Two big reinsurers in Bermuda could be getting ready to tie the knot. Aspen Insurance Holdings (AHL) is said to be close to buying Ariel, which would be a multi-billion dollar merger.

According to Reinsurance magazine, the companies are "close to signing a merger agreement." None of the financial details have been disclosed yet, but the result would create the largest combined Bermuda and Lloyd's reinsurance operation on the island.

Continue reading Aspen Insurance has urge to merge, sets sights on Ariel

Aspen Insurance has urge to merge, sets sights on Ariel originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's usually sometime around October 1 that I first start seeing the Halloween costumes on the three- and four-year-olds in my neighborhood. A little girl on a morning run September 29 was my first sighting: a slinky tiger suit. It was especially awesome worn with one sleeve off. Last night, my son's friend Jackson came over to play wearing his Flash costume. My girls are equivocating; princesses, Tinkerbell, or the all-pleasing little girl combo, the fairy princess?

Yep. It's all about princesses, and mermaids, and of course, princess mermaids this year. It's Ariel's fault, naturally, she of the Little Mermaid movie re-release and the incessant repetition of "Kiss the Girl" on Disney Radio. As for my four-year-old, he wants to be a pirate. More specifically, a Pirate of the Carivean (his interpretation of "Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest" -- frighteningly enough, he knows to put "Dead Man's Chest" at the end of the title every time he mentions it). Or maybe, he tells me, Diego (of Go, Diego, Go!, part of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA)'s Dora the Explorer franchise on Nick Jr.).

When I saw the Wall Street Journal's piece on popular Halloween costumes this year [subscription required], it got me to thinking: could I recommend stocks based on my considerable Halloween costume field studies?

Most obviously, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is a good bet for your Halloween investing dollar (is there such a thing?) It's princesses and mermaids and pirates, oh my! on the trick-or-treat path this season. But what else?

Continue reading Main Street Indicators: Halloween costumes possess your stock picks

Main Street Indicators: Halloween costumes possess your stock picks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.