Roundup: US and UK markets were closed. Germany +0.94%, France +0.97%, Nikkei +0.57% (at pixel)

The government wasn’t kidding when they said they are going to discourage buying gold. The Reserve Bank has imposed restrictions on banks and NBFCs for providing loans against gold coins as well as units of gold ETFs and mutual funds. (ET) And physical demand has declined by at least 15% in the last one week and bullion dealers and jewellers say that they do not see an immediate recovery in demand as the crop planting season (rural India accounts for nearly 65% of the demand) will kick off shortly, which will keep the rural buyers away. (ET) GOLDBEES 2,500.00 -5.50 (-0.22%) MANAPPURAM 16.90 -0.10 (-0.59%) MUTHOOTFIN 143.70 -3.15 (-2.15%)

Rising stock markets, narrowing spreads? Blame the Japanese. (ET)

Investors are giving up many of the protections that have traditionally accompanied lending to risky companies, with the hunt for high-yielding assets shifting the balance of power towards borrowers. (FT)

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Roundup: S&P -0.06%, Dow +0.06%, Nasdaq -0.01%, Gold $1,386.60, London -0.63%, Germany -0.56%, France -0.26%, Nikkei -3.11% (at pixel)

US and UK markets will remain closed on Monday.

Reliance Industries, BP and Niko Resources have made a “significant gas and condensate discovery” at their Krisha Godavari D6 (KG D6) deep-water block off eastern India. (Source) RELIANCE 829.00 0.70 (0.08%)

Since 1998, after the Asian crisis, the entire emerging market debt universe has multiplied about tenfold, from about $1tn to $9.8tn. The money flowing into emerging markets is being motivated by a hunt for yield, which may well be driven by artificially low US, UK and Japanese interest rates. But the most important issue is not a question of whether countries have “emerged” in terms of wealth or economic growth, but rather in terms of their basic economic institutions. (FT)

What Europe needs most isn’t monetary and fiscal stimulus, but rather structural change and better demographics. (WSJ)

Good luck!

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Roundup: S&P -0.29%, Dow -0.08%, Nasdaq -0.11%, Gold $1,392.60, London -2.10%, Germany -2.10%, France -2.07%, Nikkei -0.41% (at pixel)

Yesterday Nikkei 225 collapsed by 7.3% – its worst day for two years. Word of the day: “taper” (WSJ)

Notes from the PIMCO Investment Summit with Mohamed El-Erian (TRB)

Serious overcapacity in China’s steel industry is unlikely to ease in 2013. China is set to produce ~750M metric tons of crude steel in 2013 while capacity will rise to 950M, putting heavy pressure on steel prices. (Fox)

Daiichi Sankyo, the Japanese owner of Ranbaxy Laboratories, appears to be moving towards taking legal action against Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, the former promoters of the Indian drug maker, after it accused ‘certain former shareholders’ of concealing crucial facts about investigations into the company by US federal authorities and said it was pursuing legal remedies. (ET) RANBAXY 400.80 -4.00 (-0.99%)

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Roundup: S&P -0.83%, Dow -0.52%, Nasdaq -1.11%, Gold $1,361.10, London +0.53%, Germany +0.69%, France +0.37%, Nikkei +1.63%

If the rupee undergoes another prolonged slide, it will worsen the government’s budget and current-account deficits and stoke inflation, particularly through higher oil-import bills. (WSJ)

Sales of gold from exchange-traded products in 2013 have surpassed combined inflows over the past two years. ETP holdings have fallen 17% in 2013 after expanding every year since the first product was listed in 2003. (Bloomberg)

Another worrying sign for gold bulls: miners are beginning to hedge. “It was hedging that killed gold prices the 1990s. Every time there was rally, the producers seized on the chance to sell forward.” The risk is a vicious circle as hedging leads to lower prices, leading to more hedging. (Telegraph) GOLDBEES 2,500.00 -5.50 (-0.22%)

Coal miners in Australia are auctioning port assets worth tens of millions of dollars, an unthinkable prospect as recently as 18 months ago. Prices of thermal coal used in power generation began falling just over 12 months ago and continue to hover near multiyear lows below $90 a ton. (WSJ)

China HSBC PMI comes in at 49.6 (down from 50.4 in April) - factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months as new orders fell. (CNBC)

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Roundup: S&P +0.17%, Dow +0.34%, Nasdaq +0.16%, Gold $1,374.50, London +0.71%, Germany +0.19%, France +0.33%, Nikkei +1.13%

There are rumors that a 20% consumption tax will be imposed on luxury cars in China. Tata Motors’ JLR plans in China could be impacted… (Twitter) TATAMOTORS 291.90 -2.60 (-0.88%)

Ambit Investment: Markets will make new highs this year. (ET)

Renuka Sugars will raise around $250-350 million through its Brazilian subsidiary. These bonds will carry a guarantee from the listed Indian parent. (ET) RENUKA 22.30 0.10 (0.45%)

Kyle Bass continues to bet on a full-blown Japanese currency and government debt crisis. Shorting Japanese bonds has been the “widow-maker” trade for a decade: as interest rates moved ever lower it destroyed investors betting on a rise. Will this time be different?  (FT)

The Hong Kong securities regulator announced on Tuesday that it had discovered possible financial irregularities at the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange. The exchange ceased business over the weekend and has since wound down all open trading positions. (NYT)

Good luck!

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Roundup: S&P -0.07%, Dow -0.12%, Nasdaq -0.07%, Gold $1,387.80, London +1.01%, Germany +0.69%, France +0.54%, Nikkei +0.05%

Geoff Lewis, JP Morgan AMC: It will be wrong for investors to become bearish on India. (ET)

The price of silver on Monday tumbled to its lowest in more than two and a half years, to as low as $20.84 a troy ounce, as the negative sentiment that has hit the gold market spread. (FT, WSJ)

Japanese pension funds are putting more of the world’s second-largest pool of retirement funds into everything from global real estate to Namibian debt. (WSJ)

Iron ore prices have fallen to their lowest in five months amid a wave of negativity that has led Chinese traders and steel mills to sell down their stocks of the key steel ingredient. The price of benchmark Australian iron ore with 62% iron content has fallen 12.5% in the past month. On Monday, it dropped to $123 a tonne, the lowest since December. (FT)

Will the falling commodity prices help India? (StockViz)

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Roundup: S&P +1.03%, Dow +0.80%, Nasdaq +0.97%, Gold $1,364.70, London +0.53%, Germany +0.34%, France +0.56%. Nikkei +1.12%

Time to get bullish on Indian power producers? Power companies will soon be able to pass on some portion of their increased costs to consumers. (FT) ADANIPOWER 58.15 0.30 (0.52%) TATAPOWER 91.25 -0.45 (-0.49%)

Most Indian companies are yet to comply with the SEBI norms to increase their free float to 25% by 3 June 2013. BNP Paribas estimates that $2-2.1 billion of equity share sales are necessary for all companies with less than 25% free float (or 10% for PSUs) to be compliant with the guidelines in a span of next 14 days or so. (ET)

Investing is an unusual profession: perhaps the only one where amateurs have a good shot at beating the pros. However, evidence suggests that amateurs don’t. (BI)

Goldman Sachs in search of more muppets: introduces a fund that democratizes access to equity long-short, dynamic equity, event-driven and credit, relative value, tactical-trading, and opportunistic fixed income strategies. (SA)

Good luck!

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Roundup: S&P -0.50%, Dow -0.28%, Nasdaq -0.18%, Gold $1,383.40, London -0.09%, Germany +0.09%, France -0.08%, Nikkei -0.24%

Foreign funds have started pouring into mid-cap stocks. “Mid-caps are currently trading at a discount compared with large-caps, which can be seen as opportunity for investments.” (ET)

CavinKare: Years of under-investment in brands, lack of management bandwidth, unwise diversification have taken their toll. (LiveMint)

Inflation Indexed Bonds: How do IIBs work?

Inflation Indexed Bonds: Retail investors may have to open SGL, or subsidiary general ledger, accounts with primary dealers or banks to invest. This might be the biggest problem in getting retail investors excited in this product. (ET)

The problem with the India story: lack of conviction. (LiveMint)

Eurozone growth: More austerity and less monetary stimulus were pretty horrible ideas. Europeans don’t want devaluation, stimulus or inflation. But they don’t want the recession to go on either. Good luck with that!(Atlantic)

Have a nice weekend!

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Roundup: S&P +0.51%, Dow +0.40%, Nasdaq +0.26%, Gold $1,394.10, London +0.11%, Germany +0.28%, France +0.41%, Nikkei -1.08%

Banks may continue to face tough times for yet another quarter as borrowers, facing business downswing, queue up with loan restructuring requests. (ET)

Tata Motors global vehicle sales dropped for the sixth straight month in April (down 7% from a year earlier) as weak demand in India offset robust sales at Jaguar Land Rover. Sales in India fell 15% in April. (WSJ) TATAMOTORS 291.90 -2.60 (-0.88%)

France slid into recession during Q1 and economists see the French economy contracting by 0.2% for the full year. (WSJ)

Gold And Silver Are In Liquidation Mode Again. (BI) GOLDBEES 2,500.00 -5.50 (-0.22%)

Good luck!

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Roundup: S&P +1.01%, Dow +0.82%, Nasdaq +0.69%, Gold $1,424.40, London +0.82%, Germany +0.72%, France +0.53%, Nikkei +2.18%

KKR will raise Rs 2,000 crore from wealthy Indian investors and institutions to invest the money in mezzanine and structured credit instruments to fund promoters, among other things. (ET)

Kingfisher airlines has put a spoke into Diageo’s plans of world domination. It’s kind-of being half-pregnant while going through a paternity test. (ET) MCDOWELL-N 2,432.00 -80.90 (-3.22%) UBHOLDINGS 39.75 -1.15 (-2.81%)

A slowdown of the Chinese economy and a collapse in commodity prices are threatening to overtake the euro-zone debt crisis as the number one concern for global investors. However, a net 27% of EM fund managers underweight on India in April has changed to a net 38% overweight in May. (WSJ, LiveMint)

Are you distracted? Did you just have a fight? Then don’t trade! (StockViz)

Good luck!

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