JPMORGAN PROFIT RISES 34% Â |Â Bank earnings kick off Friday morning with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. With the broad economy showing signs of recovery, we'll soon find out whether banks are feeling beneficial effects. Investors can expect the usual buzzwords - uncertainty, weak global economic conditions, the cost of new regulation - as banks explain their results.
Big consumer banks stand to benefit as the housing market gradually improves from the financial crisis. A surge in mortgage refinancing is helping the banks' bread-and-butter lending business, making up for weakness in other areas, writes DealBook's Peter Eavis. Government assistance for homeowners, combined with low interest rates, is producing a “windfall for banks,†Mr. Eavis says.
Indeed, JPMorgan Chase said on Friday it originated $47 billion worth of mort gages in the third quarter, an increase of 29 percent from last year. Over all, the bank - which surpassed expectations - earned $5.7 billion, compared with $4.3 billion a year earlier. “We believe the housing market has turned the corner,†said Jamie Dimon, the chief executive. JPMorgan on Friday also gave an update on its disastrous London whale trade, saying it amounted to a “modest loss†in the quarter. The bank is holding its conference call at 8:30 a.m.
Wells Fargo is up next, reporting its third-quarter results at 8 a.m. Analysts expect the bank to earn 87 cents a share, compared with 72 cents a share last year.
CLASH OF THE VULTURES Â |Â
Paul E. Singer, the head of Elliott Management, is used to butting heads with corporate boards and political leaders, but the hedge fund manager “may have met his match†in David Martinez, a secretive Mexican fina ncier who is opposing him in a struggle over Vitro, a troubled glass company, writes DealBook's Azam Ahmed. “Elliott and allied investors contend that Mr. Martinez helped the Mexican company muscle investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars through financial sleight of hand.†The case could have broader implications for international investing. Vitro's bankruptcy plan, which imposes losses on bondholders rather than shareholders, “has sent ripples through the Mexican debt market,†Mr. Ahmed says.
In another battle, Mr. Singer seems to have the edge. A court in Ghana ruled that his hedge fund can hold on to the Argentine navy ship that it recently seized as part of an effort to collect on Argentine government debt.
GEITHNER PHONES A FRIEND  | When Timothy F. Geithner wants insight into Wall Street, the Treasury secretary often turns to Laurence D. Fink, the head of BlackRock. “The two men spoke on at least 49 separate occasions, an average of about once every 11 days†during an 18-month period, according to The Financial Times.
ON THE AGENDA Â |Â Workday is set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange, after pricing its I.P.O. above the expected range. A human resources software company, Workday sold shares at $28 apiece, for a valuation of nearly $4.5 billion. Stephen A. Wynn of Wynn Resorts is appearing on CNBC at 7:40 a.m. Timothy J. Sloan, Wells Fargo's chief financial officer, is on CNBC at 3:10 p.m.
New rules for certain derivatives go into effect today, a change that one columnist said was “as important as when the 1930s securities laws went into force.†The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for October is released at 9:55 a.m.
TPG ABANDONS BILLABONG BID Â |Â
The second time isn't sweeter for TPG. The buyout firm walked away from a $714 million offer for Billabong International, marking its second failed attempt this year to take over the Australian surf wear company. Billabong's shares fell as much as 19 percent in Sydney trading on Friday, reaching a record low.
DealBook '
Larry Ellison Is Said to Consider Anschutz Entertainment  | Reuters reports that the billionaire is “interested in a potential bid†for the sports and entertainment company, which could fetch around $10 billion.
REUTERS
Icahn Bids to Take Control of Oshkosh Truck  | Carl C. Icahn escalated his proxy fight with the vehicle maker Oshkosh Corporation on Thursday by offering to take over the company for $32.50 a share, or about $3 billion.
DealBook '
The Fallout From the Failed Aerospace Deal  | After talks between EADS and BAE collapsed, the chief executive of EADS now “risks further strainin g relations†with the German government, Bloomberg News writes.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Debt Investors Consider Options for AMR  | As the parent company of American Airlines works through bankruptcy, a group of bondholders is said to be “open to a merger with US Airways Group,†The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Owners of Champion Technologies Said to Pursue a Sale  | The family that controls the chemical maker is said to be seeking $2 billion in a sale, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Morgan Stanley E-Mails Reveal Doubts Abou t a Deal  | Executives at Morgan Stanley warned about the stability of a structured investment vehicle that later went bad, “according to e-mails cited by investors who were sold $100 million of the fund's notes just days after the warning,†Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Blankfein Adds to Warnings About ‘Fiscal Cliff'  | Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chief of Goldman Sachs, warned in an interview on Thursday on CNBC that the fiscal cliff threatens to derail the economic recovery.
DealBook '
More Support to Limit Bank Size  | James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, supported an argument made by the Fed governor Daniel K. Tarullo.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Which Banks Would Be Affected? Â |Â After a Fed official said Congress should consider limiting the size of big banks, The Wall Street Journal shows which firms might be affected by such a plan. The results are not surprising.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Chinese Banks Said to Resist Lowering Borrowing Rates  |Â
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Bain Capital to Buy Call Center Business for $1.3 Billion  | The private equity firm co-founded by the United States presidential candidate Mitt Romney has agreed to buy the call center unit of the Europe an telecoms giant Telefónica for $1.3 billion.
DealBook '
Carlyle Granted More Time for Chemring Deal  |Â
REUTERS
Third Point Gets Approval to Buy Stake in Murphy Oil  |Â
REUTERS
Prince Dines With Hedge Fund Women  | Prince William of Britain visited a gala for the charity 100 Women in Hedge Funds Philanthropic Initiatives, according to USA Today.
USA TODAY
Asia-Focused Fund Isolates Certain Assets  | Senrigan Capital, which is backed by the Blackstone Group, has created a separate vehicle for certain assets that sustained losses, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Pondering Zynga's Fate  | With Zynga's stock trading at low values, there's an argument to be made that Facebook should consider buying the company, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Realogy Surges in Trading Debut  | Realogy Holdings and Shutterstock rose in their first hours on the public market, defying a broader sense of uncertainty surrounding new listings.
DealBook '
How the Presidential Candidates Would Help Start-Ups  | President Obama and Mitt Romney responded to questions from NYCTechMeetUp, a group representing technology industry people in New York.
NEW YORK TIMES BITS
Twitter's Urban Edge?  | According to Dick Costolo, Twitter's chief executive, the company is “gritty like the city.â€
ALLTHINGSD
Solar Panel Industry Looks to Limit Imports  | The New York Times writes: “The solar panel manufacturing industry in the United States and Europe has begun a volley of trade cases against imports, following the same track as the steel industry before it - and for many of the same reasons.â€
NEW YORK TIMES
Former Guggenheim Trader Accused of Hiding a Loss  | A former managing director at Guggenheim Securities, Alexander Rekeda, who was accused of concealing a trading loss on a collateralized loan obligation, was fined and suspended on Thursday by regulators.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Taking Stock of Dodd-Frank  | Bloomberg Businessweek writes that Dodd-Frank has “worked, but it's also left holes some argue have made the system more vulnerable.â€
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
Retailers Challenge Settlement With Card Companies  | After reaching a $6 billion settlement with Visa and MasterCard, more than half of the retailers and trade groups that filed the underlying lawsuit say they have problems with the deal, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ex-Goldman Programmer Seeks Dismissal of Charges  | A lawyer for Sergey Aleynikov argued that his client could not be tried a second time under similar charges, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
First Black Member of Fed Board Dies  | Andrew F. Brimmer, who “led efforts to to reverse the country's balance-of-payments deficit,†died at 86, The New York Times writes.
NEW YORK TIMES
