Executives of SAC Capital Advisors LP are bracing for what they have estimated could be $3.5 billion in withdrawals as a quarterly deadline approaches for clients of the hedge-fund giant to ask for their money back, according to people briefed on the matter.

The anticipated withdrawals, which the people described as preliminary estimates that were still in flux going into the weekend, would follow requested withdrawals of $1.7 billion by SAC clients in the first quarter. >> Read More

Iron ore prices tumbled to a seven-month low on Wednesday as negativity spread through the Chinese steel industry.

Analysts said that both traders and steelmakers in China, which accounts for 60 per cent of global seaborne iron ore imports, had been selling down stocks amid widespread anxiety about the outlook for demand, and concerns about overcapacity in the industry.

 “Panic is building on panic,” said Melinda Moore, bulk commodity strategist at Standard Bank in London. >> Read More

Almost 12 years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the void in New York’s skyline is being filled. The final piece of One World Trade Center – a 408-foot spire – has been installed, raising the building to 1,776 feet and making it the tallest building in the US and third-tallest in the world.

The signature skyscraper is one of four being built around the site of the former Twin Towers – the country’s most notable construction project. But as attention is drawn to the skies, on the ground the complex stop-start $14bn World Trade Center development, led by private developer Larry Silverstein, is still a frenzied construction site, and the buildings that are ready lie half empty.

The World Trade Center has struggled to find tenants as cost-wary corporations, stung by the global financial crisis and its fallout, downsize or search for cheaper office space elsewhere. In particular, financial services companies – traditionally the high-quality tenants that spurred office property development – have been more cautious, leaving many to wonder who will occupy these gleaming skyscrapers.

“The developers are asking for very high rents as these buildings have cost so much to construct,” said Ben Carlos Thypin, director of market analysis at Real Capital Analytics. “They can’t afford to rent them for less.”

Already an expensive architectural and engineering endeavour, years of missed deadlines and ruthless powerplays involving city authorities, developers and insurance companies among others have led to billion dollar cost overruns. >> Read More

Greece’s securities regulator has extended a short-selling ban on bank shares to the end of July to protect investors while the recapitalisation of the country’s cash-strapped lenders is completed.

Short-selling involves investors borrowing shares to sell on the market and later buying them back at a lower price to make a profit. Greek banking stocks have been heavily shorted as investors bet that stock prices would fall further during the country’s sovereign debt crisis.

“The board took into consideration the ongoing bank recapitalisation process,» the Capital Markets Commission said in a statement, confirming an earlier Reuters story.

A short-selling ban on all stocks was introduced in August 2011 to protect investors from the fallout of the country’s debt crisis. Greece scrapped the ban on short selling non-banking stocks in January as market confidence grew after the country averted bankruptcy last year.

The regulator said that the three-month extension has been approved by the European Securities and Markets Association (ESMA).

Experts from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund are studying the consequences if Cyprus does not receive a bailout, a German newspaper reported on Saturday.”Experts from the troika are calculating, especially under pressure from Berlin, the financial consequences of a Cyprus bankruptcy,” Bild, the most widely read daily in Europe, said without citing a source.Greece would be the country most affected by the failure of the main Cypriot banks which have a network of branches on the island where around 10 percent of Greek savings are stocked.”The banks of the other eurozone countries would, on the other hand, be hardly affected,” Bild said.Cyprus asked for European aid in June, after its two main banks, which were exposed to the crisis in Greece, appealed for government help.On Monday, eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels postponed the decision on aid until after Cyprus’ presidential election, whose first round begins on Sunday.Cyprus’ total needs are estimated at more than 17 billion euros (23 million).At the troika’s request, the east Mediterranean island adopted a series of austerity measures to reduce its expenses representing 7.25 percent of gross domestic product over four years.Nevertheless, according to a report in Saturday’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the financing needs of the island’s banks, initially estimated at 10 billion euros, could be in the end considerably lower.Progress has been slow on a bailout for Cyprus given concerns over its banks and allegations of money laundering due to fears that Russian criminal elements are active in the country.

The government and the Liberal Democratic Party are looking to consult with three leading opposition parties on candidates to succeed Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, The Nikkei learned Tuesday.

The talks would take place before the government presents its nominee to the Diet. Opposition votes are crucial to winning Diet confirmation for the choice, since the LDP-led ruling coalition lacks a majority in the upper house. Shirakawa’s term expires in April.

LDP upper house affairs chief Masashi Waki told his Democratic Party of Japan counterpart, Shuji Ikeguchi, last week that the LDP wants to “sound out” the DPJ, the Japan Restoration Party and Your Party “confidentially” on the matter. Ikeguchi did not immediately respond to the offer.

The LDP and its coalition partner, New Komeito, are 16 seats short of the 118 seats needed for an upper house majority. The DPJ holds 87 seats in the upper house, excluding the chamber’s president. Another option for the ruling coalition would be to partner with Your Party, which has 11 seats, and a combination of smaller parties. >> Read More

The 39.5 billion euros ($51 billion) Spain’s euro-zone partners agreed to provide for recapitalizing four nationalized Spanish banks will be disbursed next week, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said here Monday.

“The implementation of the program is well on track, meeting all required conditionality steps as enshrined in the memorandum of understanding,” the Luxembourg prime minister said after a meeting of euro-zone officials in Brussels.

“We have also welcomed the decision by the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) board of directors to authorize the first tranche of the program of up to 39.5 billion (euros). The disbursements will be made in mid next week,” Juncker said.

The four nationalized Spanish banks will receive 36.97 billion euros in European aid. >> Read More

(Reuters) – Japan’s economy shrank 0.9 percent in the three months to September, marking the first contraction in three quarters, adding to signs that slowing global growth and tensions with China are nudging the world’s third-largest economy into recession.

The fall in GDP, which matched a median market forecast, translated into an annualised 3.5 percent fall, government data showed on Monday.

The slide will keep the Bank of Japan under pressure to boost monetary stimulus even after it eased policy in October for the second straight month as a strong yen and a territorial row withChina add to the impact on exports of the global slowdown.

“The decline in exports seems large. Consumption and capital expenditure were also weak, showing that both external and domestic demand are weak,” said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo.

“Economic data deteriorated sharply from September, and this means Japan is already in recession.” >> Read More

Nomura saw a modest recovery in net profit in the second quarter but the Japanese bank continued to be hit by the fallout from the insider trading scandal that led to the ousting of its former chief executive, Kenichi Watanabe.

Overall net profit of Y2.8bn ($35m) in the three months to the end of September was an improvement over the Y46bn net loss in the same period a year ago, and the Y1.9bn in net profit in its first quarter to the end of June.

However, net profit was much lower than analysts’ average forecast of Y5bn, according to Bloomberg.

“It’s been a challenging quarter across the industry . . . while we are satisfied with our performance, we are keen to get as much of the announced $1bn in additional cost reductions out as soon as possible,” said Jonathan Lewis, co-deputy chief financial officer. “We are well on target for successful completion of the programme by March 2014.”

Nomura’s revenue was Y402bn, which was 8.7 per cent higher than the first quarter and up 33 per cent year-on-year. >> Read More

Germany is planning to warn Britain that it will seek to cancel next month’s European budget summit if David Cameron, the prime minister, insists that he will veto any deal other than a total freeze on spending.

Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, does not believe there is any point in holding the budget summit to agree on a seven-year framework for EU spending if Britain intends to veto any deal, say people close to the negotiations.

Ms Merkel is trying hard to persuade Mr Cameron to back a German compromise that would cap EU spending at 1 per cent of European gross domestic product. The European Commission has proposed a figure of more than €1tn for the years 2014 to 2020, or nearly 1.1 per cent of European GDP.

After last week’s summit, Mr Cameron bluntly stated his willingness to veto any deal involving increases in EU spending. “If there isn’t a deal that’s good for Britain, there won’t be a deal,” he said. “We can’t have European spending go up and up and up when we are having to make difficult decisions in so many different areas.”

His most senior officials are delivering a similarly uncompromising message behind the scenes, much to the dismay of other EU diplomats. One said at a recent gathering to discuss the budget that Britain’s ambassador to Brussels was by far the most pessimistic about a November deal, saying it would be an achievement to “open discussions” genuinely, and that even this modest outcome was far from assured. >> Read More