Poison pill hits BHP’S $39bn bid August 17, 2010 CANADIAN fertiliser firm PotashCorp yesterday snubbed a mammoth $39bn (£25bn) indicative offer from mining giant BHP Billiton, moving swiftly to shield itself by invoking a “poison pill” defence outlawed in the UK. PotashCorp, which described the $130-a-share cash offer from BHP as “grossly inadequate”, launched a shareholder rights plan defence, giving it the ability to [...]
American Apparel in audit spat August 17, 2010 Retail group American Apparel said yesterday its operating losses may result in its breach of its debt covenant, and that it has received a subpoena from the US attorney’s office over changing accounting firms. Shares dropped by more than 25 per cent following the announcement, which revealed that previous auditor Deloitte told the firm its [...]
US wipes out gains on economic fears August 11, 2010 US stocks erased the year’s increases in the broadest sell-off in a month-and-a-half yesterday, as fears of sustained global economic stagnation caused investors to flee to safer assets. All three major indexes posted their worst percentage drop since 16 July following the Federal Reserve’s bleaker assessment of the economy on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial [...]
KKR common unit sale is off August 9, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co said yesterday it has cancelled plans to sell $500m of new common units, less than one month after it listed on the New York Stock Exchange KKR, one of the biggest private equity firms in the world, had announced plans to sell the units in May. The [...]
Freddie Mac asks for a fresh $1.8bn bailout as makes fourth loss in a row August 9, 2010 MORTGAGE lending giant Freddie Mac is seeking $1.8bn (£1.1bn) in aid from the US Government after bad home loans prompted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of funding for US residential mortgages, said it lost $6bn, or $1.85 per share, in the April-to-June period. The company is required to pay [...]
STRATEGY BEAR EYES A CELEBRITY LIFESTYLE August 5, 2010 SOCIETE Générale’s notorious über-bear strategist Albert Edwards has an axe to grind – and this time, it’s nothing to do with those of a sunnier disposition predicting equities are set on an unflinching upward course. Edwards, in his regular research missive yesterday, told the moving tale of his recent summer holiday, when he nearly lost [...]
Wall Street dips on new jobless claims August 5, 2010 US stocks edged lower yesterday as an unexpected rise in initial jobless claims and unimpressive July retail sales dimmed optimism ahead of the monthly payrolls report. Investors were cautious before today’s jobs report, and after a 10 per cent rise in the S&P 500 since July 2. Yesterday’s data showed initial claims for jobless benefits [...]
ANCIENT INDIAN SEXUAL WISDOM, PIPED LIKE MUSIC TO YOUR EARS August 4, 2010 HURRAH for technology: the days of keeping up appearances among fellow passengers by trawling through suitably intellectual reading material on the daily commute are officially over. The Kama Sutra, that literary fountain of Indian sexual wisdom, has been released in audio book format for the first time in its 1,600 year history. Publisher Beautiful Books [...]
Dollar boosts Wall Street to new high August 2, 2010 US stocks closed at their highest level in 10 weeks yesterday and the S&P 500 pierced key technical levels as a weaker US dollar lifted the energy and raw materials sectors. Strong results in Europe from BNP Paribas and HSBC added to the upbeat tone and lifted US bank stocks. JPMorgan Chase & Co rose [...]
Huang vows to spend big in Liverpool bid August 2, 2010 CHINESE businessman Kenny Huang has promised to give manager Roy Hodgson big money to spend in the transfer market if he succeeds in his bid to buy Liverpool. Huang, a former Wall Street stockbroker and now head of Hong Kong-based investment company QSL Sports Ltd, announced yesterday he had been in talks with Royal Bank [...]