BG to stick by its £6.7bn bid for Origin July 25, 2008 British Gas explorer BG Group yesterday said it has no plans to boost its £6.7bn bid for Australian power firm Origin Energy, despite the bid target’s management touting the business to the Chinese. A BG spokeswoman said: “We believe our bid is a fair price for the company, and we will formally submit it to [...]
Oligarchs in oil grab as BP chief expelled July 25, 2008 Robert Dudley forced to leave Russia after campaign of “harassment” by authorities British oil giant BP was dealt a devastating blow last night after Robert Dudley, boss of its TNK-BP joint venture, was forced to leave Russia. Dudley, a key BP ally in its long-standing battle with its four oligarch partners, lashed out at the [...]
Toyota grabs lead from GM in car market July 24, 2008 Embattled American carmaker General Motors trailed Japanese rival Toyota in global car sales during the second quarter, hurt by a severe decline in the American market, figures out yesterday revealed. The Detroit-based automaker said its car sales fell 3 per cent to 4.54m vehicles in the first half as higher sales in Europe, Asia and [...]
BP fight over divi cut July 21, 2008 British oil giant BP has blocked a $1.8bn (£900m) dividend payment due to four Russian billionaire shareholders of its strife-torn joint venture TNK-BP. But while the move was seen in London yesterday as proof that the UK giant was fighting back, the oligarchs claimed that there was no disagreement. They too had voted not to [...]
Ditch the crystal ball and just keep on trading to win July 21, 2008 It’s impossible to call the market’s bottom, so stick to trading its actual moves, says Sandy Jadeja Has the market reached an important low, and are stocks cheap? That’s a crucial question, but given present market conditions, also a tricky one. For several weeks now I have been arguing that the FTSE 100 would need [...]
Rising food costs getting you down? Try a spread bet July 21, 2008 A spread bet on commodities offers you an excellent opportunity to get even, according to Katie Hope You would have had to have spent the past year in a cave not to be interested in commodities. For car drivers, the price of petrol is an ever-growing concern, while rising food prices have caused riots in [...]
Rio Tinto hit by slump in copper yields July 17, 2008 Bid target Rio Tinto said yesterday its second-quarter refined copper production plunged 18 per cent from a year ago, as the miner saw lower yields at some of its mines. But chief executive Tom Albanese said iron ore output rose 13 per cent on sustained demand from China. Production of iron ore increased to 41.9 [...]
Nervous fund managers flee equities July 17, 2008 Fund managers are stockpiling cash as the volatile market conditions force them to flee equities, according to a new report. The survey of 191 fund managers, commissioned by investment bank Merrill Lynch, found that 53 per cent were now overweight in cash with 40 per cent underweight equities as investors’ risk appetite neared record lows [...]
UK ready to comply with US oil rules July 16, 2008 The chairman of Europe’s top oil exchange said yesterday he is ready to provide American regulators with “whatever they want” to close the industry’s governance gap dubbed ‘the London loophole.’ Sir Bob Reid, who leads ICE Futures Europe, the owner of the old International Petroleum Exchange, was responding to the call from US regulator the [...]
Treasury committee to probe speculators over oil price surge July 14, 2008 The Treasury Select Committee will tomorrow examine the role of speculators in driving oil prices to record levels. Deputy chair of the influential committee Michael Fallon said: “We need to understand how much speculation is influencing that international market and what, if anything, governments can do about it.” Brent crude hit a new all-time high [...]