Oils and banks lift the large caps but defensives slide June 29, 2009 THE FTSE 100 gained 1.3 per cent yesterday, boosted by strength in oil majors and banks, and reflecting early gains on Wall Street. The index closed 53.02 points higher at 4,294.03, recovering most of last week’s 1.5 per cent decline. “What is most impressive about today’s rally is the breadth of the buying. Most sectors [...]
China snares 4.4bn Addax June 24, 2009 CHINESE state-owned Sinopec agreed a takeover of London-listed oil producer Addax yesterday, in a deal worth C$8.3bn (£4.4bn). The offer of C$52.80 a share – which comes after a behind-the-scenes bidding war with Korea National Oil – is a 16 per cent premium to Addax’s closing share price on Tuesday and more than four times [...]
IDEALISM ISN’T LOST ON CITY ART CROWD June 23, 2009 IF THERE are any City types out there itching to use the dwindling financial job prospects as a catalyst for a change of career, they could do worse than to heed the advice of Thomas Ostenberg. Just before the recession of the early Nineties, Ostenberg decided to leave his career as an independent financial consultant, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 23, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES GCL-POLY TO BUY SOLAR ASSETS FOR $3.4BNGCL-Poly Energy, a Hong Kong-based power plant operator, said yesterday it would pay HK$26.4bn (£2bn) to acquire solar assets from its chairman as it seeks to expand in the green energy sector. The company said it would buy Jiangsu Zhongeng, a supplier of polysilicon and wafers used [...]
CAPTURING YIELD IN THE FX MARKET June 23, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFTWHICH investment thesis will be proven right – the recovery trade or the return of risk aversion? For the past few months, the recovery trade has dominated, with risk currencies gaining on the US dollar. Recently, however, that rally has stalled and the bears have re-emerged, arguing that the recovery [...]
Recovery hopes are pushing smart traders towards metals contracts June 17, 2009 BELOW me, dozens of men in dark suits are standing in a ring, yelling at each other and making special hand signals. Around the ring clerks are sitting, often with a telephone held to each ear and giving a running commentary down the line on the events unfolding in front of them. In the cacophony [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 15, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESBLU-RAY SALES FAIL TO OFFSET DECLINE OF DVDHollywood’s expensive bet on Blu-ray technology has failed to prevent a sharp decline in home entertainment sales, dealing a blow to the film industry as it grapples with the global economic downturn. The industry’s revenues fell by more than $2.6bn in 2008 as sales of standard DVDs [...]
Porsche: China will usurp Germany in three years June 15, 2009 CARMAKER Porsche said yesterday that emerging superpower China could usurp Germany as its second-largest market in less than three years, as wages in the country go up and demand for its sports sedan rockets. “All premier manufacturers in China are showing good results,” Porsche’s China boss Helmut Broeker said. The carmaker is planning to add [...]
Chinalco says Rio to blame for failed deal June 11, 2009 CHINESE metals conglomerate Chinalco yesterday said Rio Tinto was to blame for the failure of the pair’s mega-deal – not the Australian government. Australia had an “open and welcoming” attitude to its failed $19.5bn (£11.7bn) bid to invest in Rio Tinto, Chinalco President Xiong Weiping said yesterday. The deal collapsed last week because of factors [...]
China poised to lead recovery June 11, 2009 CHINESE investment surged in May, fanning hopes the world’s third-largest economy may lead a global recovery, although a record slump in Japan’s first quarter GDP reinforced expectations any rebound would be slow. China’s investment pick-up, which came on the back of large government stimulus spending, offset surprisingly weak figures for exports and imports, which both [...]