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Eastern Europe aid plea rejection likely to delay Europe, U.S. recoveries

Posted Mar 2nd 2009 8:00AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: International markets, Eastern Europe, Recession, Financial Crisis

Following the instructions of President John F. Kennedy, "I appreciate candor almost as much as I appreciate good news," we're moving forward with candor, however unpleasant.

Investors take heed: the U.S. recession most likely just got longer.

The European Union, led by Germany, has rejected Eastern Europe's pleas for an aid package of about $228 billion, citing budget concerns in their own Western European countries, Bloomberg News reported Sunday.

The E.U.'s failure to provide aid and fiscal stimulus to Hungary, the Czech republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Poland will hurt both the U.S. and global economies.

Continue reading Eastern Europe aid plea rejection likely to delay Europe, U.S. recoveries

Germany's Merkel says Europe should spearhead financial market reform

Posted Jun 11th 2008 4:09PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: International markets, Other issues, Industry, Politics, Housing

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said continental Europe should take the lead in financial market reform because the "Anglo-Saxon" model of regulation had failed, The Financial Times reported Wednesday.

Merkel, speaking before her meeting with U.S. President Bush and ahead of next month's G-8 leading industrialized nations economic summit, called for a European credit ratings agency to counter-balance Moody's and Standard & Poor's (NYSE: MHP), adding that despite the progress Europe has made with the euro, the financial regulatory framework is still "a strongly Anglo-Saxon dominated system."

Reforms sought by Berlin will include a ban on agency ratings for products they helped to create, new capital adequacy ratios for banks, and the prevention of bank sale of products they don't understand.

London-based economist Mark Chandler told BloggingStocks Wednesday he agrees with Merkel on the need for both financial market reform and a Europe-based counterweight to complement the largely U.S.-based regulatory framework, but is slightly surprised by Merkel's rhetoric.

Continue reading Germany's Merkel says Europe should spearhead financial market reform

DaimlerChrysler sells EADS stake -- shares up 2.8%

Posted Feb 9th 2007 11:11AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Forecasts, Deals, From the boards, Competitive strategy, Daimler (DAI)

DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE:DCX) shares are up 2.8% to $64.51 in early morning trading (10:00 a.m.) after the company announced it sold a third of its stake, or 7.5%, in European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., the parent of planemaker Airbus. The company retained a 15% stake in EADS. A private investment group will pay DaimlerChrysler €1.5 billion ($1.95 billion).

The sale comes ahead of the expected Feb. 14 fourth-quarter results, which should show a decline in net income as Chrysler models lost U.S. market share. DaimlerChrysler will most likely announce a restructuring plan for the Chrysler Group at that time. The disinvestment in EADS shows a continued strategic effort by DaimlerChrysler to focus on its core automotive business.

DaimlerChrysler wanted to sell its entire 22.5% stake in EADS, and have been trying to do so for quite some time. However, political pressures also played a role here as Merkel, the German PM, wanted to keep German control of EADS.

Of course, today DaimlerChrysler also enjoyed an upgrade by Citigroup from Hold to Buy. Citigroup believes that the restructuring plan (yet to be revealed) is a source of optimism, expecting "a Chrysler repair and build strategy." Target price was raised to €60 a share from €45 a share.

We'll just have to wait for next week's results and restructuring plan to see if Citigroup's trust is warranted.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-137.3210,327.08
NASDAQ-28.742,147.31
S&P 500-16.321,094.31

Last updated: November 27, 2009: 12:09 PM

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