Pandora Media sees profit rise August 25, 2011 Online music company Pandora Media posted better-than-expected quarterly revenues and profits yesterday in its maiden results as a public company. Just two months after joining the public market, Pandora said sales more than doubled to $67m (£41m) and its underlying profit was $0.20 per share. Shares in Pandora, which sells advertising for mobile phones and [...]
US markets make strong comeback August 24, 2011 US stocks posted strong gains for a second day yesterday as investors jumped back into beaten-down financial shares and backed away from safer assets like gold in volatile trading. The stock market swung back and forth as investors anticipated a key speech from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday. There had been hope the [...]
Banking and tech stocks lead surge August 23, 2011 US stocks shot three per cent higher yesterday on speculation Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke this week would signal new help for the economy, giving investors hope a four-week rout was nearing an end. Weak data in housing and regional factory activity triggered the latest round of bets that Bernanke will act, even though the [...]
BHP sews up Petrohawk acquisition August 21, 2011 MINING giant BHP Billiton has sealed its $12.1bn (£7.35bn) of US shale gas specialist Petrohawk, just days before it is expected to report record-breaking profits. BHP said yesterday it has approval from 97.4 per cent of Petrohawk shareholders, a month after agreeing the deal with the firm’s board. The Anglo-Australian firm hopes to complete a [...]
Russia’s largest shipping company mulls City listing August 21, 2011 RUSSIA’s state-owned shipping company Sovcomflot could make an initial public offering on the London Stock exchange by the end of the year, as the Russian government looks to push ahead with its ambitious privatisation plans. Sovcomflot, which is sending test cargoes along a new Arctic route to service Russia’s offshore oil fields, is at the [...]
Markets in meltdown as global fears grow August 18, 2011 STOCKS nose-dived in the opening minutes of trading in Japan this morning, mirroring another disastrous day for markets in Europe and the US yesterday. The Nikkei lost over two per cent in initial trades, dropping to 8,756. Earlier in the month the index hit a low of 8,656. The FTSE suffered its biggest fall in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 16, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CITIC ARM TO PRESS AHEAD WITH HK LISTING Citic Securities is to go ahead with a planned Hong Kong listing that could raise up to $2bn for the Beijing-based financial services group. Bankers say that the listing is likely to take place by the beginning of September. The decision comes as many other [...]
Google to buy Motorola Mobility for £7.6bn August 15, 2011 Google Inc said it will buy Motorola Mobility Holdings for about $12.5bn (£7.6bn) in cash. The Mobility business includes Motorola’s smartphones and analysts are seeing the move as part of Google’s plans to take on Apple in the lucrative market. The $40 a share offer is at a 63 per cent premium to Motorola Mobility’s [...]
Stocks dive again as worries return August 10, 2011 Fear returned to Wall Street yesterday, sending the S&P 500 to another four per cent decline, triggered by worries that Europe’s debt crisis could engulf French banks and spill onto the US financial sector. Trading was once again marked by sharp moves on heavy volume. For a fifth straight day, the Dow industrials fluctuated in [...]
NYSE invokes special rule to calm markets August 10, 2011 The New York Stock Exchange and NYSE Amex Cash Markets have invoked a rule to smooth trading at the market open, as futures pointed to a sharp drop in the major indexes. Rule 48 allows the exchange to suspend price indications that help determine the floor price at the open during regular sessions. Bypassing the [...]