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
Monday, October 5, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: Paul Tucker, a Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, proposed a levy on banks to fund rescues as the IMF considers a similar plan.
The Daily Telegraph: Sir James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner tycoon, will lead a Tory task force that aims to boost Britain's hi-tech exports.
Financial Times: Michael Geoghegan, the chief executive of HSBC, believes there will be a second downturn in coming months and will delay the bank's expansion plans.
Comment
Peter Oppenheimer in The Times: The modest return of confidence from very extreme levels was enough to drive a sharp rebound in prices.
Roger Bootle in The Daily Telegraph: The recent signs of recovery in the housing market are not to be trusted because sales volumes are so low.
Sean O'Grady in The Independent: Dangerous though it may be to suggest it, it might well be that this time the recovery is indeed different.
Upside
The Times: BAE Systems, the defence contractor, is prepared to settle the Serious Fraud Office's allegations of bribery, but will not do so "at any cost".
The Times: A sharp rise in share prices has fuelled the first growth in Britain's financial services industry for almost two years.
The Times: T-Mobile, the struggling mobile phone operator, enjoyed its best-ever month for subscriber growth in September.
Downside
The Times: Foreign-owned City banks may legally challenge government plans to curb City bonuses, plans to which their British counterparts have agreed.
The Daily Telegraph: The private equity owners of Gala Coral may be about to cede control of Britain's largest gaming company to its lenders.
The Times: Tobacco giant Philip Morris International will launch legal action against the Irish government over its ban on the display of cigarettes in shops.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Sir Crispin Davis, ITV's senior independent director, will ask Sir James Crosby this week if he will accept the chairmanship of the broadcaster.
The Daily Telegraph: EDF, the French energy giant, may sell a 20 per cent stake in British Energy to help build four new nuclear power stations in the UK.
Financial Times: A US-led consortium is challenging Geely Automobile of China in the race to buy Volvo, the loss-making Swedish carmaker, from Ford.
Around Asia
The Times: China's dominance of the market for rare earth metals could be undone by discoveries on a desolate plateau on the southwestern shores of Greenland.
New York Times: China will spend billions of dollars in the next few years to develop media and entertainment companies to compete with global giants.
Financial Times: Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian industrialist, is close to pulling out of a $20 billion (£12.5 billion) plan to build two steel plants in India.
Look ahead
The Times: Britain's self-sufficiency in wheat will end next year because of demand from a giant new biofuel refinery.
New York Times: Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve board, predicts US unemployment will go higher than the current 9.8 per cent.
Wall Street Journal: After a six-year building frenzy, Las Vegas casinos are putting expansions on hold and predict no new work may begin for a decade.
Unfinished business - last week wrapped up
Last Monday
Three big drug makers announced deals that give them rights to new flu vaccines, one of the industry's brightest, but riskiest, segments.
The UK cash-for-clunkers scheme was extended to another 100,000 new cars with a £100 million ($159 million) injection partly funded by the taxpayer.
Tuesday
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, said banking executives would be banned from holding directorships if they overpaid themselves and their workers.
The pound strengthened after the Bank of England said it had no immediate intention of lowering the rate on banks' reserves.
Wednesday
Five major UK banks agreed to a string of reforms governing bonus payments.
Adam Applegarth, the former chief executive of Northern Rock, the nationalised bank, joined Apollo Management, a US private equity firm.
Thursday
Anglo American, the mining giant, sought a "put up or shut up" order that could block a bid from rival Xstrata for at least six months.
Icelandic police raided KPMG and PwC offices in Reykjavik as part of an investigation into three collapsed Icelandic banks.
Friday
US regulators closed three banks, bringing the total to 98 this year.
US unemployment hit a 26-year high of 9.8 per cent.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,988.70 down 1.2% (Friday close)
Dow 9,487.67 down 0.2% (close)
S&P 500 1,025.21 down 0.5% (close)
Nasdaq 2,048.11 down 0.5% (close)
Nikkei 9,736.63 up 0.1% (latest)
Hang Seng 20,401.59 up 0.1% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.5989/1.0922 euros (latest)
Euro $1.464 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $68.07 steady (latest)
West Texas crude $69.90 down 5 cents (latest)
Gold $1004.80 up 50 cents (latest)
New York
Bloomberg: US stocks fell after manufacturing expanded less than anticipated and unemployment climbed. Manufacturing giant General Electric fell 6.2 per cent. Copper producer Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold fell 1.2 per cent on lower demand for metal products. US Steel fell 13 per cent, and AK Steel Holding fell 13 per cent on an analyst's downgrade of the US steel industry. Energy company Chevron fell 3.6 per cent on concerns demand will be slow. JPMorgan, the second-largest US bank, fell 4 per cent on concerns the economy will weaken. Printer maker Xerox fell 19 per cent after it agreed to buy technology services company Affiliated Computer Services. Newspaper publisher Gannett rose 26 per cent on better-than-expected results.
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks fell in early trade led by technology and mining companies. Asian exporters fell on concern US demand is faltering. Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of computer-memory chips, fell 2.9 per cent. Honda, the car maker, fell 1.5 per cent. Mitsubishi, which derives almost half of its sales from commodities, fell 1.9 per cent, and smaller rival Mitsui fell 2.8 per cent on lower oil and metal prices. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.3 per cent to 114.11 in morning trade.
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
