General News:
– The IEA reported that the price of crude oil will be supported longer term as demand picks up and supply increases at a slower rate. Currently, the IEA sees growth demand of 2.2% and capacity in OPEC and Non-OPEC countries is expected to rise 1.6%. However, the refinery capacity has a chance to rise which will prevent oil prices from growing out of hand.
– According to Barron’s, soft drink makers may switch from corn syrup to sugar.
Asia/Europe:
Asia:
– Japanese stocks rose to a seven-year high propelled by stronger-than-expected machinery orders. The Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.67% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, to 18,261.98 points, the index’s highest close since May 2, 2000.
– Japanese M2 + CDs rose 1.8%, 1.5% was expected.
– PBOC’s, Gang, said that China’s liquidity problems cannot be solved by foreign exchange adjustments alone.
– Goldman Sachs is suggesting that Chinese GDP will rise 12% in the 3rd quarter with a 30% rise in industrial capacity.
– China may force state-owned companies to pay dividends to the government which would be used to stabilize imbalances and address social concerns.
– China reports that consumer confidence rose 1 point to 96.8.
– Korea’s Commerce Minister said that he expects exports to rise 12.6% from the prior expectation of 10.6%.
Europe:
– Germany’s May trade surplus was 17.5 billion euro. Only 15.9 billion euro was expected.
– German imports fell 3.6% versus expectations of a rise of 0.9%. Likewise, exports fell 0.7% versus a rise of 1.0%.
– German May industrial output rose 1.9%.
– ECB’s, Likanan, says that high oil prices and rapid money supply growth are inflationary and will see a rise in inflation later this year.
Corporate News:
– Ford Motor Co. (F) and Southern California Edison have agreed to join forces in order to test rechargeable hybrid vehicles, hoping to speed up mass production of the hybrid technology.
– FedEx (FDX) received positive comments from Barron’s regarding its LBO.
– Boeing (BA) received 25 orders for the new 787 from Air Berlin.
– Apollo Management LP’s, Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc., said it raised its rival takeover bid for chemical company Huntsman Corp. (HUN) to about $6.2 billion.
– Delphi Corp. (DPHIQ.PK) said it has thrown out its agreement with a group of investors that was going to invest up to $3.4 billion to help the struggling auto parts maker emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
– There is a Wall Street Journal article about Campbell Soup’s (CPB) move into the Russian and Chinese markets.
– Sony Corp. (SNE) cut the price of its current PlayStation 3 by $100, or 16.7 percent, and introduced a high-capacity model in an effort to spur sales of the struggling video game console.
– Aerospace and automotive parts maker, Sequa Corp. (SQA-A, SQA-B), said it agreed to a $175-per-share takeover bid from private equity firm Carlyle Group, representing a 54% premium to the closing price of Sequa’s Class A and B shares on Friday.