KILL THE COMPETITION
Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're saying, what they're saying, from Michael Beh
Thursday, August 13, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: City watchdog accused of giving banks a green light to continue paying multimillion-pound bonuses.
New York Times: The Federal Reserve gave its most upbeat assessment of the US economy in more than a year and said it would soon end its programme to buy back billions in Treasury bonds.
The Times: Royal Bank of Scotland, 70 per cent taxpayer-owned, spent more than £10 million ($16 million) hiring two bankers.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: The Inflation Report says recovery will be slow, but, if anything, its medium-term forecast has improved a bit.
James Moore in The Independent: The FSA's plan is not as good as it appears.
Damian Reece in Daily Telegraph: UK must think again on how to tackle jobless problem.
Upside
The Times: BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining group, stole a march on rivals with ambitious growth plans for exploration and mine development.
Daily Telegraph: Mohamed Fayed, the Harrods owner, did not pay himself a dividend last year despite record sales at his Knightsbridge department store.
Daily Telegraph: Mitie, the support services group, paid up to £130 million ($215 million) for a rival facilities management group.
Downside
The Times: As unemployment hit a 14-year high, more than one in six young people out of work, raising fears of a "lost generation" of potential workers.
Daily Telegraph: E.ON warned the energy regulator that its new rules aimed at fairer pricing for UK customers posed a risk to competition.
The Times: A gloomy Bank of England cranked up pressure on high street lenders to step up lending to consumers.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Michael Kroupeev, the Russian oil financier, reaps £138 million ($230 million) payout after the takeover of Emerald Energy by China's Sinochem.
The Times: Lloyds Banking Group selling its Insight fund management business to Bank of New York Mellon for £235 million ($390 million) in a shake-up of its asset management operations.
The Times: Paul Foley, the Aldi UK boss, departed with immediate effect and by mutual consent after a 20-year career with the German retailer.
Around Asia
The Times: Chinese authorities back down on espionage charges against four Rio Tinto executives but maintain they stole commercial secrets and were involved in bribery.
New York Times: The World Trade Organisation gave the US a victory in its trade battle with China, ruling Beijing had violated international rules by limiting imports of books, songs and movies.
Bloomberg: Li Ka-shing, who lost more than $11 billion (£6.6 billion) after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, clawing back his losses thanks to a Hong Kong property boom.
Look ahead
The Times: Microsoft and Nokia team up so the latest online versions of Microsoft's Office suite of applications can be available on Nokia handheld devices.
New York Times: Since Michael Jackson's death, merchandising contracts and a film deal have brought in $100 million (£60 million) with another $100 million expected by the end of this year.
New York Times: UBS, the Swiss banking giant, and the Justice Department reach an agreement that would force the bank to disclose the names of US clients suspected of tax evasion.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,716.76 up 1% (Wednesday close)
Dow 9,361.61 up 1.3% (close)
S&P 500 1,005.81 up 1.2% (close)
Nasdaq 1,998.72 up 1.5% (close)
Nikkei 10,537.37 up 1% (latest)
Hang Seng 20,830.36 up 1.9% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling 1.6503/1.1603 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4224 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $73.35 up 46 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $70.60 up 44 cents (latest)
Gold $951.90 down 60 cents (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks powered higher on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve said it saw signs of a more stable economy. Stocks had been on track to close at their highest level in 10 months, led by technology and financials, but shares lost steam in the last half hour of trading. Allstate rose 6.3 per cent after Bank of America-Merrill Lynch upgraded the insurer to buy from neutral. Applied Materials rose 3.3 per cent after the chip equipment maker said it would at least break even this year thanks to new orders and deep cost cuts. Luxury home builder Toll Brothers soared 14.4 per cent after it said its net signed contracts rose in the third quarter, the first increase in four years. Macy's rose 6 per cent after the department store operator posted better-than-expected earnings and raising its outlook.
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose in morning trade, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its biggest gain this month. James Hardie Industries, the No. 1 seller of home siding in the US, surged 11 per cent in Sydney. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation's largest lender, gained 3.5 per cent after Macquarie Group lifted its recommendation on the stock. Citizen Holdings climbed 4.5 per cent in Tokyo after the watchmaker reported a smaller-than-estimated loss. Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world's No. 1 contract electronics company and maker of Apple's iPhone, rose 3.3 per cent in Taipei. Hyundai, South Korea's biggest automaker, added 3.2 per cent after saying it expects to boost sales in the US. Denso, Japan's largest maker of auto parts and a supplier to US carmakers, jumped 4.1 per cent after Mitsubishi UFJ raised the stock to "strong outperform." The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.4 per cent to 112.65 in morning trade.
mjclub@bigpond.com.au
LONDON
Only a day after Clive Cowdery finally secured a deal to buy Friends Provident the market was alive with speculation as to who would be next. Shares in Legal & General rose 3.7 per cent after Oriel Securities suggested the insurer was the most likely next target for Cowdery's Resolution. Marcus Barnard, an analyst at the broker, said L&G would be attractive given its mix of business, asset management, low valuation and shareholder base, of which it reckons many would accept an exchange into Resolution shares. The FTSE 100 advanced 45.42 points to 4716.76 driven by gains for financials. As well as insurers, banks were up, with Lloyds rising 6.4 per cent after agreeing to sell its Insight investment business for £235 million to Bank of New York Mellon. Tui Travel was one of the session's biggest casualties, losing 2.9 per cent, after the holidays group reported a decline in winter bookings.
