LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose more than $1 to above $133 a barrel on Friday after plunging nearly $5 in the previous session on China's unexpected fuel price rise.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A number of senior Yahoo Inc executives are leaving the Web company as it looks to improve earnings and convince investors it is worth at least as much as a bid it rejected from Microsoft Corp, reports said on Thursday.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."--FDR The Fed can now fear inflation or it can fear a worsening credit crisis. The conventional wisdom is that it can only fix one. As things stack up now, problems in the financial industry are not going to be helped much by lower rates. The Fed can keep its "free money" discount window open and hand out cash like candy on Halloween. Since lower interest rates are not being passed on to consumers because banks don't want to take the risk, lowering rates does nothing for the man on the street. Inflation...
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower start on Wall Street on Friday after Thursday's rally. Blue-chip benchmark indexes were on track for a 1.3 to 2.0 percent decline this week, after a slew of soft data cast fresh doubt on the resilience of the economy.
Now that Microsoft (MSFT) has lost its bid to buy Yahoo! (YHOO), all of the acquisition managing directors on Wall St. are hoping to get a chance to help Redmond use that $45 billion to pick-up some other internet companies. High on that list are Facebook, Digg, and Time Warner's (TWX) AOL. The head of Microsoft sent a signal that no one should hold his breath. According to the FT, Steve Ballmer, chief executive, scotched talk that Microsoft would turn to a “plan B” of other acquisitions to boost its online presence Ballmer gets it. Owning inventory in the display...
Stocks appeared poised for losses at the start of Friday's session as investors kept an eye on oil prices ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.
(Reuters) - Ford Motor Co's and General Motors Corp's financial arms may need to write down $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, said a Lehman Brothers analyst, who expects U.S. auto credit to be pressured by a weakening used-car market.
Most of the financial papers have stories about a big management reorganization at Yahoo!. A number of the top people are already hitting the doors like patrons fleeing a burning theater. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Yahoo executives are discussing a plan to centralize numerous product groups, such as its mail, search and home-page divisions, into a global-product organization." Yahoo! may not be paying close attention to what is going on over at the internet. Its share of the search market in the US is down to 20%. Google's (GOOG) is over 60%. Microsoft (MSFT) is not going to...
BEIJING (Reuters) - Online social network site Facebook.com has launched a version targeting mainland Chinese Web surfers to compete with local and overseas rivals in the world's largest Internet market.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's CEO said the company will not seek to make a spate of other Internet acquisitions in the wake of its failed bid for Yahoo Inc , the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Ford (F) management believes that Kirk Kerkorian and his mob of friends are hanging around the car company because they think CEO Alan Mulally is doing a fine job. Ford may want to have a look. All the new guys have blackjacks in their suit pockets. Kerkorian now has over 6% of the Ford common. He knows as well as anyone that the Ford family has voting shares which effectively control the company. He also knows that maintaining the car firm's operations in untenable. Ford does fairly well in Europe and Latin America, but the drag from its US auto...
LONDON (Reuters) - Retail mergers and acquisitions look to have dried up for at least another nine months, according to speakers at the Reuters Retail and Consumer Summit, but once the credit crunch eases and consumer trends are more predictable, buyers are poised for dealmaking.
Meet the latest desperate home seller: the bank. According to RealtyTrac, lenders repossessed 197,800 homes in the first four months of 2008 vs. 90,800 in that period last year.
Dear Annie: I got laid off from a brokerage firm, and the hiring situation in this business is so grim that people are calling me looking for job leads, if you can believe that. (If I knew of a job opening, I'd grab it myself.) I've always toyed with the idea of starting my own firm, and this seems like a good time to do it, since a number of my clients told me, when they heard I was leaving, that they'd like to come with me wherever I'm going. With half a dozen good-sized, well-established accounts, my new business would be off to a pretty strong start. But can my employer stop me from taking them? I did not sign any kind of non-compete agreement when they hired me. -Just Wondering
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc may invest about $926 million in British bank Barclays , people familiar with the matter said on Friday, as subprime-hit Western lenders increasingly turn to Asia for funding.
Citigroup's (C) CFO says he see write-downs through the end of the year. The head of hedge fund Paulson & Co,says bank losses will hit $1.3 trillion. Write-downs at Lehman (LEH) and AIG (AIG) were much larger than were expected. It may well be a long, hard second half for the bank, insurance, and brokerage sectors. It is any wonder that short sellers have upped their bets against big financial companies. As of June 15, the short interest in Wachovia (WB) rose 26.2 million shares to 177.3 million. Share short in Washington Mutual (WM) were up 50 million to 254.8...
According to Reuters, the fuel price increase in China may bolster consumption. Reuters writes that the Fed's policy on inflation is starting to hurt the housing market. Reuters writes that the Bank of America (BAC) buy-out of CountryWide (CFC) may be done next month. Reuters reports that the CFO of Citigroup (C) said the bank will take more write-offs. Reuters writes that Washington Mutual (WM) cut 1,200 jobs. The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo! (YHOO) is planning a reorganization. The Wall Street Journal reports that the chairman of Live Nation will leave the company. The Wall Street Journal reports...
Markets in Asia were mixed. The nikkei fell 1.3% to 13,942. Hitachi fell 2.3% to 776. KDDI fell 3.5% to 654000. The Hang Seng rose .1% to 22,812. China Netcom (CN) fell 2.7% to 21.45. China Unicom (CHU) fell 3.1% to 14.40. The Shanghai Composite rose 3% to 2,831. Data from Reuters Douglas A. McIntyre
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp is planning to add back bolder varieties of brewed coffee at some locations after replacing them with a smoother roast this spring, according to story in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
Reuters - Yahoo Inc is considering a
reorganization to centralize its mail, search and homepage
divisions into a global product organization, the Wall Street
Journal reported on Thursday, quoting people familiar with the
matter.
Reuters - Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund
managers were arrested and indicted on conspiracy and
securities fraud charges on Thursday following a federal
criminal probe into the collapse of two funds they oversaw.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were arrested and indicted on conspiracy and securities fraud charges on Thursday following a federal criminal probe into the collapse of two funds they oversaw.
Barclays is understood to be in the final stages of negotiating a capital tie
up with one of Japan’s largest financial groups in a deal that could see a
100 billion yen (£470 million) injection of cash for the battered British
lender. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:26 pm
An attack by armed separatists in speedboats has forced Royal Dutch Shell to
shut down its biggest offshore oil production unit in Nigeria, removing a
tenth of the Opec state's output. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Money is so tight for Gordon Brown these days that officials are desperately
rootling around Whitehall in the hope of finding a few coppers down the back
of the sofa. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Soaring energy prices could leave more than six million households struggling
to pay their fuel bills by Christmas - the so-called fuel poverty trap -
leaving in tatters government promises to eradicate the problem for the
vulnerable by 2010. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
The Bank of England has been given the lead mandate to step in and take over
failing banks under the biggest government shake-up at Threadneedle Street
in more than a decade. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
An unexpected shopping spree has increased the chance of multiple rises in
interest rates by the Bank of England before the end of the year as the
central bank seeks to fight inflation. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
FBI agents arrested two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers at their homes
yesterday, the first Wall Street executives to be formally charged by the US
Government in relation to the credit crunch. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Has the internet slowed down over the past year, or have our expectations
changed? The line at home suffers from frequent congestion; the YouTube clip
does not start up for what seems like an eternity, and other video often
does little better. And no, this is not just a case of tempers fraying as
the cost of living rises; there is a growing problem, that in turn is
rekindling the debate about whether it will be necessary to string
fibre-optic cables into the home. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Sainsbury’s has lost nearly £1.5 million of sales after an IT glitch forced
the supermarket chain to suspend its grocery home shopping service for two
days. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 19 Jun 2008 | 11:00 pm
Investor's Business Daily - The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 10 basis points this week to 6.42% on growing inflation concerns, mortgage backer Freddie Mac said. That's the highest rate since Sept. 6. The 15-year fixed-rate home loan averaged 6.02%, up 9 basis points. The 1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable rate rose 10 basis points to 5.19%. Rising rates have been cooling mortgage applications, another problem for the weak housing market. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 19 Jun 2008 | 10:47 pm
Investor's Business Daily - The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 10 basis points this week to 6.42% on growing inflation concerns, mortgage backer Freddie Mac said. That's the highest rate since Sept. 6. The 15-year fixed-rate home loan averaged 6.02%, up 9 basis points. The 1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable rate rose 10 basis points to 5.19%. Rising rates have been cooling mortgage applications, another problem for the weak housing market. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 19 Jun 2008 | 10:47 pm
Reuters - Bank of America expects to
complete its acquisition of mortgage lender Countrywide
Financial Corp by July 1, a source familiar with the
matter told Reuters on Thursday.
Reuters - An investor with a minority stake in
Yahoo Inc on Thursday urged Microsoft Corp to
take its most recent offer for a partial investment directly to
Yahoo shareholders and prove its merits.
Thornburg Mortgage (TMA) Worries about going out of business. Down to $.22 from 52-week high of $27.82. Huntsman (HUN) Apollo walks on buy-out deal. Falls to $12.15 from 52-week high of $28.40. Coventry Health Care (CVH) Cuts guidance. Sells off to $30.10 from 52-week high of $64. Unitedhealth Group (UNH) Concerns about slowdow in the health insurance sector. Dives to $26.94 from 52-week high of $59.46. Motorola (MOT) Competition keeps coming out with strong products. Falls to $7.61 from 52-week high of $19.68. XM Satellite (XMSR) Goldman says merger with Sirius (SIRI) will not help company's prospects. Plunges to $7.95...
Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) has announced that its Global Investments asset management arm of Northern Trust, has launched the first U.S. listed ETF tracking the ISEQ 20(TM) Index. This is the leading investment benchmark index for investing in Irish companies. NETS(TM) ISEQ 20(TM) Index Fund (Ireland) is now traded on the NYSE Arca under the ticker "IQE" and this allows US investors for the first time to invest in an ETF tracking the 20 Irish securities comprising the index. The move is said to be the latest in a series of fifteen NETS(TM) ETF products launched by Northern Trust,...
Citigroup (C) came clean about what everyone with any sense already expected. Write-offs at the money center bank are not over. According to The Wall Street Journal, the "bank will see a fresh round of write-downs from failing mortgage investments in the bank's second-quarter results, and said credit costs from souring consumer loans "may continue to rise throughout the year." After bottoming in March, a number of bank and brokerage stocks recovered as much as 20% into April and May. Several large financial company CEOs said that the worst of the crisis had passed. The grim reality of the long-term...
Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve's recent
tough talk on inflation served notice to financial markets that
the central bank was serious about tamping down price
pressures, but it has hit the economy in one of its tenderest
spots -- housing.
AFP - Retail sales surprisingly soared in Britain during May to show the biggest monthly gain for 22 years, official data showed Thursday, as consumers shrugged off the credit crunch to spend more on clothing and food.
Reuters - Yahoo Inc is considering a
reorganization to centralize its mail, search and homepage
divisions into a global product organization, the Wall Street
Journal reported on Thursday, quoting people familiar with the
matter.
Reuters - Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund
managers were arrested and indicted on conspiracy and
securities fraud charges on Thursday following a federal
criminal probe into the collapse of two funds they oversaw.
Reuters - Bank of America expects to
complete its acquisition of mortgage lender Countrywide
Financial Corp by July 1, a source familiar with the
matter told Reuters on Thursday.
Reuters - An investor with a minority stake in
Yahoo Inc on Thursday urged Microsoft Corp to
take its most recent offer for a partial investment directly to
Yahoo shareholders and prove its merits.
Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve's recent
tough talk on inflation served notice to financial markets that
the central bank was serious about tamping down price
pressures, but it has hit the economy in one of its tenderest
spots -- housing.
AFP - Retail sales surprisingly soared in Britain during May to show the biggest monthly gain for 22 years, official data showed Thursday, as consumers shrugged off the credit crunch to spend more on clothing and food.