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
Tuesday, November 3, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: The Government to announce plans today to inject a further £40 billion ($65 billion) of taxpayers' money into Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
New York Times: Ford Motor Company posted a surprise third-quarter profit of $997 million (£610 million), its first profitable quarter in North America in more than four years.
The Times: The Financial Services Authority to review the system for compensating customers of failed financial institutions.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: The chief of Royal Bank of Scotland has mislaid his winning touch just as his counterpart at Lloyds glimpses redemption.
David Prosser in The Independent: Will the folk at Treasury hat-trick get a result?
Damian Reece in Daily Telegraph: Preserving the UK's credibility will determine whether we see recovery.
Upside
The Times: The UK's manufacturing sector grew at the fastest rate in two years, according to new data.
The Times: CIT, the US's leading specialist lender to small business, hoped to leave court protection as soon as next month.
The Times: Land Securities, Britain's biggest property developer, sets aside £200 million ($330 million) for two big developments in London next year.
Downside
The Times: Russia warned Europe of a winter gas shortage as Moscow pointed the finger at Ukraine.
Daily Telegraph: UK unemployment tipped to reach 2.75 million by November next year as the economic recovery fails to boost the jobs market.
The Times: ITV could be stuck with Friends Reunited, the genealogy site, after the broadcaster was told it might not be allowed to sell it.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair boss, said BA's reduction in flights would allow his company to overtake BA as Britain's biggest carrier.
New York Times: Rival tool and equipment makers Stanley Works and Black & Decker agree to merge in an all-stock transaction valued at $4.5 billion (£2.75 billion).
The Times: Key shareholders in National Express calling for Jorge Cosmen, the deputy chairman, to reconsider his position on the board.
Around Asia
The Times: BP, the British oil giant, today takes control of Rumaila, Iraq's biggest oilfield, creating uproar among local politicians.
New York Times: ChiNext, a new Nasdaq-style stock board in China, seen as a watershed moment for the country's capital markets.
Daily Telegraph: Emirates National Oil Company, the majority owner of Dragon Oil, bids £1.1 billion ($1.8 billion) for 48 per cent of the equity it does not already own.
Look ahead
The Times: A BA cabin crew strike timed for Christmas time after union officials said a ballot to vote for strikes would close on December 14.
The Independent: Orange, 02's rival, to launch its iPhone in the UK next Tuesday, dashing hopes of a Christmas price war.
The Times: Kraft must unwrap its hostile bid for Cadbury, the British sweet manufacturer, by 5pm next Monday or walk away for six months.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,104.50 up 1.2% (Monday close)
Dow 9,789.44 up 0.8% (close)
S&P 500 1,042.88 up 0.7% (close)
Nasdaq 2,049.20 up 0.2% (close)
Nikkei 9,802.95 down 2.3% (latest)
Hang Seng 21,554.62 down 0.3% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.6379/1.1072 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4793 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $76.74 up 19 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $78.28 up 15 cents (latest)
Gold $1066 up $12 (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks rose on Monday on Wall Street after another round of solid economic reports, but pulled off session highs after a Fed official's warning about banks' loan losses. The three major indexes had previously risen about 1 per cent earlier in the session as stronger-than-expected data on manufacturing and pending home sales spurred a broad-based advance and soothed worries over the recovery's strength. Ford jumped 8.3 per cent after the carmaker posted a quarterly profit, topping Wall Street's estimates for a loss as it cut costs and gained market share, prompting it to boost its 2011 outlook to "solidly profitable" from break-even. Citigroup fell 2.4 per cent while BlackBerry maker Research In Motion dropped 5.1 per cent.
Asia
Bloomberg: Most Asian stocks gained in morning trade after Ford reported an unexpected profit, a gauge of US manufacturing topped analyst projections and gold prices rose. Hyundai, which controls 4.4 percent of the US car market, added 2.9 per cent in Seoul as Ford said it expects to be "solidly profitable" in 2011. Newcrest Mining, Australia's largest gold producer, climbed 4.8 per cent as the precious metal rose to a one-week high and Lihir Gold added 3.6 per cent. National Australia Bank sank 1.7 per cent and Westpac 1 per cent ahead of what economists predict will be the second interest-rate increase in Australia in four weeks. Japanese markets are closed for a holiday. In Seoul, Hyundai rose 2.9 per cent and Kia Motors, which got 30 per cent of its revenue last year in North America, gained 1.4 per cent.
Myles McIvor
mjclub@bigpond.com.au
