Home sales and durable goods data cheered US stocks: the S&P 500 closed up 0.9 per cent to 1,331.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7 per cent (Bloomberg). Durable goods orders rose 1.1 per cent in May (Financial Times). Barclays will pay $450m in fines for attempting to manipulate Libor over a number of years. The bank admitted to allowing derivatives traders to influence submissions from 2005 to 2007, and to low-balling its Libor quotes in 2007 and 2008 to ward off "negative media speculation" about its financial health (Financial Times). Barclays chief Bob Diamond said he will forgo his bonus this year along with other executives (Reuters). The fines imposed on Barclays by the CFTC and the UK's FSA are the largest ever for either regulator (Wall Street Journal). Google launched a $199 tablet to undercut Apple's iPad, taking a leaf out of the Amazon Kindle's book on pricing. The Nexus 7 was unveiled at an annual developer conference alongside the Nexus Q - a living-room device for streaming media (Financial Times). Internally developed, the Nexus Q represents Google's "first foray into becoming a proper hardware company" (All Things D). The SEC has filed a civil law suit against Phil Falcone and Harbinger Capital, including allegations of high-yield bond price manipulation, and Falcone receiving personal loans for paying taxes (Bloomberg). Talks to reach a settlement broke down over the SEC's demand for Falcone to agree to a ban from the industry (Wall Street Journal). The SEC has also charged Falcone with giving some clients preferential access to redemptions from the fund (Financial Times). Glencore has pushed back a shareholders" meeting as it rushes to tweak the terms of its merger with Xstrata. Qatar Holdings, a major Xstrata shareholder, effectively forced the companies into revising terms on Wednesday after coming out against the deal (Reuters). Xstrata has also bowed to concerns over pay in the deal, offering to make payouts to executives in shares rather than cash (Financial Times). Glencore must still decide whether to raise its price for Xstrata shares in the takeover (Wall Street Journal). The German Chancellor dismissed short-term measures to relieve Italian and Spanish bonds as "eyewash." Officials are working behind the scenes on the plans, which could include using the eurozone's bailout funds to buy the countries" debt (Financial Times). Angela Merkel's resistance to the plans may mask increased German willingness to agree to quick solutions at this week's EU summit. Peter Madoff, Bernard's brother, is expected to plead guilty to charges of criminal conspiracy and falsifying records this week. Federal prosecutors agreed not to seek a sentence other than 10 years (Reuters). The Supreme Court will release its opinion on the Affordable Care Act, likely around 1015am EST. Follow along on SCOTUSBlog... while here's WSJ Marketbeat on investor reaction. Research in Motion earnings! It's forecast a first-quarter loss. Some 14 of 31 analysts predict a full-year loss, according to Bloomberg. Chart du jour from Sober Look on Barclays and Libor. A departing Barclays analyst's lament (it's not on Libor). Abnormal Returns on unforced (investment) errors. Five hits from Scott Sumner, on the eurozone, FOMC, et al. This entry was posted by Joseph Cotterill on Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 at 22:33 and is filed under Uncategorised.