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[ad_1] Umicore plan to double down on battery business knocks almost $1 billion off market cap [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Breaking his silence after his government was pushed to the brink of collapse by rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said he was ready to quit his post if the rebel MLAs tell him that they don’t want him to continue as CM. The remarks came as Shinde, who now leads the rebel faction of Sena, claimed that he has support of 46 MLAs, including six ministers. With numbers stacked up against the MVA government, Thackeray said he will form the government again if he loses today. In a 17-minute-long webcast, Thackeray who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day, said he was ready to give up the post of Shiv Sena president as well if Shiv Sainiks feel that he isn’t capable of heading the party. “Why make statements from Surat and other places? Come and tell me to my face that I am incompetent to handle the posts of chief minister and Shiv Sena president. I will resign immediately. I will keep my resignation letter ready and you can come and take it to Raj Bhavan,” Thackeray said. Thackeray also claimed that several rebel MLAs called him from to tell that they were forcibly taken away. The remarks came as 34 Shiv Sena MLAs, who are part of the breakaway faction, passed a resolution appointing Eknath Shinde as the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature party, according to The Indian Express. Reacting to Shinde’s charge that the Shiv Sena was no more the one that followed Balasaheb’s Hindutva ideology, Thackeray said that the party was just another side of the coin as Hindutva. He also said that he has always taken forward Balasaheb’s ideology. He said he would be happy to see a Shiv Sainik as his successor on the CM’s post, adding he took up the post despite his inexperience after a suggestion from NCP chief Sharad Pawar.  Shinde, on his part, has shown no signs of backing down from his rebellion, which has pushed the two-and-a-half-year old Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to the brink. [ad_2] Source link

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[ad_1] Lockheed can deliver F-35 to Germany from 2026, sees more orders in Europe [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday cut its July global production plan by 50,000 vehicles as semiconductor shortages and COVID-19 parts supply disruptions continued to curb output. The world’s largest car maker by volume expects to make 800,000 vehicles next month, it said in a statement. “As it remains difficult to look ahead due to the shortage of semiconductors and the spread of COVID-19, there is a possibility that the production plan may be lower,” the Japanese company said. Toyota and other car makers continue to struggle with supply-chain disruptions and component shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic including those resulting from recent lockdowns in China. Automakers are also having to compete for limited semiconductor supplies with other manufacturers such as consumer electronics device makers. Toyota stuck with its annual global production target of 9.7 million vehicles, although the company signalled in May that supply chain disruptions could eventually force it lower that number. The automaker on Wednesday also expanded production halts in Japan next month at plants that make vehicles, including its GR Yaris subcompact and bZ4X electric SUV. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Recently, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced a plan to acquire Black Knight in a reported $13 billion deal that, if approved by federal regulators, would certainly be one of the largest acquisitions ever in the mortgage technology space. The importance of this particular acquisition is one that could have implications for consumers, lenders, vendors and settlement service providers. More importantly, the acquisition should be a wake-up call about the importance of data in a future world. Mortgage competition is critical The mortgage industry to date has not been “Amazoned,” as has the retail sales market, or “Ubered,” as has the transportation market, and still operates in a very decentralized state consisting of a few thousand lenders (banks, community banks, and independent mortgage companies). These all compete for loans in a nation of borrowers who benefit from the resulting competition. In fact, despite changes in interest rates, it is this competition that drives overall mortgage rates and credit availability to the most advantageous levels for consumers. Thanks to this highly competitive market, it is impossible for any single lender to be a price-maker, as market dominance is, at best, fleeting until the next lender or technology provider comes along and out-competes the last. Unlike the comparison to Amazon and Uber, this competition in the mortgage market exists across all sectors. The perceived benefit of competition to consumers is important. The barrier to entry for new platforms and technologies is relatively low, meaning all participants must remain on their toes to ensure they don’t fall behind new companies and new ideas. Just look at the variability of the top lenders in America: The majority of the top 20 lenders from 2005 were no longer in the top 20 in 2020 — a true testament to the industry’s thriving competition. There have been periods of time where market dominance became a challenge to competitors, negatively impacting consumer options. However, the market has always adjusted as market conditions change and new technologies and platforms find a better way to reach consumers. Data monopoly risk The ICE acquisition of Black Knight is different because of one very important component: data. Historically, no single lender has ever had control of so much consumer information. This is key because if one company exercises majority control of mortgage data and its platforms, there is a future opportunity for a market shift to result in the cutting out of the vast competition. For example, today’s mortgage servicers have an advantage with their own customers. They already have all the loan information of their customers, and when refinance opportunities arise, they can pinpoint who is “in the money” faster than all others and, if ready, have an advantage of reaching their customers before all the other lenders to offer the refinance, often with a far more streamlined process than a new lender. This, however, is where the advantage generally stops. Think about it. ICE today already owns Encompass, the Loan Origination System (LOS) platform owned by Ellie Mae and clearly the largest platform used by IMBs (independent mortgage bankers). They own MERS and thus have access to knowing who the servicer of record is for all mortgages and where they are recorded. This is already a significant amount of data to own. With the acquisition of Black Knight, they would take on MSP’s servicing platform, which is used today for an estimated 65% of all mortgage servicing in the market. This purchase would also include the acquisition of the other mega loan origination platform, Empower, which together, with Encompass, covers nearly 75% of all mortgage loans originated. The sheer market power coming out of this will be significant. In fact, Black Knight was already defending an antitrust lawsuit prior to this announced sale to ICE. In that 2019 suit, the plaintiff claims that Black Knight “uses its market-dominating LoanSphere MSP mortgage loan servicing system to engage in unfair business tactics that both entrap its licensees and create barriers to entry that stifle competition.” One must ask: If the sheer power of Black Knight alone, before this transaction, was enough to draw antitrust concerns, what will the collective impact of an acquisition like this do? If approved, ICE will own or have access to the vast majority of data in the overall mortgage market. Ellie Mae’s Encompass, and Black Knight’s MSP, Empower, not to mention Optimal Blue, would make ICE a formidable price-maker, the likes of which new entrants and even existing players might not have any hope of competing with. To put this clearly, the GSEs respectively would have less access to their own intellectual property from a performance standpoint than would this new conglomerate. Don’t get me wrong: ICE is very good at what they do. They own some of the world’s largest technology data platforms, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). But it is that exceptionalism that could risk a monopoly for the mortgage market. Just think about one hypothetical scenario: In the next rate rally when refinances come back, ICE would have access to most of the loan origination data, the servicing performance, the servicer of record and more … more data than any other individual company in the market. And while they are not in the “origination” space today, it would seem like a simple push of a button to take that data and, within minutes, make loan offers to millions of homeowners across the country. On the other hand, even if they have no intention of competing in the origination space, what happens when the competitive bid on the LOS or servicing platform front goes away, and lenders are stuck with a “take it or leave it” bid? Pricing power, service levels, competitive upgrades and more could succumb to the market power of this one single massive entity. The most important questions to revisit We have a few monopolies in our industry. For example, FICO is still the only credit score used in lending and is often accused of being antiquated and not keeping up with minority access and the needs of scoring tens

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[ad_1] Share Market News Today | Sensex, Nifty, Share Prices LIVE: Bears returned to Dalal Street as benchmark indices opened on negative note with Nifty below 15600. The Sensex was down 377.58 points or 0.72% at 52154.49, and the Nifty was down 119.80 points or 0.77% at 15519. Tata Steel, NTPC, Wipro, Tech M, HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, Titan and Reliance led losses on the Sensex. Dr Reddy’s, HUL, and Asian Paints, meanwhile, were the handful of gainers. All the sectoral indices are trading lower with oil & gas, metal, power, realty, IT, bank and capital goods indices down 1-3%. In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were also in the negative territory, falling up to 0.8%. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] The stock market has not been kind to mortgage lenders – some are now trading in the $1-a-share range In a one-week period between June 10 and June 17, 11 publicly traded mortgage companies lost a collective $6.14 billion in market capitalization. As investors fled the space, their valuations declined 17.4% to $29 billion in aggregate, according to a HousingWire analysis of stock data.  And it’s unclear when – or if – they’ll recover from the sell-off.  The companies include Finance of America Companies, Flagstar Bancorp, Guild Holdings Company, Home Point Capital, loanDepot, Mr. Cooper Group, New Residential Investment Corp., Ocwen Financial Corporation, Pennymac Financial Services, Rocket Companies, and UWM Holdings Corporation.  “People are reluctant to invest in the mortgage space at the moment because it’s unclear how long the downturn is going to last,” Bose George, mortgage finance analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW), said. “You don’t know how much money these companies will lose and what their book values will look like once this is done.”  The bear stock market began on Friday, June 10 when the U.S. Consumer Price Index showed an 8.6% increase year-over-year in May, 30 basis points above the consensus estimates and the highest mark in four decades.  Consequently, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 75 basis points on Wednesday, a hike not seen since 1994. Chairman Jerome Powell also signaled the possibility of raising an additional 75 bps at the Fed’s next meeting in July. Investors last week scrambled to sell riskier assets amid growing fears that the Fed will send the U.S. economy into a recession this year. In a note published Monday, a team of Goldman Sachs economists increased their outlook for a U.S. recession, citing concerns that the Fed will act aggressively to control inflation, even if economic activity weakens. The Goldman Sachs economists now see a 30% probability of entering a recession over the next year, versus 15% previously, and a 25% probability of entering a recession in the second year if it is avoided in 2022. All the turbulence in the markets pushed purchase mortgage rates up 55 bps over the last week, the largest one-week increase since 1987, to 5.78%, according to the Freddie Mac PMMS. Other indexes showed rates north of 6% last week. Well-qualified buyers in the non-qualified mortgage space were locking rates in double-digits, several LOs told HousingWire.  “In terms of the mortgage originators, refis are already largely gone, so the question is whether this rate move is enough to slow purchase more meaningfully. It’s a little early to tell,” George said. “We are pretty negative on the industry, and we have not recommended taking any of these names.”  Who was hit harder?  Investors are fleeing from mortgage companies that are struggling to generate cash – meaning those not delivering profits. They are also punishing the classes of 2020 and 2021, a group of lenders that went public at high valuations, often on the strength of lower mortgage rates and refi euphoria.  Nonbank heavyweight loanDepot suffered the biggest decline in valuation during the one-week period. The company lost 37.7% in market capitalization to $538 million on Friday, HousingWire’s analysis found. The stock debuted in 2021 at $14 a share and closed on Friday at just $1.52 a share. The Orange County-based lender, founded by Anthony Hsieh, reported a net loss of $91.3 million in the first quarter due to a steep decline in origination volume and expense reductions that did not keep up with the rapidly changing environment. Company executives said they don’t expect to have a profitable fiscal year, citing pressures on margins and lower market volume.  Among the six mortgage companies that went public during the Good Times – besides loanDepot – Rocket (-19.4%), UWM (-16.4%), Home Point Capital (-8.7%), and Guild (-5.35%) also experienced sizable losses in their valuations over the last week. Notably, FoA, with a decline of 9.55%, closed at $1.80 a share on Friday, joining loanDepot in the $1 club.  The remaining companies also had declines in their valuations due to the havoc in the financial markets: New Residential (-20.4%), Ocwen (-14.4%), Pennymac (-11.3%), Mr. Cooper (-9.85%), and Flagstar (-6.3%).  The turmoil in the markets caused the Wedbush Securities’s team of analysts to cut estimates for several mortgage companies. “Mortgage rates have spiked to near 6% levels, after hovering ~3% for the last couple of years, at an unprecedented pace, rapidly evaporating the rate & term refinance market,” Jay McCanless, Brian Violino, and Henry Coffey said in the report.  “While purchase volumes remain fairly strong from a historical perspective, purchase rate locks are starting to see some pressure and total volume projections from the big three (Fannie, Freddie, and the MBA) for 2022 and 2023 have continuously moved lower throughout the year.”  Wedbush reduced Flagstar’s price target from $50 to $48, maintaining its neutral rating. For UWM, which also has a neutral recommendation, the analysts reduced the price target from $5 to $4.  Pennymac’s price target dropped from $65 to $55, with an outperform rating; the Wedbush analysts expect the total return to outperform relative to the median projected by analysts over the next 6-12 months.  Wedbush has an outperform rating for Guild (price target $12), Home Point ($5.50), and Mr. Cooper Group ($60). The analysts also have a neutral target for Rocket, with the price target at $7.  The worst since 2008?  A number of industry observers said the mortgage market is facing its worst downturn since the financial crisis in 2008.  On June 10, the day the inflation data came out, the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market went “no-bid,” ​​according to longtime mortgage broker Louis Barnes. Investors asked for higher premiums to invest in these assets amid a flight to quality caused by the expectation of higher U.S. Treasury rates. “It’s a tough time in the market right now because you don’t know what rates to offer borrowers,” Kevin Heal, senior analyst and fixed income strategist at Argus Research, said.  He added: