FT

World News:

• Spain hit by rise in bad bank loans May 18, 2012
  Value of bad loans held by banking sector increased a third during the past year to €148bn and accounted for 8.4% of their entire loan portfolios
• Facebook knuckles down after brief party May 18, 2012
  The changes that have come with the group’s transition to becoming a public company will be hard to ignore, as will the distraction of a share price that is likely to be highly volatile
• Brazil stimulus fails to raise growth May 18, 2012
  Contraction makes Brazil’s growth second slowest in Latin America and comes as Asia’s major emerging markets, China and India, are also decelerating
• President plays up image as ‘Mr Normal’ May 18, 2012
  New French president seeks to fulfil his promise to voters after the ‘bling-bling’ image of his unpopular predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy
• Moderate Islamist aims to heal Egypt’s rifts May 18, 2012
  Aboul Fotouh’s critics, and even some supporters, say that by seeking to appeal to all the major constituencies he has failed to satisfy any of them
• Obama ground forces braced for air war May 18, 2012
  President’s team says massive grassroots campaign will be needed to withstand bombardment of negative attack ads from Romney and super-Pacs
• Osaka mayor has old guard running scared May 18, 2012
  The blunt nationalist, who has divided opinion, will have to get things done in his city if he is to retain the backing of Japanese voters
• Jordan worries Syrian crisis could undermine stability May 18, 2012
  Amman has pointedly refused to back either President Bashar al-Assad’s regime or the rebels seeking its overthrow
• China jails leader of smuggling ring May 18, 2012
  China has jailed Lai Changxing, its most notorious fugitive, for life after finding him guilty of smuggling and bribing regional officials

Markets News:

• Global equities extend losing streak May 18, 2012
  Growth assets are shunned as investors fret about the future of the eurozone and the global economy, sending yields on German Bunds lower
• Faltering start for the new Facebook May 18, 2012
  Glitches delayed the opening of trading and underwriters had to intervene to prevent the group’s shares falling below the $38 price set on Thursday
• Spain’s pain becomes Europe’s big fear May 18, 2012
  Fears about contagion from Greece and worries about the health of Spanish banks have shifted the focus of the crisis from Athens to Madrid
• Haven rush drives bond yields to lows May 18, 2012
  Possibility of Greek euro exit has rattled markets and caused investors to buy ‘safer’ assets, pushing UK and German borrowing costs to lows
• Resource stocks mirror global economy May 18, 2012
  Decline of groups involved in supplying essential raw materials for business show how investors really feel about the global economy’s direction
• We hate the expression ‘repression’ May 18, 2012
  It is an ugly phrase, but ‘financial repression’ is the reason that many investors are buying government bonds for a return-free risk
• Facebook fails to meet high expectations May 18, 2012
  S&P 500 financials index loses over 6% to make it the worst performing sector on the week, led by JPMorgan as its deals with fallout from $2bn loss
• Russian crop damage worries lift wheat May 18, 2012
  Concerns over the past few weeks about limited rainfall in southern Russia push US benchmark prices for the grain to an eight-month high
• Euro remains close to annual lows May 18, 2012
  Single currency ceases sell-off but remains below $1.27, while Aussie and New Zealand dollar fall to fresh lows on global economic concerns
• ITV weakens as FTSE 100 drops May 18, 2012
  Banks and mining stocks lead the wider market to its sharpest weekly fall since September, with the benchmark index down 5.5% for the week

Trading Room:

• Network confusion links Facebook and Nasdaq May 18, 2012
  The reputation of both the social network and the stock exchange could be damaged by the glitch which held up opening trades in Facebook’s stock
• JPMorgan returns $168m to MF trustee May 18, 2012
  The money is not part of the more than $1bn in missing customer cash that has been missing since the broker-dealer filed for bankruptcy in October
• ICAP secures Plus exchange licence May 18, 2012
  The world’s largest interdealer broker will pay a nominal £1 and take on liabilities and running costs for lossmaking quotations and listings arm
• LSE boosted by acquisition of FTSE index May 18, 2012
  Exchange’s Italian clearing business benefits from funding needs of banks as diversification strategy from trading equities pays off
• LME’s suitors’ bids pass £1bn mark May 17, 2012
  The IntercontinentalExchange, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and CME Group have all promised to preserve the historic bourse’s open outcry trading pit
• Facebook trading likely to be volatile May 17, 2012
  Some experts predict that the strong initial pricing of the social networking group’s shares will limit their first day “pop”
• Financial centres: Vienna and Warsaw vie for pre-eminence May 17, 2012
  Other capitals have tried to compete but have proved too small and poorly regulated, writes Jan Cienski
• JPMorgan unit has $100bn of risky bonds May 17, 2012
  Chief investment office that lost $2bn builds up huge positions in complex products at the heart of 2008 crash – but bank plans to lower its exposure
• Cassina leaves Citadel Execution Services May 17, 2012
  Matteo Cassina leaves as president of Citadel Execution Services Europe, trading arm of the US fund manager, having helped oversee group’s push into European trading
• MEP proposes fully segregated accounts May 17, 2012
  Kay Swinburne calls for European CSD rules to exceed global regulatory plans, as MF Global customers await repayment of assets