Yahoo’s play for time shows weakness of its hand 5 Mar 2008 The internet company has extended the deadline for nominating directors. It can now delay its annual meeting, giving it time to fight Microsoft s unsolicited bid. If Yahoo could win a proxy fight or had a credible alternative plan it wouldn t need to do this.
Battle for Colonial looks far from over 4 Mar 2008 It s not clear whether Dubai Investment Corp has really walked away from its E3bn bid for the troubled Spanish property company. Shareholders should hope not. The share price is plummeting and there is a mountain of debt. The indebted biggest holders lack bargaining power.
Exclusive: Brevan Howard to list new $500m fund 4 Mar 2008 The UK hedge fund is hoping to capitalise on the performance of BH Macro, its existing permanent capital vehicle, and growing investor appetite for listed funds. The timing looks smart providing investors aren t spooked by recent hedge fund blowups.
Markets and politics clash in rice price explosion 4 Mar 2008 Less than 10% of the world s rice is sold on anything like an open market. The price of the rest is government controlled. So there s something artificial in the neardoubling of the traded price in the last year. But the potential political implications are all too real.
Shunned sovereign funds find friends in football 4 Mar 2008 Politicians are wary of the intentions of SWFs. The fans of the Liverpool soccer club have a different view. They blame US owners and their pennypinching ways for the side s performance dip. Their support should comfort Dubai as it makes a second run at the club.
MBIA’s hothead CEOs don’t do it any favours 4 Mar 2008 Gary Dunton railed against allegedly unscrupulous short sellers and unfair ratings agencies. His successor, Jay Brown, has now taken up the cudgel. MBIA s shareholders might be better off if the bond insurer's bosses stopped slinging blame for its problems, and solved them.
Spacs shouldn’t be considered a bear market hedge 4 Mar 2008 Issuers say investors are snapping up shares of blank cheque IPOs even as they shun regular IPOs because there is little downside. But that s only true if the manager doesn t buy anything. If he does and he has every incentive to do so investors can easily lose out.
Pluthero’s plan to speed up C&W backfires 4 Mar 2008 Investors don t think much of the lofty UK growth targets set by the telecoms group s boss. Its shares fell 10%. C&W s history of failing to live up to promises may be one reason for the fallout. Pluthero s potential exit before the going gets really tough may be another.
Premier debt could be hard to digest 4 Mar 2008 Shares in the heavily indebted food manufacturer shot up 10% today after it struck a new deal with its banks and halved its dividend. But the company is eating into capex this year rather than its huge debt pile. If 2008 is as bad as last year, it'll have to go back to its banks.
Gold is a better buy than oil 4 Mar 2008 Both gold and oil recently made price history. But while oil is close to its alltime high in real terms, gold is less than half its 1980 real level. Gold is a superior investment for another reason also whereas oil s price elasticity is low, gold s appears to be negative.
Bulldog baits SEC on hedge fund advertising 3 Mar 2008 Fund manager Phil Goldstein thinks regulators are unfairly preventing US hedge funds from marketing their businesses, putting the funds in the same category as purveyors of pornography. Goldstein has embarrassed the SEC before, and has a case this time, too.
Chavez fancies a distracting Colombian war 3 Mar 2008 Venezuela s president, Hugo Chavez, has sent tanks to the Colombian border and spoken of war against the Israel of the Americas . Chavez has disturbing imperial dreams. But he also wants to distract Venezuelans from shortages and soaring inflation.
UK should learn from resilient buy-to-let market 3 Mar 2008 Buytolet investors are riding out the UK property storm. There s a chronic shortage of rental housing which developers would like to address. Right now the government tries to require affordable housing for buyers. Supporting rental development might be a better way.
Tanker contract will not clear the skies for Eads 3 Mar 2008 A US Air Force contract for Airbus tankers represents good news for the troubled FrenchGerman aircraft maker. But it is not salvation. The deal may not be as big as it looks and EADS still faces serious turbulence.
No new alarms from HSBC but old ones keep ringing 3 Mar 2008 Europe s biggest bank grew profit 10% despite the subprime crisis, which it was first to flag. But there s little consolation here. Hopes that emerging markets might be immune from US sickness look exaggerated and a US recovery could be delayed.
What will break the dollar’s fall? 3 Mar 2008 The greenback has crossed the $1.50 euro line and is closing in on Y100, $1000 gold and the $1 Swiss franc. Traders are murmuring about an international crisis of confidence in the world s megadebtor. It may take a new global currency accord to stop the dollar rot.
Will the real Barack Obama please stand up? 3 Mar 2008 His recent promise to renegotiate NAFTA and his campaign s subsequentlydenied reassurance to Canada are disquieting. His advisors are moderate, but Obama has been rated the US Senate s most liberal member. So which is he: thoughtful moderate or closet extremist?
Carlyle up to old tricks with Sarko hire 3 Mar 2008 The US private equity firm insists it is hiring the French president s halfbrother purely for his investment banking expertise. But Carlyle has always understood the value of political connections it would be surprising if it didn t hope to use them.
Microsoft takes Google battle to the clouds 3 Mar 2008 The software giant has unveiled new online subscription services cloud computing for businesses. Google s cheaper version of similar services has proved underwhelming so far. But Microsoft s new efforts and its bid for Yahoo shows just how worried it is by the trend.
UTC’s offer is a quick fix for Diebold 3 Mar 2008 At first blush, United Technologies' $3bn bid for Diebold looks a bit punchy for a fixerupper. But while Diebold has a few warts, it's hardly a broken company. And UTC just might have the right tools to make it work.
President Medvedev just might change Russia 2 Mar 2008 The new presidentelect is Putin s anointed heir, but doesn t have the same background or ideas. Western countries can hope for more liberal policies, but not yet. Medvedev can t do anything until and unless he gets firm control of the security services.