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, November 19, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: The appointments of Marc Bolland and Archie Norman to Marks & Spencer and ITV caused tremors in the stock market.
Daily Telegraph: Business leaders claim the Government's finance-focused Queen's Speech amounted to a "legal minefield" that would damage London as a global economic centre.
The Times: Grant Thornton, Britain's fifth-largest accounting firm, slipped further behind the Big Four with a 4 per cent fall in revenue to £378 million ($630 million).
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: Bolland combines knowledge of the British retail scene with experience of developing brands internationally.
James Moore in The Independent: It's hard to see Hershey as a credible white knight to save Cadbury from the dragon that is Kraft.
Damian Reece in Daily Telegraph: The M&S job is a goldfish bowl and Bolland must show he can swim.
Upside
The Times: Mothercare, the baby products retailer, to accelerate its out-of-town expansion and reduce the number of high street premises.
Daily Telegraph: Hedge fund manager John Paulson to invest as much as $250 million (£149 million) in a new gold fund he is establishing.
The Times: Land Securities, Britain's biggest property group, gave go-ahead to £700 million ($1.17 billion) development as it predicted a recovery in commercial property values.
Downside
The Times: Questions raised of the Government's emission polices with highest levels in 15 years of coal supplies at British power stations.
The Times: Bank of England minutes reveal policymakers divided over Britain's super-loose monetary policy with a three-way split.
The Times: The construction industry downturn wiped 50 per cent off profits at Wolseley, the world's biggest supplier of heating and plumbing materials, in the latest three months.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Cadbury shares rise after Ferreo and Hershey confirm separately they would bid for Cadbury, triggering speculation of a battle with Kraft.
New York Times: American Express to buy Revolution Money, a provider of internet-based payment services for $300 million (£180 million).
The Times: Legal costs mount in the Tchenguiz family row with the billionaire brothers ordered to pay their brother-in-law an additional £100,000 ($170,000) towards his legal costs.
Around Asia
The Times: US rivals American Airlines and Delta Airlines circle as loss-making Japan Airlines freefalls towards bankruptcy.
The Times: Staff at Japan's biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, given early nights in the hope of halting the nation's falling birthrate.
The Times: Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover and Chorus says successor to Ratan Tata as chairman could be found outside the founding family.
Look ahead
The Times: Lloyds to put 600 branches and its Cheltenham & Gloucester and TSB brands up for sale after the European Commission approved its government bailout.
New York Times: Despite a sharp jump in profit in the latest quarter, Mitsubishi UFJ, the Japanese bank, to press ahead with plans to raise $11.2 billion (£6.7 billion).
New York Times: Criticised over bonuses, Goldman Sachs is working with billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett in a $500 million project to help 10,000 small businesses.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,342.13 down 0.1% (Wednesday close)
Dow 10,426.31 down 0.1% (close)
S&P 500 1,109.8 down 0.1% (close)
Nasdaq 2,193.14 down 0.5% (close)
Nikkei 9,584.01 down 1% (latest)
Hang Seng 22,860.19 up 0.1% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.669/1.1188 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4918 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $79.34 down 13 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $79.41 down 17 cents (latest)
Gold $1144 (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks broke three days of gains on Wednesday following worrisome outlooks from two major software makers and a surprising drop in home construction last month. But stocks sharply cut the session's losses just before the closing bell as many investors pointed to a strong uptrend in equities that have pushed major indexes to 13-month highs in recent days. Business software maker Autodesk was cautious about the outlook for the current quarter, while sector peer Salesforce.com reported a slowdown in new business. Autodesk slid 10.4 per cent and weighed on the Nasdaq, a day after the company, which licenses software to companies on a per-user basis, warned its recovery could be hindered by more job losses. Salesforce fell 3.1 per cent. Losses were kept in check by advances in the financial sector. Bank of America rose 3.7 per cent. A bevy of mining and energy shares declined. Freeport McMoRan was off 0.8 per cent while ConocoPhillips slipped 0.2 per cent.
Asia
Bloomberg: Japanese stocks fell in morning trade, dragging down the Topix index for a seventh consecutive day, after companies announced plans to sell shares. Mitsubishi UFJ., Japan's largest bank by market value, tumbled 5 per cent after announcing plans to sell as much as 1 trillion yen ($11.2 billion) in securities. Mizuho Financial slumped 6 per cent on course for the lowest close since September 2003 while Sumitomo Mitsui tumbled 5.3 per cent. Nomura Real Estate plunged 7.5 per cent after its proposal to sell stock. Nihon Nohyaku plummeted 15 per cent as the maker of insecticides said earnings fell. T&D Holdings retreated 4.6 per cent as the insurer had its rating reduced to "neutral" from "above average" at Tokai Tokyo Securities.
Myles McIvor
London
The FTSE 100 was little changed, down only 3.80 points to 5,342.13, with investors focusing on boardroom shake-ups. Marks & Spencer was the biggest riser, climbing 5.9 per cent, after it named Marc Bolland, the chief executive of Wm Morrison, as its next boss. The supermarket chain was the second-biggest faller, down 4.9 per cent. ITV was also in focus, rising 3.5 per cent, after the broadcaster appointed Archie Norman as its new non-executive chairman. The mining sector made ground as a weaker dollar gave metals prices a boost, with Fresnillo gaining 4.9 per cent. In the FTSE 250, Close Brothers was up 2.6 per cent after it said that its Winterflood trading arm had benefited from a rush of investors seeking to cash in on the stock market's recent rally.
Peter Stiff
Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk
