/article/cooper-tire-rubr-ma-goodyear-tire/update-2-goodyear-to-buy-cooper-tire-for-2-8-bln-nearly-doubling-china-presence-idUSL4N2KS34U
RCH720T USAF C-17 Globemaster departed Travis AFB south
Kamel Toe is due back in DC for a "ceremony" at 6:15pm EST
6:15pm EST The President, The First Lady, The Vice President, and THE SECOND GENTLEMAN hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony
https://factba.se/biden/calendar
>>60567 pb
Brazil markets plunge as Bolsonaro shakes up Petrobras to cut energy costs
Brazilian financial markets went into a tailspin on Monday, as investors dumped the country’s currency and stocks, while pushing up interest rates, after President Jair Bolsonaro moved late on Friday to sack the head of state-run oil firm Petrobras after weeks of clashes over fuel price hikes.
The right-wing populist’s intervention in one of Brazil’s most valuable companies, along with a vow to reduce prices in the power sector too, cast growing concern on the government’s commitment to free markets.
Several brokerages downgraded Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, and Bank of America cut Brazilian stocks to ‘marketweight’ in its Latin American portfolio, excluding Petrobras and state power company Eletrobras entirely.
“Today is a pretty ugly day,” said a hedge fund trader in Sao Paulo. “The big concern now is if Bolsonaro’s decisions are going to be limited to public companies, or if he is going to spend more without reforms.”
Petrobras preferred shares and common shares both plunged around 20% in early trading on Monday, wiping more than 60 billion reais ($11 billion) off the company’s value. Some 28 billion reais was wiped off the firm’s value on Friday.
https://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-markets/brazil-markets-plunge-as-bolsonaro-shakes-up-petrobras-to-cut-energy-costs-idUSL1N2KS12Q
02-4452 USAFSOC C-32B departed McGuire AFB with WALDO21 USAF KC-135 tanker as well as PAT302 US Army Beech Huron and staying together
SAM846 SAM798 USAF G5's continue wn with X USAF C-130 Texas ANG departing behind them-also from JBA
Myanmar junta faces 'largest' protest after warning of crackdown
Widespread demonstrations took place against the military in Myanmar on Monday, after a general strike was called on social media, with factories and supermarkets closed, as witnesses said the protest was the largest since the Feb. 1 coup. A 30-year-old sales manager who protested in Yangon said, "Today's protest is the biggest protest that I have ever seen in my life." Crowds gathered on main Yangon streets, defying the junta ban on protests. Riot police were deployed around the U.S. and Chinese embassies and United Nation offices, where many demonstrations were taking place. On Saturday, security forces opened fire to disperse crowds in Mandalay, the second largest city, killing two protesters.
Activists had agitated for a major protest on Monday to mourn the dead, calling the marches the "22222 revolution," referring to the number of twos in the date, Feb. 22, 2021. The number is also an allusion to 8888 Aug. 8, 1988 when a pro-democracy uprising ended in a bloodbath. On Saturday, security forces opened fire to disperse crowds in Mandalay, the second largest city, killing two protesters. The head of a local subsidiary of a Japanese company that operates a garment factory in Yangon said, "Many of our employees said they would take a day off. We didn't know what would happen, so we decided to close the factory." Many are indeed responding to the calls for civil disobedience. Mon Mon, a 35-year-old protester said, "In 1988, I was just 3 years old. I also saw the democratic movement in 2007, but I didn't participate because I wasn't interested. But now I'm here because I can't accept this injustice… I feel it is my duty to take part in this protest. If I were not here, I would feel guilty." There is also a sense of solidarity among protesters. "We are now guarding the students' rally, for their safety. We don't want any harm done to them – lives matter," said Linn Mg Mg Swe, a 25-year-old student and biker. He said, "The generations are different. I think 22222 is better than the 8888 uprising as we have better strategies… We will win this revolution. Today will be historic."
The military warned on Sunday via state television that protesters were leading people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, down a "confrontation path where they will suffer loss of life." Conscious that the country could again face sanctions from the West, the junta has held back on a more severe crackdown so far, particularly in Yangon, where there is a bigger presence of diplomats and foreign media.
On Monday, the foreign ministers of the European Union member states met in Brussels and said they were preparing to sanction those responsible for the coup. The EU urged the junta to immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said before the meeting that the bloc would not be a bystander to the unfolding events. He said, "As a last resort, [we will] prepare sanctions on the military." The sanction that will have the greatest impact on Myanmar is the freezing of preferential tariff treatment. The U.S. and the EU have granted preferential treatment to Myanmar to support the democratization of the country and boost its fledgling economy. As a result, Myanmar exports more than half of its textile products to the EU market.
Meanwhile, China's ambassador to Myanmar, Chen Hai, said in local media that the current political situation was "absolutely not what China wants to see," dismissing rumors that Beijing was given prior warning about the coup.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-junta-faces-largest-protest-after-warning-of-crackdown
>>61614
been wanting to add a caveat in the posted articles but not wanting to bias it.
Agree fully with that.
trying not to overuse it but yeah same here.
U.S. Treasury's cash drawdown - and why markets care
The U.S. Treasury is due to run down a $1.6 trillion bank account at the Federal Reserve as government spending ramps up in the months ahead - a move some analysts warn may crush short-term money rates further and flood financial markets with cash. The Treasury said recently it would halve its extraordinarily large balance at the so-called Treasury General Account (TGA) by April and cut it to $500 billion by the end of June. The U.S. government runs most of its day-to-day business through the TGA - managed by the New York Fed and into which flow tax receipts and proceeds from the sale of Treasury debt.
When citizens or businesses receives a government cheque, they deposit it at their commercial bank, which presents it to the Fed. The Fed then debits the Treasury’s account and credits the bank’s account at the Fed - increasing its reserve balance.
The TGA sits on the Fed’s balance sheet as a liability, along with notes, coins and bank reserves.
But the Fed’s liabilities must match its assets. So a drop in the TGA must see a rise in bank reserves and vice versa. Last year’s reserves drain was masked by the Fed’s $3 trillion in asset purchases.
But when cash flows leaves the TGA, bank reserves rise - potentially increasing lending or investment in the wider economy or markets.
That’s why the government usually keeps TGA balances low. Today’s balance is more than four times year ago-levels. In the past four years, it has rarely surpassed $400 billion and prior to 2016, it never exceeded $251 billion. The TGA balance soared in 2020 because the Treasury ramped up borrowing to pay for an expected $1 trillion-plus in pandemic relief. But as stimulus was approved only in December, the accumulated monies were not all spent.
This year, it plans to run down the balance, slashing first-quarter borrowing plans to a quarter of initial estimates .
That may send what Credit Suisse dubbed a “tsunami” of cash into depositary bank reserves.
What’s more, less Treasury borrowing is seen impacting its main funding avenue of recent years - T-bills and cash management bills, cash-like securities banks use as collateral for repo borrowing and hedging derivative trades. Even before the TGA rundown, U.S. banks are awash with cash. The Fed is buying securities worth $120 billion from them each month, aggregate household savings are $1 trillion above pre-COVID levels, and money-market funds are brimming, with assets $700 billion above pre-pandemic levels.
In short, the M2 money supply aggregate is growing at an annual 26% rate.
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-treasury-liquidity/explainer-u-s-treasurys-cash-drawdown-and-why-markets-care-idUSL8N2KP61Y
AF2 USAF C-40B continues east from LAX depart-cap #2 is RCH720T departing LAX after equipment p/u and ground stop (was ANON on touch down from Travis AFB)
3 US Navy E-6BMercury9s) out form Tinker AFB WEPS22 SHADO23 and ROUND07
PHENOM1 USAF E-8 Joint Stars from Robsn over TX/LA border
PAT302 US Army Beech on final approach at St. Louis-Lambert Airport
X USAF C-130 over Illinois heading sw
SAM846 and SAM798 also continue west at 43k/ft from JBA depart
02-4452 USAFSOC C-32B ahead with WALDO21 USAF KC-135 tanker ahead of it-both out of McGuire AFB
Tuesdays are the historic "hit" days when they set the price for the week.
Bought so much shortly after the 1030am print over the last 20 years cause they would smack it hard on those days
Local coiny hated seeing me walk on those days.