Anonymous ID: 898c88 June 24, 2021, 10:41 a.m. No.65890   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>5894 >>5931 >>5933

Banks involved in Archegos meltdown face DOJ probe

 

U.S. investigators who focus on corporate collusion are examining how global banks handled multibillion-dollar trades with Bill Hwang's Archegos Capital Management, Bloomberg Law reported on Thursday.

 

At least part of the probe is being handled by the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust division, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Archegos, a family office run by former Tiger Asia manager Hwang, defaulted on margin calls in March, leaving banks nursing heavy losses and sparking a fire sale of shares including ViacomCBS (VIAC.O) and Discovery Inc (DISCA.O).

 

The blowup cost big global banks including Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), Nomura Holdings (8604.T), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) more than $10 billion in losses. The banks declined to comment, while the DOJ did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/banks-involved-archegos-meltdown-face-doj-probe-bloomberg-law-2021-06-24/

Anonymous ID: 898c88 June 24, 2021, 10:49 a.m. No.65891   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>5894 >>5931 >>5933

Multi-Trillion Funding Squeeze On Deck Once Fed Greenlights $140BN In Bank Buybacks Today

 

Today after the close, the Fed will release the results of its latest bank health check when at 430pm the central bank will find that the big six U.S. banks will all pass the stress test with enough capital to withstand economic turmoil, greenlighting continued funding of distributions to shareholders.

 

According to Bloomberg, one year after the Federal Reserve capped stock buybacks and dividends, the central bank is poised to lift remaining Covid-19 restrictions for banks that perform well on this year’s exams (i.e., all of them) when the results are announced later today, and as a result all six of the biggest US banks - a group that also includes Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs - are expected to pay out $142 billion in capital to shareholders, paving the way for them to double total shareholder payouts in the next four quarters, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on estimates provided by analysts at Barclays Plc. While the Fed's stress test long ago devolved to a joke, with virtually all banks always passing no matter how draconian the assumptions (apparently nobody at the Fed could possible conceive a global pandemic that would have destroyed the financial system had the Fed not nationalized the bond market and injected $3 trillion in liquidity in 3 months one year ago), the exercise has devolved into nothing more than a calculation of how much of the piles of cash that banks are currently sitting on can be doled out to investors.

 

“It truly is just a math exercise now,” said Jason Goldberg, an analyst at Barclays. “Given the fact that these banks did really well in the December Covid stress test and generally have more capital today than they did then, they should screen well.”

 

Well of course they will: after all the Stress Test is also a way for the Fed to pat itself on the back for a job well done, having once again saved the financial system which to this day exists on life support courtesy of trillions in excess reserves that will simply never go away.

 

New Schedule

 

The day of the results used to be a frantic affair and banks that survived the exams would quickly announce their plans for distributing capital to investors. But now those plans don’t need the Fed’s sign-off because each bank knows its exact capital minimum. A lender can do whatever it likes with its excess cash. After the results are revealed, the Fed will specify the soonest that banks can announce their latest buyback and dividend intentions. It probably won’t be until next week when firms reveal their plans, though, and banks can choose to do so at a later date as well.

 

The Fed tested 23 banks in total this time around, a list that includes domestic firms and U.S. subsidiaries of foreign lenders. Banks that pass the annual exam remain subject to a constant requirement that they stay above their capital target for the rest of the year. If a lender falls below at any point, the Fed can initiate enforcement actions before waiting for the next stress test. The stress capital buffer was technically implemented last year; however, because banks were subject to the pandemic-era limitations on shareholder returns, 2021 will be the first year the new system is in full effect.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/feds-greenlighting-140bn-bank-buybacks-will-spark-multi-trillion-funding-squeeze

pb

>>64523, >>64547 Economic Schedule for week of June 20, 2021

Anonymous ID: 898c88 June 24, 2021, 10:58 a.m. No.65892   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>5894 >>5931 >>5933

>>65831 pb

RCH831T USAF C-17 on descent for El Paso Int'l for Kneepads "visit"

 

Kamala Harris coming to El Paso Friday for her first border visit

Vice President Kamala Harris will come to El Paso on Friday, the first visit to the border by the Biden administration’s point person on migration issues. Details of the visit have not been released, other than that she will be accompanied by Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkas. Republicans have kept up a steady drumbeat of criticism of the vice president because she has not visited the border since taking on her migration portfolio.

https://elpasomatters.org/2021/06/23/vice-president-kamala-harris-coming-to-el-paso-friday-for-her-first-border-visit/

 

RCH819T USAF C-17 Globemaster continues ws from it's JBA load-in

Muh guess is that kneepads heads to LA after this show tomorrow and this AC is the equipment for dat.

Anonymous ID: 898c88 June 24, 2021, 11:42 a.m. No.65901   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>5931 >>5933

Berkshire Hathaway appears to buy back more stock

 

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc appears to have extended its drive to repurchase its own stock, even with its share price near a record high, according to regulatory filings and an analyst.

 

Edward Jones & Co analyst James Shanahan estimated that buybacks have totaled about $5.15 billion between April 22 and June 22, and about $6.46 billion in the second quarter, based on Berkshire’s average share price during the applicable periods. Berkshire did not immediately respond on Thursday to a request for comment.

 

Buffett has aggressively repurchased Berkshire shares as high stock market valuations and the growth of special purpose acquisition companies, which take private companies public, made buying whole companies appear expensive. “It’s a killer,” Buffett said at Berkshire’s May 1 annual meeting, referring to SPACs. Berkshire repurchased $6.6 billion of stock in the first quarter, and a record $24.7 billion in 2020. Its last major acquisition was a $32.1 billion takeover of aircraft parts maker Precision Castparts in 2016. Berkshire ended March with $145.4 billion of cash and equivalents. “There could be deal frustration,” said Cathy Seifert, a CFRA Research analyst with a “hold” rating on Berkshire. “Share buybacks also reflect confidence in one’s stock.” Berkshire may discuss buybacks in its financial report for the second quarter, likely in early August.

 

On Wednesday, Buffett donated more than $4.1 billion of his Berkshire stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities. The donations left him with a 15.8% stake in his Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate, regulatory filings show. That stake suggests Berkshire’s share count has been dropping, based on reported shares outstanding as of March 31 and April 22, according to another regulatory filing.

 

The dollar amount of any buybacks depends on what price Berkshire paid. Through Wednesday, Berkshire’s share price was down 7% from its early May record high.

https://www.reuters.com/article/berkshire-buffett-buybacks/berkshire-hathaway-appears-to-buy-back-more-stock-idUSL2N2O6020