Stories we should be thinking about

Here are a few stories - from the weekend press and other sources - that interest me as the new working week starts. 

Omnicom / Publicis merger
See my earlier posting on the site.  THE financial market event of the last 48 hours

Siemens CEO de facto firing
Again see my earlier post.  Sounds as if they will go in-house this time which culturally tells you a lot

China - industrial earnings growth slowly
In January-June, net earnings rose 11.1% to 2.58T vs growth of 12.3% in January-May.  The June year-on-year figure was only just over 6%.  Yes, China is slowing but this is known.  However, at a company specific level, you mix that with the chart below and you have to pick your stocks carefully...no substitute for fundamental research.

China #2 - the country's audit office will be busy
China's National Audit Office will carry out an audit of all government debt following a request from the country's State Council.  It is a concern.  Unlike the West, consumer and Central Government debt is not the issue.  The question the audit is going to try and answer is do we believe the statistics re local government below or is a lot worse / much bigger percentage?  Definitely a story to watch for the impact on the Shanghai session on Monday. 

Italy - Economy Minister looks forward to the end of recession
Apparently Q4 is the happy point and then some sort of growth in 2014.  He may well be right but, as we posted about last week re the European PMIs, after such a period of weak growth, easy comps are going to kick in some time.

'1000 Chinese investors move to Cyprus for visas' (Sunday Times)
Gives the right to roam in the EU.  On Saturday I wrote about the CIC and China thinking longer-term.  Putting people on the ground!

ECB to chat more to the market?
The ECB could soon publish the minutes of its Governing Council meetings, which until now have been kept secret, two of the central bank's executive board members said, according to the German press.  Makes sense. 

Barclays - The Weekend FT and Sunday Times are convinced Barclays will have a share issue, Bloomberg say co-cos
Either way, the Bank of England's leverage ratio is going to have an impact.  The impact on the share on Monday is going to be interesting to watch

Billiton - copper bullish
Global copper output is likely to increase, keeping prices stable or triggering a slight drop soon, but that will be offset by strong demand in the long run, according to an interview with BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie published in a newspaper in Chile Sunday.  I would agree that over any reasonable time period the long-life assets Billiton has will do well.  Fears over China (see above) will give you periodic buying opportunities.  See my post on Saturday about my prevailing positions too.

Elan - company sale on Monday
That's the rumour...unfortunately I don't really know the company.