News for today

UAE brokerages under threat as volumes fall further

Stockbrokers in the UAE fear many more securities firms are likely to close their doors in the second half of the year as trading volumes return to pre-rally levels.

The National,

19 July, 2012

"Everyone is really scared," said Ahmed Dibajeh, a broker at Investor Financial Brokerage in Abu Dhabi. "The situation is very bad because there isn't enough investor money to go around and because of the continued pressure on the financial situation of many of the brokerage companies."

First-quarter trading activity surged from a low of Dh62 million (US$16.8m) a day in January to a peak of Dh981m in March as sentiment and investor appetite for riskier asset classes improved, causing many brokerages to postpone plans to shut down.

But volumes in the second quarter reversed to an average of Dh80m a day. Traded value in Abu Dhabi stood at Dh57m in January, reached a peak of Dh284m in March and has since dropped to an average of Dh25m.

With the low trading summer season and Ramadan imminent, most brokers are bracing for worse to come.

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Olympic delays feared as border staff confirm strike

Heathrow could see long passport queues on 26 July after union votes for industrial action, a move condemned by David Cameron.

The Guardian,

19 July, 2012

Home Office staff including border officials have confirmed plans for a strike on the day before the Olympics opening ceremony, threatening long passport queues at Heathrow airport when arrivals are predicted to be busiest.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union working in the Home Office, including 5,500 in the Border Agency, voted on Wednesday for industrial action. The general secretary, Mark Serwotka, has confirmed that a one-day strike will go ahead on 26 July, with a work-to-rule and overtime ban for the rest of the Olympic period. Next Thursday is forecast by Heathrow as the peak arrival day for sponsors and international media.

David Cameron earlier took time out from a visit to Afghanistan to condemn the planned strike. He said: "I do not believe it will be right. I do not believe it will be justified."

The PCS leadership says the strike is necessary to highlight what it describes as a "public service falling apart at the seams" with thousands of job cuts, and to protest against eroded pay and working conditions as well as the privatisation of civil service jobs.

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Merkel gets Spanish bank bailout through German parliament

The lower house of Germany's parliament resoundingly approved Berlin's contribution to a euro zone-wide aid package for Spain's banking sector on Thursday.

News Daily,

19 July, 2012

The Bundestag backed the bailout by 473 votes, with 97 votes against and 13 abstentions - far more than the simple majority of the 583 members present that Chancellor Angela Merkel needed.

But Merkel fell short of a symbolically-important "chancellor majority" after 22 lawmakers from her own coalition voted against and one abstained. This was slightly fewer than the 26 coalition lawmakers who opposed the permanent bailout scheme and fiscal pact compact in parliament on June 29.

The outcome of the vote had been largely a foregone conclusion after the main opposition parties had signaled they would back the package.

Morgan Stanley plans further staff cuts on weak outlook

Morgan Stanley became the latest bank to announce more layoffs to shrink expenses as Wall Street prepares for an extended period of weak global economic growth and low trading and dealmaking volumes.

Reuters,

19 July, 2012

The investment bank, which posted a sharp drop in second-quarter revenue, expects its payroll to decline by about another 1,000 workers this year to meet a broader target of reducing staff levels by 7 percent from December 2011 levels, Chief Executive James Gorman said on Thursday.

Morgan Stanley is one of several big banks to outline further belt-tightening measures this week when reporting quarterly results. The industry is facing increasing pressure from shareholders to boost profitability as the European debt crisis, companies' reluctance to issue debt and equity, and slow stock and bond trading weigh on revenue.

Rivals including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Bank of America Corp, and Deutsche Bank AG are also embarking on fresh rounds of staff cuts in their trading and underwriting businesses. Goldman expanded its cost-saving target by $500 million as the outlook has dimmed for near-term revenue growth..

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Deutsche Bank to Cut Investment-Bank Jobs

Deutsche Bank AG plans to cut about 1,000 jobs at its investment bank as dismal economic conditions in Europe and beyond take their toll on Germany's largest bank.

WSJ

19 July, 2012

The cuts, which will slash the bank's investment-banking staff by as much as 10%, will mainly hit senior investment-banking and back-office jobs outside of Germany, according to people close to the bank. It is expected to announce the cuts at the end of July, when the bank reports what many analysts anticipate will be a decline in second-quarter earnings.

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Snow, heavy rain put pressure on SA power grid

Bizcommunity.com

18 July, 2012

ESI-Africa reports that South Africa's power utility Eskom was closely monitoring weather conditions around the country at the start of this week, after snow and heavy rain had affected power lines and sub-stations in the Cape and elsewhere over the weekend.

ESI-Africa says that Eskom expected demand of about 36,258 MW, the highest so far this winter, and urged its customers to switch off all non-essential electrical appliances during the peak hours as the available supply was only 36,580 MW including open cycle gas turbines.

According to ESI-Africa, Eskom says that South Africa's power system is expected to be constrained for at least the next two years.

USA - Government reach for secure electric grid exceeds its grasp

Government efforts to ensure the cybersecurity of the nation's increasingly networked electric grid are hampered by a cumbersome regulatory process and a lack of enforcement, government and industry witnesses told a Senate panel

Power Engineering

18 July, 2012

Government is grappling with the need to secure a private-sector infrastructure that is critical to national security, but outside its direct control. The challenge to providing cybersecurity to the grid was the subject of a July 17 hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Committee chairman Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) called the threat to the electric system real and dangerous and said although the power system is the only segment of the nation?s critical infrastructure with mandatory security requirements, seven years after the regulatory framework was put into place the system remains vulnerable to online attacks.

For article GO HERE