 | May 10, 2010 |
Kill the Competition: Pru’s new plan ... Audacious bailout ... UK voicelessTop storiesThe Times: In a new plan presented to regulators, Prudential, the insurer, will ask investors to accept less attractive terms for its acquisition of AIA in Asia. http://tinyurl.com/394d8ay Wall Street Journal: The European Union agreed to an audacious €750 billion (£650 billion, $960 billion) bailout plan to stem a burgeoning sovereign debt crisis. http://tinyurl.com/2wk3alo The Times: A hung Parliament has left the UK without a voice in EU negotiations over a controversial directive that will clamp down on hedge funds and private equity. http://tinyurl.com/3ykz82s Comment Bronwen Maddox in The Times: For all the alarm, there are good reasons why sterling might hold steady or rise over the coming weeks. http://tinyurl.com/34s2dp5 Kevin Hassett on Bloomberg: Even after all of the bailouts, the idiotic loans by Fannie and Freddie are continuing. http://tinyurl.com/3xgoqwb Hamish McRae in The Independent: The economic outlook for the UK is easier to see than the political one. http://tinyurl.com/24h36rl Upside The Times: Virgin Active, the health and fitness firm, will report underlying earnings of more than £100 million ($149 million) for the first time. http://tinyurl.com/289gh5n The Independent: The bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is likely to leave interest rates on hold at 0.5 per cent for the 14th month running. http://tinyurl.com/2v3dlaw The Daily Telegraph: Harrods may become a global franchise as its new owner, Qatar Holding, announces plans to "upgrade" the luxury retailer. http://tinyurl.com/27ekvdp Downside The Times: A proposed subsidy for green central heating will lead to a rise in energy bills and threaten the manufacturing recovery, consumer watchdogs and business groups say. http://tinyurl.com/2dl4pfw The Independent: HM Revenue & Customs is taking an increasingly hard line on companies requesting more time to pay tax bills, a consultant warned. http://tinyurl.com/2d4fv78 The Times: The leaders of Unite, the UK’s biggest union, will meet with British Airways cabin crew, ready to support a strike threatening to ground flights for three weeks. http://tinyurl.com/2g3wjy7 Mergers and shakers The Times: Sir Li Ka-Shing, the Hong Kong billionaire, plans to make a £4 billion ($6 billion) bid for EDF’s British electricity distribution business. http://tinyurl.com/27563l4 The Daily Telegraph: Goldman Sachs may pay a $1 billion (£670 million) fine to settle the case involving alleged fraud brought against the US investment bank. http://tinyurl.com/23rk9pq Financial Times: University Partnerships Programme, the UK’s largest private university campus developer, will be split and partially sold by Barclays Capital. http://tinyurl.com/28wb4z5 Around Asia Wall Street Journal: Strikeforce Mining & Resources, owned by Oleg Deripaska's EN+ Group, delayed the launch of its initial public offering in Hong Kong. http://tinyurl.com/333a8lx Nikkei: Toray Industries, the Japanese carbon fibre maker, made a 15-year pact to supply carbon fiber to Airbus from 2011. http://tinyurl.com/3yw6mpn Wall Street Journal: Peabody Energy, the US coal miner, lowered the value of its takeover proposal for Macarthur Coal, its Australian rival. http://tinyurl.com/33m7s98 Look ahead Wall Street Journal: The auto industry appears to be headed for at least a couple years of strong profit growth. http://tinyurl.com/28cwszc Reuters: Apple will launch its iPad tablet computer in nine international markets on May 28 after recent good sales in the US. http://tinyurl.com/39arry3 Wall Street Journal: Britain's financial markets will face another volatile ride this week after the nation’s inconclusive general election. http://tinyurl.com/2bofab7 Unfinished business - last week wrapped up Last Monday The European Central Bank suspended its rule preventing it accepting junk-rated government bonds in return for loans in order to help Greece. http://tinyurl.com/24c6hov US-traded shares in BP, the oil giant, fell 9 per cent in New York on investor fears about the fallout from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. http://tinyurl.com/2foc5nf Tuesday International stock and bond markets sank, as a weekend deal to bail out Greece failed to ease concerns the government-debt crisis would spread. http://tinyurl.com/2vltsq7 Activity at British factories soared to a 15-year high helped by the weaker pound. http://tinyurl.com/2d8cgl8 Wednesday The $21 billion (£14 billion) rights issue by Prudential, the insurer, was abandoned because of regulatory concerns. http://tinyurl.com/2c2dzna The European Commission lashed out at speculators after the euro plunged to its lowest level for 14 months and stock markets suffered another battering. http://tinyurl.com/287sd4z Thursday Wall Street suffered one of its worst falls in a single trading session, amid mounting concerns that the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone would spread beyond Greece. http://tinyurl.com/39hrnna The pound fell sharply against the dollar, hitting its lowest level in more than a year, amid fears of a hung parliament. http://tinyurl.com/248yxo9 Friday US regulators worked to isolate the trigger for a selling frenzy that led to Thursday’s biggest-ever intraday plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average. http://tinyurl.com/38kkakv World-famous department store Harrods was sold by Mohamed al Fayed for £1.5 billion ($2.2 billion) to Qatar Holding. http://tinyurl.com/2vqnywt MARKETS FTSE 100 5,123.02 down 2.6% (Friday close) Dow 10,380.43 down 1.3% (close) S&P 500 1,110.88 down 1.5% (close) Nasdaq 2,265.64 down 2.3% (close) Nikkei 10,499.25 up 1.3% (latest) Hang Seng 20,187.36 up 1.3% (latest) Currencies Sterling $1.4882/1.1503 euros (latest) Euro $1.2938 (latest) Commodities Brent crude $79.76 up $1.49 (latest) West Texas crude $76.70 up $1.59 (latest) Gold $1202.10 down $8.30 (latest) New York Reuters: US stocks turned negative for the year on fears of another credit crisis stemming from Greece's souring finances and lingering questions about what triggered the previous session's dramatic plunge. For the week, the Dow fell 5.7 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 6.4 per cent and the Nasdaq fell 8 per cent. The Nasdaq fared the worst as technology stocks led the broad market lower. iPad maker Apple fell 4.2 per cent and chip maker Intel fell 0.9 per cent. The volume of shares traded was the second highest this year. http://tinyurl.com/2bl9gsp Asia Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose in morning trade for the first time in a week on speculation an emergency package to bail out debt-laden European countries will contain the region’s credit crisis. Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s biggest bank by market value, rose 3.4 per cent on reports of the EU bailout package. Rio Tinto, the world’s third-largest miner, rose 3.8 per cent on higher copper prices. Korea Zinc rose 2.7 per cent in Seoul. Bridgestone, the tyre maker, rose 4.2 per cent in Tokyo on a higher profit forecast. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1 per cent to 119.57 in morning trade. http://tinyurl.com/38885jt Michael Beh michaelwbeh@gmail.com |
