Ponzi suspect Freeman surfaces at court hearing October 21, 2009 TERRY Freeman, the City trader suspected of running a £40m Madoff-style Ponzi fraud, was forced to come out of hiding to attend a bail hearing yesterday. Freeman, 61, was remanded on conditional bail to appear at City of London Magistrate’s court again on 28 October. The former foreign exchange trader was arrested at his house [...]
BoA sells First Republic Bank to private equity October 21, 2009 BANK of America said yesterday it has agreed to sell First Republic Bank (FRB), the private bank and wealth manager, to a private-equity group in a deal expected to be worth over $1bn (£602m). A consortium including General Atlantic and Colony Capital are set to take over the unit, which was originally bought by Merrill [...]
Cadbury gets upper hand in Kraft battle October 21, 2009 CONFECTIONARY giant Cadbury yesterday released a stellar set of third quarter results as it desperately tries to fend off a hostile takeover approach from America’s Kraft. Cadbury said its revenues grew by seven per cent in constant currency terms, beating expectations and putting pressure on Kraft to come up with a bigger offer to get [...]
HOW WILL THESE RESULTS AFFECT KRAFT’S PLANS TO BUY CADBURY? October 21, 2009 MARTIN DEBOO INVESTECCadbury have come out fighting. But, for us, the quality of the third-quarter and first-half growth is not premier cru. However, we think this will be enough to cause Kraft et al to think hard about a fair exit valuation. GRAHAM JONES PANMURE GORDONWe think this statement, plus confidence expressed about 2010 and [...]
WINDOWS 7 SCORES A GOAL WITH ANALYSTS October 21, 2009 MICROSOFT’S long-awaited new operating system (OS) launched last night, as the software giant hoped to fend off competition from Google and mend a reputation damaged by the failures of Windows Vista. Analysts welcomed the arrival of Windows 7, which Microsoft executive Ashley Highfield dubbed “the pivotal turning point” for the firm. Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft vice-president [...]
How Apple is stealing the limelight from Microsoft October 21, 2009 WHEN Microsoft releases Windows 7 today, it will be closing a troubled chapter in its history. The previous version of its operating system, Windows Vista, has been cut adrift by massive changes in the PC market since its launch in 2007; a resurgent Apple, soaring sales of netbooks that run free alternatives to Windows and [...]
LET THEM EAT CAKE October 21, 2009 THE diet police seem to be losing. For nothing, these days, is chicer than a fresh baked goodie. The cupcake has taken us by storm, and the allure of the soft-baked cookie, or moist piece of cake containing anything from beetroot to peanut butter has seduced us entirely. So slinky have baked goods become, that [...]
Don’t be afraid to dip your toe in the volatile forex waters October 20, 2009 OVER recent years one market type more than any other seems to have grabbed the attention of spread betting clients – foreign exchange. At the beginning of 2009, as equity markets continued to plumb the depths and were shunned by investors, our spread betting firm saw forex overtake equities in monthly trading volume. Of course [...]
A poor economic backdrop will see UK stocks trail their overseas peers October 20, 2009 IT’S hard to be optimistic about Britain’s economy. It lags behind both France and Germany in exiting recession and a sharp contraction in industrial output in September cast doubt over how positive third quarter GDP data – released this Friday – will be. A slow and protracted recovery lies ahead, according to the Bank of [...]
Weaker dollar means central banks more likely to enter forex markets October 20, 2009 WATCHING for central bank intervention has once again become a critical part of following the currency markets. The Swiss National Bank has been the most active and open in its interventions, decidedly entering the forex markets whenever the Swiss franc approaches the SFr1.5 level against the euro. Equally, countries such as Singapore and Taiwan are [...]
