LISTED PRODUCT NEWS September 22, 2010 BLACKROCK’S ISHARES OFFERS NEW ETFS The Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) platform of BlackRock, iShares has launched a new swap-based product platform, which gives exposure to India and Russia. This development is in response to the growing appetite for exposure to difficult to access markets. The first products to roll off the platform and list on [...]
HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR HAS POP AT GOLDMAN September 22, 2010 HOLLYWOOD director Oliver Stone is clearly a very brave man, having taken a figurative pop at not one, but two of the world’s most successful businessmen in the past week. Just a few days ago, it emerged that Stone – currently on a publicity flash tour to coincide with the opening of his new film, [...]
Imperial Tobacco says it is on target for forecasts September 22, 2010 IMPERIAL Tobacco Group said yesterday it had suffered no further deterioration in volumes in its fourth quarter. Full-year volumes at the Lambert & Butler and Fortuna maker were down by around the same 4.3 per cent seen at the nine-month stage, contrasting with its statement in July when it reported volumes had worsened from a [...]
Imperial Tobacco trading hitting forecasts September 22, 2010 Imperial Tobacco, the world’s No.4 cigarette group, said its cigarette volume were in line with the 4.3 per cent fall seen at its 9-month stage as its financial performance stayed in line with its own expectations. The group, which acquired Franco-Spanish group Altadis in January 2008, said its global key cigarette brands continued to perform [...]
Severstal plans London float September 21, 2010 RUSSIAN steel group Severstal is expected to launch a float of its gold mining division in London later this year. Severstal, which owns a portfolio of gold assets in Russia and west Africa, is likely to sell off around 30-35 per cent of the company, retaining a large controlling stake for itself. The float is [...]
Fund managers are seeking Brazilian market exposure September 21, 2010 ARE CIVITS the new BRICs? The emerging market acronym – BRICs – standing for Brazil, Russia, India and China has been cast aside for CIVITS, the latest buzzword for China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa. But rather than get excited by the new entries, some fund managers are chasing after the developing middle [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BOND STRATEGY LED TO BIG WIN AFTER LEHMAN The collapse of Lehman Brothers and central banks’ unorthodox monetary policies distorted markets to create some of the biggest pricing anomalies ever documented in bond trading, according to research from leading US academics. A paper from the US National Bureau of Economic Research claims to [...]
Carlsberg eyes cider sales September 15, 2010 Danish brewer Carlsberg yesterday said successful launches in Russia of Somersby cider and Eve, a fruit flavoured malt beverage aimed at women, meant it could look to products other than core brands for growth. Chief executive Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen also said the world’s fourth-biggest brewer was to target women in general and northern and western [...]
Spies and?Russians in classic le Carré London September 15, 2010 OUR KIND OF TRAITOR by john le carré Viking, £18.99 A LE Carré book is an event whether you’re a fan or not. He is the last great British thriller writer, a former spy for MI5 and MI6, and a man with an intellectually political core. He also manages to provide page-turners in a way [...]
Unloved European equities are cheap and attractive September 14, 2010 IT WAS not so long ago that European equities were underloved and underowned. A combination of the sovereign debt crisis and fears of a patchy economic recovery saw investors dumping European-listed stocks in favour of almost anything else. Global fund allocations to European equities languish at around 13 per cent, close to the lows of [...]