More insider trade talk hits markets December 7, 2010 US stocks eked out a small gain yesterday as investors’ enthusiasm over a tax cut extension deal was short-circuited by rising bond yields and reports regulators were stepping up an insider-trading probe. The S&P 500 hit a two-year intraday high after US President Barack Obama cut a deal with Republicans to renew Bush-era tax cuts. [...]
AGL to buy natural gas player Nicor for $2.4bn December 7, 2010 AGL Resources, a major natural gas distributor in the US Southeast, said it will buy peer Nicor for about $2.4bn (£1.52bn) in cash and stock, nearly doubling its customers at a time of surging gas output in the country. Natural gas production has boomed in recent years, helped by new gas fields like the Marcellus [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 6, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES EMPLOYER OPTIMISM INCREASES IN BIG ECONOMIES Hiring in the US and half a dozen other leading economies will increase for the first time in more than two years during the first quarter of 2011, according to a report released on Monday by Manpower, a global recruiting firm. Manpower’s Employment Outlook Survey shows plans [...]
Bernanke’s caution worries Wall Street December 6, 2010 US stocks ended little changed yesterday, held in check by worries about Europe’s debt crisis, which frustrated investors looking for a reason to take shares to new highs for the year. Germany rejected a call for Eurozone finance ministers to increase the size of a €750bn safety net for debt-stricken members. A decline in the [...]
Carlyle mulls IPO next year December 6, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm Carlyle Group may file papers to go public late next year, a source familiar with the situation said today. The company would be following rival Blackstone Group LP, which went public in 2007, and KKR Co LP, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year. While an IPO filing [...]
Wall St rallies as euro concerns ease December 2, 2010 WALL Street rallied for a second day yesterday as concerns about Europe’s sovereign debt crisis waned, giving investors the chance to add to positions in winners among banks and retailers. More than two stocks rose for every decliner on the New York Stock Exchange, with bank stocks leading the way after Goldman Sachs said improving [...]
Wall Street surges as euro panic eases December 1, 2010 THE Dow and the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 posted their biggest gains in three months yesterday as efforts to resolve the European Union’s debt crisis helped push the S&P above 1,200, an important technical level that signals the potential for the rally to continue. The S&P 500 moved out of its recent trading range [...]
The world’s largest goldminer sees blue skies ahead as demand soars November 24, 2010 Aaron Regent, the chief executive of the world’s biggest goldminer Barrick Gold, straightens his tie and smiles – it’s a good time to be in the gold business. Regent, a 44-year-old with a middle distance runner’s build, is sitting in a meeting room in the recently refurbished Savoy Hotel, and can be forgiven for feeling [...]
GM in record float as raises over $23bn November 17, 2010 GENERAL MOTORS (GM) pulled off the biggest initial public offering in US history yesterday, raising $23.1bn after pricing shares at the top of the proposed range in response to huge investor demand. GM sold 478m common shares at $33 each, raising $15.77bn, as well as $4.35bn in preferred shares, more than the initially planned $4bn. [...]
Anti-banker populism is backfiring November 16, 2010 THIS is turning out to be a decent year for the global investment banking industry, despite weaker trading results and even though some firms are doing better than others. True, Wall Street’s total profitability – as defined by the broker-dealer operations of New York Stock Exchange members – will collapse 69 per cent this year [...]