Neil Hume
The Iron Lady
Meet Gina Rinehart.
She’s the richest person in Australia, and if the iron ore price holds, the daughter of Australian mining pioneer, Lang Hancock, could soon be the world’s richest woman — a position currently occupied by the Wal-Mart widow Christy Walton.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- Hey United Nations, you owe me a $1 trillion.
- What really caused the Eurozone debt crisis.
- John Paulson’s Disadvantage Plus.
- I’ve always kind of enjoyed talking to eurocrats.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- Blacks Leisure says equity worthless; talks over sale of assets and brands continue — statement.
- Haverford walks away from Omega Insurance — statement.
- EC approves Roche’s Avastin for use in ovarian cancer — statement.
2012 – the year of the double dip
Festive cheer seems to be in short supply at Capital Economics:
– We don’t have high hopes for 2012. In fact, we continue to think that the UK will re-enter recession. Output could already be contracting and is likely to continue to fall throughout most of next year.
Markets Live transcript 22 Dec 2011
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:08 on 22 Dec 2011. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT Bryce Elder/FT NHHola NHBreak open the bubbly NHIt’s the last ML of 2011
FT Alphaville – Xmas opening hours
AV will be taking a little break over the festive period — from midday on December 23rd until January 3rd.
OK, it’s an extended break. But it’s been a hectic year and the team need to recharge their batteries. Of course,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- International Airlines Group signs binding agreement to buy BMI for £172.5m — statement.
- A small country will leave the Eurozone says chairman of RBS — report.
Markets Live transcript 21 Dec 2011
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:20 on 21 Dec 2011. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT Bryce Elder/FT NHHola Rabble NHsorry we are late
The ECB’s all you can eat cheap money buffet – a primer
Ahead of Wednesday’s main event – the 3-year Long Term Refinancing Operation – we present a brief preview via Rabobank.
It brings together much of what we have been writing about over the past couple of days – the sharp decline in demand for the Main Refinancing Operation on Tuesday and the take up for the one-day fine tuning,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- Thorntons warns on profits again; blames increased promotional activity and poor consumer sentiment – statement.
- Takeover target Phoenix Group says CFO to leave in February;
Covert transfers and the SMP
We are indebted to Marc Ostwald of Monument Securities for this:
AMSTERDAM, Dec 20 (Reuters) – The Dutch central bank cancelled its interim dividend, thereby increasing the government’s budget deficit,
A €360bn LTRO?
The ECB has announced the result of Tuesday’s fine tuning operation.
(Click to enlarge)
You will note that just shy of €142bn was allotted in this one-day operation. This is important because it provide an important clue as to the demand for Wednesday’s main event — the eagerly awaited 3-year Long Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO).
Markets Live transcript 20 Dec 2011
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:27 on 20 Dec 2011. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT Bryce Elder/FT neil collins NHHola NHWelcome to ML
Viva Espana [updated]
The Spanish auction results are out…
RTRS -SPAIN SELLS EU5.64 BLN OF BILLS VS MAXIMUM TARGET OF EU4.5 BLN
RTRS-SPAIN SAYS 3-MONTH BILL AVERAGE YIELD 1.735 PCT VS 5.110 PCT AT PREVIOUS AUCTION
RTRS-SPAIN SAYS 6-MONTH BILL AVERAGE YIELD 2.435 PCT VS 5.227 PCT AT PREVIOUS AUCTION
…
Inside the mind of a gold bug
Warning: this is a very scary place to be. Rampant inflation, conspiracy, socialism, totalitarianism and Ayn Rand can be found at every turn.
Presenting the latest Thunder Road report from former resource analyst Paul Mylchreest:
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- AstraZeneca warns full year earnings will be at the lower end of expectation after two late stage drug failures — statement.
- Novartis ends study of drug top treat high blood pressure — statement.
Christmas cancelled for GKP investors
It’s taken more than a day and a half but Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has finally responded to speculation that Exxon Mobil was considering a £7bn, or 800p a share, cash offer.
And guess what, the Kurdish explorer is not in takeover talks but it remains committed to creating value for shareholders blah,
Everything must go at HMV
Alternative title: What happens when lenders take effective control of an ailing PLC.
The answer to that, of course, is they make you sell decent businesses to pay back debt. To wit, we learn on Monday morning that HMV has been forced to put its profitable HMV Live business up for sale.
Bob the Bear is expecting more of the same in 2012
The traditional 2012 outlook report is not for Bob ‘The Bear’ Janjuah and his sidekick Kevin Gaynor. The Nomura strategists want to keep things simple and to the point.
So their final note of the year comes in the form of Q&A.
Van man down
Presented without comment.
The price action in Webvan 2.0 Ocado on Monday morning following a warning of lower than expected underlying profits because of further capacity problems at its state of the art warehouse in Hertfordshire.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Ocado warns on its measure of profits; sees full EBITDA between £27.5m to £28.5; analysts expecting £34.3m — statement.
- HMV puts Live business up for sale;
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- National Grid loses Long Island Power Authority Management contract — statement.
- Sports Direct International decides not to procede with offer for Blacks Leisure — statement.
How big could the Sarko trade go?
Some €15-45bn for Spanish banks and their government’s bonds at least, according to Morgan Stanley’s Huw Van Steenis, who has just produced a very interesting note on the carry trade du jour – or to use its technical name the ECB’s 3-year LTRO.
Markets Live transcript 15 Dec 2011
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:16 on 15 Dec 2011. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT Paul Murphy Bryce Elder/FT neil collins NHHola rabble NHRight,
Prepare for the 3-year LTRO
Well, it’s the only explanation we can come up with for this morning’s up-sized Spanish bond auction.
The government had been looking to sell up to €3.5bn of paper, but ended up knocking out almost €6bn.
Disaster du jour
There’s a distinct whiff of burnt fingers in the City of London on Thursday morning.
The share price of punter’s favourite Pursuit Dynamics has crashed and burned after the fluid technology specialist announced a big revenue shortfall,
Markets Live transcript 14 Dec 2011
Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 12:25 on 14 Dec 2011. Participants in this chat were: Neil Hume, FT Bryce Elder/FT NHHola Rabble NHsorry for being one minute late
You have 24 months to comply
Shock, horror.
Just days after the London Stock Exchange paid a jaw dropping price for FTSE, the index provider has decided not take the nuclear option and force a 50 per cent minimum free float requirement on foreign companies listing on London.