Week of Sept 27 2013 – Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ — Muhammad Ali
1. Chrysler files for $100M IPO amid valuation dispute with Union— WSJ reported that Chrysler Group LLC has filed to sell up to $100M in stock. Fiat SpA (FIATY.PK) owns 58.5% of the company and the United Auto Workers union health trust can’t agree on the value of their 41.5% stake.
2. China sovereign wealth fund takes 12.5% stake in potash producer — China Investment Corporation is now the second largest shareholder in Uralkali (URALL.PK), the potash producer whose exit from one of the world’s two potash cartels sparked fears of a price war and triggered a steep sell-off in the chemical’s price earlier this year.
3. Merkel Gets Biggest Victory Since Kohl’s Reunification Vote — Bloomberg reported Angela Merkel won an overwhelming endorsement from German voters, putting the country’s first female chancellor on course for the biggest election tally since Helmut Kohl’s post-reunification victory of 1990. Merkel will probably have to form a coalition with the left-of-center Social Democrats, which came in second, or the Greens.
4. Chinese manufacturing activity hits six-month high — China’s HSBC flash manufacturing PMI climbed to a six-month high of 51.2 in September from 50.1 in August, boosted by improvements in external and domestic demand. The reading adds to a string of data that indicate that China’s economy is bouncing back after a slowdown.
5. Average price of insurance under Obamacare $328 a month — the average cost of a mid-tier health-insurance plan under Obamacare is $328 a month, price data from the government showed. The figure released just a week before enrollment in the healthcare overhaul to begin on October 1. Insurers that intend to sell plans on exchanges include UnitedHealth (UNH), Aetna (AET), WellPoint (WLP) and Humana (HUM). Molina Healthcare (MOH) is also set to play a role.
6. Government shutdown looms as GOP, Democrats stand firm — Conservative Republicans and Democrats continued to hold their respective positions on the budget and debt-cap. In the House, GOP representatives won’t accept a six-week government spending bill that looks set to pass in the Senate today and would avert a shutdown on Tuesday. The legislation would add funding for Obamacare, which Republicans want to strip out.
7. Bullish Sentiment Declines — courtesy of BIG, the latest sentiment survey from AAII shows bullish sentiment came in at a level of 36.05%, which was a 9.06 percentage point decline from last week’s level of 45.11%. This week’s decline was also the largest decline in bullish sentiment since Aug. 1.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
