by mends » 16 Nov 2007, 13:02
um parêntese...
BROKERS' WOES TRIM HEDGES
By RODDY BOYD
November 16, 2007 -- Investment banks, hammered by massive write-downs and trading losses since the summer, are radically shifting business plans of their mortgage-backed securities departments - and it's leaving hedge funds out in the cold.
Key asset- and mortgage-backed securities brokers like UBS and RBS Greenwich Capital have sharply curtailed their financing activities to hedge fund clients over the past several months.
When hedge funds can't get such financing - also known as leverage - the attractiveness of doing trades for the funds dims.
As these major brokers pull back, the mortgage market's liquidity dries up, driving bond prices lower. In turn, hedge funds are forced to cut the value of their holdings.
In the case of illiquid securities like subprime bonds or collateralized debt obligations, the funds are unable to value them and have to suspend redemptions, or the return of an investor's principal in a security.
The shift is especially sudden for UBS, one of Wall Street's top three mortgage-backed trading desks, which has long been one of the most aggressive proponents of using its mammoth balance sheet to win business.
The Swiss giant has been devastated, however, by the mortgage collapse, reporting $4.4 billion in subprime and CDO-related write-downs and losses two weeks ago. Analysts predict UBS will book an additional $7 billion in write-downs, but the bank disputes that figure.
"Their balance sheet is shot through with holes and it looks to be getting worse," said a person familiar with UBS' mortgage desk. "They have a lot of other profitable businesses and with losses that size, relationships dating back to when the UBS desk was at Kidder Peabody don't matter as much."
A UBS spokesman declined to comment.
One of the key measures of brokers' flexibility to offer financing is the spread between the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate, known as Libor, and one-month U.S. Treasury bills.
Earlier in the year, according to Bloomberg, the spread between the two rates was between 10 basis points and 30 basis points. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
In August, at the height of the fear over credit concerns, that spread blew out to 300 basis points - or 3 percentage points - reflecting a panicked flight to perceived safety.
The spread has since narrowed to just under 100 basis points.
"I used to be on an endless run.
Believe in miracles 'cause I'm one.
I have been blessed with the power to survive.
After all these years I'm still alive."
Joey Ramone, em uma das minhas músicas favoritas ("I Believe in Miracles")