BT turns to Setanta Sports in broadband battle

BT is hoping to gain ground in the broadband battle and score new customers by giving away subscriptions to digital television channel Setanta Sports 1 with its BT Vision package deals.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:47 pm

Santander agrees £1.2bn A&L deal

Spanish bank Santander says it has agreed a deal to buy UK lender Alliance & Leicester (A&L) for about £1.26bn.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:20 pm

Freddie, Fannie: Another wild ride

Shares of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were losing ground again Monday, as early gains evaporated despite plans unveiled by government officials to support the battered mortgage giants.


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:15 pm

Waste Management offers $6bn for Republic Services

A battle for supremacy in the US garbage hauling industry was heating up after Waste Management, the biggest waste service company in the US offered $6bn to take over Republic Services, the third largest
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:14 pm

Bid speculation lifts ITV shares

Shares in ITV rise more than 13% on speculation about a potential takeover of the UK broadcaster.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:13 pm

Roche Pharma suspended from body

UK-based Roche Pharma is suspended from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry for six months.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:13 pm

Santander's takeover of Alliance & Leicester spells shake-up of high street banks

A major shake-up of Britain's high street banks is on the cards after the Spanish owner of Abbey made a £1.3bn bid for Alliance & Leicester today.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:13 pm

Oil remains flat after mortgage plan

Oil gained less than a quarter Monday after the government announced over the weekend a comprehensive plan to prop up the two major U.S. mortgage finance firms.


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:12 pm

Bond Report: Treasurys get a lift from support for Fannie, Freddie

Treasurys gain, pushing yields down, as moves by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to support the two ailing mortgage giants raised concern about further problems in housing and financial markets.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:10 pm

Waste Management seeks to buy Republic Services in rival deal

Waste Management Inc. bids cash to acquire Republic Services Inc., saying its offer to buy the company at a 22% premium is superior to Republic’s $6 billion plan to buy Allied Waste Industries.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:10 pm

Stocks inch higher on rescue plan

Stocks posted slim gains Monday morning as investors welcomed the government's plan to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but remained wary about the outlook for the economy amid the credit crisis.


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:07 pm

Movers & Shakers: Monday's biggest gaining and declining stocks

Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Monday's session are Allegheny Technologies, Anheuser-Busch, Continental Air, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Flagstar Bancorp, Microsoft, Norsk Hydro and Yahoo.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:07 pm

IBM's harder edge


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:06 pm

Metals Stocks: Gold futures edge up even as dollar gains

Gold futures edged higher as metals traders appeared to shrug off strength in the U.S. dollar, which rose in the wake of the U.S. government's rescue plan for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:04 pm

Royal Dutch Shell offers $6 bln for Duvernay Oil

Royal Dutch Shell deals to acquire Duvernay Oil Corp. for C$5.9 billion ($5.8 billion), a move aimed at boosting the oil major's production from western Canada.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:02 pm

Earnings Watch: Updates, advisories and surprises

A roundup of the latest corporate earnings reports and what companies are saying about future quarters.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:01 pm

Welcomes but warnings for Fannie, Freddie rescue plan

LONDON (Reuters) - A government plan to rescue mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was welcomed by one of the world's biggest holders of dollar assets on Monday but fears remained about the state of the global financial system.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:58 pm

Boeing steals limelight with Middle East orders

Boeing on Monday stole the limelight from arch-rival Airbus with two major orders from Middle Eastern carriers, while the European aircraft maker kept an unusually low profile.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:58 pm

Market Snapshot: Stocks open solidly up on Paulson plan for Fannie, Freddie

U.S. stocks opened higher after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson offered a lifeline to mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and InBev NV said it would acquire Anheuser-Busch Cos. for $52 billion.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:58 pm

Etihad buys Boeing jets worth $8 bln (Reuters)

Reuters - Etihad Airways ordered $8 billion worth of planes from Boeing Co and was set to place a big order with rival Airbus for the A380 superjumbo and its newest model the A350 as Gulf carriers ruled a slower-than-normal opening day at the Farnborough air show.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:55 pm

Etihad buys Boeing jets worth $8 bln

FARNBOROUGH (Reuters) - Etihad Airways ordered $8 billion worth of planes from Boeing Co and was set to place a big order with rival Airbus for the A380 superjumbo and its newest model the A350 as Gulf carriers ruled a slower-than-normal opening day at the Farnborough air show.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:54 pm

Airline Stocks: Airlines get a little relief from high oil prices

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Airlines were trading higher Monday as a stronger dollar helped pressure benchmark oil prices.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:50 pm

Waste Management offers $6.2B for Allied Waste

Read full story for latest details.


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:49 pm

iPhone 3G rings up 1 million sales: Apple


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:46 pm

US moves to bolster lending firms

The US government announces sweeping measures to shore up troubled mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:45 pm

Futures Movers: Crude-oil futures fall, pressured by dollar strength

Crude-oil futures reclaim $145 a barrel as traders eye strength in the dollar and renewed worries about supply disruptions in Brazil and Nigeria.


Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:44 pm

Stocks rise on Fannie, Freddie rescue plan (Reuters)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, July 8, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)Reuters - Stocks opened higher on Monday, buoyed by the government's rescue plan for mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and optimism about a $52 billion deal to acquire No. 1 U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc .



Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:38 pm

Stocks rise on Fannie, Freddie rescue plan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks opened higher on Monday, buoyed by the government's rescue plan for mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and optimism about a $52 billion deal to acquire No. 1 U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc .


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:38 pm

Icahn files proxy, steps up Yahoo fight

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn filed a proxy on Monday to nominate a slate of nine directors to replace Yahoo Inc's board and chief executive after the Internet company rejected Microsoft Corp's latest proposal to buy its search business.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:31 pm

Boeing (BA) Gets A Big Order

Abu Dhabi's national airline today made orders for 35 Boeing (BA) 787s and 10 777s. According to a Reuters report, the list prices of the planes are worth about $8 billion Boeing's shares are up 1% on the news Douglas A. McIntyre

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:30 pm

Bud, Meet Stella

It's happy hour in Belgium.

After weeks of negotiations, the Belgian brewer InBev has agreed to acquire Anheuser-Busch for $70 per share in cash, or $52 billion. The boards of both companies have approved the merger.

The deal creates the world's biggest brewer, bringing brand names including Budweiser, Michelob, Stella Artois, and Bass under one owner.

The new company will be named Anheuser-Busch InBev. August Busch and one other Anheuser executive will join the board of the new company.

After facing resistance from the St. Louis-based Budweiser owner following its initial offer in June, InBev raised its purchase price by $5 per share.

The deal also puts an end to one of the longest-running family-owned American companies. The Budweiser owner was established more than 150 years ago.

There is a compelling strategic logic to this deal. Big brewers are wrestling with slowing markets in North America and Europe and rising commodity prices. The merger of Anheuser and InBev will give the combined company greater economies of scale with virtually no overlap in markets.

"This is truly one of those win-win situations where everyone should be pleased as punch," Tom Pirko, president of the consulting firm Bevmark, told the St. Louis Dispatch. InBev C.E.O. Carlos Brito "got what he wanted—took down the big prize. And (Anheuser-Busch) shareholders got a major premium that would have been in doubt for a long time to come."

The paper also notes that the combined company will produce 392 million barrels of beer per year, which is about 60 percent more than is made by the now No. 2 brewer, SABMiller.


Related Links
All the Pretty Horses Can't Stop This Deal
This Board's Not for You
This Bud's for $46 Billion?


Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:30 pm

Waste Management offers to buy Republic Services

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Waste Management Inc , the largest U.S. trash hauler, on Monday offered to buy rival Republic Services Inc for $34 per share, a 22 percent premium over Republic's closing price on July 11.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:25 pm

Santander to buy UK bank A&L in $2.6 bln deal

LONDON/MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Santander is buying British bank Alliance & Leicester for 1.3 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in an agreed deal that will bulk up its existing UK bank Abbey.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:24 pm

M&T Bank profit falls 25 pct

NEW YORK (Reuters) - M&T Bank Corp, a large U.S. mid-Atlantic regional bank, said on Monday second-quarter profit fell 25 percent, hurt by credit losses tied to residential real estate.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:18 pm

Financials set to rally Wall Street

US stocks were set for a sharp rebound after the US government announced a series of extraordinary measures to shore up confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the rumour-dogged mortgage giants
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:59 pm

Financials set to rally Wall Street

US stocks were set for a sharp rebound on Monday after the US government announced a series of extraordinary measures to shore up confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the rumour-dogged mortgage giants...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:59 pm

Mortgage giants set for boost from rescue plan

Shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose sharply in pre-market trade after the US government on Sunday night announced that it will seek unlimited authority from Congress to lend money to the troubled mortgage groups and invest in their equity
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:57 pm

Treasury Plan Lifts Futures

Wall Street cheered a proposal that would extend the credit lines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.


Source: SmartMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:56 pm

Bud brewer agrees to $52B takeover

Read full story for latest details.


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:56 pm

Brewing ambition

How the Stella, Becks and Brahma firm swallowed Bud
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:53 pm

InBev agrees to buy Anheuser for $52 billion

BRUSSELS/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc accepted a sweetened $52 billion takeover bid from Belgium-based InBev NV to create the world's largest beer maker and end a month-long standoff.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:33 pm

Welcomes but warnings for Fannie, Freddie rescue plan (Reuters)

Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson announces that the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve will lend money and buy stocks if necessary to aid embattled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during a statement to the media at the Treasury Building in Washington, July 13, 2008. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)Reuters - A government plan to rescue mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was welcomed by one of the world's biggest holders of dollar assets on Monday but fears remained about the state of the global financial system.



Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:32 pm

SEC to crack down on rumors

Read full story for latest details.


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:32 pm

Lehman mulls strategic alliance, other options: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers' executives, seeking to shore up the brokerage's share price, is mulling options including a strategic alliance with a partner, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:23 pm

Anheuser-Busch Agrees to Be Sold for $52 Billion

The sale to the Belgian brewer InBev puts control of the largest U.S. beer maker and a fixture of American culture into a European rivals hands.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:20 pm

Mortgage makers

The economic importance of being Freddie and Fannie
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:18 pm

Court accuses Sudan president of genocide

Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, has been charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court over atrocities committed in Darfur
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:14 pm

Warning of 'capability gap' in defence

A spending gap on defence procurement between US and European governments is threatening to create 'a transatlantic capabilities gap', the head of Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defence company, has warned
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:13 pm

Spanish Bank Pays $2.6 Billion for British Lender

Banco Santander, the largest Spanish bank, will pay about 1.3 billion, or $2.6 billion, to acquire the struggling British mortgage lender Alliance & Leicester.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:12 pm

Santander's takeover of Alliance & Leicester spells shake-up of high street banks

A major shake-up of Britain's high street banks is on the cards after the Spanish owner of Abbey made a 1.3bn bid for Alliance & Leicester today.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:10 pm

Santander's takeover of Alliance & Leicester spells shake-up of high street banks

A major shake-up of Britain's high street banks is on the cards after the Spanish owner of Abbey made a £1.3bn bid for Alliance & Leicester today.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:10 pm

Bye-bye, global economic boom

What may be the world's busiest grocery store is a Carrefour "hypermarket" in the Gubei area of Shanghai's Changning District.


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:02 pm

Fed Fire Hose on the Flames

World markets are cheering the U.S. government's support for the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  This morning, the dollar is rising, European stock markets are higher, and futures of U.S. stock indexes and even the futures for Fannie and Freddie are pointing to an opening rally.

"The U.S. authorities are doing everything they can to prop up the financial system, " Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank in London, told Reuters. "It's good news in an unremitting cycle of gloom."

But stepping in to give support when in the past such backing had only been implied, Washington has crossed a Rubicon that puts the economic credibility of the United States to the test.

As Clive Crook puts it in the Financial Times: "U.S. taxpayers are about to find out what their long-standing and (strictly speaking) non-existent guarantee of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost them. One way to think of it is this: Take the US national debt of roughly $9 trillion and add $5 trillion. Not bad for an obligation still officially denied."

Fannie and Freddie were created by Congress in the 1930's, but are now owned by shareholders. Their special status as government-created corporations, however, has given them the implied backing of the federal government and their borrowing costs have been cheaper as a result. Combined, the two companies have some $5 trillion in mortgage-related debt.  The stocks of the two have been in a free fall and their solvency questioned.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he would seek Congressional approval to buy billions of dollars of stock of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if they need it, as long as the two firms have adequate capital to continue their mission of buying and selling mortgage loans. It also will seek approval to temporarily increase lines of credit for the two companies. And it will propose that the Federal Reserve take a greater role in the oversight of the mortgage giants.

The Fed, meanwhile, said it would allow Fannie and Freddie to borrow from it through the central bank's New York facilities.

The immediate reaction to the moves has been generally positive.

Even a critic of the administration, Paul Krugman of the New York Times, was supportive, saying "And let's be clear: Fannie and Freddie can't be allowed to fail. With the collapse of subprime lending, they're now more central than ever to the housing market, and the economy as a whole."

Indeed, after the mortgage market imploded Fannie's and Freddie's share of the secondary market in mortgages has grown from 40 percent to two-thirds.

But others are skeptical of the Treasury effort:  Mike Shedlock says:

"In the course of a few days we have seen Paulson go from saying ‘financial institutions must be allowed to fail' to requesting Congressional ‘authority to buy unlimited stakes in and lend to the companies.'

Paulson now seems to be acting on the principle that as long as one is telling lies there is no additional harm in doing it with gusto. Otherwise it is very hard to explain how an "unlimited lending line" can possibly have "terms and conditions necessary to protect the taxpayer".

There is one other possibility. Perhaps as Paulson crossed the Rubicon he landed in the 5th dimension. In some alternate universe, his statements just might make sense.

Yves Smith on Naked Capitalism notes:

"Oh, minor detail, the plan still has to be approved by Congress, which will hopefully roll over. But what if it doesn't? Anyone with an operating brain cell knows that these moves put the US on the path to having taxpayers assume Fannie and Freddie liabilities. That in the end is probably unavoidable."

The weekend rescue by the government will come into focus tomorrow, when Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, appears before Congress.



Related Links
The Fed Turns Up the Tap
Fed: Wall Street Needs More Time
Don't Blame Canada


Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:00 pm

UK manufacturers see cost of raw materials soar 30pc

The increase in prices UK manufacturers are paying for their raw materials hit a record 30pc in June, while the rise in selling prices hit double digits for the first time since 1986, underlining the stark...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:57 am

UK manufacturers see cost of raw materials soar 30pc

The increase in prices UK manufacturers are paying for their raw materials hit a record 30pc in June, while the rise in selling prices hit double digits for the first time since 1986, underlining the stark threat inflation poses for the economy.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:57 am

Turkey indicts 86 over alleged coup plot

A prosecutor in Turkey has laid charges of terrorism and other serious crimes against 86 people in a wide-ranging investigation into an alleged plot to overthrow the government
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:51 am

E3: The game remains the same

With no new video consoles nor big games to be unveiled at the industry's annual gathering, conference-goers are looking to be surprised.


Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:46 am

Ranbaxy faces fraud probe by US Food and Drug Administration

Shares in Ranbaxy plummeted yesterday on speculation that Daiichi Sankyo, the Japanese group, may scrap its landmark $4.6 billion takeover of India's largest generics drugs maker.$
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:45 am

UK fund will accept Japan rebuff

A British hedge fund whose request to up its stake in a Japanese utility was rejected by the Japanese government has said it will accept the decision.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:40 am

U.S. to showcase top-of-line F-22 fighter jet

FARNBOROUGH (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22 "Raptor" fighter jet, widely considered the world's most advanced, is set to streak through a milestone performance here on Monday for a U.S. warplane that unlike most others remains off limits for export.


Source: Reuters: Business News | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:36 am

Oil down more than $1 a barrel on stronger dollar

By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude for August delivery was down $1.26 at $143.82 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose to a trading
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:35 am

Key Analyst Downgrades (CSC, HPC, JBX, RMD, SAPE, HOT, TRIN, WB)

These are some of the preliminary downgrades or negative research calls seen out of Wall Street analysts this Monday morning in early morning hours: Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Hercules (NYSE: HPC) Cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Jack In The Box (NYSE: JBX) Cut to Buy from Strong Buy at Wedbush Morgan. Resmed (NYSE: RMD) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley. Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs. Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) Cut to Sell...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:31 am

Lorillard, Inc. Elects Three New Board Members

Virgis W. Colbert, David E. R. Dangoor and Nigel Travis Join the Board as Independent Directors GREENSBORO, N.C., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lorillard, Inc. ...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:30 am

GEA Group Acquires Norbco Inc.

BOCHUM, Germany, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft has further strengthened its Farm Technologies Division through the acquisition of the US...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:29 am

Top Early Analyst Upgrades (CIEN, DF, GENZ, LPX, M, TAP, NOV, OC, VRTX)

These are some of the preliminary upgrades or positive research calls seen out of Wall Street analysts this Monday morning in early morning hours: Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) raised to Market Perform at JMP Securities. Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan. Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup. Louisiana Pacific (NYSE: LPX) Raised To Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC. Macy's (NYSE: M) Raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan. Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) Raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) Raised to Buy at Banc of America. Owens...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:27 am

AP Executive Morning Briefing

Belgian brewer InBev to buy Anheuser-Busch for $52B ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light, has agreed to a takeover by a giant Belgian brewer, a union...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:23 am

New IndyMac CEO reassures consumers

The new chief executive of IndyMac Bancorp said late Sunday new lending standards should prevent the kind of problems that have brought down credit markets. John Bovenzi, the former...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:22 am

Crude oil set to tumble below $100 next year, Lehman predicts

Crude oil will unwind much of its meteoric rise next year, investment bank Lehman Brothers has predicted, as the OPEC increases its supply and the slowing global economy squeezes demand
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:20 am

Crude oil set to tumble below $100 next year, Lehman predicts

Crude oil will unwind much of its meteoric rise next year, investment bank Lehman Brothers has predicted, as the OPEC increases its supply and the slowing global economy squeezes demand
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:20 am

Dollar rebounds on Fannie and Freddie plan

The dollar pulled back from the brink on Monday after the US government announced a plan to support the country's ailing mortgage agencies, averting fears the currency could fall into freefall.After a...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:18 am

Associated Banc-Corp profit lags Wall Street

(Reuters) - Associated Banc-Corp , a U.S. Midwest banking company, reported quarterly profit well below Wall Street estimates, weighed down by an eleven-fold increase in provision for bad...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:17 am

A&L surges on Santander offer

Shares in Alliance & Leicester jumped 48 per cent on Monday to 325p on news of an agreed 317p a share, all-share takeover offer from Santander of Spain.A&L said earlier it was in advanced discussions...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:14 am

A&L surges on Santander offer

Shares in the mid-cap mortgage lender jumped on news of an agreed 317p all-share takeover offer from Santander of Spain, valuing the group at £1.3bn
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:14 am

GSK signs 3bln Swiss franc insomnia research deal with Actelion

British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said Monday it had signed a deal with Swiss peer Actelion worth a potential 3.3 billion Swiss francs (2.0 billion euros) for insomnia...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:09 am

G. Willi-Food Announces That its U.S. Subsidiary - WF Kosher Food Distributors Ltd. - Closes Doors of its Operations; WF Files Complaint for $10M Against Seller of U.S. Operations

Willi-Food Projects 41% Increase in Q2 Revenue and 45% Increase in First Half Fiscal 2008 Revenue Y-O-Y YAVNE, Israel, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- G. Willi-Food
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:03 am

Bid activity lifts European stocks

European equity markets rallied on Monday after bid news in the embattled banking sector raised hopes of further takeover deals that may bring some comfort to the troubled financial system.Santander, the...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:02 am

Calamos Asset Management, Inc. Announces Assets Under Management as of June 30, 2008

NAPERVILLE, Ill., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Calamos Asset Management, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLMS) today reported assets under management of $41.2 billion as of June 30,...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am

[video] WallSt.net's '3 Minute Press Show' Features Executive Interviews and Highlights Recent Press for the Following: NCOC, ALTR, FMNJ, MAIL, LORL and PMGU

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WallSt.net's 3-Minute Press Show is a daily video program hosted by WallSt.net reporter, Tracee Tolentino. ...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am

Continental jumps on talk of takeover battle

Shares in Continental jumped by almost a quarter on Monday after the automotive group confirmed it had been in talks with the privately-owned Schaeffler group on a possible tie-up.Continental said in a...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:58 am

Sony (SNE): Playstation Resurrection

When the Sony (SNE) PS3 was launched to replace the aging Playstation 2, the Japanese company had great hopes that it could maintain its No.1 spot against Nintendo and the Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox franchise. Things did not work out that way. Over the course of last year, sales of the PS3 ran well behind its two competitors. Sony needed the PS3 to cut the huge loses in the game business, and now it looks like the console may deliver. According to Bloomberg, "The PlayStation 3 outsold the Xbox 360 in the U.S. in the first five months of 2008 after...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:45 am

Alliance & Leicester: Takeover spells shake-up of high street banks

A major shake-up of Britain's high street banks is on the cards after the Spanish owner of Abbey made a £1.3bn bid for Alliance & Leicester today.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:40 am

Top shareholder exits Virgin Blue

The biggest shareholder in Australia's second-largest airline is to offload its stake in the carrier to reduce exposure to the ailing industry.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:39 am

The Price Of Oil: A Strike In Brazil

Workers for Petrobas, the largest oil company in Brazil, are going on strike. According to Bloomberg, the action may cut Brazilian daily oil output by more than half. In a world where even the rumor of interrupted supply can send crude up by several dollars, the news is certainly not welcome. The labor issue adds a new wrinkle to the dynamics of oil pricing. Already in the mix are speculation, the value of the American dollar, OPEC decisions on supply, consumption increases in China and India, and political problems in Nigeria and Iran. Among all of the problems facing oil...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:29 am

Factory gate inflation hits 10 per cent

Factory gate inflation hit double digits for the first time since comparable records began and manufacturers' costs jumped by a record 30 per cent in the year to June, official data showed this morning.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:23 am

Most Asian markets drop after U.S. bid to shore up Fannie, Freddie


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:22 am

The Government Chases Rumor Mongers, Mirages, And Ghosts

Several agencies within the federal government will start to target people and firms who spread rumors to move share prices up and down. Allegedly, this is a practices often used by short sellers to push stock prices lower. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The Securities and Exchange Commission, under fire for not responding more vigorously to a raft of rumors that have pounded stock prices, says it is cracking down on firms or individuals that illegally spread false rumors" What is a false rumor? It may be hard to draw a bright line. Lehman Bros (LEH) has been hurt...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:16 am

Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE), And Bear Strearns: Who Decides Who Lives And Who Dies?

The federal government has decided that Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) are too big to fail. The Fed and Treasury will offer a combination of loans and stock purchases to make sure that the two mortgage operations have adequate capital to operate smoothly. By some estimates, the government will put $15 billion into the companies, which will almost certainly push down the value of their common shares due to dilution. But, it will not wipe that stockholders out. Investors and employees at Bear Stearns were not so lucky. Shareholders in IndyMac (IMB), which was seized by the government...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:01 am

Santander shows faith in British banks with Alliance & Leicester bid

Fears about the health of Britain's banks have been overdone. That's the clear message from Santander, the giant Spanish banking group that owns UK high street lender Abbey.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:58 am

Philips sees 54% fall in profits

Philips Electronics says second quarter profits fell by more than half despite strong sales in emerging markets.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:55 am

BUD Board Does The Right Thing, Yahoo! (YHOO) Doesn't

The board at Anheuser-Busch (BUD) did the right thing. It got a offer well above market to sell the company. It fought for more money. When it got the better price. It sold. BUD stock has been stuck in the mid-$50s for some time. The beer business is OK, but it is hardly a growth industry. With a global recession underway, it is hard to see why InBev wants to buy Bud at such a high price, but, to seal the deal, it upped its offer to $70 a share. Anheuser-Busch was not likely to see its stock at that...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:37 am

InBev agrees to buy Anheuser for $52 billion (Reuters)

Bud Light and Budweiser beer is shown in a cooler at the Toluca Mart liquor store in Los Angeles, California June 16, 2008. (Fred Prouser/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc accepted a sweetened $52 billion takeover bid from Belgium-based InBev NV to create the world's largest beer maker and end a month-long standoff.



Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:32 am

UK business: The week ahead July 14 - July 18

Markets look to be on the plus side this morning as we look forward to a reasonably quiet week on the UK corporate news front. No major banks or builders are due to say anything at all during the week, which will come as something of a relief I am sure. Not only this but mining and oil sector are also a tad on the light side, with the only piece of news being a production update from Rio on Wednesday.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:30 am

Further signs of rising inflation

UK manufacturers are charging 10% more for their goods than a year ago, in a further sign of rising inflation.
Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:29 am

St Modwen falls into red after £55m asset write downs

St Modwen, the commercial and residential property developer, has fallen into the red after wiping £54.6m off the value of its portfolio in what it describes as the worst period for the industry in almost 20 years.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:23 am

With Extraordinary Start, Apple (AAPL) Moves To Dominate Smartphone Market

Apple (AAPL) probably sold over 425,000 3G iPhones in the first three days it was on the market. That would put it on track to hit forecasts from Piper Jaffray that the company will sell four million handsets this quarter. According to Bloomberg, aside from shortages at AT&T (T) stores in the US, "carriers in the U.K., Germany, Canada and Japan said many shops ran out of the iPhone 3G," That is an indication that Apple's inventory forecasting and management may have been flawed, but, going forward, it is likely to be a stumble which will be forgiven. Piper puts...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:15 am

Breakthrough for Syria and Lebanon in Paris

The European Union and its Mediterranean neighbours launched a new platform for their relationship on Sunday at a summit boosted by a promise from Lebanon and Syria to open embassies in each other's capital
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 8:01 am

Media Digest 7/14/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, the govenment will bail-out Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) through a combination of stock purchases and loans. Reuters reports that InBev will buy Anheuser-Busch (BUD) for $52 billion. Reuters reports that Yahoo! (YHOO) rejected a proposal from Microsoft (MSFT) and Icahn to break up the company. Reuters reports that analysts expect more banks to fail on the heels of the government taking over IndyBac. Reuters reports the SEC and other agencies will crack down on the use of rumors by short sellers. The Wall Street Journal reports that bond ratings agencies are likley to have...

Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:49 am

InBev agrees to buy Anheuser-Busch for $52bn

InBev has agreed to buy Anheuser-Busch for $52bn, putting the maker of Budweiser beer under Belgian control after almost 156 years as a family-run company.
Source: Telegraph Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:40 am

Santander in £1.3bn Alliance and Leicester takeover

Santander, Spain's biggest bank, said that it had agreed with Alliance & Leicester (A&L) to buy the UK bank for £1.3 billion.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:23 am

Anheuser Busch agrees $52bn sale to InBev

Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch has announced a deal to be taken over by Belgian rival InBev for $70 a share, marking an amicable end to a month-long takeover battle that had recently grown hostile
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:16 am

Friends fails to attract buyer for Pantheon

Friends Provident's turnaround effort suffered its second successive blow today after the UK's fourth largest insurer admitted that the sale of Pantheon Financial, its high-end financial adviser had collapsed.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:01 am

Yahoo rejection of Microsoft offer finds broad support


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

Car rental companies caught short as demand for smaller vehicles soars


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

Measure fills balloon sellers with worry


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

U.S. offers plan to steady Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

'Hellboy' sizzles, knocks other hero off top spot


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

As E3 kicks off, video game industry is facing growing pains


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

Home equity lines frozen at IndyMac


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

Horizon Airlines to offer a lift to Mammoth from LAX


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

InBev to buy Anheuser-Busch


Source: L.A. Times - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am

InBev swallows Anheuser-Busch for $52bn$

InBev, the Belgian-Brazilian brewer behind Stella Artois and Beck's beers, this morning declared victory in its battle for control of Anheuser-Busch (AB) after its raised $52 billion ($£26 billion) all cash offer for the Budweiser maker was recommended by the AB board.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 14 Jul 2008 | 6:13 am

Currency: Dollar dips lower than expected

The New Zealand dollar dipped on lower than expected May retail sales but generally withstood the blitz of bad news over US mortgage lender Freddie Mac. ANZ Institutional Bank chief forex dealer Murray Hindley said the kiwi was...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 5:30 am

Ex-auto retail sales jump in June: SpendingPulse (Reuters)

A customer shops at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas June 5, 2008. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. retail sales excluding cars jumped in June and posted their biggest one-month rise in seven months, as consumers spent some of their government rebate checks, a private report released on Monday showed.



Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 4:20 am

Thain in Vain

On Christmas Eve last year, exactly 24 days into his new job as chief executive of Merrill Lynch, John Thain had good news to share with investors. The embattled bank was raising $6.2 billion from the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek and the money manager Davis Advisors. Merrill's shares traded for $54.

A few weeks later, Thain announced that Merrill had raised another $6.6 billion from a slew of international investors, bringing the new cash total to $12.8 billion. When he took over at Merrill, Thain had pledged to shore up the firm's deteriorating balance sheet. By all accounts, he was doing just what shareholders would have wanted.   

But now, more than seven months into his new gig, the great expectations for Thain remained unfulfilled. The former Goldman Sachs executive and New York Stock Exchange chief made the all too common and sometimes fatal error of assuming that the worst of Merrill's mortgage nightmare was over when it was still far too early to tell.

In fact, Thain's challenge today remains much the same as it was the day he started. Merrill's assets continue to deteriorate and the bank still needs to raise more capital.

But to tackle it today is much more difficult than it was in December not because of the continued turmoil in the market but because of a deal that Thain made with Temasek last Christmas Eve. Thain has no good options on the table today, and he has himself to thank for that.

When inking its deal with the fund, Merrill agreed to give Temasek unusual price and dilution protection. Merrill must compensate Temasek if the bank issues additional common or convertible stock below $48 within one year. The terms with the international investors in the January capital raise had similar terms, whereby the conversion price of the preferred stock can reset from $52.50 if Merrill issued more than $1 billion worth of stock in one year.

Merrill Lynch was evidently so confident that it wouldn't be necessary to raise more capital with new common shares that it was willing to put it in writing. Moreover, Thain repeatedly insisted that Merrill had no intention of divesting other assets such as its 49 percent stake in Blackrock or its 20 percent stake in Bloomberg.

On Friday, Merrill shares closed at $26.61. Analysts expect the bank to report write-downs for its second quarter of as much as $6 billion when it announces its earnings this Thursday, on top of the $30 billion it's already taken. Raising more capital is now imperative.

But none of Thain's options look good. If Merrill did issue new shares and compensated its earlier investors, the dilution to existing shareholders would be too great to bear. Cutting its dividend would anger shareholders and not likely be sufficient.

That leaves selling Blackrock or Bloomberg as its best options, and Thain finally admitted last month that the bank is considering the sale of one or both of these assets. But getting rid of either one isn't particularly enticing.

Blackrock is an important strategic partner of Merrill's, something that Thain reminded investors back in January. And the value of its stake is falling fast—earlier this year, Merrill's stake was worth $13 billion and it's now worth less than $10 billion.

And the Bloomberg ownership — valued at about $5 billion—isn't likely to fetch a premium for the very fact that there is seemingly only one interested party in purchasing it, and that's Bloomberg himself.  

Thain must have known that taking the job as Merrill Lynch's turnaround C.E.O. would be taxing. What he may not have anticipated is just how few easy answers there are to the company's most vexing problems.

And what he's undoubtedly learned by now is that you can never be sure when you've safely turned the corner. And that giving shareholders what they want is not a guarantee for reward.



Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:00 am

Time's Running Out on the Billable Hour

William Nelson Cromwell famously earned a million dollars for his work in selling the Panama Canal a century ago. His fee, the New York Times noted in 1908, was "the like of which can hardly be paralleled in the history of the legal profession."

News of some recent paydays probably would have Cromwell, whose legacy lives on in the top-tier Wall Street firm Sullivan & Cromwell, wishing he could get back to work.

Delphi, an auto parts maker, racked up nearly $100 million in legal, accounting, and consulting fees in the first eight months of its bankruptcy proceeding in 2006. Lawyers who succeeded in an Iowa antitrust case against Microsoft were awarded $75 million in fees and costs last August. And this March, the law firm representing one segment of investors suing financial institutions tied to the Enron bankruptcy requested a whopping $688 million in fees.

With some lawyers now charging upwards of $1,000 an hour, and phalanxes of partners and associates being marshaled to fight increasingly complex and time-consuming (read: billable-hour-generating) battles, one can rightly wonder whether the first billion-dollar legal bill could be far behind.

The fear of just such a billing Armageddon has caused some of the nation's largest corporations to push back. Some are instituting a moratorium on fee hikes, others are insisting that fees actually be slashed, and many are installing new billing software to track and cap expenses. A few are even prodding law firms to come up with wholly new compensation arrangements that better align their interests with those of their corporate clients.

Last November, the news that some new law firm associates were being paid $160,000 a year spurred Wal-Mart to action. The company responded with a "moratorium on across-the-board rate increases" for all of its outside firms and demanded that they provide the hourly rates charged for every associate working on a Wal-Mart account going back to "the class of 2004."

That same year, Tyco International named a single firm, Eversheds, as its preferred outside counsel in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, pulling about $20 million in legal work from more than 200 other firms. Eversheds got the work by discounting fees and agreeing to let Tyco have final approval over cost estimates.

Companies like Pfizer are making strides in reducing legal costs by making law firms compete head to head for business, with cost as a major factor. Others, including AOL, Barclays, and General Motors, have embraced electronic billing systems that flag legal expenses over set amounts.

  These firms "can't enter a cost that doesn't fit in the box you create," says Susan Hackett, senior vice president and general counsel of the Association of Corporate Counsel, whose 24,000 members are among the major employers of outside law firms.

"It can be something as simple as saying no plane travel in excess of $500," Hackett adds. "If the lawyer tries to enter a ticket for $650, it will bounce, and the onus is then on the firm to say why the expense was necessary."

This September, Hackett's association plans to begin a more organized assault on high legal fees. The multiyear effort will result in a set of tools that can help even small corporations get a handle on legal costs.

These include best-practice guidelines to help model and price specific legal services such as certain stages of litigation, and an online network where corporate counsels and law firms from across the country can easily obtain references and compare fee information in specific geographic areas.

"The billable hour stinks, but it is the symptom of the underlying problem," Hackett says, noting that most corporate law departments are too small to easily monitor what their outside counsel is doing.

Combined with that reality, "law firms are not run on the concept of how quickly and efficiently they can do work for their client," Hackett adds. "They are run on how much they can charge their client before they are fired. It's the throw-up point."

Getting a handle on outside legal costs certainly makes sense for corporations. It can be a boon to the bottom line. Dupont, for instance, pioneered a program to partner with its law firms in the 1990s after mass tort litigation left it swimming in outside legal fees.

"We had a docket in excess of 4,000 cases and we were spending $140 million a year in 1994 dollars," notes Thomas Sager, Dupont's general counsel and senior vice president of litigation.

The company has since whittled down the number of law firms it uses to 43 from 350, has traded a promise of long-term relationships for a willingness by the firms to offer alternative fees and discounted rates, and has produced a host of systems to better track and monitor the legal work that results.

Sager said Dupont's cost savings is between $15 million and $20 million a year, or about 18 percent of the company's total expenditures on outside counsel.

Felice Wagner, who heads Sugarcrest Development Group, a law firm consultancy, notes that other companies have had similar success. It's no coincidence, she adds, that the industry spending the least on counsel is the group that most aggressively tracks its outside firms. The insurance industry pays, on average, just $294,098 per lawyer per year. “They have been very successful at putting the screws into their law firms,” says Wagner.

Whether or not these corporations will soon force white-shoe law firms into a new way of thinking is another story. "The Sullivan & Cromwells of the world like the status quo and don't see the need to move toward alternative fees," Sager says.

It's easy to see why. The 2007 Law Firm Economics Survey from Lexis Nexis found that the operating profit margins at top firms climbed to 41 percent in 2007 from 35 percent a year earlier, while a separate recent survey by the National Law Journal found billing rates locked in a long-term climb, gaining an average of 7.7 percent in 2007.

  The bill to clients is considerable. The median amount that large corporations pay annually for each outside lawyer working for them was $616,519 in 2007, according to the 2007 Altman Weil Law Department Metrics Benchmarking Survey. Chemicals manufacturers topped the list, reporting that average outside legal expenses reached more than $1.1 million per lawyer. That is music to the ears of law firms on the receiving end.

Still, some firms see the growing discontent as an opening to take a new tack. Jay Shepherd, who runs the employment-litigation firm Shepherd Law Group in Boston, jettisoned the billable hour system in favor of flat rates for all client matters at his firm.

Other firms have taken similarly drastic steps, though the number can be counted on two hands—among them, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott and the Valorem Law Group, both in Chicago, Exemplar Law Group, in Boston, Summit Law Group, in Seattle, and Leader & Berkon, in New York.

However, Shepherd's success in gaining business is noteworthy. His firm's year-over-year revenue more than doubled in 2007, after increasing 5 to 10 percent per year between 2004 and 2006. Among his new clients is Adobe Systems.

Although the vast majority of the software company's outside legal work is still done on the billable-hour system, Ronald Friedman, associate general counsel and head of litigation at Adobe, says he's been pleased by Shepherd's flat-fee arrangement, noting that it "allows you to know up front what your costs are going to be."

He hints that, unless billing rates begin to fall, more such deals could be in the offing.

"I am always interested in exploring alternative billing arrangements," he says. But "the more the hourly rates continue to increase to the point of being difficult to justify, the more I am going to be interested in exploring other alternatives where the interests of the client and the lawyer are better aligned."

If enough companies like Adobe make that call, the Sullivan & Cromwells of the world may have to begin listening.Related Links
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Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:00 am

Instant Finance says position sound

Personal loan providers Instant Finance today reported profit has doubled in the 12 months to 31 March. The company said it achieved a net surplus after tax of $3.8 million for the year to March 2008 compared with $1.9 million...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:30 am

Microsoft, Icahn offered Yahoo $2.3 bln annual revenue (Reuters)

The headquarters of Yahoo Inc. is pictured in Sunnyvale, California, May 5, 2008. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)Reuters - Microsoft Corp and billionaire investor Carl Icahn's joint proposal for Yahoo Inc , which was rejected on Saturday, included $2.3 billion in guaranteed annual revenue from search advertising for five years, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.



Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:29 am

IRD crackdown on kiwifruit sector continues

Inland Revenue Department investigations of kiwifruit contractors and growers in the Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay have not surprised the wider industry. Since January 2005, six agricultural contractors have been prosecuted for...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:45 am

Big plunge in car sales - official figures

A 15 per cent drop in motor vehicle sales is the principal factor behind a 1.2 per cent fall in total retail sales for the month of May. This drop followed a 1.2 per cent rise in April, Statistics New Zealand said today. The...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:10 am

US Govt taking hardline policy on finance sector

The US government is signaling it won't throw a lifeline to struggling financial companies - except for mortgage lynchpins Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - marking a shift to a new and potentially more volatile phase of the credit crisis. Such...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:00 am

Another Washington Bailout

After watching panic envelope Wall Street over the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are stepping in to try and calm nerves.

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve wanted to send the message before the market opens on Monday that they are prepared to support the two mortgage financing firms that investors lost confidence in late last week. Shares in both companies lost nearly half their value.

The Treasury will reportedly seek Congressional approval to buy billions of dollars of stock of the ailing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if they need it, as long as the two firms have adequate capital to continue their mission of buying and selling mortgage loans. It also will seek approval to temporarily increase lines of credit for the two companies.

Separately, the Federal Reserve said it would allow Fannie and Freddie to borrow from it through the central bank's New York facilities.

The existing lines of credit for Fannie and Freddie were set nearly forty years ago at $2.25 billion each. At the time, the New York Times notes, Fannie had only $15 billion of outstanding debt. Today, it has $800 billion, while Freddie has $740 billion in debt.

The Treasury Department did not say how much more of a credit line it would seek for the companies.

The moves by the government this weekend will certainly ease investor concerns, but they will also reinforce the hope that it will continue to step in to prevent a major financial implosion, which is a hope the government has sought to quell. Ever since it helped J.P. Morgan buy Bear Stearns before bankruptcy in March, the financial watchdogs have tried to distance themselves from the role of financial hero.

Of course, getting any kind of Congressional approval will not be easy. The House and the Senate are in the process of trying to get a housing bill passed, and any Fannie and Freddie lending concessions would likely be tacked onto that.



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Source: Portfolio.com: Top 5 | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:30 pm

We have financial, not economic, problems

Sometimes the markets just get things wrong. It doesn't happen very often. Usually the market's collective wisdom is more perceptive than the individual opinions of the investors who comprise it. But every now and then - about twice every decade - markets make spectacular blunders, completely losing touch with the real economy of consumption, investment, employment and world trade. The markets' behaviour last week suggested that such a time has arrived.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:00 pm

The Co-op ready to recapture the magic of the Sixties with £1.6bn Somerfield deal

The Co-operative Group is poised to jump back into the supermarket big league by completing its long-awaited £1.6 billion takeover of Somerfield.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:00 pm

Yahoo! rejects 'absurd' joint takeover offer

Yahoo!, the internet search group, has received and rejected a new takeover proposal from Microsoft and Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor, which it described as “completely absurd and irresponsible”.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:00 pm

This recession could easily tip into a depression

Today I am celebrating my 80th birthday, an age that seems less formidable when one has reached it than when one can see it only from afar.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:00 pm

BAA reveals plans for £4.5bn bond deal

BAA, the airports operator, has unveiled details of the £4.5 billion of new bonds that it hopes will be accepted by bondholders in place of their existing unsecured holdings.
Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:00 pm

NZ stocks: Market down after woes on Wall St

The New Zealand sharemarket was down soon after opening today on the back of new worries in the US mortgage market. The NZSX-50 index was down 23.35 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 3098.2 at 10.15am today. It was the first sharemarket...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 Jul 2008 | 10:50 pm

Drug cartels 'threaten' Mexican democracy

The head of Mexico's intelligence service has warned that the country's democratic institutions, including the national Congress, are under threat from powerful drugs cartels
Source: FT.com - US homepage | 13 Jul 2008 | 10:06 pm

Fuel and food big push on inflation

A 12 per cent jump in petrol prices over the June quarter is thought to have pushed the annual inflation rate to 3.8 per cent, its highest for seven and a-half years. Market economists and the Reserve Bank are picking a rise of...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 Jul 2008 | 7:40 pm

Booksellers ready to write new chapter

Make no mistake, books are big business. Last year, the New Zealand consumer spend on books and similar merchandise topped $1 billion for the first time - capping off a trend of phenomenal growth that seems, for the moment, immune...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 Jul 2008 | 7:20 pm

'One-in-100 year' slump across Tasman

SYDNEY - Plummeting property values have prompted warnings Australia is heading for a one-in-a-100-year slump. New figures from property analyst Residex showed house and unit prices in nearly every city and rural centre fell in...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 Jul 2008 | 7:10 pm

Indymac failure spotlights US mortgage doldrums

The Unites States' regulators were last night shoring up the country's financial defences, after one of the biggest bank failures in US history sparked fears about the viability of the world's largest mortgage providers. The Northern...
Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 Jul 2008 | 7:00 pm