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Good morning,
Markets are called to open higher this morning. This is what's happening today:
Mario Draghi yesterday said, " we can't do everything for everyone at any time." Mr Draghi said that while the ECB's raft of anti-crisis measures had avoided major disasters, the full positive effects were still not feeding through into the real economy just yet.
And even though interest rates were at historic lows and the ECB had pumped unprecedented amounts of liquidity into banks, credit was still not flowing freely to small and medium-sized enterprises.
There were three reasons why this might be the case: banks might lack funding, they might lack capital, or – if they had both capital and funding – they're fearful of lending because they're afraid they won't be repaid.
As a central bank, the ECB could tackle the first problem, which it had done via its emergency liquidity operations. But it was not in its jurisdiction to solve the other two problems. "We're not in the business of cleaning up struggling banks," Mr Draghi insisted.
Goldman Sachs reported a strong first quarter, but analysts were more concerned about the bank's future than the past three months. They peppered the chief financial officer with questions about impending regulations, and investors sent Goldman's stock down even as other banks rose. By the numbers, it was a decent quarter. Profit rose 5% and revenue was up 1%. Both beat analysts' expectations. Bond underwriting soared 69% as issuers rushed to take advantage of low interest rates and a hearty appetite for corporate debt among investors. CEO Lloyd Blankfein described the results as "generally solid." Goldman's leaders sounded a cautious tone on a conference call with analysts, however. They said investors were still nervous about the economy and the bank would continue to focus on controlling costs. The results were another reminder that the U.S. banking industry has settled into a steady rhythm of slow growth and cost-cutting — a far cry from the turbo-charged era of kingdom-building that existed prior to the financial crisis of 2008. It's an especially sharp change for Goldman, long considered the king of Wall Street.
Marissa Mayer’s plan to turn around Yahoo! Inc. is facing setbacks, after the Web portal reported a drop in its main display advertising business and gave a second-quarter sales forecast that may fall short of analyst estimates.
Coca-Cola Co. jumped the most in more than four years after reporting first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and announcing a deal to sell some bottling distribution rights in North America. The shares rose 5.7% to $42.37 at the close in New York for the Atlanta-based company’s largest gain since Feb. 12, 2009. The volume of shares traded was higher than the three-month daily average by more than threefold.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the largest investor in Coca-Cola Co., jumped the most since January in New York trading on gains in the value of its stake in the soft-drink maker.
For more information on Goldman Sachs, Yahoo! and Coca-Cola, or other stocks and bonds we follow, contact our offices on 25688688.
Good day and happy trading!
Kristian Camenzuli
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