June, 2009
BAT to buy Bentoel for $494m
British American Tobacco, Europe’s largest cigarette maker, will pay $494m for 85% of Indonesian cigarette company Bentoel, which sells the Star Mild brand of kretek, or clove-flavoured cigarettes, as the UK company seeks to expand in Asia’s third most populous nation,
BHP debt risk rises on speculation
The cost of protecting debt sold by BHP Billiton rose the most in almost eight months this week, on concern that the world’s largest miner may be planning an acquisition, reports Bloomberg. Credit-default swaps on BHP rose 16% to 106.09 on Monday,
Rio faces stiff fundraising costs
Rio Tinto will pay $430m in fees for its $15.2bn rights issue, pushing the costs associated with the miner’s recent fundraising attempts to more than $625m. Rio launches its fully underwritten 21-for-40 rights issue on Wednesday,
Resolution aims big for first acquisition
Clive Cowdery’s Resolution investment vehicle is targeting a larger-than-expected initial acquisition in the £5bn-£7bn price range, using its shares to help fund part of a deal. The price range puts most of the UK listed life and pensions sector within reach of Resolution – apart from the two largest,
Fitch to maintain Japan debt rating
Fitch said it will maintain Japan’s sovereign debt rating at AA- even after Tokyo abandoned its goal of balancing the budget by 2011, reports Bloomberg. Prime minister Taro Aso’s economic advisory panel last week proposed that the government postpone its plan to eliminate the budget deficit to 2019,
Takefuji in Ambac talks after downgrade
Takefuji has entered talks with bond insurance group Ambac after S&P downgraded its credit rating to junk, triggering possible early redemption of Y109bn worth of the Japanese consumer finance group’s asset-backed securities.
SEC allows Madoff to settle civil charges
The US SEC on Tuesday agreed to allow Bernard Madoff to settle civil fraud charges without admitting to any wrong-doing. Madoff, who in March pleaded guilty to 11 charges related to his $64bn Ponzi scheme,
Greenberg defends share move
Hank Greenberg, who was ousted as AIG’s chief executive in 2005, defended the decision to terminate a long-term compensation plan involving a block of the insurer’s shares now at the centre of a $4.3bn lawsuit.
South African ‘Ponzi’ fraud hits UK bosses
British business executives may have lost millions of pounds in what has been described as South Africa’s largest ever Ponzi scheme, reports the Daily Telegraph. Peter Long, chief executive of Tui Travel,
Overnight markets: Mostly down
Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with mining companies and banks sliding on concerns that the global economic recovery may falter after US president Barack Obama predicted the US unemployment rate would rise to 10%.
Executive hole Punch
What’s missing from this Punch Taverns statement released late on Tuesday?
On 15 June 2009 following the Company’s announcement that a total of 375 million new Ordinary shares will be issued a price of 100 pence per share pursuant to the Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer,
Distillate weakness driving gasoline strength
Francisco Blanch, commodities strategist at Merrill Lynch, observes in a recent note to what extent the distillate overhang has now ironically become the primary driver of gasoline strength, and to what degree refineries are switching over to gasoline-max mode to try and make-up for the shortfall:
Insider trading crack down continues
The FSA’s crusade to clean up the City continues apace, with the regulator charging a finance director and two lawyers with eight counts of insider dealing.
From a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon.
More weirdness in the UNG
The United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) exchange-traded continues to mystify, this time by cutting positions over the last few days just when you would expect it not t0: that is, the day that natural gas futures soared by 8.43 per cent (see below chart).
Lex: Investment banks in China
News that the Chinese securities regulator is set to lift a ten-month ban on IPOs has got western investment bankers sitting up straight and adjusting their ties. As Chinese secondary share sales account for over two-fifths of Asian (ex-Japan) equity capital markets volumes so far this year,
GAIM dispatch: the hedge fund outlook
The GAIM conference in Monaco – the largest annual gathering of the hedge fund conference circuit – is suffused with an air of quiet caution this year. Even at last year’s conference, after the fall of Bear Stearns,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville on Tuesday morning,
- The Bank hires an axeman.
- Inventories ahead.
- Lift off for UK syndicated gilt offering.
- Se vende.
-Perception, reality and what the Vix tells us.
Markets live transcript 16 Jun 2009
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:07 on 16 Jun 2009. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy, FT (PM) Neil Hume, FT (NH) PM:Hello PM:Welcome to Markets Live
The Bank hires an axeman
Hey, this should be fun.
The Treasury has just announced that one Adam Posen is to join the Monetary Policy Committee, replacing Tim Besley.
Posen has form. He’s the deputy director of the Peterson Institute in Washington and he’s the man who delivered a riveting piece of Congressional testimony at the end of February,
Perception, reality and what the Vix tells us
So what are mere and easily confused mortals to think?
Here are two headlines from Tuesday’s FT and their accompanying lead paragraphs:
Fears for financial system cut risk appetite:
Risk appetite suffered a sharp deterioration on Monday as fresh uncertainty about the global economy and the financial system prompted investors to shift away from equities,
Lift off for UK syndicated gilt offering
The UK has made a bit of unwanted history on Tuesday morning, becoming the first fully fledged triple-A nation since 2005 forced to sell its debt through a group of banks.
Barclays, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and RBS are hawking £3-5bn of a 25-year 4.5 per cent gilt round the market.
Greenwich: How US institutions are recalibrating strategies
The main conclusions of a new report by Greenwich Associates on how US institutions have responded to the global downturn are hardly surprising – that big US institutions used the the first half of 2009 to re-examine their investment policies,
Se Vende
MADRID, June 16 (Reuters) – The number of houses sold in Spain fell by 47.6 percent in April compared to a year earlier, marking the largest percentage fall in 16-straight months of decline, the National Statistics Institute said on Tuesday.
Bankruptcy battleships
If corporate bankruptices were merely a game of battleships, this, we imagine, is how they might look (H/T Market Folly, via Good Magazine).
Related link:
Why letting Lehman go did crush the financial
Further reading
Elsewhere on Tuesday,
- The problem with ETFs.
- Why ETF providers are not your friends.
- The constant compound interest problem: parts one, two and three.
- California’s unending housing problem.
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Tuesday’s FT,
Gideon Rachman: Democracy could still win in Iran
In the short term, events in Iran are depressing and alarming – a stolen election, violence in the streets,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Tesco sales growth picks up in Q1 – statement.
- Whitbread Q1 sales up 2.5 per cent – statement.
- Game Group trading in line with expectations- update.
- Ted Baker sales up 7.6% in 19 weeks to June 12 statement.
Investor fears cut risk appetite
Risk appetite suffered a sharp deterioration on Monday as fresh uncertainty about the global economy prompted investors to shift from equities, commodities and emerging market assets into the perceived safety of government bonds and the dollar.
Eurozone banks face $283bn in losses
Banks in the 16-nation eurozone face $283bn of further losses this year and next as the recession forces them to write off bad loans, the ECB warned on Monday in its latest financial stability review. The warning,