Week Nov 19 2010 – Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
1. GM sees high demand in IPO — General Motors (GM) priced its initial public offering at $33 and sold around 478M common shares as well as $4.35B in preferred shares; if underwriters exercise options to cover overallotment, GM’s IPO could reach $18.1B, the second-largest in U.S. history.
2. Irish bail-out talks begin — talks between the Irish government and EU and IMF officials are set to begin today over Ireland’s troubled banks and the possible need for an aid package.
3. Fed orders new stress tests — the Federal Reserve plans to do another round of stress tests on top U.S. banks, and requested the top 19 banks submit capital plans by early next year showing their ability to withstand losses under ‘adverse’ circumstances.
4. China lifts banks’ reserve requirements 0.5% — The People’s Bank of China announced late Friday it will raise the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 0.5%, as the nation steps up efforts to combat inflationary pressures. The move marks the third such liquidity-draining hike since September.
5. Bullish Sentiment Sees Largest Drop in Nearly Two Years — weekly survey of bullish sentiment from the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) at its lowest point since early September when the S&P 500 was struggling to get over 1,100. This is a drastic change from last week ‘shigh of 57.6% .
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The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
