>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers
Gapping up: DGLY +15.2%, CPWR +14.1%, SPLS +3.6%, NVS +3.4%, TMUS +3.4%, SD +3.2%, DSKY +3.2%, NXPI +2.9%, GRPN +2.9%, TSLA +2.7%, DG +2.4%, TS +2.3%, IRE +2%, NBG +2%, DTV +1.9%, YHOO +1.5%, FDO +0.8%, AAPL +0.8%, SPLK +0.8%

Gapping down: EXEL -50.5%, BIOF -5.3%, SNSS -3.2%, GFI -2.7%, FRO -2.4%, PT -1.8%, DRYS -1.8%, GDX -1.6%, GSK -1.6%, AZN -1.6%, SLW -1.4%, SLV -1.3%, GLD -1.3%, GOLD -1.1%

>>> Iliad no longer interested in Bouygues Telecom after focus switch to T-Mobil

Iliad no longer interested in Bouygues Telecom after focus switch to T-Mobile US; Blackstone could partner on T-Mobile deal 
Iliad, the listed French telco trading under the Free brand, is no longer interested in peer Bouygues Telecom, French daily Les Echos reported. The report cited Iliad finance director Thomas Reynaud as saying that consolidation with Bouygues Telecom was no longer on the agenda and that his group was happy with having four operators competing on the French market.

Another report from daily L’Agefi cited Xavier Niel, the head and owner of Iliad, as saying that the French telecoms sector is unlikely to experience any consolidation in the short term. According to the report, Iliad made a EUR 5bn offer for Bouygues Telecom just before the summer but now considers listed French conglomerate Bouygues is not prepared to selling its telecoms subsidiary.

Iliad made a USD 15bn offer for Bellevue, Washington phone group T-Mobile US, currently owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom. In the les Echos report Reynaud added the group has received interest from corporate and financial players with experience in the telecoms sector, willing to take part in a T-Mobile US deal. Reynaud said Iliad was working on improving terms for a deal which could lead to USD 10bn in synergies.

An unsourced article from daily La Tribune reported new rumours that investment fund Blackstone join forces with Iliad on its takeover bid for T-Mobile US, The same item reiterated talk of Englewood, Colorado-based DISH Network might come on board. The report went on to say that Iliad could improve its offer by between USD 2.7bn and up to USD 4bn.


Source Les Echos, L'agefi, La Tribune

NY Post : Kickstarter users fundraise for products already sold on Amazon

What do crowdfunding Web site Kickstarter and online retailer Amazon.com have in common? Too much, critics charge.
Kickstarter fans, who have become a bit prickly over what they feel are too many frivolous campaigns, are seeing another worrisome trend crop up: entrepreneurs turning to the fundraising Web site to develop products that are already available elsewhere.
The latest example of this worrisome trend is the fundraising campaign for a heated butter knife and ice cream scoop from product designer That!
On Friday, the Bellevue, Wash., company launched a Kickstarter campaign seeking $20,000 for its high-tech knife, whose pitch is that it needs neither batteries nor electricity to generate heat.
The problem? The knife officially launched last year and can be purchased on Amazon.com. The knife also was available for sale on the company’s Web site until late last Friday when That! took it down amid criticism.
“This is all new to us. We don’t know what we’re doing,” lamented Howard Chiu, president of That!, when alerted to the criticism. Chiu said the money raised by Kickstarter will fund manufacturing tools needed “get it to mass production mode.”
Later, Chiu said the money also will be used to add a new coating to the knife.
Some Kickstarter backers remain skeptical, however.
“The fact that this is already available through retail outlets makes me rethink my pledge. I think the creator has missed what crowdfunding is,” one backer wrote.
A Kickstarter campaign for a waterproof bible was pilloried for similar reasons earlier this summer.
“I am using new technologies to print the Holy Bible … making them virtually indestructible,” Forever Publishing founder Jared Casey wrote in describing the “Forever Bible.”
However, Bobby Bardin of Bardin & Marsee Publishing, Casey’s publishing partner, readily admits the product is nothing new. “We’ve been making waterproof bibles since 2005,” Bardin said.
Bardin’s waterproof bibles also can be purchased on Amazon.com for around $30 — or $10 less than the price of Casey’s Kickstarter bibles.
Bardin said he has “had plenty of conversations” with Casey’s team about the forthrightness of their Kickstarter pitch. But the publisher declined to comment on whether he will continue to do business with Casey if he gets his Kickstarter campaign back up and running.
Casey, who is connected to another failed Kickstarter campaign, called Radiate, didn’t return requests for comment.
The crowdfunding company declined to comment on the intellectual-property dispute that has halted Casey’s campaign.
Kickstarter fans blame lax, new rules introduced in June for launching campaigns on the site.
“Now that Kickstarter has removed some of their strict guidelines, it allows more lesser quality campaigns,” said Dwight Peters, founder of BackersHub, a Web community for Kickstarter enthusiasts.

FT : Why the opponents of QE have failed to make their case

Why the opponents of QE have failed to make their case
The European Central Bank is the only major central bank in the advanced world that has not implemented quantitative easing – yet. A lot of arguments have been argued in defence of not following the Federal Resere, the Bank of England and Bank of Japan along the path of QE. But their validity is fast diminishing. Here is why QE’s detractors are wrong – possibly dangerously so.

The first argument advanced against QE is that eurozone monetary policy operates mainly through the banking system. The ECB injects liquidity by directly refinancing banks, against collateral. Since the outbreak of the crisis six years ago the maturity of these operations has been gradually extended and the amounts have become unlimited . However, demand for central bank liquidity has fallen recently, in line with the slowdown of the economy and banks’ concern about their capital requirements. As a result, the ECB’s balance sheet has shrunk . QE would allow the ECB to circumvent the bottleneck in the banking system and directly influence interest rates, regardless of maturity.

The second reason given that QE is not needed is that inflation expectations are well anchored and the current reduction in inflation is temporary and largely due to relative price changes. This argument is not any more valid, as inflation expectations have recently fallen below the 2 per cent mark over the short term and medium term horizon. The recent data also show that the objective of price stability is not being achieved even for core inflation.

Reason number three: QE would inflate the ECB’s balance sheet and create the basis for future inflation. Really? Economic literature has clearly shown that there is no direct relationship between the size of the central bank balance sheet and inflation. What matters is eventually the quantity of private money in circulation, which has been quite subdued over the recent years. The fears of inflation have proved wrong and the main concern today is rather on the opposite side.

Reason number four is that QE may distort asset prices and generate bubbles that may burst – with negative effects on the real economy. It is interesting that this argument is pushed by those who also oppose giving the ECB a dual mandate, adding financial stability to the primary objective of price stability. While it is very difficult to identify bubbles, monetary policy cannot achieve two separate goals with only one instrument. It thus has to focus on price stability and do whatever it takes to achieve it. Avoiding bubbles is a task which should be primarily achieved through prudential regulation. The ECB has now been given extensive powers in this field.

The fifth reason is that by purchasing government bonds, QE would violate the statutory prohibition of monetary financing. However, there is an ample legal and economic literature explaining that asset purchases in the secondary markets are a textbook instrument of monetary policy. All other central banks in the world have used and still use such an instrument. It’s not clear why the ECB should be the only exception.

The sixth reason offered up is that the implementation of QE in the eurozone would require purchasing a basket of national government bonds, which could distort relative prices. This argument misses the key point that the main goal of an asset purchase program is to modify the portfolio composition of financial institutions, increasing their liquidity and thus inducing them to invest in new assets or extend new loans. The assessment of the relative risk-return characteristic of these assets remains in the hands of market participants.

Argument number: QE would lower even further the very low interest rates, thus redistributing income away from net savers, which are mainly in Northern Europe. This is wrong factually and analytically. While nominal interest rates have fallen over the last two years, also in Germany, inflation has fallen even more so that real rates have in fact risen. For instance, in 2012 the yield on German government Bunds was on average lower than inflation (1.5 per cent against 2.1 per cent), it is currently higher (1 per cent against 0.8 per cent). Furthermore, nominal yields are low because inflation is low, and not vice versa. If inflation was higher rates would be higher, which suggests that the longer inflation remains low, the longer rates will have to be very low, as the Japanese experience showed.

The eight argument is that QE is ineffective in raising inflation, especially in the absence of structural reforms. This contradicts the long held view – cherished in particular in Germany – that inflation is ultimately a monetary phenomenon. Without structural reforms monetary policy alone cannot stimulate growth, but there are no reasons why it should not be able to achieve price stability, which is a necessary (not sufficient) condition for growth and job creation.

Finally, it is often stated that low interest rates reduce politicians’ incentive to reform. This may be true, but it is not the task of the central bank to create incentives or disincentives for politicians. The central bank is independent because it aims at one key objective, price stability, and is accountable for it. If it starts giving itself political objectives, it risks losing its independence.

As time passes, and the risk of deflation or low flation increases, the arguments which have been raised against QE appear to be weaker and weaker – and ultimately wrong.

(BFW) Taxi Organization Wins Ban Order Against Uber Service in Germany

Taxi Organization Wins Ban Order Against Uber Service in Germany
2014-09-02 06:56:45.248 GMT


By Karin Matussek
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Uber liable to payments up to
EU250,000 in cases of violation.
* Uber drivers need license under German law
* Ruling was issued under emergency proceedings without
hearing Uber’s arguments; Uber can oppose the ruling
* Uber German representatives didn’t immediately respond to
request for comment
* Link to court document dated Aug. 25 {http://bit.ly/1x4fiXq}



Link to Company News:{0084207D US <Equity> CN <GO>}

For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: {FIRST<GO>}
First Word newswire: {NH BFW<GO>}

To contact the reporter on this story:
Karin Matussek in Berlin at +49-30-70010-6218 or
kmatussek@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Cornelius Rahn at +49-30-70010-6212 or
crahn2@bloomberg.net