 | March 16, 2010 |
Kill the Competition: Debt warning ... US overhaul ... Arms factory worriesTop storiesThe Times: The European Commission gave warning that Britain must do more to curb its spiralling debt. http://tinyurl.com/ydmeag7 Wall Street Journal: A proposal by US Senate Democrats to overhaul financial markets will take sharp aim at big Wall Street banks. http://tinyurl.com/ycmzjud The Times: BAE, the defence supplier, warned that it may have to close its tank factory in Newcastle if a £4 billion ($6 billion) arms contract goes to the US. http://tinyurl.com/ygwd64b Comment David Wighton in The Times: It will be years before the work of Peter Voser, the boss of Royal Dutch Shell, can be judged properly - but so far so good. http://tinyurl.com/yjeubx8 Lorenzo Bini Smaghi in the Financial Times: The issue of moral hazard cannot be tackled simply by assuming that crises will not occur. http://tinyurl.com/yalzgb6 Matthew Lynn on Bloomberg: As soon as a hedge fund acquires any kind of serious publicity, its glory days are over. http://tinyurl.com/yc5uocv Upside The Times: Construction work has begun on the first new deep-sea port in Britain for 25 years. http://tinyurl.com/yzu8kkz Wall Street Journal: UBS, the Swiss bank, paid 10 times more in executive salaries and bonuses last year than it paid in 2008. http://tinyurl.com/ydaz252 The Times: Jaguar Land Rover, the luxury British marques, reported a 60 per cent increase in global sales for last month. http://tinyurl.com/yez2flc Downside The Times: Conflict is brewing between Berlin and Paris over how to best manage the financial crisis in the eurozone. http://tinyurl.com/yhasjfp The Times: The pound fell after Moody's, a leading ratings agency, said that the UK had come closer to losing its AAA rating. http://tinyurl.com/yknlqj5 The Times: Ernst & Young, the professional services firms, faces scrutiny by the UK's auditing watchdog for its advice to Lehman Brothers, the defunct investment bank. http://tinyurl.com/ykxr66n Mergers and shakers Daily Telegraph: The Financial Services Authority arrested Christian Littlewood, a top investment banker, and his wife Angie on suspicion of insider dealing. http://tinyurl.com/yk3qfms Financial Times: Royal Bank of Scotland, the state-backed bank, is planning a £10 billion ($15 billion) debt buy-back to boost its capital strength. http://tinyurl.com/ycxaj8y Wall Street Journal: Charles Antonucci Sr, the former president of a New York Bank, was arrested on allegations of defrauding the US Troubled Asset Relief Program. http://tinyurl.com/yfjfw2v Around Asia Wall Street Journal: China changed the accounting of some government spending, allowing it to report a deficit below the level of 3 per cent of GDP for 2010. http://tinyurl.com/yenhzdt Bloomberg: China and Japan, the two biggest foreign holders of Treasuries, reduced their positions of US government debt in January. http://tinyurl.com/yfupcwx Wall Street Journal: Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian miner, is in talks with Chinalco, the Chinese aluminium producer, to develop an iron-ore project in Guinea. http://tinyurl.com/ydk6w47 Look ahead The Times: Iraq plans to increase its oil exports to 2.15 million barrels a day this year, threatening the grip on global oil supply of Opec, the oil cartel. http://tinyurl.com/y88e2lt New York Times: 2012 is the start of a three-year period in which more than $700 billion (£465 billion) in risky, high-yield corporate debt begins to come due. http://tinyurl.com/yk4ekwo Daily Telegraph: Deutsche Telekom, the German phone giant, is using a new quota system so a third of its management roles are held by women by 2015. http://tinyurl.com/ycpavaq MARKETS FTSE 100 5,593.85 down 0.6% (Monday close) Dow 10,642.15 up 0.2% (close) S&P 500 1,150.51 up 0.1% (close) Nasdaq 2,362.21 down 0.2% (close) Nikkei 10,776.52 up 0.2% (latest) Hang Seng 21,140.86 up 0.3% (latest) Currencies Sterling $1.506/1.1006 euros (latest) Euro $1.3683 (latest) Commodities Brent crude $77.62 down 29 cents (latest) West Texas crude $79.68 down 12 cents (latest) Gold $1109.70 up $4.30 (latest) New York Reuters: US stocks were little changed as a late rebound in financial stocks offset nagging worries the Chinese government may tighten credit. US coal miner Consol Energy fell 10.1 per cent after it agreed to buy the Appalachian natural gas properties of Dominion Resources. Semiconductors were a drag on the Nasdaq as analysts lowered their ratings on several chip stocks. Lam Research fell 4.6 per cent, KLA-Tencor fell 4.6 per cent and Atheros fell 4.1 per cent. Retailer Wal-Mart Stores rose 2.8 per cent and was the top boost to the Dow on an analyst's upgrade. Google, the world's biggest search engine, fell 2.8 per cent after it said it remained in talks with the Chinese government about censorship of its Chinese-language search portal. http://tinyurl.com/ygrpajh Asia Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose in morning trade, led by finance and consumer companies. The Bank of Japan starts a two-day policy meeting today and is expected to take additional measures for monetary easing. Sony Financial Holdings rose 14 per cent in Tokyo after saying it will boost its bond holdings to reduce risk. Toyota, Japan's largest carmaker, rose 2.1 per cent. Telstra, the Australian telecoms, rose 2 per cent after Australia's Senate delayed a vote on legislation to break up the former state monopoly. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 per cent to 123.32 in morning trade. http://tinyurl.com/yb9vaqr Michael Beh: michaelwbeh@gmail.com London The FTSE 100 drifted 31.8 points lower to 5,593.85 as the three biggest sectors - mining, oil and banking - all gave ground. Trading was light as many investors opted to remain on the sidelines ahead of interest-rate decisions in America today and Japan tomorrow. Concerns persisted that China, a major consumer of raw materials, may soon lift interest rates to try to curb inflation. That pressured metals prices and hurt miners. Xstrata continued to be unsettled by the recent sale of shares worth more than £4.7 million by Santiago Zaldumbide, the board director in charge of Xstrata's zinc business. The Switzerland-based miner eased 36p to £11.57. Oil companies were also marked lower as the price of a barrel of crude slipped below $80. Tullow Oil dipped 22p to £12.60. Royal Bank of Scotland, the lender 84 per cent-owned by the taxpayer, bucked the banking sector generally and continued to improve. The shares rose another 0.16p to 42.73p on the back of what were said to have been extremely positive meetings between Stephen Hester, the chief executive, and fund managers over the past week. Bruce Packard, now banking analyst at Seymour Pierce, is not convinced, however. In his first published research for Seymour - titled "New Wine Poured into Old Wineskins" - Mr Packard argues that banks' business models are as they ever were, and that the City is over-estimating likely earnings growth for lenders. He urged clients to sell RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, which eased 0.9p to 57.57p, and Barclays, down 3.25p at 348.6p. Those stocks to improve were largely targeted for their safer, more defensive qualities. Drug makers, utilities and drinks group were all marked higher. Gary Parkinson: Gary.Parkinson@thetimes.co.uk AGENDA 06.00 GMT Japan: Machine tool orders (Feb final) 07.45 GMT France: CPI (Feb) 09.00 GMT Italy: CPI (Feb final) 09.30 GMT UK: DCLG house prices (Jan) 10.00 GMT EMU: HICP (Feb final) 10.00 GMT Germany: ZEW survey (Mar) 12.30 GMT Canada: Manufacturing sales (Jan) 12.30 GMT Canada: Labour productivity (Q4) 12.30 GMT US: Import price index (Feb) 12.30 GMT US: Housing starts (Feb) 12.30 GMT US: Building permits (Feb) 18.15 GMT US: FOMC rate announcement 23.50 GMT Japan: Tertiary industry index (Jan) AIR PARTNER H1 AXIS-SHIELD PLC PRELIM CLOSE BROTHERS GROUP PLC H1 CELLO GROUP PLC LONDON FINAL DEBENHAMS PLC H1 TRADE DEUTSCHE BANK AG FINAL ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING AGM (12.00) FAIRPOINT GROUP PRELIM G4S PLC PRELIM JAMES FISHER PRELIMS KBC ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES PRELIMS KENMORE EUROPEAN INDL FUND PRELIM QUARTO GROUP (tbc) RENSBURG SHEPPARDS SHAREHOLDERS (15.00) WELLSTREAM HLDGS PLC PRELIM Sign up to receive the Kill the Competition
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Jobs restructureTop stories The Times: Further damaging revelations about the collapse of Lehman Brothers are being held up in the US courts by Barclays, the UK bank. http://tinyurl.com/yz2ts9sWall Street Journal: Wen Jiabao, China’s Premier, said that US efforts to boost its exports by weakening the dollar amount to "a kind of trade protectionism". http://tinyurl.com/yjwdcsa The Times: Gatwick told its planning and commercial staff to reapply for their jobs as part of an extensive restructuring of Britain’s second-largest airport. http://tinyurl.com/yf6bb25 Comment Bronwen Maddox in The Times: To say that confidence in Japan is long gone is an understatement. http://tinyurl.com/yzvuh8a Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Daily Telegraph: The long-simmering clash between China and the US is coming to a head, with dangerous implications. http://tinyurl.com/yeemf7a Sean O'Grady in The Independent: How to set up a European Monetary Fund and avoid a sequel to Greece. http://tinyurl.com/yjcadk8 Upside The Daily Telegraph: Eurozone finance ministers hope to agree on a €25 billion (£23 billion, $34 billion) aid package to ease the financial crisis in Greece. http://tinyurl.com/yek4o3h The Independent: Central London’s shops enjoyed a powerful rebound in underlying sales last month, but retailers outside the capital found life much tougher. http://tinyurl.com/yk4tcnq The Times: TalkTalk, the UK’s second-largest residential broadband provider, says it will switch its entire workforce from desktop PCs to Apple laptops. http://tinyurl.com/yjqm9v7 Downside The Times: Jarvis Hotels, the hotel operator, is in crunch talks with its banks after breaching its financial covenants. http://tinyurl.com/yfvbsq3 The Times: Anaemic economic growth over the coming months could spark another surge in unemployment, the Bank of England fears. http://tinyurl.com/yfqdyut The Times: The number of UK homes for sale rose to an 18-month high in March, bringing down the rate of increase in asking prices to the lowest level recorded. http://tinyurl.com/yh3azoa Mergers and shakers New York Times: Phillips-Van Heusen, the owner of Calvin Klein, is near a deal to buy Tommy Hilfiger, the clothing retailer. http://tinyurl.com/yj9razv The Times: Comic Relief, the charity, made a deal with Eckoh, a voice-recognition specialist, to use the company’s software in its next two campaigns. http://tinyurl.com/ylxkdsx The Daily Telegraph: BAE Systems, the defence firm, will use a jobs package to encourage the Government to rethink the winner of a £4 billion ($6 billion) arms contract. http://tinyurl.com/ygyy2wu Around Asia Wall Street Journal: Bank of America, the US banking giant, plans to seek approval from China to expand its operations there. http://tinyurl.com/yk7o9yl Bloomberg: Cnooc, China’s biggest offshore oil explorer, agreed to buy a 50 per cent stake in Bridas, the Argentine producer, for $3.1 billion (£2 billion). http://tinyurl.com/yz2mwmz Bloomberg: China Cosco Holdings, the nation’s largest container-ship operator, expects to win a planned rate increase in new contracts. http://tinyurl.com/yfca4qf Look ahead The Independent: Sainsbury, the retailer, will beat the UK's tax hike on high earners next month by paying its bonuses early. http://tinyurl.com/yku78po The Times: Lord Adonis, the UK Transport Secretary, wants British Airways and union members to return to negotiations before the strike planned for next weekend. http://tinyurl.com/yzarh64 The Independent: Many businesses are unaware of new rules about safeguarding personal data to come into force on 6 April. http://tinyurl.com/yfpq7fq Unfinished business - last week wrapped up Last Monday A landmark court ruling against a UK businessman based in the Seychelles left City traders rethinking plans to leave the UK for tax purposes. http://tinyurl.com/ydx3wrn E.ON, the German-owned utility, became the third big UK energy company to trim its gas prices, reducing them by 6 per cent for 2 million homes. http://tinyurl.com/yawjcz7 Tuesday Lord Mandelson became involved in a dispute about Washington’s handling of a $35 billion Pentagon procurement project. http://tinyurl.com/yj48wt6 Kevin Foster, who tricked thousands of their savings by promising high returns, was convicted of a £34 million ($50 million) Ponzi fraud. http://tinyurl.com/ykjqjvf Wednesday Charles Allen, the former ITV boss, was named to replace Elio Leoni-Sceti as executive chairman of EMI, the troubled music company. http://tinyurl.com/yduomw9 The Daily Telegraph: Malcolm Calvert, a former Cazenove partner, was found guilty of insider trading in UK companies ahead of takeovers. http://tinyurl.com/yl2dh94 Thursday Sir Brian Pitman, the former Lloyds TSB chairman who was one of Britain’s most respected bankers, died at the age of 78. http://tinyurl.com/yg3eg6r A US federal judge released a scathing report on the collapse of Lehman Brothers that singles out senior executives for serious faults. http://tinyurl.com/yzm7scr Friday The UK government announced £270 million ($410 million) of loan guarantees for Vauxhall, the car maker, as part of the restructuring plans of GM Europe, its parent. http://tinyurl.com/ylekzpg It was revealed that a London law firm was linked to the concealment of billions of dollars of debt by Lehman Brothers, the investment bank. http://tinyurl.com/ydo7hlw MARKETS FTSE 100 5,625.65 up 0.2% (Friday close) Dow 10,624.69 up 0.1% (close) S&P 500 1,149.99 steady (close) Nasdaq 2,367.66 steady (close) Nikkei 10,732.73down 0.2% (latest) Hang Seng 21,045.71 down 0.8% (latest) Currencies Sterling $1.5162/1.1034 euros (latest) Euro $ 1.374 (latest) Commodities Brent crude $79.00 down 39 cents (latest) West Texas crude $80.80 down 44 cents (latest) Gold $1104.80 up $3.10 (latest) New York Reuters: US stocks were near break even on mixed consumer and retail data and with few economic data points or corporate earnings reports, the stock market struggled for direction. For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 per cent, the S&P 500 rose 1 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 1.8 per cent. Retailer Macy's rose 3.3 per cent on good national retail sales. Bank shares slid after having dominated the week's activity. Citigroup fell 5 per cent. Health insurer Aetna fell 2.6 per cent along with other health insurers. Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar rose 2.5 per cent after it said it could triple its US output of hydraulic excavators. Agricultural manufacturer CF Industries Holdings fell 3.9 per cent after Agrium, the agricultural retailer, abandoned its bid for the company. Agrium rose 8 per cent. http://tinyurl.com/yzb4w98 Asia Bloomberg: Asian stocks fell in morning trade for the first time in three days on concern China will boost steps to cool growth as inflation accelerates. PetroChina, China’s biggest oil company, fell 0.6 per cent and China Shenhua Energy, the nation’s biggest coal producer, fell 3.9 per cent. Newcrest Mining, Australia’s biggest gold producer, fell 1.5 per cent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.3 per cent to 122.78 i |
