Fleursdumal
फूल की बुराई
io punterei piuttosto il dito contro la regolamentazione del mercato tedesco, perchè non so in quale altra parte del mondo si riuscirebbe ad organizzare un pacco, contropacco e doppiopaccotto del genere
Hedge funds hit as Porsche moves on VW
By Richard Milne in London
Published: October 27 2008 18:49 | Last updated: October 27 2008 21:11
Volkswagen’s shares more than doubled on Monday after Porsche moved to cement its control of Europe’s biggest carmaker and hedge funds, rushing to cover short positions, were forced to buy stock from a shrinking pool of shares in free float.
VW shares rose 147 per cent after Porsche unexpectedly disclosed that through the use of derivatives it had increased its stake in VW from 35 to 74.1 per cent, sparking outcry among investors, analysts and corporate governance experts.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Porsche accelerates towards VW control - Oct-27
Hedge funds rush to cover short positions - Oct-27
In depth: Auto crunch - Oct-24
Porsche plans to raise VW stake to 75% - Oct-26
VW acts to help suppliers - Oct-23
Carmakers slash forecasts in Europe - Oct-23
Max Warburton, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said it had brought the German market into disrepute. “It is a huge question for regulators and arguably an embarrassment for all European capital markets.”
Christian Strenger, a board member at Germany’s largest fund manager, DWS, and a leading corporate governance expert, said: “It should get the politicians and supervisory authorities to think again about allowing this untransparent situation.”
Porsche revealed on Sunday that it held 31.5 per cent in derivatives in VW. Bafin, Germany’s financial regulator, recently ruled that companies were not obliged to disclose such positions where the derivatives were settled into cash rather than shares.
But the sudden disclosure meant there was a free float of only 5.8 per cent – the state of Lower Saxony owns 20.1 per cent – sparking panic among hedge funds. Many had bet on VW’s share price falling and the rise on Monday led to estimated losses among them of €10bn-€15bn ($12.5bn-$18.8bn).
“This was supposed to be a very low-risk trade and it’s a nuclear bomb which has gone off in people’s faces,” said one hedge fund manager.
As of last Thursday, according to consultancy Data Explorers, 12.9 per cent of VW’s shares were on loan for investors to go short and bet on them falling – the highest percentage of any German company.
Shares in VW closed up €309.15 at €520, giving it a market capitalisation of €153bn, more than all the other US and European carmakers put together.
Bafin said it had nothing to add to comments last week that it was looking at, but not formally investigating, the share price movements in VW.
But a Bafin official said the integrity of Germany’s capital markets was at stake, adding: “We have had lots of large institutional investors call us to discuss what is happening.”
Hedge funds hit as Porsche moves on VW
By Richard Milne in London
Published: October 27 2008 18:49 | Last updated: October 27 2008 21:11
Volkswagen’s shares more than doubled on Monday after Porsche moved to cement its control of Europe’s biggest carmaker and hedge funds, rushing to cover short positions, were forced to buy stock from a shrinking pool of shares in free float.
VW shares rose 147 per cent after Porsche unexpectedly disclosed that through the use of derivatives it had increased its stake in VW from 35 to 74.1 per cent, sparking outcry among investors, analysts and corporate governance experts.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Porsche accelerates towards VW control - Oct-27
Hedge funds rush to cover short positions - Oct-27
In depth: Auto crunch - Oct-24
Porsche plans to raise VW stake to 75% - Oct-26
VW acts to help suppliers - Oct-23
Carmakers slash forecasts in Europe - Oct-23
Max Warburton, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said it had brought the German market into disrepute. “It is a huge question for regulators and arguably an embarrassment for all European capital markets.”
Christian Strenger, a board member at Germany’s largest fund manager, DWS, and a leading corporate governance expert, said: “It should get the politicians and supervisory authorities to think again about allowing this untransparent situation.”
Porsche revealed on Sunday that it held 31.5 per cent in derivatives in VW. Bafin, Germany’s financial regulator, recently ruled that companies were not obliged to disclose such positions where the derivatives were settled into cash rather than shares.
But the sudden disclosure meant there was a free float of only 5.8 per cent – the state of Lower Saxony owns 20.1 per cent – sparking panic among hedge funds. Many had bet on VW’s share price falling and the rise on Monday led to estimated losses among them of €10bn-€15bn ($12.5bn-$18.8bn).
“This was supposed to be a very low-risk trade and it’s a nuclear bomb which has gone off in people’s faces,” said one hedge fund manager.
As of last Thursday, according to consultancy Data Explorers, 12.9 per cent of VW’s shares were on loan for investors to go short and bet on them falling – the highest percentage of any German company.
Shares in VW closed up €309.15 at €520, giving it a market capitalisation of €153bn, more than all the other US and European carmakers put together.
Bafin said it had nothing to add to comments last week that it was looking at, but not formally investigating, the share price movements in VW.
But a Bafin official said the integrity of Germany’s capital markets was at stake, adding: “We have had lots of large institutional investors call us to discuss what is happening.”