CHICAGO (Reuters) - AMR Corp, parent of American Airlines, said it voluntarily canceled nearly 10 percent of its flights on Wednesday to check plane wiring as part of a national air worthiness directive by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Ford sells UK-based Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian firm Tata in a £1.15bn deal after months of talks. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 1:19 pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for long-lasting U.S.-made manufactured goods unexpectedly fell 1.7 percent during February and a key gauge of companies' appetite for investment also shrank, according to data on Wednesday that will reinforce concern the economy has chilled.
Reuters - New orders for long-lasting
U.S.-made manufactured goods unexpectedly fell 1.7 percent
during February and a key gauge of companies' appetite for
investment also shrank, according to data on Wednesday that
will reinforce concern the economy has chilled.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc on Wednesday asked shareholders to reject a $26-per-share takeover offer from rival video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc as too low, but said it had begun efforts to explore a sale or other options.
AP - Orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell for a second straight month in February, a worse-than-expected performance that provided more evidence of the economic troubles gripping the country.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks looked likely to open lower on Wednesday as equity futures fell to near session lows following unexpectedly weak durable goods data.
American Airlines is canceling 200 flights or nearly 10% of its schedule for Wednesday as it performs more detailed inspections of a key aircraft model.
JPMorgan is facing legal action to stop its $1.4 billion ($£701 million)
takeover of Bear Stearns, the stricken Wall Street bank, after two pension
funds argued that a new bid, revealed this week, left shareholders
vulnerable and powerless. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:44 pm
Factory orders for big-ticket items fell surprisingly in February, after a steeper decline in the previous month, as economic weakness continued to hurt manufacturers.
Reuters - India's Tata Motors Ltd
will buy luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford
Motor Co for about $2.3 billion in cash, the companies
said on Wednesday.
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Tata Motors Ltd will buy luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co for about $2.3 billion in cash, the companies said on Wednesday.
Carl Icahn has not had many victories of late, but he can claim one now.
Motorola plans to split itself into two companies, spinning off to its shareholders a cell-phone business that has stumbled badly, losing $1.2 billion last year.
The other company will encompass Motorola's fast-growing home and networks business, which sells television set-top boxes and modems, and its enterprise mobility solutions, which sells computing and communications equipment to companies.
"Creating two industry-leading companies will provide improved flexibility, more tailored capital structures, and increased management focus—as well as more targeted investment opportunities for our shareholders," said Greg Brown, Motorola's chief executive.
Brown replaced Ed Zander, who was forced out as C.E.O. late last year.
Icahn, who has a 6.3 percent stake in Motorola and is waging another fight to win seats on the company's board, has been urging a split, as have other big investors.
In January, Motorola said it was exploring a possible split, among other options.
Speculation that Motorola would announce a spinoff or another deal grew after the company named a private equity executive as its new chief financial officer.
Under Zander, Motorola became a huge success in cell phones. The company sold more than 100 million of the ultraslim Razr phone. But when sales of the Razr lost ground to lower-priced rivals, the company went into a tailspin and fell behind in advances in mobile phones. Follow-ups to the Razr failed to catch on. Once the leader, Motorola now has less than a third of the U.S. market.
Whoever leads the newly independent handset company has a huge challenge ahead. Nokia, Samsung, and others reportedly passed when Motorola explored a possible sale of the business.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Motorola Inc said on Wednesday it would split into two publicly traded entities to separate its loss-making handset division from its other businesses, sending its shares up more than 10 percent.
The U.K.’s Financial Services Authority said it failed to properly supervise Northern Rock in the run up to the credit crisis and promised to reform the way it monitors major banks.
Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Wednesday’s session are the major banks, including Citi, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan and Wachovia; Ameron, Clear Channel Communications, Oracle Corp., Charlotte Russe, Take-Two Vale and Xstrata.
The governor of the Bank of England said he was prepared to take revolutionary steps to help the UK's hard-pressed banks, including accepting illiquid mortgage-backed assets as collateral Source: FT.com - US homepage | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:23 pm
Reuters - Motorola Inc said on Wednesday
it would split into two publicly traded entities to separate
its loss-making handset division from its other businesses,
sending its shares up more than 10 percent.
Control of Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) is set to move from America to India after Ford announced today that it had sold the luxury carmakers to Tata for $2.3bn (£1.15bn) in cash. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:20 pm
Tata, the Indian conglomerate that makes the world’s cheapest car, moved into
the mainstream of the global car industry today with the purchase of Jaguar
and Land Rover for £1.15 billion ($2.3 billion).$ Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:19 pm
An unexpectedly strong surge in German business confidence and a clear improvement in France underlined the strength of continental European economies in the face of intensifying global financial storms Source: FT.com - US homepage | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:12 pm
Legal & General has piled yet more pressure on Marks & Spencer today
by reiterating its fierce opposition to the promotion of Sir Stuart Rose to
executive chairman despite an attempt at a peace summit with the retailer. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:09 pm
On March 25, a MarketWatch report provided incorrect details of staffing changes at FDIC. The story said entire FDIC staffing levels would be increased by 60%. In fact, only the division of resolution and receiverships, which deals specifically with bank failures, will be increased by 60%. See corrected story.
U.S. stock futures slipped Wednesday as the lingering credit crunch might derail the buyout of Clear Channel Communications and cause Deutsche Bank to miss its profit target, with data on new-home sales and durable-goods orders to come.
Ford Motor Co. agreed to sell its Jaguar Land Rover operations to India’s Tata Motors for $2.3 billion and will contribute as much as $600 million to the unit’s pension plan.
Federal banking regulators will hire 140 new employees in an effort to reassure the public they are well-positioned to deal with a possible increase in bank failures over the next year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.
Xstrata led faller on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday following news that takeover talks with Vale of Brazil had ended.The end of discussions without agreement after three months of negotiations dragged Xstrata... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:46 am
Deutsche Bank warned of expected further writedowns from its leveraged finance exposure as it admitted that profit forecasts for this year could be at risk.Leveraged finance and structured credit markets... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:46 am
Oil prices rose Wednesday as the depreciation of the U.S. dollar drove investors to oil futures despite new economic worries and expectations that U.S. crude supplies were continuing to... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:43 am
Ford Motor Co. is near an announcement that it has agreed to sell British automakers Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors Ltd. A person briefed on the roughly $2 billion deal... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:43 am
"Grand Theft Auto" publisher Take-Two Interactive is rejecting a $2 billion buyout bid from rival video game company Electronic Arts. Take-Two says the $26-per-share bid, which turned... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:38 am
Oil prices rose by more than $1 on Wednesday, ahead of the latest US weekly inventories data, while further dollar weakness helped gold, base metals and agricultural commodities continue to recover after... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:38 am
Deutsche Bank gave warning today that it could miss its 2008 profit targets if
it had to take further writedowns on leveraged loans and structured credit
products, sending shares in Germany's biggest bank down by more than 2 per
cent. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:35 am
Air France-KLM softens its stance on job cuts at takeover target Alitalia as it tries to win the backing of Italian unions. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:34 am
Bank of England governor Mervyn King warns that the credit crunch could last longer than previously thought. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:33 am
You might not be in the market for a house. But this is a good time to be shopping for what goes inside, with furniture at bargain prices - although only for the next few months.
The proposed $19.5 billion buyout of radio station operator Clear Channel Communications Inc. is reportedly near collapse because the private equity firms leading the deal are having... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:30 am
Until now, the most remarkable thing about the proposed buyout of Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest chain of radio stations, was that it was still alive, as Portfolio.com's Megan Barnett pointed out here just last week.
Today, the $19 billion deal finally appears to be dead, as the banks that agreed to finance the deal are balking, according to several reports.
Given that the credit crunch has wrecked the market for debt since the deal was first announced in November 2006, a collapse—and subsequent litigation—has seemed likely. The banks, which included Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley, stood to lose $2.7 billion on the day the deal closed.
Zachery Kouwe and Peter Lauria of the New York Postsay that talks between the buyout firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital and the banks are "tense" but still going on, and that there is still a chance that a deal could be completed by the end of the month.
Michael de la Merced and Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Timescast a more pessimistic outlook on the talks, saying that the private equity firms may file a lawsuit against the banks as early as today.
A collapse of the Clear Channel deal would be the latest big buyout to founder over financing, following the dashed buyouts of Sallie Mae and United Rentals.
Brian Maloney on the Radio Equalizer blog says, "For the already-beleaguered radio industry, this is not good news, as Clear Channel was the only major radio operator holding on to most of its market capitalization."
Who would have bet a year ago that the Clear Channel buyout would have failed while the Sirius-XM Satellite Radio merger would get approved?
A recovery in the housing market could take until the second half of next year
to come through, Bellway, the UK's fourth-biggest housebuilder, said today. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:22 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc said on Wednesday it is recommending that shareholders reject a $26-per-share takeover offer from rival video-game publisher... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:18 am
The U.S. dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies in European trading Wednesday morning. Gold rose. The euro traded at $1.5724, up from $1.5596 late Tuesday in New York. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:14 am
Malaysia's top lender Maybank said Wednesday it plans to acquire Indonesia's sixth-largest bank, Bank Internasional Indonesia, for a total $2.7 billion as part of aggressive regional... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:12 am
Deutsche Bank says turmoil in global markets may endanger its annual profit forecast for $13.1 billion. Deutsche Bank said in its annual report Wednesday that "continuing difficult... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:10 am
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Stock index futures weakened on Wednesday as the global credit crisis threatened to thwart Clear Channel's buyout, while investors also eyed Oracle earnings and... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:09 am
The euro advanced on Wednesday after a strong survey of German business sentiment weighed on expectations of a near-term cut in eurozone interest rates.The Ifo business climate index rose from 104.1 in... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:09 am
German business confidence unexpectedly rose this month, posting its third straight increase despite the near-record strength of the euro and concern over the future outlook, a closely... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 11:08 am
U.S. stock futures fell early Wednesday after talk of the collapse of the $19 billion sale of radio broadcaster Clear Channels spurred a new round of credit fears.
Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, has warned that the Federal Reserve's dramatic cuts in interest rates are unlikely to solve the wider problems in the American economy. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:50 am
Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, has warned that the Federal Reserve's dramatic cuts in interest rates are unlikely to solve the wider problems in the American economy. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:50 am
Jessops, the troubled photographic retailer, is eliminating more than 200 jobs
only months after closing nearly a quarter of its UK stores. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:43 am
Financial watchdog the FSA admits that it failed to regulate troubled bank Northern Rock adequately. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:34 am
Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, has ruled out following the
US Federal Reserve in making "aggressive" cuts to interest rates to
stabilise the fragile economy. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:23 am
Xstrata led faller on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday following news that takeover talks with Vale of Brazil had ended.The end of discussions without agreement after three months of negotiations dragged Xstrata... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:20 am
TOKYO (Reuters) - The head of Caterpillar Inc , the world's largest maker of earthmoving equipment, said on Wednesday the U.S. economy is probably in a recession and is unlikely to start recovering until late this year.
European equities fell back on Wednesday as the previous session's strong and sustained rally faltered, with mining stocks lower on cooling bid hopes. Downbeat comment on the pharmaceutical sector from... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:17 am
Argentine farmers vow to continue road blockades in protest at rising export taxes, as shops report shortages. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:16 am
Reuters - Clear Channel Communications Inc
and the private equity firms that want to buy it may go
to court to force lenders to complete the leveraged buyout, the
New York Times said, citing people briefed on the talks.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Clear Channel Communications Inc and the private equity firms that want to buy it may go to court to force lenders to complete the leveraged buyout, the New York Times said, citing people briefed on the talks.
German business sentiment improves again in March, a survey indicates, the third monthly rise in a row. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:07 am
J. Sainsbury on Wednesday announced the formation of a 10-year, 1.2bn property joint venture with British Land as it reported robust fourth-quarter trade.The supermarket operator, which has been under... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:06 am
Sainsbury's reports a stronger-than-expected rise in sales and unveils a £1.2bn property joint venture. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:04 am
Since the mid-eighties we've had every colour and kind of financial regulation imaginable. The consistent failures of all these systems, from the naively optimistic self regulatory organisations under... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:00 am
IMAX isn't just for science movies anymore—and it may be coming to a multiplex near you.
It's been a rough couple of years for IMAX Corp. The Canadian motion-picture company's revenue fell in 2006 and again in 2007, operating at a loss both years; it is highly leveraged, with $160 million in debt on $208 million in assets; and at least six of the 11 analysts listed on IMAX's site no longer cover the company.
But maybe they should start. There's been a flurry of news out of IMAX, as the entertainment technology company expands distributor partnerships and joint ventures with cinemas.
Also on Portfolio.com:
The Third WayHow U2 joined Hannah Montana, Steven Spielberg, and Tintin in the rush to embrace digital 3-D. Hannah Montana vs. U2In a film fight between a legendary rock band and a tween superstar, who wins?
Earlier this week, IMAX announced that it had signed a 31-screen deal with Regal Cinemas. That comes on the heels of a 100-screen partnership with AMC announced in December 2007. Taken together, that will double IMAX's U.S. footprint to more than 300 theaters by 2010.
At the same time, IMAX has added distribution deals with 20th Century Fox, Sony, and Dreamworks to its long-standing relationship with Warner Bros.
The recent news follows years in which the company, based in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, had difficulty in expanding its presence. Studios were unwilling to pay high film-conversion costs for relatively few screens, and theater owners were uninterested in supporting IMAX theaters for relatively few films.
"It was a catch-22, and no one wanted to budge," said Larry Witt, a stock analyst at Morningstar.
IMAX co-chief executives Brad Wechsler and Rich Gelfond bought IMAX in 1994 for $100 million, and considered selling it in 2000, but pulled the company off the block when poor financial results caused the stock price to fall 80 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
They made a second pass in the summer of 2006, but found no buyers willing to meet their price.
With share price under $5 and a sale out of the question, Gelfond and Wechsler were forced to find a way to soldier on.
How did they finally break through the stalemate between studios and theater chains? A new business model.
IMAX is now covering much of the up-front costs to theater owners, and a move to digital projectors starting in mid-2008 will significantly cut distribution costs for studios.
Taken together, that means that IMAX has more in the way of films and theaters in its future.
"I think IMAX is a great complement to Regal's core business," says Jeff Logsdon, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. "They give up some of their box office gross and make a modest capital investment, and I like that dynamic at Regal."
So is IMAX poised to take off?
Witt gives the company Morningstar's highest risk rating due to its high debt structure and competition from other digital -projection systems, but believes that there are strong prospects for IMAX in the future.
"The reason why a lot of these theaters are willing to take a chance is that they have shown in the past that people are willing to pay for it," says Witt. "When movies come out, IMAX theaters are full."
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King today insisted that the Bank of England is right not to follow theFederal Reserve in aggressively cutting interest rates in an attempt to halt an economic slowdown. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:00 am
You may want to have your morning coffee before you read this.
Those price increases for a cup from Starbucks or a can of Folgers from the supermarket? They're just the beginning.
The rise in coffee prices has been percolating for some time. In July, Starbucks began charging an average of 9 cents extra for its drinks. So far this year, Folgers, Maxwell House, and Chock Full o' Nuts have twice raised prices. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has recently announced that it will increase prices by 8 to 12 percent this spring.
Like other drinks and foods, coffee prices are being driven by a wave of investment money into commodities. The combination of a weak dollar and struggling equities have made commodities an attractive bet, and as a result, markets previously limited mostly to producers and suppliers are suddenly are suddenly awash in investors' cash.
Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, a commodities analyst with Barclays Capital, notes that last year's harvest produced a bumper coffee crop.
"There have been no particularly supportive demand increases, no supply side shocks to the market," she said. "To a great extent it's due to a lot of speculative sentiment toward agriculture as a whole."
Speculation makes up 32 percent of open interest in the coffee market—its highest level in 14 years.
The speculative interest in so-called soft commodities (as opposed to hard commodities like copper) took a hit last week in a market selloff. But experts believe that commodities like coffee beans remain an attractive investment and that prices are headed higher.
And if you are thinking about getting your caffeine buzz from chocolate, it's the same situation with cocoa.
Nestlé nudged prices up throughout 2007, Cadbury-Schweppes says it will do the same in 2008, and at the beginning of February, Hershey increased what it charges for chocolate bars by 13 percent.
Peter Meyer, a commodities trader at Lehman Brothers, explains that at the beginning of the year, investors started diverting big gains from crude oil, corn, and wheat into underperforming commodities like cocoa and coffee.
That shift means that demand for coffee and cocoa futures is likely to remain high.
"People are going to point to it [last week's slump in prices] and say the bubble has burst, I think it's a healthy correction," Meyer says. "I think if anything, now you'll have a couple weeks where money goes back in."
Unnikrishnan at Barclays agrees: "There's absolutely no reason prices should come off sharply and come down. Overall, in terms of some of the profit-taking recently, we don't expect that to be something that defines the market."
With coffee, price increases rarely have any meaningful impact on consumption. Indeed, if anything, the higher prices and worries about the economy may be a blessing for coffeemakers like Nestlé and Folgers, as consumers change habits and shift spending toward grocery-store purchases and away from restaurants.
Glenn Petraglia, a senior analyst with Citigroup, sees the soft economy prompting consumers to trade down to eating at home from restaurant meals costing three times as much.
And according to Harry Balzer, a senior retail analyst with NPD Research, cutting out restaurants causes consumers to increase their retail spending on premium foods.
"You're going to be cutting out restaurant meals, but demand for indulgence is not going to change because of financial hardship," Balzer says.
That means that even as consumers tighten their belts, premium chocolate and specialty coffee segments are poised to continue to grow.
Nestlé recently announced that it would be investing almost $20 million in a new research center entirely dedicated to developing premium and luxury chocolate.
And Starbucks plans on adding a premium brewed offering to its beverage menu.
Since the mid-eighties we've had every colour and kind of financial regulation imaginable. The consistent failures of all these systems, from the naively optimistic self regulatory organisations under the Securities and Investments Board, to the seemingly more stringent Financial Services Authority (FSA), have been followed by political hand wringing and calls for change Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 10:00 am
Morgan Stanley has put the sale of its stake in brokerage China International Capital Corp on hold, telling private equity bidders their offers are too low as jittery equity markets take a toll on deals Source: FT.com - US homepage | 26 Mar 2008 | 9:52 am
Deutsche Bank warns that continuing global credit turmoil and bad debt may affect its profits for 2008. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 9:40 am
New York is expected to lose more than 20,000 financial sector jobs by the end of next year as Wall Street is hit heavily by the credit crunch, according to a new report. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 9:40 am
The head of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) admitted today that its
handling of Northern Rock, the collapsed mortgage bank, had been
unaccepatable as the regulator laid out a raft of plans to beef up its
supervisory staff and put in place new procedures to prevent a repetition of
the crisis. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 8:53 am
The City watchdog devoted inadequate resources to overseeing Northern Rock and failed to push hard enough on its management to modify its business model, according to an internal report Source: FT.com - US homepage | 26 Mar 2008 | 8:44 am
Xstrata's share price fell 10 per cent in early trading in London this morning
after the confirmation last night that Vale’s $90 billion ($£45 billion)
takeover approach to the fellow miner had collapsed. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 8:40 am
Singapore Airlines grounds a second Airbus A380 super-jumbo jet because of a fuel pump problem. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 8:21 am
One of the Prime Minister's last acts as Chancellor has resulted in a £1.5
billion tax charge to the water industry, at a time when costs across the
sector are already rising steeply in the face of a huge investment
programme. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 26 Mar 2008 | 8:20 am
Supermarket chain J Sainsbury has struck a £1.2bn property deal with developer British Land by placing 38 of its stores into a joint venture. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 8:20 am
The Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, has admitted to a catalogue of errors in its handling of the Northern Rock crisis, which saw the first run on a British bank in more than a century. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 7:50 am
Shares in radio group Clear Channel fall 21% following speculation that its $19.5bn sale is on the brink of collapse. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 26 Mar 2008 | 7:33 am
When satellite radio broadcasters Sirius and XM argued that they should be allowed to merge into a monopoly because they actually compete against terrestrial radio, iPods, cellphones and other listening choices, I didn't buy it.
As the stock market gyrates, authors' proposals flourish. But will their financial advice be relevant by the time a book's in print?
About a year ago, one of America's bestselling business books was Michael Corbett's "Find It, Fix It, Flip It!: Make Millions in Real Estate -- One House at a Time." Today, one of the hot finance titles picked up for publication is Stephen Leeb's "Game Over: How the Collapsing Economy Will Shrink Your Wealth by 50% Unless You Know What to Do."
Dow slips for the day, but the broader market advances as investors shake off consumer sentiment and housing reports.
The stock market closed mostly higher Tuesday after a huge two-session rally, even after disappointing reports on consumer sentiment and the housing market.
Consumer advocates worry that the closed session will advance a plan that critics say could make it easier to cancel policies. Regulators say that's not on the agenda.
California's largest health insurers, facing possible fines and other penalties for the way they sometimes cancel policies after patients pile up medical bills, meet today with regulators to discuss ongoing state enforcement efforts.
The L.A.-Orange County and San Diego regions experienced declines of nearly 17%.
Home prices across the nation continued to fall at a record pace in January, with Southern California showing some of the steepest declines, according to a major indicator released Tuesday.
A new government report predicts when each will go into the red, but the candidates appear reluctant to touch the subject matter.
With the presidential campaign going full tilt, a new government report on a big national problem is usually followed by volleys of rhetoric from the candidates. But on Tuesday, when the annual report on the precarious state of Medicare and Social Security came out, the reaction was not exactly deafening.
Builders and retailers address concerns that expanded malls will increase traffic and density.
With the affluent Westside of Los Angeles escaping much of the economic angst gripping Southern California, shopping center owners near the coast are spending lavishly to burnish their malls and beckon new shoppers.
In a growing trend, some firms now ship luggage so air travelers can fly unencumbered. The practice also may result in fewer lost suitcases.
On a recent trip to Egypt, the coffee table books, pottery and other gifts Lorna Gladstone collected might have turned into a nightmare at the airport baggage check-in.
Toyota builds a sprawling center with 220 stores and restaurants as a place to market its vehicles.
Shiny Toyotas are lined up outside the gleaming stores and restaurants at a new Japanese shopping mall. The automaker is trying to cope with a serious problem: Young people in Japan are rapidly losing interest in cars, sending auto sales to 27-year lows.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Corus Bankshares Inc faces extensive pain in the coming months as more commercial real estate construction and development loans go sour, and as regulators step up their scrutiny of such lending, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.
After a strong start, the sharemarket slipped into the red today, reflecting a mixed performance in Asia and on Wall St.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index erased yesterday's gains, falling 4.8 points or 0.14 percent to 3425.4 on low... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 5:50 am
Mining company Solid Energy has spent millions on environmental protest management, including $25 million in one dispute.
Solid Energy confirmed the cost of managing the Happy Valley protest and delayed shipments from its main... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 5:29 am
The New Zealand dollar eased back from an upward spike precipitated by a US dollar retreat on rising gold and commodity prices.
Renewed calm in financial markets prompted traders to get back into carry trade currencies like the... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 5:15 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co executives have told Bear Stearns Cos employees they will integrate the firm's prime brokerage and global trade processing businesses, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation.
It will receive a $3-million donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The nonprofit group behind Wikipedia, the mammoth Internet encyclopedia built by volunteers, is getting its largest donation -- $3 million from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Hallenstein Glasson has posted a slightly lower first half net profit of $9.237m, down 6.6 percent on the same period a year ago.
However, investors applauded the performance with its share price rising 14c to $3.65 in mid-afternoon... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 4:45 am
The Stock Exchange today suspended trading in SunSeeker Energy Australasia Ltd after it failed to provide its December half year result by the due date of March 14.
The Australian-based solar power company listed on the NZX last... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 4:44 am
The liquidator of the 20 failed Blue Chip related companies says he has secured government funding for an investigation into the group.
At the first of two sessions of creditors' meetings in Auckland today, Jeff Meltzer told the... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 2:36 am
US consumers' confidence plunged to a five-year low this month on worries over rising inflation and fewer jobs, with a record drop in home values in January providing additional cause for their woes, reports showed.
Prices of existing... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 2:30 am
Blue Chip's founder Mark Byers is to be reported to the "appropriate authorities" after he failed to show at today's meeting of about 300 angry creditors in Auckland.
Liquidator Jeff Meltzer said it was an offence under the Companies... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 2:20 am
Property lender Dominion Finance Holdings has cut back its new lending and expects its loan book to reduce this year as it battens down the hatches to cope with a tough outlook for debenture reinvestment rates.
Dominion Finance... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 2:15 am
The number of businesses in New Zealand increased by 2 per cent in the year to February 2007, even as the number of enterprises being born continued to trend down.
In all 60,443 enterprises were born during the period, representing... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 1:30 am
Activity in the UK housing market is set to fall to its lowest level in more than 30 years, according to a leading estate agent. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Services group Serco has parted company with its chief operating officer, Grant Rumbles, as part of a management reorganisation. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
The number of Britons travelling to the US has jumped by a fifth, helped by the weak dollar, according to Expedia. Source: Telegraph Business | 26 Mar 2008 | 12:01 am
Clear Channel's proposed $19bn buy-out remained on shaky ground as private equity firms and banks remained at loggerheads over terms of the deal's financing Source: FT.com - US homepage | 25 Mar 2008 | 11:17 pm
The US mistakenly sent nuclear missile components to Taiwan in 2006, the Pentagon revealed, marking the second big failure of safeguards on the US nuclear arsenal in recent years Source: FT.com - US homepage | 25 Mar 2008 | 10:42 pm
JPMorgan Chase is offering Bear Stearns' best brokers annual bonuses of more than $500,000 in an effort to prevent an exodus of talent as a result of its planned takeover of the stricken investment bank Source: FT.com - US homepage | 25 Mar 2008 | 10:35 pm
As speculators and investors attract blame for driving up commodity costs, new research shows demand from industrial users has spurred a price boom in a range of metals Source: FT.com - US homepage | 25 Mar 2008 | 10:03 pm
The Federal Home Loan Banking system, a government-sponsored network of US banks, is seeking to enter the so-called 'monoline" insurance market to help local governments that have been hurt by the credit market storm Source: FT.com - US homepage | 25 Mar 2008 | 9:04 pm
In his new book, "Back of the Napkin," author and consultant Dan Roam says if we want better presentations at meetings -- and better ideas -- we have to get rid of all those Powerpoints. Source: Marketplace | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:57 pm
Much of the talk about the economy has involved whether the United States is in a recession. Even if it is, says commentator and economist Susan Lee, things could, and might, get worse. Source: Marketplace | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:57 pm
Three-quarters of a million Iraqis displaced by the war are in Jordan. They're spread throughout the local communities, where they've had to find places to live, enough to eat, and an education for their children. Alisa Roth reports. Source: Marketplace | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:57 pm
It's not just wannabe homebuyers who are keeping an anxious eye on the real estate market. State pension funds lost billions when the subprime loan crisis hit and the market collapsed. But now they smell a bargain and they're getting back into the game. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports. Source: Marketplace | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:57 pm
To prop up the economy, the Federal Reserve has put $260 billion into banks' hands through auctions on short-term loans since December. What happens to all that money? John Dimsdale reports. Source: Marketplace | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:57 pm
So, consumer confidence is down and home prices are still sliding. Maybe it's time for some counterintuitive behavior -- like thinking about getting into the housing market. Kai Ryssdal checks out that notion with Dan McGinn of Newsweek. Source: Marketplace | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:57 pm
The slide in real estate was punctuated today by a report that home prices were down more than 11% in January from a year earlier -- the steepest drop in more than 20 years. Nancy Marshall Genzer has the story. Source: Marketplace | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:57 pm
Consumer confidence hit a five-year low in March, another victim of tightening credit, rising prices and a crummy job market. We sent Jeremy Hobson to the National Mall in Washington to ask Americans how confident they are. Source: Marketplace | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:56 pm
Central banks' efforts to ease strains in the money markets are failing to stop financial institutions from hoarding cash, stoking fears that an end to the credit crisis may not be in sight. Meanwhile US consumer confidence hit a five-year low. Source: FT.com - US homepage | 25 Mar 2008 | 8:36 pm
Did Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz make a mistake in the rush to generate the terms—in lawyer lingo, "papering" the deal—for J.P. Morgan Chase to acquire Bear Stearns at the original fire-sale price of $2 a share?
For many years, Wachtell Lipton has been the firm with the greatest cachet among deal lawyers, and its partners are routinely the best compensated in the country, with profits last year of $4.5 million, according to a survey published this week by the Lawyer. So it seems hard to believe that Wachtell could have erred.
But deal lawyers have been buzzing since Monday, when Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times, in breaking the news of talks of a revised, $10-per-share offer, reported that there had been several mistakes in the original offer. Most significant, the original agreement had language that would have required J.P. Morgan's guarantee of Bear Stearns liabilities to remain in place even in the event that the Bear Stearns shareholders voted down the transaction.
There is talk that Edward Herlihy, J.P. Morgan's lead lawyer—and a giant in banking M&A deals as well as one of the few lawyers to belong to the Augusta National Golf Club—had relied on other Wachtell lawyers because his usual partner, Craig Wasserman, has been ill. Calls to Herlihy's office seeking comment were not returned.
Some were also speculating that Martin Lipton, the Wachtell partner who invented the "poison-pill defense" and is considered an éminence grise among deal lawyers, may no longer be running the show at Wachtell.
Other deal lawyers dismissed the idea that Wachtell had fumbled, calling it "ludicrous." Deal documents are "very simple" according to one corporate lawyer. "They are the intellectual equivalent of a deed in buying real estate."
Still, the original deal agreement was completed over a frenzied weekend that included discussions with federal officials as well as negotiators for Bear Stearns, and was sloppy in some respects as a result. Some places in the merger agreement are left blank, for instance.
"It's really difficult to say" who was responsible for the guarantee provision, says Morton Pierce, co-chairman of the mergers and acquisitions practice at Dewey & Leboeuf. "The deal has so many unusual features, it's really hard to say from an outsider's perspective whether it was a mistake or not." He pointed to J.P. Morgan's option on the Bear Stearns building and 20 percent of its stock at the $2-per-share price. "In totality, it was obviously a very unique transaction."
Mistake or not, however, it is a new provision in the revised agreement that is expected to be at the center of any litigation over the deal. As part of the agreement announced on Monday, J.P. Morgan has an option to buy 39.5 percent of Bear, a move that all but locks up shareholder approval of the deal but one that lawyers say begs to be challenged in a Delaware court.
"The lockup throws it into the Delaware courts," says Larry Ribstein, a visiting professor at New York University School of Law and author of the Ideoblog.
A 2003 decision from the Delaware Supreme Court, Omnicare v. NCS Healthcare, will likely become a big football in the fight over how the deal plays out. In Omnicare, a highly criticized decision from the court, which split 3-2 in its ruling, the court said the board of NCS, a pharmaceutical services company could not lock out shareholders from approving its deal with Genesis—even though the deal increased value for shareholders. The lockup fended off a bidding war with Omnicare, another company interested in buying NCS.
"Does it matter that we are talking about a bankruptcy and the intervention of the Federal Reserve?" Ribstein asked. "There is no firm 40 percent rule," he said of the J.P. Morgan lockup provision. "I am not aware of any hard-and-fast answers to these questions."
One thing is certain: The flow of lawsuits over the deal is likely to become a very big wave.
"Google will miss its quarter, mark my words," we recently overheard an exec from a competing Web company say.
The truth is that nobody knows whether Google will miss or beat first-quarter expectations, but from where we're sitting, industry insiders look a tad nervous.
For every single quarter over the last two years, Wall Street has either overestimated or wildly underestimated Google's earnings, which suggests that they don't really understand the company.
"I doubt if any of the analysts will get it right," says Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry. "They haven't had it right for many years. Google has always beaten the estimates. Will they beat again? Nobody knows. This time around, there are so many moving parts."
Although Google has one week left in its first quarter, and probably a few more weeks before it reports results, we know this much already: The company is cracking down on erroneous paid clicks, or ads that are accidentally clicked on by users and paid for by advertisers. The upshot, presumably, is that paid click revenue could decline or stall in the first quarter.
We also know that there's a looming recession, and even if Google is "well positioned" for an economic downturn, as C.E.O. Eric Schmidt says, a decline in consumer spending is bound to take a toll on the company at some point.
And while Google is notoriously tight-lipped about its performance, Wall Street analysts appear anxious. Cowen & Co. analyst Jim Friedland, for example, cut his annual earnings estimate to $4.42 per share, down from $4.64 per share, based on concerns about a recession, paid-click changes, lagging traffic growth at MySpace (which is a Google partner), and its shrinking cash position as a result of the DoubleClick acquisition.
Last week, Jackson Securities analyst Brian Bolan shaved his price target on the stock and predicted Wall Street analysts will continue to cut their earnings expectations over the next few weeks.
In other words, Wall Street is finally curbing its enthusiasm for Google.
Mark Mahaney, an analyst with Citigroup, notes today that Yahoo is trading at a discount to Microsoft's offer and at a 23 percent discount to what he calls a potential $34-per-share offer. Raising the bank's recommendation on Yahoo shares to "buy" from "hold," Mahaney said, "We believe that a Yahoo sale to Microsoft—at a price likely higher than the initial $31 bid—is the most likely outcome."
Shares of Yahoo are up more than 3 percent at midday on hopes for a higher bid.
Meanwhile, Yahoo has been searching for a strategic alternative to a Microsoft takeover, but Kara Swisher reports that Yahoo's growth plan has not been well received during a road show for investors put on by C.E.O. Jerry Yang and other top executives. She says, "While the group met with polite audiences, most investors I talked to were unenthusiastic about the plan and dubious that Yahoo's blue-sky hopes would come through. 'I think we wanted to give Jerry a hearing, but mostly to save face,' said one investor, in a sentiment that was typical."
Earlier this month, Yahoo pushed back the deadline for Microsoft to submit a rival slate for its board, but it has yet to schedule a date for its annual meeting.
Henry Blodget, in Silicon Alley Insider, argues that Yahoo needs to get the process started again: "It's time to restore the normal democratic process and let shareholders hear both sides (or, at least, to have the threat of shareholders hearing both sides get the negotiations going)."
Microsoft, for its part, has indicated that it remains very interested in Yahoo. In an interview with the 24/7 Wall St. blog, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, says, "We’ve made the offer, we think it’s a strong offer, and we think it represents very good value to shareholders and customers."
Home prices in 20 metropolitan regions slid 10.7 percent in January from a year ago in a sign that the housing slump has yet to hit bottom.
The Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home-price index for 20 cities fell 2.4 percent in January from December, the 13th consecutive monthly decline. For 10 major cities, the index tumbled 11.4 percent over the past 12 months.
"Unfortunately, it does not look like early 2008 is marking any turnaround in the housing market after the declining year recorded throughout 2007," said David Blitzer of S&P. "No markets seem to be completely immune from the housing crisis."
The weakest markets were Las Vegas and Miami, which both had annual price declines of 19.3 percent. Phoenix had an 18.2 percent slump over 12 months.
The sole razor-thin sliver of hope? Charlotte, North Carolina, the only one of the 20 markets that had an annual gain in January, of 1.8 percent. In December, Charlotte was only one of three markets to show a gain.
That is a good sign because Charlotte has become an important financial center, home to Bank of America and Wachovia. If a region that is tied so closely to an industry that has been buffeted by the housing slump can be somewhat resilient (prices did slip 0.2 percent from December) amid job losses and foreclosures, then perhaps the worst may soon be over.
The improved takeover offer for Bear Stearns has been welcomed around the world, helping ease investors' fears about banks.
Stocks surged on Asian and European markets following Monday's rally on Wall Street. In Tokyo, the Nikkei closed up 2.2 percent, and Hong Kong ended up 6.4 percent. London was up nearly 4 percent at midday.
Richard Bove, a widely followed banking analyst with Punk Ziegel & Co. is calling J.P. Morgan Chase's new $10-per-share offer for Bear a "high-risk transaction," Reuters reports.
"What is most disturbing about this deal is that it uses a great deal of Morgan capital to buy a company that is losing market share, in a series of businesses that are declining in size, with a top management team that is best described as sclerotic," Bove wrote in a note to clients, according to Reuters.
"Every aspect of this transaction is likely to be tested in the courts with J.P. Morgan paying the bill all the way. This is not a layup at all."
Indeed, many expect that the deal will be decided in the Delaware courts. The biggest test will be over the revised deal's option for J.P. Morgan to buy 39.5 percent of Bear. The stake will make shareholder approval a foregone conclusion. But past Delaware court decisions have ruled against measures that are considered "coercive" and effectively deny shareholders a vote.
The Bear rescue, to be sure, was not your typical merger situation. Still, as Steven Davidoff on DealBook notes in a useful explainer of the issue, "When (not if) it is challenged in a Delaware court, Bear will have to give a compelling justification for its 39.5 percent grant to J.P. Morgan. But at this point, given the J.P. Morgan guarantee and merger, can they do so?"
And little has been heard yet from the big Bear shareholders who were vehemently opposed to the original $2-per-share offer.
Joe Lewis, the British Bahamas-based financier who bought a big stake in Bear last year, is at a golf tournament in Orlando, Florida, which he sponsors (and which his friend, Tiger Woods, unexpectedly lost). The Daily Telegraphreports that Lewis has been "locked in talks with his lawyers."
Reuters - New orders for long-lasting
U.S.-made manufactured goods unexpectedly fell 1.7 percent
during February and a key gauge of companies' appetite for
investment also shrank, according to data on Wednesday that
will reinforce concern the economy has chilled.
AP - Orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell for a second straight month in February, a worse-than-expected performance that provided more evidence of the economic troubles gripping the country.
Reuters - Stocks looked likely to open lower on
Wednesday as equity futures fell to near session lows following
unexpectedly weak durable goods data.
Reuters - India's Tata Motors Ltd
will buy luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford
Motor Co for about $2.3 billion in cash, the companies
said on Wednesday.
Reuters - Motorola Inc said on Wednesday
it would split into two publicly traded entities to separate
its loss-making handset division from its other businesses,
sending its shares up more than 10 percent.
Reuters - Clear Channel Communications Inc
and the private equity firms that want to buy it may go
to court to force lenders to complete the leveraged buyout, the
New York Times said, citing people briefed on the talks.