Seagate buys Samsung division April 19, 2011 US firm Seagate has bought Samsung’s hard disk unit for $1.4bn (£860m). The acquisition of the loss-making hard disk drive (HDD) business pits it head-to-head with Western Digital Corp in an industry that has been dogged by price wars. The sector is battling persistent sales growth declines and faces a longer-term threat from wireless tablet [...]
Telia sees profits slip slightly April 19, 2011 TeliaSonera, the Nordic region’s biggest telecoms firm, posted slightly lower than expected first-quarter core profit and sales yesterday and cut its 2011 revenue growth forecast. Ebitda excluding one-offs were 8.8bn Swedish crowns (£860m) versus a forecast of 8.9bn last year. Revenues were 24.7bn crowns against a forecast of 25.4bn and Telia said it now sees [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 19, 2011 Travelodge Hotels Travelodge has appointed Gerald Lawless, executive chairman of the Dubai based hotel management company Jumeirah Group, as a non-executive director, effective from 3 May. Lawless has worked for Jumeirah Group, owned by Dubai Holding, since 1997, launching the seven-star Burj Al Arab. Prior to joining Jumeirah, Gerald had a 23-year career with Forte [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 19, 2011 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS Credit Suisse rates the retail group “overweight” with a target price of £10.60. The broker expects underlying group earnings to reach £353m, a rise of 6.6 per cent on last year, when ABF reports half-year results next Wednesday. It thinks like-for-like sales at Primark will be down three per cent, with the [...]
FTSE shares rebound but debt worries still dog bank stocks April 19, 2011 STRENGTH in oversold commodity issues fuelled a modest rally by Britain’s top share index yesterday, while sovereign debt worries continued to dog banking stocks. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 26.79 points, or 0.5 per cent at 5,896.87, having dropped 2 per cent on Monday to hit its lowest level since March [...]
Goldman results limit market gains April 19, 2011 ENCOURAGING results from health care and materials companies lifted US stocks yesterday, but weak earnings from Goldman Sachs limited gains in a market skeptical of the growth outlook. Investors were reluctant to make big bets as the market readied for a spate of high-profile earnings. Volume was extremely low, with 6.56bn shares traded on the [...]
The dollar after S&P’s decision to downgrade April 19, 2011 YESTERDAY’S news of the downgrading of the sovereign debt outlook of the United States rocked markets on both sides of the Atlantic. The debt ratings agency Standard and Poor’s cut the long term outlook for the US from stable to negative for first time since the Pearl Harbor attack 70 years ago. S&P pointed to [...]
FEAR OF GREEK HAIRCUT CAPS EURO’S RALLY April 19, 2011 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT FOR the past several months, the euro-dollar has been like the Terminator. Nothing could slow down its progress as markets ignored all sovereign debt problems in the periphery and focused only on yield differentials. A hawkish European Central Bank (ECB), which raised rates by 25 basis points last month, stood [...]
Euro is close to suffering the knockout blow as trouble rises April 19, 2011 THE euro is facing so many existential threats that markets don’t know where to look: anti-bailout elections have rocked Finland; umbrage is growing across Germany; austerity tightening is squeezing Portugal; Greece is on the precipice; banks are junked in Ireland; and jitters grow in Spain. POPULISM IN FINLAND In Sunday’s Finnish elections, the True Finns [...]
MY CHECKLIST THAT GETS ME SET TO TRADE April 19, 2011 CONSULTING ANALYST, INTERTRADER I’D LIKE to start my final column by inviting you to a round-up webinar taking place 5 May 2011 at 8pm. It’s free and will be an opportunity for you to ask questions and see the strategies I have described over the last eight weeks. Register on: intertrader.omnovia.com/webcasts. Before I sign out, [...]
