U.S. industrial giants need to be better than good 25 Apr 2018 Boeing shares took off after the $200 bln plane maker beat forecasts and raised its outlook. Rivals with strong earnings that cast even faint doubt on the future, like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed, lost market value. With equities priced for perfection, investors are seeking it.
GE can get ahead of chairman-CEO trend 25 Apr 2018 The conglomerate defeated a shareholder proposal to separate the top jobs. But 41 pct of investors supported the measure, up from 24 pct a year ago. Double-titled boss John Flannery could pre-empt an embarrassing rebuke next year, and improve governance, by embracing a split now.
Twitter’s international flight may prove fleeting 25 Apr 2018 Strong overseas growth helped the social-media outfit boost sales by 21 pct in the first quarter. As Facebook has shown, it can be relatively easy to find people internationally to use a digital service. Making money on them, however, becomes progressively harder.
Hadas: Debt overload is an easy problem to solve 25 Apr 2018 Three financial revolutions would be enough to bring down debt. Tax corporate debts, don’t subsidise them. Let the public share unearned gains on land. And replace government debt with newly printed money. These ideas may sound too radical – until the next mega-crisis arrives.
Sky upside depends on Disney-Fox irrationality 25 Apr 2018 Brian Roberts’ Comcast formalised a $31 bln bid for the UK group. Rival suitors Bob Iger and Rupert Murdoch, of Disney and Fox, will struggle to match the U.S. cable giant’s synergies. Sky investors betting on a counteroffer must hope the media moguls ditch financial logic.
Viewsroom: America puts ZTE in the sin bin 25 Apr 2018 The Trump administration’s decision to ban U.S. companies from selling to the Chinese telecom giant is seriously hurting the company's business. And there’s no easy plan B for ZTE. Also: China has a new way to measure unemployment. Should investors take it seriously?
Water M&A fight puts governance center stage 24 Apr 2018 Eversource’s bid to upset SJW’s $750 mln deal with CWS is a close call on financial grounds. The interloper feels unfairly shut out, though, because SJW’s CEO ran the target until last year. And Eversource’s last big merger was messy. Watchdogs have to navigate choppy currents.
Wells Fargo shareholders give CEO welcome respite 24 Apr 2018 Owners overwhelmingly backed executive pay and directors at the bank’s at times ill-tempered annual meeting. It’s Tim Sloan’s first good news after a slew of regulatory hits. He owes Chair Betsy Duke some thanks. His task of transforming the firm’s culture may not be so easy.
United and Equifax boost GE chairman-CEO splitters 24 Apr 2018 The airline says having an independent chair lets CEO Oscar Munoz focus on running the company. Equifax is keeping the double act it adopted after last year’s massive hack. It’s recognition there are two jobs that need doing. Beleaguered GE is looking increasingly out of step.
U.S. sanctions rethink is only partly reassuring 24 Apr 2018 A Treasury decision to delay the effects of sanctions on Rusal and allow it to disentangle itself from Oleg Deripaska has boosted the shares of the Russian group. But it leaves U.S. policy harder to gauge. That doesn’t augur well for next month’s crunch decision on Iran.
Bookie investors misjudge odds in political casino 24 Apr 2018 William Hill, Paddy Power Betfair and GVC collectively lost 1 bln stg in value on reports Britain may cap betting-machine stakes and hike levies. That’s worse than feared, but not unimaginable given low UK gambling taxes. Smarter investors would have seen the writing on the wall.
Verizon better staid than reckless 24 Apr 2018 The $200 bln telecom firm's earnings met expectations, but rivals are otherwise engaged bidding for media companies. Verizon hasn't yet left its comfort zone, beside a half-hearted attempt for parts of Rupert Murdoch’s empire. When others are paying high prices, that's reassuring.
UK slide raises Santander’s modest bar to success 24 Apr 2018 Net profit in its British unit dropped 21 pct, blotting the Spanish bank’s solid first quarter. Strong growth in Brazil and Spain, however, more than made up for Brexit-related jitters. More of the same should allow Santander to hit its full-year earnings and dividend targets.
Google’s owner starts to look like Alphabet soup 23 Apr 2018 The tech group’s $9.4 bln of earnings came with new noise. It adjusted the way it accounts for investments like Uber, moved some smart-home appliances into Google and now stresses “impressions” over clicks. Investors wanting concrete measurements are getting squishy ones instead.
Lampert gives Sears something to grin and bear 23 Apr 2018 The hedge fund manager, also CEO and largest owner of the flailing retailer, wants to buy its assets. Sure, there’s a chance he is getting an opportunistic deal. But Toys R Us shows that for retailers, bankruptcy risk is real. Lampert’s last ditch may be the least bad outcome.
USG bid upsets theory of the free-lunch Buffett 23 Apr 2018 Building-supplies maker Knauf is getting more hostile in its $5.9 bln bid for USG, whose biggest shareholder Berkshire Hathaway seems ready to sell. More recent buyers may not like the meager premium. Investing alongside Warren Buffett is no guarantee of aping his success.
Europe tests limits of net neutrality benefits 23 Apr 2018 Countries like Britain and the Netherlands are taking a strict approach to rules on treating internet traffic equally whereas the United States may roll them back. If opponents of net neutrality are right, Europeans will end up with less investment in networks and worse services.
Subsea 7 can still save McDermott from itself 23 Apr 2018 The Oslo-listed oil services group has lobbed in a $2 bln offer for its U.S. counterpart. Subsea 7’s bid looks low, and hinges on McDermott ditching an agreed deal with CB&I. But CB&I’s sale of Stone & Webster to Toshiba is a bad precedent, and Subsea 7 can afford to pay more.
Utility deal provides banquet for regulatory feast 23 Apr 2018 CenterPoint Energy’s $6 bln swoop for Vectren gives state watchdogs a chance to extract their pound of flesh for customers. As with many electric company M&A, there’s no number given on synergies. That leaves investors wondering if they’ll receive any juice at all.
U.S. bond yields may be throwing investors a curve 23 Apr 2018 The difference between short- and long-term Treasury rates is the smallest since before the financial crisis, raising fears of a coming recession. Yet the yield curve is a flawed warning, sometimes flashing years before a downturn hits. There are far better things to worry about.