Dragon Oil diversifies as it looks to expand February 23, 2010 Dubai based oil and gas explorer Dragon Oil, plans to invest $870m (£562m) in oil and gas projects over the next two years, it said in a statement yesterday. The London-listed company is targeting annual output growth of 10-15 per cent through 2012 as it seeks expansion in the Middle East, North Africa and Central [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 23, 2010 BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO Morgan Stanley advises investors to “overweight” British American Tobacco shares ahead of tomorrow’s full year results. Says pricing strength, cost savings, improved economic conditions and a reduced hit from currency transactions will mean “solid” earnings per share growth. Raises target price to 2,350p, and highlights favourable industry operating conditions. N BROWN UBS [...]
Brookfield to make $2bn move on General Growth February 23, 2010 CANADIAN group Brookfield Asset Management is understood to be preparing a $2bn (£1.3bn) bid for a 30 per cent stake in General Growth Properties, the bankrupt mall owner. The offer would trump an approach by Simon Property Group and rescue Chicago-based General Growth from Chapter 11 solvency with Brookfield as its largest shareholder. Simon Property, [...]
Japanese are looking overseas for returns February 23, 2010 FACED with the lowest interest rates in the G10, even the Japanese are abandoning the yen. In search of higher yields and better growth prospects, they are looking overseas to higher-yielding assets in emerging markets and piling in to Toshin funds, which allow retail investors to invest in high-yielding currencies. This week an estimated ¥3.9bn [...]
THREE EVENTS TO SHAKE UP THE WORLD February 23, 2010 FOLLOWING weeks of turbulence, FX appears to have found temporary support. So this week I want to consider three unlikely, but not improbable, scenarios that could have a radical impact on the markets this year. GREECE IS THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG The news that Greece used complex swaps to improve its budget finances put [...]
You’d be mad to ignore the loonie February 23, 2010 IT’S tough being Canada. Whatever you do, you are always going to be compared to the superpower next door. And even when you go and host a major sporting event, people only snipe. But you would be wrong to underestimate the land of lumberjacks and Labatt’s. For the past few months, the Canadian dollar has [...]
MARKET WILL NOT TOLERATE INDISCIPLINE February 23, 2010 THE latest moves in the FX markets indicate investors are increasingly discriminating about their risk asset exposure. In particular, there has been a growing divergence of performance between the G10 currencies. Those of resource-rich countries – such as the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars – have tended to outperform while eurocentric ones have underperformed. [...]
FTSE rocked as mining shares fall on commodity price drop February 23, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares shed 0.7 per cent yesterday, tracking early falls on Wall Street and pressured by weaker miners and energy issues as commodity prices fell with a firmer dollar after dull data. At the close, the FTSE 100 was 36.98 points lower at 5,315.09, having hit a one-month high earlier in the session. US [...]
Data undermines hopes of recovery February 23, 2010 US stocks suffered their biggest one-day decline in nearly three weeks yesterday after a sharp drop in consumer confidence heightened worries over one of the most vulnerable areas of the economy. Consumer confidence in February slumped to a 10-month low as the short-term outlook on jobs worsened. Results from retailers added little hope, as bellwethers [...]
Copenhagen’s lack of detail is a blow for low- carbon business February 23, 2010 JUST over two months since the final all-night negotiations which went into finalising the Copenhagen Accord, viewpoints on the outcome of the Copenhagen climate change conference (COP15) have been extremely mixed. On the positive side, the Copenhagen Accord has been described as an “important political tool”, “vital first step”, or in the words of President [...]
