UkTimes posts
FeedPosted Nov 5th 2007 9:15AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Google (GOOG), Kraft Foods'A' (KFT)
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MAJOR PAPERS:
- In a setback for U.S. foreign policy, General Musharraf of Pakistan has imposed emergency rule amidst a political crisis, tightly controlling the courts, and media outlets, in addition to holding about 500 government opponents and changing several Supreme Court justices, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
- For the first time in 20 years, the Writers Guild of America, whose members total 12,000, has failed to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, and a strike is expected to take effect today, reported the Wall Street Journal.
- Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) may sell its Post cereals to Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH) for about $2.8B, according to the Wall Street Journal.
OTHER PAPERS:
- The U.K. Times reported that Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) is the frontrunner to acquire a 25% stake in Telekom International, a division of state-controlled Telekom Malaysia.
- Shares of British supermarket chain J Sainsbury (OTC: JSAIY) plunged 18% in London today after Qatar Investment Authority abandoned its GBP10.6B bid for Sainsbury, reported the U.K. Times.
- Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to hold a press conference today to unveil a suite of software for mobile phones that will be based on open-source technology and will be backed by some of the largest wireless industry companies in the world, reported CNet.com.
Posted Nov 1st 2007 9:20AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Ford Motor (F), , NYSE Euronext (NYX)
MAJOR PAPERS:
- Next year the sale of prescription drugs in the U.S is expected to be the slowest in years, resulting from tough regulation and cost-controls, according to IMS Health Inc., a health-care information and consulting firm, and reported by the Wall Street Journal.
- NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) has paid $90M for a 1% stake in Bovespa, the owner of Brazil's largest exchange. The move is seen as an attempt by NYSE Euronext to increase its presence in Brazil, reported the Financial Times.
OTHER PAPERS:
- The U.K. Times reported that British telecom company BT Group (NYSE: BT) is expected to announce that it will cut thousands of jobs when it reports its Q2 results next week.
- Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) has notified pension boards that it is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which believes the company may have violated federal regulations, reported the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
- The Detroit News reported that Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and the UAW talks adjourned at 1am and will continue later this morning. Sources say that progress was made in the talks although no agreement was reached.
Posted Oct 31st 2007 9:00AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Google (GOOG), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), , Verizon Communications (VZ)
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MAJOR PAPERS:
- In a potential breakthrough for Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) , Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodaphone Group's (NYSE: VOD) Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) are both in talks about Google's new mobile phone operating system, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
- Congress approved a seven year extension of ban on Internet tax, voting 402-0, and President Bush is expected to sign the bill, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Stan O'Neal may be gone, but the SEC's enforcement staff is now looking at how Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) informed investors about its $8.4B write-down that forced O'Neal out, reported the Wall Street Journal.
- CLP Holdings (OTC: CLPHY), Hong Kong's largest power company, is planning to bid for electricity assets in Australia, India, Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
OTHER PAPERS:
- The Star reported that life insurance company Manulife Financial Corporation (NYSE: MFC) is open to making acquisitions in Malaysia if suitable opportunities in the country arise, according to Manulife's senior executive vice-president and general manager for Asia, Robert A. Cook.
- The U.K. Times reported that British Airways' (OTC: BAIRY) plans to create a new airline offering flights between Europe and New York have been thrown into disarray after the Federal Aviation Administration threatened to block any increase of air traffic into New York's chronically congested JFK Airport.
Posted Oct 17th 2007 9:10AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Cisco Systems (CSCO), General Motors (GM), Walt Disney (DIS), News Corp'B' (NWS)
MAJOR PAPERS:
OTHER PAPERS:
- General Motors said today that it will lay off 767 workers at its HamTramck assembly plant and cut one of the two shifts, reported the Detroit News.
- Chrysler may eliminate as many as five vehicle models this month, according to the Detroit Free Press, citing a source.
- Brazilian authorities raided Cisco Systems' (NASDAQ: CSCO) vehicles and seized merchandise, following a two-year investigation into alleged tax avoidance on products shipped from offshore havens, reported the U.K. Times.
WEBSITES:
- According to a totally unsubstantiated rumor, News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) MySpace is going to acquire RockYou, a top Facebook application developer, for $800M, reported ValleyWag.com.
Posted Oct 16th 2007 9:10AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Adobe Systems (ADBE), Verizon Communications (VZ)
MAJOR PAPERS:
- Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" column reported that Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) founder and co-chairman John Warnock sold 25K shares for $1.1M last week, according to SEC data.
- The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, last night said that while the housing market will continue to be a "significant drag" on the U.S. economy next year, strong income growth has kept consumer spending steady.
OTHER PAPERS:
- Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) told Congressional investigators that it has provided customers' telephone records to federal authorities in emergency cases without court orders hundreds of times since 2005, reported the Washington Post.
- Ad agency WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPPGY) is in final negotiations to acquire Blast Radius, an Internet agency, reported the U.K. Times.
- Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) is being investigated by the SEC on bribery allegations, according to the U.K. Times.
- Activist investor Knight Vinke is attacking HSBC (NYSE: HBC) once again, according to the U.K. Times.
WEBSITES:
- DigiTimes.com reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) has denied a report by the Ottawa Citizen which speculated that Taiwan Semi was seeking to acquire Canadian design house Emerging Memory Technologies, saying the rumors were false.
- TechCrunch.com reported that Napster (NASDAQ: NAPS) is switching from its desktop client to a fully web based client, enabling users to listen to their music from any computer after logging into the service.
Posted Sep 10th 2007 9:14AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Walt Disney (DIS), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Mattel, Inc (MAT), ,
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MAJOR PAPERS:
- In an effort to stem the flow of weaponry into Iraq, the Pentagon is planning to build its first base near the Iraq-Iran border, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is expected to make concessions with the investment banks putting together $24B in debt for its purchase of First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC), something it had previously been unwilling to do, reported the Wall Street Journal.
- The Bush administration wants to limit the role of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) in the home mortgage crisis, but a number of Democrats, led by New York Senator Schumer, want to increase the authority of both firms by loosening growth constraints, and increase the size of mortgages they can buy in high cost areas, reported the Wall Street Journal.
- While the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) said it extended the deadline earlier this week, the "self-imposed deadline" for an LSE bid passed without a single firm bid, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
OTHER PAPERS:
- The U.K. Times reported that Russian state-controlled energy company Gazprom (OTC: GZPFY) considered making a rival $5B offer for business news company Dow Jones and Company Inc (NYSE: DJ), according to a source.
- The New York Times reported that after three separate recalls of Mattel Inc (NYSE: MAT) toys, Disney (NYSE: DIS) said it would begin testing toys featuring Disney characters, including ones already on store shelves.
Posted Sep 7th 2007 9:00AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, PepsiCo (PEP), NYSE Euronext (NYX)
MAJOR PAPERS:
- "The behavior in what we are observing in the last seven weeks is identical in many respects to what we saw in 1998, what we saw in the stock market crash of 1987, I suspect what we saw in the land boom collapse of 1837 and certainly [the bank panic] 1907," said Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, reported the Wall Street Journal.
- In an attempt to reverse slow North American sales of Gatorade, PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP) is launching a low calorie version, reported the Wall Street Journal.
OTHER PAPERS:
- British arms manufacturer BAE Systems (OTC: BAESY) will reportedly receive a GBP20B deal next week to supply 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia, reported the U.K. Times.
- British telecom company Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) is considering buying the Italian and Spanish operations of Swedish telecom company Tele2, reported the Guardian.
- From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
- NYSE Euronext Inc (NYSE: NYX) runs cash equity exchanges in five countries and six derivative markets worldwide, and Birkelbach Investment Securities feels the stock is "very undervalued."
- The outlook for Access Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ACCP) and ProLindac has vastly improved, said Steven Rouhandeh, CEO of SCO Financial Group, which owns a 30% stake in the company.
- NeoStem Inc (NYSE: NBS) is a tiny company that specializes in collecting, processing, and storing stem cells from healthy adults for their personal medical use, and Equity Dynamics is positive on the company's technology.
Posted Sep 4th 2007 9:13AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Boeing Co (BA),
MAJOR PAPERS:
- Alain Dassas has been named CFO of Nissan Motor Company (NASDAQ: NSANY), filing a position that has remained open for four years, reported the Wall Street Journal. Dassas runs the Formula One race car team at Renault, which has a 44% stake in Nissan.
OTHER PAPERS:
- Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), Lehman Brothers Holdings (NYSE: LEH) and JP Morgan Chase and Company (NYSE: JPM), The banks involved in the underwriting of the TXU Corporation (NYSE: TXU) buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG, have offered to pay the $1B breakup free to convince the private equity buyers to back out, according to the U.K. Times.
- GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) is currently looking for someone to succeed CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier, who will retire next May, and investors are thought to want a CEO that will 'radically overhaul' the company and possible break it up, reported the Guardian.
- The Seattle Times reported that Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) is expected to announce that the first flight of its 787 Dreamliner jet will be delayed at least until late October, according to an inside source.
WEBSITES:
- Herb Greenberg noted in his MarketWatch blog yesterday that International Rectifier Corporation (NYSE: IRF) disclosed on Friday after the market close how it was committing fraud by having a subsidiary hide products already booked as revenue in "off-books warehouses."
Posted Aug 28th 2007 9:00AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Barclays plc ADS (BCS)
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MAJOR PAPERS:
- A contract awarded to American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) by the Department of Homeland Security wasn't put out for bid as is usually required, and is being investigated by the House's Committee on Energy and Commerce, as well as the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
- The Wall Street Journal reported that private equity firm The Carlyle Group has been forced to lend a second $100M to mortgage fund Carlyle Capital, which has cancelled its dividend and is selling assets to meet margin calls, just two months after listing on the Euronext Amsterdam.
- U.S. consumers are defaulting on credit-card payments at a significantly higher rate than last year, raising the prospect that the problems in subprime mortgages will spread to other types of consumer debt, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
- Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) set up a $3B structured finance vehicle on behalf of German bank Sachsen less than three months before Sachsen's recent collapse, reported the Financial Times, which added that the finance vehicle set up by Barclays for the German bank had most of its assets invested in securities backed by prime and subprime U.S. mortgages.
OTHER PAPERS:
Posted Aug 24th 2007 9:10AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Ford Motor (F), Home Depot (HD), Diageo plc (DEO), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP)
MAJOR PAPERS:
- According to people familiar with the matter, Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) was close to accepting about $1.2B less for the sale of its wholesale distribution business to three private-equity firms, but there was uncertainty about whether the deal would close by last night's deadline, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
- Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) CEO Alan Mulally urged the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy and focus on economic growth, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
OTHER PAPERS:
- British energy company BP plc (NYSE: BP) is warning that a fierce environmental campaign may force it to scrap a $3.8B expansion at one of America's biggest oil refineries, reported the U.K. Times.
- From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
- Spirits company Diageo plc (NYSE: DEO) may be the perfect tonic for jittery markets, and could appreciate 20% to 25% annually for several years, said Randy Haase of Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund.
- As household budgets get squeezed, consumers are likely to spend more at discount retailers - and TJX Companies Inc (NYSE: TJX), owner of T.J . Maxx, is one of the best bets.
- In September, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ARNA) will announce 6-month safety review for its lead drug, lorcaserin, an obesity drug, which is in a large phase III test.
Posted Aug 23rd 2007 9:15AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Home Depot (HD), Motorola (MOT), IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), Bank of America (BAC),
MAJOR PAPERS:
- Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is making a $2 billion equity investment in Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC), people familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
- Ticket seller Ticketmaster, which is owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI), has halted talks with concert promoter Live Nation Inc (NYSE: LYV), failing to reach a new, long-term agreement. The talks have "grown acrimonious" over the last year and a half, say people close to the situation, with Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino threatening to start his own ticketing company rather than renewing with Ticketmaster, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Home Depot Inc's (NYSE: HD) sale of its wholesale supply division to a group of private equity firms is in doubt, due to uncertainty about the willingness of three investment banks to fund the deal, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
- The Financial Times reported that Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) lost more than 7% of market share in the handset market in Q2, according to new figures.
OTHER PAPERS:
- Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has reportedly postponed its $1.25B initial public offering, after investors showed little interest in the IPO, reported the U.K. Times.
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