French bank BNP Paribas and Dutch bank and insurance group ING reported lower first-quarter profit Tuesday, though their results were still well received by investors as the credit crisis bit less deeply than at some peers.
Reuters - (Corrects next to last paragraph to say that Macys expects
same store sales for the fiscal year to range between down 1
percent to up 1.5 percent. The error also appeared in Update
1.)
Stocks jumped Wednesday morning after a key inflation reading showed a more muted rise than had been expected, reassuring investors worried about the impact of rising commodity prices and the series of Fed interest rate cuts.
JP Morgan (JPM) will start to trade oil by the end of this year, and that is not just futures. According to Reuters "We will start trading in physical oil and refined products by the end of this year," the bank said. JP Morgan is betting, to at least some significant extent, that oil prices will continue to move up. When the smart money starts to think that way, crude may sell off to $50. Douglas A. McIntyre
There is a growing sense that the worst of the credit crunch may be behind us. And despite a tamer-than-expected reading for April, inflation is still very much a concern for many Americans.
Reuters - Deere & Co reported higher
quarterly earnings on Wednesday as soaring crop prices boosted
global demand for its agricultural equipment, but the company's
forecast for the rest of the year disappointed Wall Street and
its shares fell 9 percent.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Deere & Co reported higher quarterly earnings on Wednesday as soaring crop prices boosted global demand for its agricultural equipment, but the company's forecast for the rest of the year disappointed Wall Street and its shares fell 9 percent.
Maker of chip-manufacturing gear sees its shares under pressure, one day after the company reported a 26% drop in its quarterly profit and issued a weaker-than-expected outlook.
Shares of refining firms gain ground on a drop in weekly gasoline inventories, but oil services shares lose ground on the latest updates on U.S. petroleum supplies.
Ben Verwaayen's valedictory address as BT chief executive tomorrow is set to be overshadowed by falling profits at the former phone monopoly. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 3:00 pm
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- A former UBS banker and an adviser from Liechtenstein have been charged with helping clients, including California real-estate billionaire Igor Olenicoff, avoid paying taxes, according to a published report.
Uranium Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: URRE) announced this morning that it entered into a private placement based on the closing prices yesterday after the close. While it does not imply that BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is part of this, there is a tie in at the end about an existing acquisition that the company is involved in. The company is raising north of $14.3 million in gross proceeds before placement fees. The sale of 3,295,599 shares was placed at $4.34 per share. That represents a 10% discount to the closing price. The company also gave up warrants to purchase 988,680...
The controversial new feedback policy eBay announced in January is slated to start taking effect on Monday, removing sellers' ability to leave neutral or negative feedback for their buyers.
Reuters - Stocks extended gains on Wednesday,
sending the Dow and the Nasdaq up 1 percent, as government
inflation data eased concerns the Federal Reserve might have to
raise interest rates.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks extended gains on Wednesday, sending the Dow and the Nasdaq up 1 percent, as government inflation data eased concerns the Federal Reserve might have to raise interest rates.
Dana Holdings swings to a first-quarter profit on the back of a big one-time gain relating to its emergence from bankruptcy as well as the adoption of “fresh start” accounting.
In the face of a veto threat, House lawmakers are expected to vote Wednesday on a $300 billion, five-year farm bill that would increase funds for nutritional programs and authorize subsidies for farmers, among other moves.
TOKYO -- Sony punctuated its recovery by swinging to a profit for the January-March quarter as it reduced losses from its PlayStation 3 video game business.
Reuters - Freddie Mac posted a
smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday and the
second-biggest home-financing company said it would raise
capital as credit losses deepened. Its shares rose more than 9
percent.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Freddie Mac posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday and the second-biggest home-financing company said it would raise capital as credit losses deepened. Its shares rose more than 9 percent.
Consumers had to shell out more for goods, services and especially food in April, according to a government report released Wednesday, but the rise was lower than expected.
Growth in U.S. consumer prices moderates in April, up 0.2%, with decelerating energy prices offsetting rising food prices. Labor Department data show growth in food prices rising at the sharpest rate in 18 years.
Americans are feeling a lot more economic pain than the government's official statistics would lead you to believe, according to a growing number of experts.
Land Securities, Britain's largest commercial property company, today admitted
its portfolio of shops and offices had fallen in value by £1.28 billion in
the sharpest decline since height of the last recession. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 2:36 pm
Income at the consumer electronics giant rebounded as the company was able to hold down chip costs, but was hurt by a drop in the value of its financial holdings. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 2:30 pm
AP - Mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said Wednesday its first quarter loss widened to $151 million as the U.S. housing market worsened, though the results were not as poor as expected. Its shares rose almost 8 percent.
The Dutch financial services group reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly net profit, hit by weaker returns from real estate, private equity and market investments. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 2:23 pm
Consumer prices remained in check in April, in spite of surging food costs, which could give the Federal Reserve more room for manoeuvre as it seeks to steer the US economy out of its current malaise Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 2:23 pm
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday he believes the credit crisis may get worse and that regulatory failings helped fuel the problems rocking the economy.
Dear Annie: My 17-year-old son needs to get a job this summer to help save for college. He says he has been looking, and I believe him, but so far he's come up with nothing. I don't want to be a meddling mom, but I feel as if I should get involved at this point and try to help him, in no small part because the thought of his lounging on the sofa playing video games all summer makes me cringe. Do you and your readers have any suggestions? -Anxious in Attleboro
WASHINGTON -- U.S. consumer prices rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2% in April as energy prices paused in their recent surge, a Labor Department report showed.
The parent of Airbus reported a net profit in the first quarter of 285 million euros ($440 million), as it increased deliveries and cut costs, helping offset the weaker dollar. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 2:07 pm
All first time buyers earning less than £60,000 a year are now eligible for
the Government’s shared ownership and shared equity schemes, which allows
borrowers to part buy a property. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 2:01 pm
Freddie Mac, the second largest US mortgage-finance company, posted a loss that was narrower than analysts estimated and said it will raise $5.5bn in capital to help overcome rising credit costs. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Macy's Inc reported a quarterly loss on Wednesday, hurt by restructuring costs and falling sales, but the department store operator stood by its full-year earnings forecast, and its shares rose 7 percent.
Chindex International Inc. (NASDAQ: CHDX) is seeing shares under pressure this morning after it filed last night for a secondary offering of up to $100 million. The filing is for the company to sell shares of common stock, warrants, and rights. Some will come from the company and some may be sold by shareholders. No underwriters have yet been named according to the preliminary prospectus. Chindex is US-based, but primarily operates in China and Hong Kong. The company put the use of funds that will receive for general corporate purposes, including expansion of our Healthcare Services and Medical Products divisions....
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer prices rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in April as energy prices paused in their recent surge, a Labor Department report on Wednesday showed.
Burma has agreed to let 160 aid workers from four Asian countries assist its disaster relief effort, in the regime's first public acknowledgement that it needs international help in responding to the catastrophe. Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 1:34 pm
UK inflation could rise up to 4pc this year, the Bank of England warned today as it halved its projections for economic growth. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 1:30 pm
UK inflation could rise up to 4pc this year, the Bank of England warned today as it halved its projections for economic growth. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 1:30 pm
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) shares are going to be a drag today. The giant manufacturer of farm and construction machinery posted $1.74 EPS on a 19% revenue fain to $7.47 Billion. First Call had estimates at $1.75 EPS and $$7.61 Billion in revenues. The company said that equipment sales are projected to increase about 20% for Q3 and up about 20% for Fiscal 2008. Included in the forecast is about 5% of currency translation impact for the year. Its previous guidance of +17%. The company has noted that rising material costs and the availability of various parts and components...
Reuters - Consumer prices rose a
smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in April as energy prices
paused in their recent surge, a Labor Department report on
Wednesday showed.
US food prices jumped at the fastest pace for 18 years in April, figures show, but overall inflation eased. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 1:21 pm
The world's biggest maker of tractors and other farm machinery warned that higher raw material costs and a decline in sales of construction equipment would impact its earnings for the rest of the year Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 1:18 pm
US stocks were set for gains at the opening bell as investors responded to a government report suggesting the economic slowdown may be easing inflationary pressure. Stock futures moved higher after a government... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 1:12 pm
US stocks made strong gains in early trade as investors responded to a government report suggesting the economic slowdown may be easing inflationary pressures. Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 1:12 pm
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced a series of plans that will affect people's finances, homes and work. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 1:07 pm
The government-backed mortgage financier said it plans to raise $5.5bn of fresh capital as rising credit costs led it to report a $151m first-quarter loss Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 1:00 pm
Stock futures turned higher Wednesday after a better-than-expected government reading on April consumer prices eased some concerns about inflation. The Labor Department's report that... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:57 pm
April CPI was released from the Labor Department with a nominal rate of +0.2% and a core rate of +0.1%. According to Bloomberg estimates, those expectations were +0.3% on nominal CPI and and +0.2% Core CPI. On an annualized basis this was 3.9% on the nominal CPI report, and up 2.3% on an annualized core CPI basis. As far as individual urban expenses year over year, most costs are still higher. So as long as you don't stop by the gas station and as long as you don't go to the grocery store and as long as you don't have...
The cost of food in the US was up .9% last month, the highest increase in 18 years. The news reinforces the concern that the rising price of agricultural commodities is taking a toll on the buying power of consumers. That, added to the cost of gasoline, may put some households in a position where they will have to pick among buying food, buying gas, or making mortgage payments. Looking back, there may be an argument that the Fed eased too much, but that view is overly simplistic. The rising demand for food is international and is being driven, in...
(Reuters) - General Motors Corp needs to raise about $9 billion over the next two years to refinance debt, and may seek more for operational cash burn as it faces production headwinds and commodity price increases, Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson said.
$151 million as the U.S. housing market worsened, though the results were not as poor as expected. McLean-Va.-based Freddie Mac also said Wednesday it plans to raise $5.5 billion in... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:47 pm
Tesco, the U.K.'s biggest supermarket company, agreed to buy South Korea's Homever discount chain for £958m, boosting sales by about a third in its most profitable overseas market. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 12:45 pm
Tesco, the U.K.'s biggest supermarket company, agreed to buy South Korea's Homever discount chain for 958m, boosting sales by about a third in its most profitable overseas market. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:45 pm
Airbus parent EADS said Wednesday it returned to profit in the first quarter as the planemaker increased deliveries and the company cut costs, helping offset the weaker dollar. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:40 pm
Inflation pressures eased a bit in April despite the biggest jump in food prices in 18 years. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent last... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:40 pm
Macy's says it lost $59 million in the first quarter because of lower sales and the cost of consolidating business units that should save money starting next year. The department store Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:37 pm
Baudouin Prot, chief executive of BNP Paribas, France's largest bank, said on Wednesday he was "cautiously optimistic" that the worst of the financial crisis resulting from the US sub-prime mortgage market... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:37 pm
Inflation pressures eased a bit in April despite the biggest jump in food prices in 18 years. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent last... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:33 pm
Deere & Co., the world's biggest maker of farm machinery, said Wednesday its second-quarter profit rose 22 percent, propelled by lofty crop prices that stoked global demand for its farm... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:30 pm
With less than a 4 percent stake, Carl Icahn does not have much leverage over Yahoo. And with less than two days to field a slate of candidates—or even a couple of token candidates—for Yahoo's board, he has very little time.
But his potential is huge and his timing is almost perfect.
With big Yahoo shareholders like Bill Miller and Gordon Crawford still fuming about Jerry Yang's giving the cold shoulder to Steve Ballmer, Icahn can easily depend on at least 15 percent of Yahoo' shareholders, notes Jeff Segal at Breakingviews.com.
The Wall Street Journalreports that Scott Galloway, fresh from a victorious campaign to get seats on the board of the New York Times Co., may also get involved with Icahn.
Kara Swisher at All Things Digital has seen this movie before, saying: "Icahn's efforts seem clever, using similar tactics as he did in the BEA Systems-Oracle fight, trying to get just a few board seats to force Yahoo to sell to Microsoft."
But is that even possible? Andrew Ross Sorkin and Miguel Helft of the New York Times report that Icahn has made back-channel inquiries about whether Microsoft could be persuaded to return to the table.
"He has received little encouragement," the Times said, because Microsoft has "moved on."
On Tuesday, shares of Yahoo rose more than 5 percent on speculation that Icahn, an activist investor with a long history of proxy fights, could mount a challenge to Yahoo.
The deadline to file is Thursday. Yahoo's annual meeting of shareholders is July 3.
With a dearth of new shows to announce—just two new ones airing this fall—the focus at the ABC Upfront Tuesday afternoon at Avery Fisher Hall was on the numbers.
Oh, and slinging mud at the competition, at ABC's own shows, and at the American viewing public.
After an introduction from Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group, Jimmy Kimmel, host of the network's late-night talk show, took the stage. He started by admonishing the sitting audience to "Please, sit," in a mocking reference to Jimmy Fallon's identical joke at the press conference yesterday where NBC anointed him the next host of their late-night show.
Kimmel then took several self-conscious digs at this year's Upfront’s general lack of stars, booze, and food—in light of diminishing ratings and weak slates of new shows, the networks have cut back on their annual presentations this year.
"ABC might be the worst date ever," Kimmel told the assembled advertising executives. "We expect you to put out, and we're not even going to buy you a drink."
But he soon moved from self-deprecation to attack mode, saying that things at ABC were better than at NBC, where the network had relabeled it's presentation the "Infronts" this year because they were "just in front of the CW"—a reference to NBC's fourth-place standing among the major broadcast networks. On Thursday, he added to raucous laughter, the Fox network would be hosting the "reach arounds."
As for the move of Scrubs, NBC's successful hospital-satire show, to ABC, Kimmel admonished that it was a bad idea to steal from networks in last place.
In a final display of cynicism, he proclaimed that the future for ABC looked bright. "TV sets are bigger than ever, kids are fatter then ever, and gas has never been more expensive. We have the whole country sitting on a couch, and if we can’t sell them stuff, we should all be very ashamed of ourselves."
Kimmel was followed by Mike Shaw, ABC's president of sales and marketing, who trotted out several PowerPoint slides for the afternoon's low point, a dry lecture on ABC's "advertising-value index," which allows advertisers to pick the audience metrics most important to them—education, household income—and weigh them according to priority.
Finally, Stephen McPherson, president of ABC entertainment, took the stage to review the upcoming fall schedule, built around returning shows like Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives—both of which are several seasons old and showing signs of age and viewer falloff since the strike.
Only two new shows—Opportunity Knocks, in which host Ashton Kutcher picks an American family and literally builds a family-style game show set in their neighborhood for them to compete in, and Life on Mars, a 1970s-style police drama complete with a time-travel hook—will debut in the fall, showing the extent to which ABC was left flat-footed by the writers' strike.
In a positive sign, five one-season shows, including Eli Stone,Dirty Sexy Money, and Private Practice, a Grey's spinoff, will return.
For ABC, which ranks a respectable second in the desirable-to-advertisers 18 to 49 age range, the challenge is to continue to deliver strong programming to audiences who remain in thrall to Fox’s Super Bowl event and juggernaut American Idol (which has had its own ratings decline this spring).
While second place sounds fine, the percentage of households tuning in to ABC on an average night of the week during prime-time programming is just 2.8 percent—the same as CBS. ABC squeaks by with 40,000 more viewers. Fox’s household rating is 4 percent.
And ABC's two fall shows are certainly not poised to become enormous Idol-style, or even Housewives-style, hits. The network does have a slate of almost 20 shows in development, but only felt confident enough to tease two of them at the Upfronts: Fourplay, a comedy about two male best friends and their lives, which drew weak laughter; and In The Motherhood, a series which began life online and stars Jenny McCarthy, Leah Remini, and Chelsea Handler as mothers dealing with the indignities of being moms. That one got a warmer reception.
An animated comedy from the producers of King of the Hill, called The Goode Family, will debut mid-season.
But the show that received by far the longest tease was for a reality competition that will air this summer, called Wipeout. Contestants have to navigate a seemingly impossible obstacle course for a prize of $50,000. The preview given to advertisers featured lingering close-ups of contestants jiggling in Spandex, tripping across a narrow platform next to a wall from which boxing gloves jab, knocking them into a muddy lake, and flailing—and falling—across four enormous rubber contraptions called "The Big Balls."
The Upfront closed with a sneak peak of the next season of Lost, which had audiences streaming for the doors, presumably to avoid spoilers. Or maybe they'd just had enough of ABC's watered-down Upfront.
Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) won a contract from Scottish & Southern Energy to construct a 500 MW wind farm, the world's largest, off the coast of Suffolk in the UK. Fluor will book the $1.8 billion contract in the second quarter of 2008. On Monday, Fluor reported a 63% jump in earnings and revenue growth of 32%, boosting the stock price by nearly $25.00 yesterday. This single project is equal to nearly a third of the company's reported new business in the first quarter of 2008. Fluor's stock is off $1.46 in pre-open trading. On any other day besides after a...
Airbus parent EADS said Wednesday it returned to profit in the first quarter as the planemaker increased deliveries and the company cut costs, helping offset the weaker dollar. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 12:23 pm
TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp posted a surprise quarterly loss on Wednesday after a weak stock market ate into the value of securities held by its financial arm, but forecast a bigger-than-expected profit this year.
A thousand foreclosed homes were auctioned off every weekday in California last month. And that is just the front line of a crisis that is still spreading across the nation.
Despite the pledges and efforts by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and mortgage lenders to help troubled homeowners, it is clear that there has been no stemming of the tide of foreclosures.
Foreclosure filings in April were up 65 percent from a year ago, and up 4 percent from March, according to RealtyTrac, an online real-estate-data company. The company compiles default notices, auction-sale notices, and bank repossessions.
"The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we've seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005," James Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive, said.
The data show that one in every 519 households in the United States received a foreclosure filing in April.
Housing prices are still falling, but a weak economy and tighter credit are not making much of impact in reducing the glut of houses.
"Inventory levels have soared to unprecedented levels'' Brian Fabbri, chief North American economist for BNP Paribas, told Bloomberg News. "Builders and homeowners have to lower their prices significantly to sell that inventory out."
The wave of foreclosures is already pressing prices lower. The Los Angeles Times' L.A. Land blog, which cited the auction-tracking firm Foreclosure Radar for the 1,000-homes-a-day figure, says that lenders are cutting prices sharply at courthouse auctions to avoid taking possession of foreclosures. "Still, the auctions are usually uneventful and usually do not attract serious bids," the blog says.
U.S. housing market worsened, though the results were not as poor as expected. McLean-Va.-based Freddie Mac also said Wednesday it plans to raise $5.5 billion in new capital. Freddie... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 11:49 am
Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) has priced its public secondary stock offering of 60 million shares of common stock at $16.15 per share. The gross proceeds are about $969.0 million before fees, and approximately $927.6 million on a net basis. Annaly has granted the underwriters a 30-day over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 9 million shares. All of the shares are being offered by Annaly, and the company intends to use to purchase mortgage-backed securities and some for for general corporate purposes. Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch are the joint book-running managers, while Credit Suisse and Deutsche...
SK Telecom, South Korea's biggest mobile phone operator, on Wednesday said it was in talks with Virgin Mobile to explore "strategic opportunities" for Helio, a provider of wireless voice and data services... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 11:46 am
Deere & Co. says its second-quarter profit rose 22 percent as lofty crop prices stoked global demand for its farm equipment. The Moline, Ill.-based maker of tractors and harvesting... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 11:38 am
Tesco is spending 958m expanding its operation in South Korea, its most successful business outside the UK. The group, Britain's leading UK food retailer said on Wednesday it was buying 36 hypermarkets... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 May 2008 | 11:30 am
These are some of the top analyst calls we are looking at this Wednesday morning: ADC Telecom (NASDAQ: ADCT) raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies. Alexion Pharma (NASDAQ: ALXN) started as Buy at Jefferies. Anadigics (NASDAQ: ANAD) cut to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer. Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS. Energizer (NYSE: ENR) started as Outperform at Bernstein. Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) raised to Outperform at Bernstein. Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI) started as Sell at Soleil. InVesco (NYSE: IVZ) started as Buy at Jefferies. Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS) raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies. Sun Microsystems...
Compass Group, the contract caterer, today promised to hand back £400 million
to its investors over the next 18 months through a share buy-back. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 11:20 am
Bradford & Bingley announces plans for a rights issue to raise £300m from its existing shareholders. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 11:10 am
Ferrovial, the Spanish owner of Britain's busiest airports, wants profits from
BAA to almost treble to $1.3 billion in the next four years, it emerged
today.$ Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 11:07 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mortgage applications rose for a second consecutive week, fueled by a jump in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates dropped, an industry group said on Wednesday.
UK inflation could rise up to 4pc this year, the Bank of England warned today as it halved its projections for economic growth. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 11:00 am
UK inflation could rise up to 4pc this year, the Bank of England warned today as it halved its projections for economic growth. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 11:00 am
Soaring fuel prices and stiff competition saw Spanish airline Iberia make a loss in the first three months of 2008. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 10:59 am
Ferrovial is still counting on a three-fold increase in profits at BAA, over
the next four years. Even Heathrow, probably by common verdict Europe's
worst airport, should see profits increase four-fold as more and more
passengers are forced, however reluctantly, through its doors. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 10:51 am
The UK's outlook for inflation has deteriorated in the past few months, the head of the Bank of England says. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 10:47 am
Perhaps someone could have figured this out a year ago, Social networks like MySpace, owned by News Corp (NWS) and Facebook are poor targets for marketers. No wonder. A social network is a patch work of millions of largely unrelated people posting private and uninteresting things about themselves. Shut-ins who put up their own web presences on the networks are probably the only ones who look at those listings. Unlike web portals ala AOL, owned by Time Warner (TWX), where content is organized into neat groups, there is no way to find discrete demographic or content sections at social networks....
A former colleague of the senior UBS banker detained by US authorities last
week has been charged over allegations he helped a billionaire real estate
developer evade millions of dollars in US income taxes. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 10:44 am
Asian commodity and currency markets could be plunged into chaos after the Malaysian
government threatened to abandon standard trading channels in favour of
bartering palm oil for rice. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 10:30 am
The world's largest steel company, Arcelor Mittal, predicts record demand from Asia and Africa. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 10:27 am
Justin King may not quite have made Sainsbury’s great again, but Britain’s
third-biggest supermarket definitely has more of a swagger about it. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 10:26 am
Thousands of troops and China's premier were airlifted to areas near the epicentre in Sichuan province on Wednesday as the official death toll from the deadly earthquake neared 15,000 Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 10:25 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home foreclosure filings in April edged up from March and were a whopping 65 percent higher than a year earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Wednesday.
Land Securities, the UK's biggest listed property company, saw the value of its portfolio slump £1.3bn as it recorded an £888.8m loss before tax. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 10:01 am
Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, warned today that inflation
could top 4 per cent this year as the economic growth slows severely. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 May 2008 | 9:39 am
Housebuilder Barratt Developments delivered more gloom from the frontline of the UK's slowing property market today, after reporting a 33pc drop in the number of sales agreed each week, compared with last year. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 9:33 am
The buyout of radio firm Clear Channel is to go ahead after an agreement is struck with banks funding the deal. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 9:31 am
Advertising firm WPP says it is disappointed after a second bid approach for research firm TNS is rejected. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 9:21 am
Shares in Bradford & Bingley fell to an all-time low this morning after the lender proposed to raise £300m from shareholders, a month after it denied reports that said it was planning to do so. Source: Telegraph Business | 14 May 2008 | 9:20 am
BNP Paribas reports better-than-expected profits suggesting it has escaped the worst of the credit crunch. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 9:13 am
Tesco will acquire 36 discount stores from E-Land in South Korea for 1.95 trillion won ($1.87bn; £958m). Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 May 2008 | 7:48 am
Only 19% of respondents see an upturn coming within the next six months.
Most Americans see little hope that the economy will improve in the next six months, and many also are decidedly pessimistic about the direction of oil prices and inflation, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.
Large chains and small stores are being forced to close as demand slumps amid the housing slowdown.
Bonnie Cooper has seen plenty of slumps since she began selling furniture in 1968, but nothing like the scene outside the window of the Ontario sofa store where she now works.
The billionaire investor may try to unseat some board members to pressure the Internet company to reopen talks with Microsoft.
Billionaire New York financier Carl Icahn is weighing whether to use the large stake he has amassed in Yahoo Inc. to launch a proxy fight to unseat some of the Internet pioneer's board members, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
Like many doctors, Ron Ben-Ari thinks ads on TV for prescription drugs frequently go too far in touting a particular pill's benefits without adequately presenting the risks.
Leon Black must be confident that suburban moms will be shopping at Linens 'n Things for a long time to come.
Black's Apollo Management, after all, knows just about everything there is to know about the company inside and out. In 2006, it took the ailing bath-and-bedding retailer private for $1.3 billion along with its investment partners Silver Point Capital and National Retail & Development Corp.
The plan was to turn it around and cash out. Instead, Linens fell even further into despair under Apollo's watch and filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month.
And now comes word from the trade publication Debtwire that Apollo has been scooping up Linens' debt in an apparent attempt to protect its equity stake in the company. By becoming a major bondholder and creditor, Apollo would theoretically have more sway over the reorganization plan, and it could force a debt-to-equity swap that would enable it to maintain its ownership.
It's the rare story of a so-called "vulture" investor buying up the distressed debt of a bankrupt company whose equity it already owns. A "loan to re-own," if you will. And it is uncharted territory. As more private equity-backed companies end up under bankruptcy protection, plenty of other out-of-the-money fund managers are going to be closely watching as the Linens story unfolds.
"It's a preservation-of-value move," says Kris Hansen, a partner in the restructuring group of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. He explains that Apollo, even with possession of insider information, was likely able to buy public debt of Linens by using a "big boy letter," which is the closest thing the securities industry has to legal insider trading. It's an acknowledgement by the debt seller that the buyer has inside information (or vice versa) and a promise not to sue.
Still, it's a risky bet, and Apollo has a lot at stake. Aside from the $650 million in cash that the investment funds ponied up to buy Linens in 2006, Apollo is hoping to raise capital from the public markets soon by touting its smart investment decisions. Bankrupt portfolio companies don't make for good pitch-book material for an asset manager trying to go public.
Moreover, Apollo is running the risk of making enemies of its co-investors in Linens 'n Things. If the strategy is truly successful, Apollo will wind up with all of the upside while Silver Point and N.R.D.C. could end up with nothing but a loss on their books. Silver Point, which is known for its investments in the distressed debt markets, could end up kicking itself for not thinking of this tactic before Apollo.
But the question remains: Is Apollo buying Linens' debt because it sees the potential for real returns for its investors down the road, or is it so desperate to save face that it's throwing good money after bad?
It's more likely the former. Even with a pending I.P.O. on the horizon, Leon Black is no novice to vulture investing. The Drexel Burnham alumnus has plenty of experience profiting from bankrupt companies, even if they weren't ones he already owned.
Putting a portfolio company into bankruptcy will most certainly be a black eye that Apollo won't be able to ignore when it's seeking capital. But failing to try to salvage anything from its investment could be even worse.
Listed property investor Kiwi Income Property Trust has made a net profit after tax of $123 million for the year to March.
The trust's distributable profit is $62.1 million, up 4.9 per cent on last year, with a final cash distribution... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 14 May 2008 | 3:35 am
Hillary Clinton vowed to fight on with her presidential bid after a landslide victory in the West Virginia primary but promised to "work my heart out" to ensure a Democratic victory in November whoever wins the nomination Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 2:41 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is considering mounting a proxy campaign to replace Yahoo Inc board members after the company failed to reach a deal to merge with Microsoft Corp , a source close to the matter said on Tuesday.
Airbus announced another delay to the production schedule of its flagship A380 jet yesterday, putting it on the hook for more penalty payments to airlines already angered by a two-year-delay to the superjumbo programme.
The company... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 14 May 2008 | 1:30 am
Yahoo's shares jumped to their highest level since Microsoft abandoned its takeover offer as expectations rose that the internet company was about to come under renewed pressure to consider a deal Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 1:09 am
US authorities charged two bankers, including a former employee of UBS, with helping a US billionaire evade income taxes on about $200m of assets deposited in Swiss and Liechtenstein bank accounts Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 12:14 am
Moody's rebuffs calls to scrap the practice of using an alphabet-based rating scale for complex financial instruments Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 May 2008 | 12:03 am
Just three weeks after the announcement of his appointment to the new role as Telecom's chief transformation officer, Simon Moutter is leaving the company to head Auckland Airport.
The airport said today that Mr Moutter would replace... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 14 May 2008 | 12:00 am
Telecom broadband technicians are protesting outside the company's main offices in Auckland and Christchurch today over a pay offer which they say does not cover the rate of inflation.
The technicians are employed by Australian... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 11:36 pm
ICP Biotechnology today requested a trading halt in its securities today pending a material announcement in the next 24 hours.
Shares in the Auckland protein biologics manufacturer last traded at 1.5 cents. They have slumped from... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 11:35 pm
Building and construction giant Fletcher Building led the sharemarket down in early business today.
There was a mixed lead from Wall Street, where blue chips fell but tech stocks rose.
Fletcher Building, which has been under... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 11:20 pm
The flurry of mortgage rate reductions that began on Friday with ASB and BNZ has carried on with Westpac and National Bank both reducing their key mortgage rates.
The banks are passing on reductions in wholesale interest rates... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
Web-based accounting software company Xero boss Rod Drury is upbeat about prospects as customer numbers exceed expectations, even though receipts are below forecast.
The company raised $15 million in an initial public offering... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 10:00 pm
Listed property investor Kiwi Income Property Trust has made a net profit after tax of $123 million for the year to March.
The trust's distributable profit is $62.1 million, up 4.9 per cent on last year, with a final cash distribution... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 10:00 pm
Fund managers, analysts and other market watchers are bracing themselves for "confession season" with companies expected to disclose the impact of a cooling economy on their earnings ahead of the June-year reporting season.
Weak... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 10:00 pm
AP - Treasury prices fell Tuesday as signs of modestly better-than-expected consumer spending and rising inflation made safe government securities less attractive to investors. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 13 May 2008 | 9:37 pm
You think your commute is tough? Trying taking the train in Mumbai, India. Mehul Srivastava takes us along on the overcrowded and dangerous ride. Source: Marketplace | 13 May 2008 | 9:25 pm
Marketplace listeners give us some food for thought about agribusiness, online sales taxes, cement and the maturity level of Grand Theft Auto 4 players. Source: Marketplace | 13 May 2008 | 9:25 pm
One of the most significant innovations for developing countries has been microfinance, giving small loans to poor entrepreneurs. Commentator and economist Dean Karlan says microlending is a valuable tool, but it needs more creativity to keep growing. Source: Marketplace | 13 May 2008 | 9:25 pm
When Wall Street's best and brightest devise things like collateralized debt obligations and mortgage-backed securities in the good times, they're applauded. But when those things go bad, they get the blame. Bob Moon reports on balancing innovation and regulation. Source: Marketplace | 13 May 2008 | 9:25 pm
With television audiences declining, network executives are looking for ways to attract them -- and advertisers -- whether it be online, on screen or on our phones. Kai Ryssdal has more on some of the new steps they're taking. Source: Marketplace | 13 May 2008 | 9:25 pm
With the death toll from China's Sichuan Province earthquake at more than 12,000 and expected to rise, aid offers are coming in from around the globe. But will Beijing be receptive to assistance or choose to go it alone? Scott Tong reports. Source: Marketplace | 13 May 2008 | 9:25 pm
Banks are reporting more loans to small businesses going bad. That means the small businesses left standing are having a harder time getting credit. And that hurts their suppliers. Jill Barshay reports on some creative solutions to keep business flowing. Source: Marketplace | 13 May 2008 | 9:25 pm
Wal-Mart says sales have started to follow the pay cycle -- trailing off as money runs out before the next paycheck comes. And Bank of America is seeing more people paying for basics with credit cards. Janet Babin reports on families feeling the pinch. Source: Marketplace | 13 May 2008 | 9:24 pm
Bonnie Fuller, the model of the celebrity magazine editor, is resigning as executive vice president and chief editorial director of American Media Inc, the publisher of TheNational Enquirer and Star.
She will serve as editor-at-large of Star magazine, and will also act as a consultant to David Pecker, A.M.I.'s chief executive.
And after that?
"I can't tell you much yet. I can only tell you that I can tell you more in a few weeks," she told Jeff Bercovici of Portfolio.com. "Stay tuned."
She declined to say whether she plans to stay in the celebrity news arena, or whether she plans to work for someone else or start her own business—just that there is "a new direction I wanted to pursue." Read more here.
Earlier, Bercovici noted that "It was largely Star that brought Fuller to A.M.I. in the first place. Chairman David Pecker hired her to replicate her phenomenal success at Us Weekly, where she took a failing title and turned it into a newsstand hit in a matter of weeks. Fuller remade Star from a newsprint tabloid into a glossy, but never recaptured the magic touch she'd shown at Us."
In 2006, Fuller signed a three-year contract with A.M.I. that guaranteed a minimum pay of $2 million a year.
"I am proud of the significant achievements of American Media's celebrity and fitness brands over the past five years, and I am now ready for a new adventure," Fuller said in a statement. "The transformation of Star from a tabloid into a glossy magazine was unprecedented and has proven to be a great success."
Microsoft has left the field of battle, but Yahoo may yet come under assault.
Carl Icahn, the activist investor with a long history of proxy fights, has accumulated as many as 50 million shares of Yahoo, The Wall Street Journalreports. That is nearly a 3.7 percent stake in the company.
Shares of Yahoo rose more than 5 percent on speculation that Icahn could start a challenge to win control of the board at Yahoo. The deadline for nominating rivals is Thursday.
Icahn has had mixed results in proxy fights. He has successfully pushed Motorola to split off its handset business and won seats at Blockbuster. His challenge to Time Warner led to a somewhat embarrassing retreat.
Still, there are a number of shareholders who are unhappy with how Yahoo and its chief executive, Jerry Yang, handled the discussions with Microsoft, and they could support a challenge.
Plenty of Sex and samples of Sopranos, Wire, Deadwood, and Rome were on the menu when HBO opened shop on iTunes today.
Every episode from Sex and the City's six seasons is for sale, at $1.99 per half-hour episode, or $22.99 for the whole season; limited seasons from six of HBO's other most popular series are also available on the Apple site. More shows will become available in the future.
News of HBO's reaching a deal with Apple to join iTunes was first reported Monday on Portfolio.com.
Sex and the City: The Smackdown It's been four years since HBO retired the popular series and Carrie, Big, and the rest of the crew had to audition in a post-S.A.T.C. world. Some have had more success than others.
The timing of the HBO's launch on iTunes is in tune with the theatrical release of the Sex and the City movie on May 30.
The first and last seasons of The Sopranos are available at $2.99 for every hour-long episode, or $38.87 for the first season and $62.79 for the final season.
For The Wire, only the first season is available, at a cheaper $1.99 for an hour-long episode and $25.87 for the whole first season.
The first seasons of both Deadwood and Rome are also for sale, at $2.99 per hour-long episode and $35.88 for the whole first season.
Flight of the Conchords rounds out the current selection, at $1.99 per half-hour episode and $23.88 for the whole first season.
There is no discount for buying a whole season of any series.
HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson said the pay-cable network plans to expand its offerings on iTunes at regular intervals in a "roll-out release" of programs.
Cusson also said that HBO shows would not be available on iTunes until after the DVDs of the shows are released. That contrasts with shows currently on sale at iTunes; many of them can be bought and downloaded one day after they are broadcast.
The iTunes store is the world's most popular online TV store, with a catalog of over 800 shows and 20,000 episodes.
Some free HBO content is hiding on iTunes, too, and it's been there for a few years. There's a small button on iTunes HBO network page labeled "Go to HBO Podcasts." It leads to 13 free podcasts, ranging from HBO Boxing to Def Comedy Jam.Related Links Sex on the Go? Not in Tune with iTunes Happy Birthday iTunes
NBC is playing a risky numbers game with Jimmy Fallon—and it ain't about the Nielsen's.
Next year, Conan O'Brien will replace the popular and all-around menschy Jay Leno as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show, and yesterday, Jimmy Fallon was anointed O'Brien's successor on the Late Show.
For a network accustomed to dominating the late-night arena—with Leno's mainstream appeal regularly trumping David Letterman's snide humor on CBS and ABC's Nightline, and O'Brien spanking ABC's Jimmy Kimmel and CBS' Craig Ferguson on their own late shows—the host shuffle is a surprising move.
Why, in the first place, displace Leno, a bastion of steady ratings? Industry gossip has Leno regretting his decision to hand the job over to O'Brien and contemplating jumping to another network, a move that would displease NBC greatly.
But it's a chance the network seems willing to take, and as for why—it's the numbers, stupid. And we're not talking about the ratings. Fallon's appeal is obvious: He's good-looking (in a comedian kind of way), funny, and young. And in this age of fragmented viewership, YouTube phenomena, and iTunes, the "young" part is the most important piece of the puzzle.
O'Brien is a proven youth-attractor, with the youngest average viewership among the late-night shows, at 47.3 years. Not quite frat boys, but strong compared to Ferguson's 50.2 and Kimmel's 49.7. In the earlier hour, Leno pulls in viewers of the ripe old average age of 54.3, while Letterman's crowd has a more youthful average of 52.6.
The age differences may seem minute, but younger viewers are more attractive than ever to advertisers in the digital age. NBC is increasingly trying to capitalize on mobile and online ad platforms, as it emphasized Monday in a "spotlight" presentation to advertisers.
Even Lorne Michaels, who was responsible for Fallon's appointment, acknowledges that "no one under the age of 18 comes home and turns on their TV before their computer."
Still, there are two sides to Fallon.
There's the Saturday Night Live Fallon. He joined the show in 1998 and eventually grabbed its brass ring, becoming the co-host, with Tina Fey, of the Weekend Update segment.
"The young kids think he's the cat's meow," says Caroline Hirsch, proprietor of Caroline's on Broadway, the comedy club where Fallon got his start performing stand-up in the mid-1990s.
Plus, "stand-ups really have much more going [for them] than the writer-producer or actor type," when it comes to talk-show jobs, says Hirsch. "They think fast. Their interviews are funnier."
Then there's the post-SNL Fallon—who doesn't seem to have done much besides appear alongside Drew Barrymore in Fever Pitch in 2005 and, more recently (and regrettably), in a much-YouTubed Pepsi commercial with fellow New Yorker Parker Posey in which the two danced spastically on the top of a taxicab.
"He strikes me as an unusual choice," says Russell Peterson, a visiting assistant professor in the department of American Studies at the University of Iowa, and the author of Strange Bedfellows: How Late-Night Comedy Turns Democracy Into A Joke, which was published this March.
"Fallon has a kind of likability," Peterson adds, "but I have my doubts about how well that likability will wear based on the fact that he hasn't had a real career since SNL ended."
As a trial was about to get under way, a peace has been reached in a battle over one of the biggest buyouts to be endangered by the credit crunch.
The private equity firms heading a buyout of the radio-station chain Clear Channel Communications and the six banks that have agreed to finance the deal have reached a settlement, CNBC reports. The buyout's price has been reduced to $36 per share, from $39.20.
News of settlement talks emerged on Monday, and Justice Helen Freedman of the New York State Supreme Court adjourned the lawsuit brought against the banks by the private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital will until at 2 p.m.
The six banks that agreed to finance the buyout—Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Wachovia—had stood to lose billions of dollars if the deal closes as scheduled on June 12 with the original commitment terms.
A number of big buyouts, including deals for Sallie Mae and United Rentals, have fallen apart because of uncertainty over the financing.
The banks in the Clear Channel deal also faced a separate lawsuit filed by Clear Channel itself in Texas. A trial over the lawsuit, in which Clear Channel seeks more than $26 billion in damages, was scheduled to start on June 2.
Reuters - (Corrects next to last paragraph to say that Macys expects
same store sales for the fiscal year to range between down 1
percent to up 1.5 percent. The error also appeared in Update
1.)
Reuters - Deere & Co reported higher
quarterly earnings on Wednesday as soaring crop prices boosted
global demand for its agricultural equipment, but the company's
forecast for the rest of the year disappointed Wall Street and
its shares fell 9 percent.
AP - Inflation pressures eased a bit in April despite the biggest jump in food prices in 18 years.
Reuters - Stocks extended gains on Wednesday,
sending the Dow and the Nasdaq up 1 percent, as government
inflation data eased concerns the Federal Reserve might have to
raise interest rates.
Reuters - Freddie Mac posted a
smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday and the
second-biggest home-financing company said it would raise
capital as credit losses deepened. Its shares rose more than 9
percent.
AP - Mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said Wednesday its first quarter loss widened to $151 million as the U.S. housing market worsened, though the results were not as poor as expected. Its shares rose almost 8 percent.
Reuters - Consumer prices rose a
smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in April as energy prices
paused in their recent surge, a Labor Department report on
Wednesday showed.
