LONDON (Reuters) - India's Tata Motors is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding to buy Ford Motor Co's luxury UK brands Jaguar and Land Rover in the next two weeks, a labor union negotiator said on Friday.
The Bank of Japan votes unanimously to maintain the country's interest rates at 0.5%. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:13 pm
German industrial output rose 1.8 percent in January, much more than expected, seasonally adjusted figures released by the economy ministry showed on Friday. Analysts had... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:11 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - The world's key central bankers, facing slower growth and rising inflation, will discuss ways to mitigate the impact of the credit turmoil and a tumbling dollar on the real economy at their bi-monthly meeting this weekend.
The dollar plunged Friday to a fresh record low against the euro, struggling under concerns about the troubled American economy ahead of a critical US employment report. In... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:08 pm
European stock markets resumed declines on Friday ahead of a crucial jobs report from the US. The dollar fell to fresh lows against the euro, yen and Swiss franc and credit markets were rattled by news that shares in a Carlyle fund had been suspended Source: FT.com - US homepage | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:07 pm
European and Asian shares slump, after data signals that the US housing market is deteriorating further. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:04 pm
Lenders to Carlyle Capital Corp. Ltd. have begun to liquidate securities held in its $21.7 billion portfolio and the fund said Friday it was considering "all available options." The... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:04 pm
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The owners of EADS have not yet agreed on any steps that could limit the influence of foreign investors in the European aerospace group, major shareholder Daimler AG said on Friday.
The fomrer bosses of three US firms hit by the subprime crisis will try to justify their huge payoffs to US legislators. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:01 pm
U.S. stock futures slipped on Friday ahead of the release of data that could show that few jobs are being created with businesses becoming exceedingly cautious.
LONDON (Reuters) - Stock futures pointed to a drop on Wall Street on Friday, ahead of the monthly employment report that could help determine the extent of the slowdown of the world's largest economy.
Shares in a unit of the private equity group Carlyle Capital are suspended as it receives more demands for cash. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Mar 2008 | 11:41 am
Federal regulators said Thursday they will seek a civil penalty of $10.2 million _ the largest ever _ against Southwest Airlines Co. for failing to inspect older planes for cracks and... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 11:41 am
BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Will Yahoo merge with AOL just to thwart Microsoft? It's something everyone in the valley is talking about, that's for sure.
record near $106 a barrel in the previous session as the dollar's slide to new lows prompted investors to pump more money into commodities. Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 11:33 am
Asian and European markets fell Friday after another overnight drop on Wall Street that was spurred by news about rising foreclosures on U.S. mortgages, intensifying concerns about the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 11:23 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cohen & Steers Inc , a publicly traded money-management firm, could face a proxy battle from a hedge fund over two of its closed-end funds, the Wall Street Journal... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 11:13 am
Reuters - Private equity firm Carlyle Group's
Dutch-listed affiliate said on Friday it may face cashflow
problems after it received substantial additional margin calls
and default notices. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 11:10 am
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Private equity firm Carlyle Group's Dutch-listed affiliate said on Friday it may face cashflow problems after it received substantial additional margin calls and default notices.
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S.-based buyout giant the Carlyle Group said on Friday its exposure to troubled mortgage-backed security investor Carlyle Capital is a $150 million credit facility. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:41 am
Markets look to be very grim this morning as the financial sector takes yet another battering. The sense of doom is almost palpable as dealers wait for the next shoe to drop and dealing room treasury managers hover around the usually least glamorous desk within banks' trading floors, the 'money market unit', as the search for liquid funds gets ever more difficult. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:38 am
European equity markets were hit by a global sell off that drove shares in the US and Asia sharply lower ahead of this afternoon's keenly-awaited US employment data.By mid morning, the FTSE Eurofirst 300... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:27 am
The boss of pub-chain Wetherspoon has blamed binge-drinking by celebrities and famous sportsmen for the broader social problems of alcohol abuse in Britain. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:20 am
Carlyle Capital Corporation (CCC), the Dutch affiliate of America's Carlyle
Group, has been ordered to suspend its shares on the Amsterdam Stock
Exchange this morning after receiving margin calls from seven of its banks. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:17 am
Reuters - Washington Mutual Inc and other
lenders have approached private-equity firms and
sovereign-wealth funds to discuss cash infusions, according to
the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the
situation.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc and other lenders have approached private-equity firms and sovereign-wealth funds to discuss cash infusions, according to the Wall Street... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:14 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc and other lenders have approached private-equity firms and sovereign-wealth funds to discuss cash infusions, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation.
Shares in JD Wetherspoon tumbled on Friday as the high street pub operator reported a 13 per cent decline in interim profits and warned sales would continue to fall."We expect second half sales trends... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:05 am
Reuters - The owners of EADS have not
yet agreed on any steps that could limit the influence of
foreign investors in the European aerospace group, major
shareholder Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) said on Friday.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The owners of EADS have not yet agreed on any steps that could limit the influence of foreign investors in the European aerospace group, major shareholder Daimler AG Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 10:02 am
A 1.5bn ($2.3bn) writedown on the value of securities affected by the collapse of the US subprime mortgage market dragged Fortis's 2007 profits lower.The Dutch-Belgian financial services group said the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:56 am
The number of women in work is on the rise globally, the ILO says, but they still find it tougher to get work than men. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:55 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve official said on Friday that financial globalization does not take away the Fed's ability to control inflation, but raises stakes for central banks because investors can flee a depreciating currency.
Reuters - Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc
said on Friday it sold $1.5 billion of shares and
convertibles, protecting the company from ratings cuts but not
satisfying some analysts who wanted the company to raise more.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc said on Friday it sold $1.5 billion of shares and convertibles, protecting the company from ratings cuts but not satisfying some analysts who wanted the company to raise more.
Asian equities took a beating on Friday, with bourses from Sydney to Mumbai hit by fears over the impact of a US slowdown on Asian economies and intensifying worries about the global credit market. The... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:49 am
European stock markets resumed their slide at the open on Friday, following steep falls overnight on Asian and US markets, and the dollar hit fresh lows against the euro and the yen ahead of a crucial... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:47 am
Bond insurer Ambac Financial raises $1.5 billion by selling stock and convertible bonds, a move designed to preserve its credit rating against a rising tide of claims.
The Amsterdam-listed fund is the latest casualty of banks' increasingly unforgiving attitude towards even the most powerful private equity funds Source: FT.com - US homepage | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:40 am
Shares in Carlyle Capital Corp were suspended in Amsterdam on Friday after the fund said it had received substantial additional margin calls and default notices from its lenders.Carlyle on Thursday said... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:40 am
The dollar hits a new record low against the euro, amid continued concerns over the state of the US economy. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:38 am
The top British share index traded firmly in the red on Friday morning, dragged down by losses from banks such as Barclays and miners such as Rio Tinto on worries about the global economy and financial sector write-downs.
Nervous trading ahead of keenly-watched US employment data hit London equities on Friday, with investors selling financial and mining stocks.In early trade, the FTSE 100 was down 56.6 points, or 1 per... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:15 am
Carlyle Capital warned today that more securities may be liquidated by its lenders in a move that threatens its capital. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 9:00 am
Reckitt Benckiser, the drug company, is facing accusations of ripping off the
NHS with a secret plan to maintain a monopoly in the supply of Gaviscon, the
lucrative heartburn medicine. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:57 am
Reuters - Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram
Pandit denied a rumor that the financial giant may put its
South Korean unit up for sale, a Citibank source told Reuters
on Friday, although the U.S. bank is shedding peripheral units.
SEOUL (Reuters) - Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit denied a rumor that the financial giant may put its South Korean unit up for sale, a Citibank source told Reuters on Friday, although the U.S. bank is shedding peripheral units.
European shares fell for the second straight session on Friday, as pressure on the banking sector showed no sign of letting up ahead of key report on U.S. employment.
Tim Martin, the chairman of JD Wetherspoon, has accused drunken celebrities of
encouraging disorderly behaviour in pubs. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:38 am
Carlyle Capital Corp became the latest casualty of the banks' increasingly unforgiving attitude towards even the most powerful private equity funds when the highly leveraged mortgage-backed securities... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:25 am
Three of Wall Street's best-paid bankers, whose institutions have been at the
heart of the sub-prime lending crisis, will face a grilling from a
congressional committee today over their sky high executive salaries. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:22 am
Carlyle Capital, the investment fund affiliated with private equity firm Carlyle Group, said Friday that it’s received another wave of margin calls from lenders, which could quickly lead to impairments of its capital.
Al Gore - who built a fast $100 million fortune since leaving the vice presidency - is gambling about $35 million of it where his mouth is. Gore is plowing more than a third of his recent windfalls -... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:10 am
Steve Schwarzman has already given up his $3 million birthday bash tradition - next could be his ranking on the billionaire list. In a refrain that is getting all too common, Schwarzman's Blackstone Group... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 7 Mar 2008 | 8:10 am
FRANKFURT/PARIS (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund sees sluggish economic growth in the United States but no recession, IMF first deputy managing director John Lipsky said on Friday.
More than 2% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in the process at the end of the fourth quarter. Home equity levels decline.
Home foreclosures hit new highs and the amount of equity in homes reached new lows as the housing crisis escalated across the country in 2007, new figures showed Thursday.
Southern California Edison employees have told state regulators that the utility retaliated against them after they raised serious concerns inside Edison, according to a letter to the company from the state Public Utilities Commission.
Emmerich's prehistoric '10,000 B.C.' promises a savage spectacle and a chart-topping take.
It could be the day after tomorrow, Independence Day or 10,000 BC, but one thing is certain: Filmmaker Roland Emmerich has the calendar marked for mayhem.
Worry over the housing-centered credit crunch intensifies after two mortgage investors say they cannot meet margin calls. The S & P 500 falls 29 points to 1,304 -- an 18-month low.
Stock prices tumbled Thursday, driving some key indexes below the lows they set in January, amid deepening worries about the effect of debt problems on the economy.
Retail sales rose more than expected in February as shoppers headed to discounters in search of bargains. But with Americans in no mood to splurge, luxury retailers collectively posted their weakest result since December 2001.
Countrywide rejected two consultants, hiring a third whose aim was to aid the chairman, a House report says.
Two consultants hired by Countrywide Financial Corp. raised concerns about Chairman Angelo R. Mozilo's lucrative pay package, but key recommendations were ignored and the company eventually hired a third advisor whose aim was to achieve "maximum opportunity" for Mozilo, documents show.
The smoking ban hits profits at JD Wetherspoon, which blames celebrity antics for drinkers' misbehaviour. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Mar 2008 | 7:42 am
Reuters - A top Federal Reserve official said
on Friday that financial globalization does not take away the
Fed's ability to control inflation, but raises stakes for
central banks because investors can flee a depreciating
currency.
Pay awards in the three months ending February rose by 3.5%, in line with the January's figure, data shows. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:57 am
The Japanese government nominated deputy central bank governor Toshiro Muto as the next head of the Bank of Japan, setting up a possible showdown with the opposition Source: FT.com - US homepage | 7 Mar 2008 | 6:22 am
AP - Consumers gave the nation's stores some relief in February, spending a little more freely although they mostly gravitated toward discounters and grocers. The challenge for merchants in coming months is to get shoppers to splurge on spring fashions a tough task when Americans are worried about plunging home values, tighter credit and rising gas prices.
Fixed income markets feel the stress as forced selling and margin calls at hedge funds sparked fears over the health of the ailing financial system Source: FT.com - US homepage | 7 Mar 2008 | 2:00 am
The New Zealand and Australian sharemarkets are feeling the brunt of a collapse on Wall Street overnight, when the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell to its lowest point of the year.
Australian shares fell 2.6 per cent on opening... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:40 am
Staff at John Lewis Partnership, the department store retailer and owner of the Waitrose supermarket chain, will receive their highest annual bonus for a decade after record profits at the retail group. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
The pound has broken through the $2 mark for the first time since January, after the Bank of England voted to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25pc. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Lyceum Capital has become one of the first private equity houses to train its sights on law firms, after hiring three industry figures to advise it on potential buyouts in the sector. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Gas and electricity consumers could face further rises in bills to pay for the renovation and renewal of the infrastructure, energy regulator Ofgem said. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
ITV has agreed to sell its loss-making advertising sales house, Carlton Screen Advertising, to the UK's two largest cinema chains for £500,000. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
The formidable political machine that is Ken Livingstone has started to leak oil. London's mayor has not yet broken down, but his pistons are no longer pumping quite so freely, writes Jeff Randall. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
The big losers in Alistair Darling's first Budget next week will be the millions of people running Britain's small and medium-sized businesses. Source: Telegraph Business | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Rupert Murdoch's elder son is trying to secure new funds for a A$3.3 billion
($£1.65 billion) buyout of Australia's second-biggest media group after his
financial backer pulled out. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Britain’s biggest commercial property developers are threatening to take the
roofs off buildings in an attempt to circumvent changes to business rates, The
Times has learnt. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Kazakhmys's business may be mining - it is one of the world's biggest copper
producers - but it might just as easily be categorised as a natural
resources investment trust. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Mickey Mouse has been seen in a Mao suit in Hong Kong. He has also been
spotted tucking into rice cakes. Now the Mayor of Shanghai has invited the
world's most famous cartoon character to a planned Disneyland in the glitzy
metropolis. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
British Airways issued a profit warning yesterday, caused by its failure to
foresee that the price of oil would hit record levels. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
Britain’s standing as a leading financial centre is in danger of being
undermined by ill-thought-out changes to tax and regulation, the Treasury
was warned yesterday by Britain’s main business group and the Association of
British Insurers (ABI). Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 7 Mar 2008 | 12:00 am
US home foreclosures rose to new highs in the fourth quarter of 2007 as loan delinquencies jumped to a 22-year high, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Just over 2 per cent of all US home loans were in the... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 11:30 pm
Plus SMS Holdings has assured the sharemarket it is meeting continuous disclosure rules, after the company's shares doubled in price on the NZX's alternative market in the first four days of the week.
NZX surveillance analyst Rowan... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 11:20 pm
American households are getting poorer for the first time in more than five years, according to figures from the Federal Reserve Source: FT.com - US homepage | 6 Mar 2008 | 11:00 pm
The value of residential building work put in place slipped in the December quarter, while non-residential work rose strongly.
Figures published by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today put the value of all building work up 3.9 per... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 11:00 pm
At least eight people have been killed and scores wounded in a terrorist attack on a religious school in Jerusalem Source: FT.com - US homepage | 6 Mar 2008 | 10:21 pm
Vikram Pandit, chief executive, is considering top-level changes in the financial services group's largest division in an attempt to kick-start profit growth Source: FT.com - US homepage | 6 Mar 2008 | 10:12 pm
Burnt Feltex shareholders' long-awaited legal action against the failed company's former directors, owners and advisers has hit the ground running, with the investors galvanised into a unique battle formation.
Shareholder organiser... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 10:00 pm
Apple on Thursday launched a direct challenge to Research in Motion and other makers of businesses smart phones by announcing business email and calendar capabilities for its iPhone mobile handset Source: FT.com - US homepage | 6 Mar 2008 | 9:37 pm
Commentator and economist Glenn Hubbard says that to fix the housing crisis we must give the Federal Housing Administration more authority. He believes it should offer new loans to subprime mortgage holders so they can refinance. Source: Marketplace | 6 Mar 2008 | 9:35 pm
Businessman Graeme Hart has rocketed 135 places up the Forbes rich list, surpassing the wealth of Richard Branson, Donald Trump and Giorgio Armani.
New Zealand's richest person - with a net worth now estimated at US$5.1 billion... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 9:00 pm
Oil hit a record high near US$106 this morning, fueled by the weak US dollar and Opec's decision to hold crude output steady.
US oil jumped 43 cents to US$104.95 a barrel by 1908 GMT, off the record US $105.97 a barrel struck earlier... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 8:45 pm
Michael Cullen once said Labour was "philosophically opposed" to tax cuts. However, the Government's pruning of the company tax rate from 33c to 30c shows it is taking a slightly more pragmatic approach to business tax. The company... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 8:39 pm
The number of US home foreclosures reaches a record high, but the fall in pending home sales stabilises. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 6 Mar 2008 | 8:33 pm
Hillary Clinton made headway towards reinstating the excluded delegates from Michigan and Florida, in a move that is likely to add to the fissile atmosphere between her campaign and that of Barack Obama Source: FT.com - US homepage | 6 Mar 2008 | 8:26 pm
For eight years Israel has imposed severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods from the West Bank. Sam Eaton reports the restrictions have devastated the business of Palestinian exporters. Source: Marketplace | 6 Mar 2008 | 8:06 pm
Financial advisers are going on the offensive, after accusations that they failed to prevent thousands of investors losing hundreds of millions of dollars in a string of finance company collapses.
The industry's largest professional... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 8:00 pm
Shares in Auckland Airport continue to creep back up from Tuesday's slump.
The shares rose 3c to close at $2.28 yesterday, and were maintaining that level in early trade today.
Despite the likelihood that the Government will... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 6 Mar 2008 | 8:00 pm
The NBA and the NCAA are considering partnering in order to change the way they train and develop young recruits. Tess Vigeland talks to Diana Nyad about how they're trying to create the next Lebron James through training that starts as early as high school. Source: Marketplace | 6 Mar 2008 | 7:10 pm
The Berlin Polar Bears, a hockey team founded in East Germany, will be leaving their communist-era arena in East Berlin for a new arena in West Berlin. But many of their loyal fans worry American-style sports capitalism will kill the team's spirit. Brett Neely reports. Source: Marketplace | 6 Mar 2008 | 7:09 pm
The memoir "Love and Consequences," about a woman's life in South Central Los Angeles, has been uncovered as a hoax. It's the latest of several fictionalized memoirs that have slipped through the publishing industry. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports. Source: Marketplace | 6 Mar 2008 | 7:09 pm
Minorities were targeted more by subprime lending than other borrowers, even when they may have qualified for traditional loans, according to a new study. Dan Grech reports. Source: Marketplace | 6 Mar 2008 | 7:09 pm
This month Macy's joined the ranks of retail companies which have abandoned monthly retail-sales reports. Bob Moon reports the company could be trying to hide from embarrassing numbers. Source: Marketplace | 6 Mar 2008 | 7:09 pm
The Federal Reserve today answered any lingering questions about how severely the housing slump is affecting average Americans: very severely.
For the first time since 2002, Americans' net worth declined in the fourth quarter of last year, the Fed said in its latest Flow of Funds report.
Perhaps more alarmingly, the Fed said that Americans on average owe more on their homes than they have invested in them. That is the first time that has ever happened since the central bank began tracking the number, in 1945.
The Fed statistics came on the same day that the Mortgage Bankers Association said that mortgage foreclosures rose to an all-time high at the end of 2007. Many borrowers with adjustable-rate loans walked away from their homes even before their payments increased, the industry group said.
"We're seeing people give up even before they get to the reset because they couldn't afford the home in the first place," Jay Brinkmann, the association's vice president of research and economics told Bloomberg News.
Loans entered the foreclosure process in the fourth quarter at the fastest pace since the industry group started tracking the figure, in 1985. The association said that 0.83 percent of all home loans slid into foreclosure in the last three months of 2007, compared with 0.54 percent a year earlier.
The airline expects profits to fall sharply in the next financial year due to high oil prices, the economic slowdown and the costs of moving to Heathrow's new Terminal 5 Source: FT.com - US homepage | 6 Mar 2008 | 5:20 pm
Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry e-mail phone, will work with online music service Dipdive to step up competition with Apple Inc.'s iPhone.
British Airways warns high fuel bills, economic slowdown and Heathrow's Terminal 5 costs will hit its earnings. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 6 Mar 2008 | 4:58 pm
When the economy softens, the big discounters get hard results.
The biggest, Wal-Mart Stores, said today that sales, excluding gasoline, at its U.S. stores open at least a year rose 2.6 percent in February. That was greater than analysts' forecasts and above the range of flat to 2 percent growth that the company had projected last month.
Wal-Mart pointed to strength in grocery, health, and wellness and entertainment goods. Housing products remained weak, the company said.
Since last fall, the company has been aggressively cutting prices to draw in shoppers that have been reluctant to spend amid rising fuel and food prices and sinking home prices.
But that just means that Wal-Mart is benefiting at the expense of retailers higher up the income chain.
As Lee Scott, the company's chief executive, said last month, "In a volatile economy, I believe we are well positioned to succeed."
"We believe Wal-Mart has the right strategy for the right time," Adrianne Shapria, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, said in a report last month.
February sales reports from other retailers may not come in quite as strong.
One that we will not know about is Macy's, parent of the Bloomingdale's and Macy's department stores. Vanessa O'Connell of the Wall Street Journalreports that Macy's will stop disclosing monthly sales figures, joining Sears, Home Depot, and Dollar General.
"There's obviously a common theme among all of these retailers," Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a research-consulting firm, told the Journal. "This is a trend when things get lean and difficult." Related Links Big Stores, Big Woes Stores Show Modest Gains Retail's Class Divide
Carlyle Capital's phone is ringing with margin calls, but the company isn't picking up.
The publicly traded mortgage fund managed by the private-equity powerhouse Carlyle Group, whose founders include David Rubenstein, has received one notice of default stemming from four missed margin calls, and it expects to receive at least one more.
It said it received seven margin calls yesterday totaling $37 million, and it was able to meet requirements for three of them. The fund's $22 billion portfolio uses short-term funding agreements with banks, known as repos, to fund its investments in certain Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds, which are rated AAA. The repurchase agreements have an average outstanding maturity of twenty days.
The company said the repo counterparties' margin prices are not representative of the underlying value of the securities. "Unfortunately, this disconnect has created instability and variability in our repo financing arrangements," said Carlyle Capital chief executive John Stomber in a statement. "Management is actively working with the company's repo counterparties to develop more stable financing terms."
It said it was able to meet the three margin requirements because the counterparties that issued them "have indicated a willingness to work with the company during these tumultuous times."
But clearly the banks behind the loans are concerned. "The banks are tightening credit standards and trying to curtail the lending they do," Citigroup credit strategist Hans Peter Lorenzen told Bloomberg. "One of the ways you do that it is increase haircuts you charge."
Carlyle said it has received margin calls totaling $60 million in the past week.
This is just the latest in a string of problems that the company has faced since it went public last summer. Just a few weeks after shares were initially listed at $19 on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, it was forced to borrow $200 million from the Carlyle Group in order to meet margin calls on leveraged loans.
Last week, the company pledged to do better after it announced that it lost 30 percent of net assets in the second half of last year.
The shares are down 2 percent in Amsterdam today, to $11.80.
BP, the London-based oil giant, sent a notice to its shareholders Thursday disclosing the proposed settlement of a shareholder lawsuit in Alaska state court accusing BP of mismanagement that led to a number of disasters.
The biggest, a blast at a Texas City refinery, killed 15 workers in 2005. BP proposed last week to pay $50 million to settle claims from that accident. In March and August of 2006, spills from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline resulted in partial shutdowns and criminal fines. Federal prosecutors have also accused BP traders of manipulating the market for propane gas.
Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins—the law firm founded by William S. Lerach, the Class-Action King—filed the suit in October 2006 on behalf of the Unite Here union's pension fund and the London Pension Fund Authority.
The settlement requires BP to make several corporate governance changes, including:
Requiring them to hold annual meetings with the company's top 20 shareholders;
Arranging regular visits for BP board members to operational sites;
Including BP's operational health, safety, and environmental performance in the principles used to calculate performance pay to executives;
Improving shareholder access to the proxy and webcasting the annual shareholder meeting.
BP also agreed that John Browne, the company's former chief executive, would permanently waive his rights to termination benefits that were frozen last year.
Under the settlement, which will be reviewed in court at a May 7 fairness hearing, Coughlin Stoia would receive $9.8 million in legal fees. Shareholders aren't in line to get any money.
"While corporate governance is for many people a remote subject, for the working families represented by the pension funds that brought this case and the residents in the communities that BP operates, changes like those agreed to by BP's management in this settlement can, over time, have a beneficial impact on the value of people's retirement savings and the quality of their communities," said Coughlin Stoia partner Patrick Coughlin.
BP fought the lawsuit, first pressing to get the case removed from state to federal court. That happened, but, alas, several BP executives, among them Lord John Browne, BP's chief executive until May 2007, had connections to Alaska. The plaintiffs included Alaska residents, and that destroyed "diversity jurisdiction,"—meaning a dispute between residents of two different states—a common ground for getting into federal court.
Back in state court, BP pressed to dismiss the case, saying that English common law applied to the case; under common law, a plaintiff cannot bring a shareholder derivative case for wrongs done to a company when those acts or omissions could have been ratified by a majority of the shareholders.
In May 2007, Superior Court judge Jack W. Smith of Anchorage denied the motion to dismiss, finding that the law of Alaska applied to the suit.
BP is the largest non-U.S. company listed on the stock exchange, according the plaintiffs' complaint.
Reuters - Washington Mutual Inc and other
lenders have approached private-equity firms and
sovereign-wealth funds to discuss cash infusions, according to
the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the
situation.
Reuters - The owners of EADS have not
yet agreed on any steps that could limit the influence of
foreign investors in the European aerospace group, major
shareholder Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) said on Friday.
Reuters - Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc
said on Friday it sold $1.5 billion of shares and
convertibles, protecting the company from ratings cuts but not
satisfying some analysts who wanted the company to raise more.
Reuters - Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram
Pandit denied a rumor that the financial giant may put its
South Korean unit up for sale, a Citibank source told Reuters
on Friday, although the U.S. bank is shedding peripheral units.
Reuters - A top Federal Reserve official said
on Friday that financial globalization does not take away the
Fed's ability to control inflation, but raises stakes for
central banks because investors can flee a depreciating
currency.
AP - Consumers gave the nation's stores some relief in February, spending a little more freely although they mostly gravitated toward discounters and grocers. The challenge for merchants in coming months is to get shoppers to splurge on spring fashions a tough task when Americans are worried about plunging home values, tighter credit and rising gas prices.