The Morning Ledger: Market Rout Upends Plans for Chinese Firms To Head Home

        By James Willhite
        Good morning. At least two dozen U.S.-listed Chinese firms, ranging from dating sites to game developers, earlier this year considered going private in order to relist back home where markets were booming, the WSJ reports. But in light of the ongoing market rout that has since hit China's markets, those firms are now enduring a worst-of-both-worlds scenario: a lack of interest from U.S. investors coupled with uncertain prospects for a new listing across the Pacific.
        One reason for the ongoing turbulence in China: the absence of a public face to provide reassurance to fearful investors. "There is no Alan Greenspan or Mario Draghi in China," said Peng Junming, a former official at China's central bank and now chief investment officer at Empire Capital Management LLP, a Beijing investment firm. He referred to the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman and the president of the European Central Bank, respectively, both known for their public assurances in times of crisis. The absence of an identifiable and reassuring public face has been felt by investors since mid-June, as panic selling has caused two rounds of severe market drops despite a flurry of steps taken by Beijing to arrest the slide. Some observers said that points to China's lack of independent and forceful voices among its central bank and top regulators.
        In its scramble to prop up the stock market in recent weeks, Beijing has focused on state-owned titans such as PetroChina Co. Its big drop this week is seen as a sign of at least temporary surrender. "Without the government defending the market, there was a stampede to get out," said Larry Wan, chief investment officer at Shanghai Life Insurance, which manages 6 billion yuan in assets.
        CFO JOURNAL TODAY
        Aspiring IPOs often never get to market. More than a quarter of publicly filed initial public offerings were withdrawn this year, as the market for IPOs started off with a whimper, report CFO Journal's Kristin Lin and Emily Chasan. According to data provider Dealogic, 46 IPOs were withdrawn so far this year, while 149 IPOs were publicly filed. In all of last year, which was a much stronger year for the IPO market, 66 IPOs were withdrawn, while 390 were publicly filed.
        Corning struggling with China demand amid slowdown. Glassmaker Corning Inc. revealed on Tuesday that it expects demand in China to fall, based on the country's slowing economy, CFO Journal's Vipal Monga reports. In an interview, Corning CFO Jim Flaws said the weak outlook for the China business is based on falling demand for flat-screen TVs in the country. Corning makes the glass for the screens.
        How long should confidential IPOs be secret? Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill think companies such as Square Inc. and Houlihan Lokey Inc. should be able to keep their IPOs secret for even longer than the current three weeks before a road show. On July 14, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2064, a bill that aims to reduce that period to just 15 days before the road show.
        THE DAY AHEAD
        Don't check out of Marriott. Like surging Airbnb Inc., Marriott International Inc. has an enviable asset-light approach to lodging, writes Ahead of the Tape's Spencer Jakab. Wednesday's release of second-quarter results should reflect still-buoyant conditions. Analysts polled by FactSet see Marriott reporting earnings per share of 82 cents, up sharply from 64 cents a year earlier.
        Bond investors doubt Fed clarity on rates. Many bond investors are skeptical that the Federal Reserve will clearly signal a September rate increase at the conclusion of the central bank's policy meeting Wednesday.
        CORPORATE NEWS
        GM, Ford flourish out of the limelight. A sharp earnings acceleration by the top U.S. auto makers through June is overshadowing Volkswagen AG's sweet success in finally capturing the global sales crown from Toyota Motor Corp. Where the U.S. companies once were more focused on sales crowns, pumping out higher volumes at razor-thin margins, they now are flourishing by focusing on what customers want to buy.
        Small businesses bear burden of Ex-Im Bank shutdown. Supporters say the burden of the Export-Import Bank's shutdown for now will hit small businesses that lack the resources of industrial titans such as Boeing Co. and General Electric Co. But even big businesses say closing the bank for good will leave them at enough of a disadvantage against European and Asian competitors, which benefit from export-credit agencies at home, that they will move production abroad.
        P&G names David Taylor as CEO. Procter & Gamble Co. said company veteran David Taylor will take over as CEO on Nov. 1, with A.G. Lafley shifting to the role of executive chairman. In an interview, Mr. Lafley said he would jointly run P&G with Mr. Taylor for as long as necessary.
        NantKwest gives biotech another big IPO. These days, a biotech company doesn't need an approved drug to be worth several billion dollars. The latest example of that is NantKwest Inc.: Its shares surged 39% on Tuesday, the first day of trading following an initial public offering that valued the company at $2.6 billion. It was the highest ever IPO valuation for a biotech company with no approved drugs.
        Rent-to-own homes make a comeback. Wall Street firms have found a new way to profit from consumers with blemished credit who can't qualify for a mortgage: let them rent a home first with the option to buy it later.
        Zurich Insurance weighs RSA bid. Zurich Insurance Group AG said it might try to buy U.K.-based RSA Insurance Group PLC in a deal that could be valued at more than $8 billion. Under U.K. takeover rules, Zurich now has 28 days to make a firm offer for RSA or refrain from bidding for at least six months.
        Microsoft hopes sneak peeks will pay off. For Windows 10, Microsoft Corp. went all-out to turn around perceptions among corporate customers. For the better part of a year, it distributed in-progress versions to companies and gathered their feedback. It gave special attention to business-focused features such as security and simpler ways to manage fleets of workplace PCs.
        Citrix Systems CEO to retire. Citrix Systems Inc. announced the retirement of its longtime chief executive, Mark Templeton, and announced plans to appoint Jesse Cohn of Elliott Management Corp. to its board of directors. The news came as the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter and raised its outlook for the year.
        Honeywell pays $5.1 billion for German-based Elster. Honeywell International Inc. has agreed to buy German-based energy and water business Elster Group GmbH from the U.K.'s Melrose Industries PLC for $5.1 billion in cash. The purchase is in keeping with Honeywell's aim to expand its metering business into high growth product areas and regions.
        Hedge fund's assets fall by 95%. London-based bond-trader Mako Investment Managers LLP was a star performer in 2008, but assets under management of its flagship Pelagus Capital Fund have fallen 95% since the end of 2012.
        Intel, Micron claim memory-chip breakthrough. Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. say they developed a new breed of memory chips that could bring dramatic performance gains to computers, smartphones and other kinds of high-tech products. The companies say the chips they plan to sell next year will be up to 1,000 times faster than the NAND flash memory chips now used in most mobile devices, while storing 10 times more data than dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM, chips that are another mainstay of electronics hardware.
        The graying of Germany's small-business managers. The owners and managers of the 3.5 million small and midsize businesses that account for over half of Germany's economic output are aging rapidly. The executives who helped fuel the country's economic boom in recent decades are entering the 55-and-over age group four times as fast as Germans as a whole.
        "Ghosts" still haunt Japan Inc. Former executives of Japanese companies maintain clout at their old employers long after they step down, one reason analysts say so many have been slow to change.
        Nokia launches virtual-reality camera. Nokia Corp. is plotting a return to the consumer market, but this time is targeting virtual reality instead of phones, the Financial Times reports. In its first consumer-equipment launch since it sold its devices business to Microsoft Corp., the Finnish company plans to release the world's first real-time professional production equipment to create immersive films, TV and games. Ramzi Haidamus, president of the company's Silicon Valley-based unit, said VR "is a small market now but people will need a reason to put the headsets on," adding that "the thing is compelling content, which is going to have to come from professionals."
        The newest job in sports: videogame coach. The growing money and fame in videogame tournaments over the past several years has hatched a field of coaches and other professionals who want in. Some e-sports coaches make between $30,000 and $50,000 a year. E-sports players, meanwhile, can earn between about $35,000 and $120,000 a year depending on which games they specialize in and their level of success. That is on top of any prize money they might collect from their team's winnings and benefits.
        REGULATION
        (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 29, 2015 06:33 ET (10:33 GMT)

   Twitter revenue jumps; shares fall sharply after hours .   Twitter Inc. said second-quarter revenue grew 61%, a reassuring sign that its advertising business is working its way past a temporary hiccup. The company posted revenue of $502.4 million for the period ended June 30, compared with $312.2 million a year earlier. Still, it marked Twitter's weakest quarterly revenue growth as a public company. The company said 316 million users now sign in to the service at least once a month, up 2.6% from the prior quarter, but not enough to convince many that Twitter is reaching a mass market audience. 

        Lawsuits over mergers? He objects. Prof. Sean Griffith questions the value of the settlements often tied to mergers. Now, he is taking action. In 2014, shareholders filed suits challenging 93% of corporate mergers, up from 44% in 2007. The average deal drew nearly five lawsuits claiming the transaction shortchanged investors. Most settle in a predictable manner: Companies agree to reveal more information about their deal and pay plaintiffs' lawyers a fee in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Over the past few months, Mr. Griffith says he has bought a small number of shares in about 30 companies following the announcement of a takeover. When the expected shareholder lawsuits are ultimately settled, he plans to use his standing as a shareholder to formally object.
        China pushes to rewrite rules of global Internet . Fearful of U.S. dominance while looking to enforce some of its own cyber authority on its citizens, China is pushing to rewrite the rules of the global Internet. The government is encouraging the domestic production of the Internet's infrastructure, from semiconductors to servers while also seeking international support from countries such as Russia and Turkey opposed to a borderless Internet. Many Western companies, including LinkedIn Corp. are surrendering to Beijing's rules so they can build a position in China.
        Wal-Mart warns suppliers over labeling laws. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has sent out a memo to hundreds of suppliers warning them to comply with labeling laws, emphasizing that the amount inside a package matches what is printed on the outside.
        Georgia judge reduces damages in fatal Jeep-fire case. A Georgia judge reduced legal damages against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV stemming from a jury verdict in a trial over a fatal Jeep fire, as regulators hit the auto maker with a record fine for recall lapses.
        Amazon lays out plan for drones to navigate skies . Amazon.com Inc. laid out a proposal centered on slicing U.S. airspace into segments for different categories of unmanned aircraft, while keeping them all away from airplanes. The plan would include one slice--a "high-speed transit zone" from 200 feet to 400 feet above the ground--for advanced unmanned aircraft like the delivery drones Amazon is developing. The Amazon vision incorporates much of a NASA plan for an automated drone-traffic management system, a project that has more than 100 other collaborators, including Google Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.
        Steelmakers ask U.S. to impose tariffs on China, others . A group of steelmakers on Tuesday asked the U.S. government to impose tariffs on steel shipments from eight countries, the latest salvo in the battle to cope with record imports.
        EARNINGS
        Reynolds American lifts earnings outlook. Reynolds American Inc. lifted its earnings outlook for the year, reflecting strong sales from its recently acquired Newport brand and a dramatic slowing in the industrywide rate at which cigarette smoking is falling off.
        BP posts $6 billion loss. BP PLC swung to a loss, as earnings were hit by lower oil prices and a multibillion-dollar charge relating to its recent Deepwater Horizon settlement.
        Canadian low-cost carrier departs from no-frills model. WestJet Airlines Ltd. on Tuesday reported a 19% increase in its second-quarter profit and slightly stronger revenue, helped in part by lower fuel costs.
        Merck earnings hurt by arthritis-drug knockoffs. Low-cost knockoffs of the arthritis treatment Remicade in Europe hurt Merck & Co.'s second-quarter sales and earnings, a harbinger of the pressure facing sellers of costly biotechnology drugs in coming years.
        UPS earnings surge. United Parcel Service Inc. reported strong earnings, delivered optimistic rest-of-the-year guidance and outlined its plans for controlling costs during this year's peak holiday season.
        DuPont trims outlook on agricultural weakness. DuPont Co. trimmed its earnings outlook for the year on weakness in the agricultural business and exchange-rate fluctuations.
        Yelp cuts revenue guidance. Review-site firm Yelp Inc. cut its revenue guidance for the year Tuesday and said Chairman Max Levchin plans to step down from the company. The company said that monthly mobile unique visitors rose 22%, to about 83 million, on a monthly average basis, while desktop visitors were about 79 million, marking the first time that mobile traffic was higher than desktop.
        ECONOMY
        Rising rents outpace wages in wide swaths of U.S. The cost of renting a home is rising faster than wages across wide swaths of the country, a problem that has become especially acute in the past year, putting a big squeeze on many household budgets.
        U.S. health-spending growth jumped to 5.5% in 2014. Growth in national health spending, which had dropped to historic lows in recent years, has snapped back and is set to continue at a faster pace over the next decade, federal actuaries said.
        CFO MOVES
        MGM Holdings Inc., an entertainment company based in Beverly Hills, Calif., named Kenneth Kay its chief financial officer, effective immediately. Mr. Kay succeeds Dene Stratton, who resigned because he is "pursuing other opportunities," according to a spokeswoman for the company. Prior to joining MGM, Mr. Kay co-founded Raven LLC, a Las Vegas-based investment and advisory service. The company didn't disclose Mr. Kay's compensation information.
        Atlanta-based bedding company Serta Simmons Bedding LLC said that D. Paul Dascoli will serve as its new finance chief starting Aug. 25. Mr. Dascoli joins Serta Simmons from Express Inc., where he was CFO from 2011 until he resigned at the beginning of this month, CFO Journal reported. He succeeds CEO Gary Fazio, who served as interim CFO after Brian Callahan resigned in February to pursue other interests, according to a press release. The company didn't disclose Mr. Dascoli's compensation information.
        The Morning Ledger from CFO Journal cues up the most important news in corporate finance every weekday morning. Send us tips, suggestions and complaints: james.willhite@wsj.com. Get The Morning Ledger emailed to you each weekday morning by clicking here: http://on.wsj.com/TheMorningLedgerSignup. Follow us on Twitter @CFOJournal.
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 29, 2015 06:33 ET (10:33 GMT)

#FX
#Forex
#SaleForex
#TheMorningLedger
#MarketRoutUptendsPlans
#ChineseFirms
#HeadHome
#MaxLevchin