| » America's Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit to try to block AT&T's $39 billion proposed takeover of T-Mobile USA, which would create America's largest mobile-phone carrier by far. Shortly before the lawsuit was made public AT&T offered to return 5,000 call-centre jobs to America, if the government approved its acquisition. See article » Exxon Mobil sealed a strategic partnership with Rosneft, a Russian state-controlled oil company, through which they will explore energy reserves in Russia's Arctic region. The deal, signed in the presence of Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, is a blow to BP, which thought it had secured a similar agreement with Rosneft, only to see it unravel in the face of opposition from its existing Russian partners. See article
You just can't win  » Meanwhile, one of BP's Moscow offices was raided by officials. They were acting on the orders of a court that is hearing a lawsuit brought by minority shareholders in BP's Russian venture, who supported BP's Rosneft deal. » After a long pursuit Macarthur Coal, an Australian producer of a specialist coal used in steelmaking, succumbed to a sweetened takeover offer of A$4.8 billion ($5.2 billion) made jointly by America's Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker. » Sino-Forest, one of China's biggest wood producers, said that its chief executive had stepped down, after the Ontario Securities Commission accused the company of potential fraud and suspended trading in its shares on the Toronto stock exchange. This comes after an allegation that Sino-Forest was overstating the amount of timber it owned. The claim was made by Muddy Waters Research, a firm that "sees through appearances to a Chinese company's true worth", and which shorted Sino-Forest's stock. The company says it is reviewing the allegation. » Cosco, China's biggest shipping firm, came under more fire for withholding payments for vessels it had chartered, as it haggles for cheaper rates. Moody's warned that the dispute threatened the creditworthiness of the entire dry-bulk industry, and the boss of the Baltic Exchange called on Cosco to honour its contracts. Some shipowners said payments had resumed.
Still thinking about it » At an annual symposium of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Ben Bernanke again committed the Federal Reserve to taking further action if the American economy deteriorated. But the Fed's chairman disappointed markets by not outlining concrete proposals, especially for a third round of quantitative easing, or bond purchases. See article » Christine Lagarde raised eyebrows at Jackson Hole by calling for the "urgent" recapitalisation of European banks, if necessary through the European Financial Stability Facility, which has been set up to aid euro-zone economies. The new head of the IMF claimed that this was needed to cut "the chains of contagion", but some officials criticised her for portraying the banks' problem as one of insufficient capital when, they said, it had more to do with securing liquidity. » Bank of America took another step to bolster its equity by selling half of its 10% stake in China Construction Bank, which will reap it $3.5 billion in additional Tier-1 capital. This came not long after the bank's announcement of a $5 billion investment from Warren Buffett. BofA's share price has been battered this year amid worries that it had inadequate capital. » A row began in Britain about the timing of reforms to the banking industry, less than two weeks before the Vickers commission is due to report its final recommendations. Groups representing big businesses are arguing for a delay in implementing any restructuring that could dampen bank lending and crush economic recovery. » Eurobank EFG and Alphabank agreed to merge and form what will be the biggest bank in Greece. Investors responded positively to the news in the hope of further mergers that will help cut costs at Greek banks. See article
Shaken, not stirred  » Various surveys showed a much sharper slide than had been expected in consumer confidence in America, Britain and the euro area. America's GDP growth rate was revised down to 1% at an annualised rate in the second quarter. » Barnes & Noble posted another quarterly loss, dragged down by a continuing decline in sales of paper books at its stores. But the book retailer's share price soared, as it also reported that its Nook e-reader business was growing rapidly, taking a share of up to 27% of the American market in e-books and cutting into the Kindle's dominant position. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment