John Casey, FT
Lex: Anglo American
Anglo’s CEO talked about many issue during the results presentation, but was deafeningly silent on the one most people wanted to hear about: Xstrata
“I’ve got nothing to say,” was, in effect, the sum of Cynthia Carroll’s defence when Anglo American’s chief executive was quizzed about Xstrata’s nil-premium merger proposal.
Lex: UK house prices
Positive signs from the UK housing market do not translate into a recovery.
It would be remarkable if the British housing market really had stabilised, given that the economy is some six months into the steepest recession experienced since World War II.
Lex: Santander
Santander has done well in turning around its Brazilian bank, but is it time to cash out?
Santander’s decision to issue new shares equivalent to a 15 per cent stake in its Brazilian bank has therefore fuelled concerns that Spain’s biggest bank may secretly need more capital.One explanation is that Santander’s chairman,
Lex: BP
The oil giant’s numbers look good at first glance, but upon closer inspection there is still much work to be done.
It all looks fairly rosy, until you peer more closely into the numbers. The challenge that BP faces is common to all oil companies:
Lex: Hedge funds
Cash may have been pouring into hedge funds at a faster rate in the past quarter, but the little fish may soon find themselves on the hook…
The hedge fund industry remains shakey and needs to string together a series of quarters of stable returns to soothe investors’ nerves.
Lex: DeBeers
DeBeers is struggling as shoppers tone down the bling, but perhaps more significantly, it could cause trouble for Anglo American in the near future.
De Beers is a small carat in Anglo’s bejewelled crown.
Lex: Apple
Sales of Macs may have dipped, but the iPhone has more than made up for it.
There are two lessons here for investors. First, despite a confidence-sapping lack of communication about the health of co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs during his recent mediacal leave,
Lex: Iceland’s rehabilitation
Iceland’s plan to save its banks looks good on the surface, but there are at least three problems with it.
First, the agreement to compensate British and Dutch retail savers the $5.5bn they deposited in internet bank Icesave requires parliament’s approval.
Lex: China and the US dollar
There is a lot of talk about the end of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, but most of it is hot air…for the time being anyway.
For all the tough talk, foreign central banks are not yet turning away from the dollar.
Lex: Hudunit
China’s heavy-handed tactics in arresting Stern Hu, Rio Tinto’s top iron ore executive in China, have done it no favours, but the effect on iron ore prices is still unclear.
The wider impact, meanwhile,
Lex: Quantitative easing in the UK
The Bank of England is practising the new art of macro-prudentialism by easing off on QE, but this may be only a pause.
It makes sense for the Bank to take a break. The world economy seems to be on the mend.
Lex: China loan growth
China is awash with more credit than it knows what to do with, but banks may be storing up trouble.
China’s banking regulator, however, is increasingly fretful, noting on Tuesday that rampant credit growth “poses risks”
Lex: Vale/Anglo/Xstrata
As the Brazilian miner bolsters its reserves, it is time for Cynthia Carroll and Mick Davis to have a chat.
The well-heeled bankers who dine at the same Johannesburg restaurants Anglo and Xstrata frequent say that Anglo chief executive Cynthia Carroll should at least meet her counterpart,
Lex: Samsung
Does the upbeat second quarter earnings forecast from Asia’s biggest technology group signal a broader tech recovery?
As the country’s biggest exporter, what is good for Samsung Electronics is good for Korea – and the prospect of a fivefold increase in consolidated operating profit from the first quarter is indubitably good.
Lex: Lloyds Banking Group
Whoever becomes the new chairman of Lloyds, the first thing he should do is get rid of the chief executive, Eric Daniels.
The current arrangement , which allows Mr Daniels to escape his share of responsibility,
Lex: The return of growth capital
Private equity firms are continuing their evolution into “alternative asset managers” by returning to their roots while simultaneously branching out into other areas such as mezzanine loans, property and infrastructure.
Lex: Anglo American
Are we watching a replay of Rio-BHP? And will shareholder reaction be the same?
Even if Anglo manages to avoid letting its biggest customer, China, inside its business by selling to a Gulf investor, shareholders have little reason to like this deal much more than they liked Rio/Chinalco.
Lex: King over the water
Mervyn King is hardly the only central bank governor of a high deficit country to be facing off against his government, but he may have the toughest battle on his hands.
In testimony to a parliamentary committee on Wednesday,
Lex: China trade spat
China’s trade row with the rest of the world over bauxite, phosphorous and chickens is Punch and Judy politics on a global scale. Its real significance, though, is the growing engagement of the world’s third-largest economy with its most important international trade tribunal,
Lex: Plenty of room at MySpace
Let’s hear it for Owen van Natta. MySpace’s new chief executive is taking the tough decisions that the site’s founders wouldn’t. Plans to cut a third of the struggling social network’s workforce are a late but necessary step.
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,
Lex: UK housing
Set aside the nonsense about the return of gazumping. Ignore the men and women driving green minis telling homebuyers they’ll have to move fast to snap up the bargain that’s languished unsold since last summer.
Lex: How to break a currency peg
The conventional wisdom is that Latvia, like all countries with pegged exchange rates, cannot devalue. If it did, the cost of its foreign currency borrowings would rocket; private borrowers would go bankrupt.
LEX on the Rio salvage job
Uncertainties remain over how the Chinese may respond to Rio’s cash call, Lex noted on Friday. And there’s still the little matter of competition approval. But some sort of Rio/BHP tie-up was always the logical path to take.