123jump.com Staff
28 Jan, 2008
New York City
UK stocks fell 1.4% or 80.10 to 5,788.90 after UK home prices rose at the slowest pace in eighteen months. The price increase declined for the fourth month in a row hurting the trading sentiment in stocks. UK households spent an average of
123jump.com Staff
28 Jan, 2008
New York City
Alliance Data deal with the entities controlled by Blackstone appears to be in jepordy. Allinace had agreed to a deal in May 2007 for a price of $81.75 per share in cash, since then the stock has been cut in half on the weakness in credit market. The stock plunged today after blackstone cited the regulatory hurdle which Alliance believes that the suitor can meet. Alliance board is looking for legal measures to complete the deal.
123jump.com Staff
28 Jan, 2008
New York City
U.S. stocks traded higher after three hours of trading. CME Group and Nymex are in preliminary merger talks valuing Nymex at 11% premium from the closing Friday price. Alliance Data System said that its merger agreement with Blackstone controlled entity may not be completed. Allinace disagrees with the Blackstone assertion of regultory demands to not complete the merger. New home sales in December fell 41% from a year ago and 26.4% for 2007.
123jump.com Staff
28 Jan, 2008
New York City
U.S. stocks rallied ahead of the Fed meeting. Investors hoping that a rate cut of 0.75% last week will be followed by another rate cut of as much as 0.5%. Merger talks between Chicago Merc and Nymex heated up, after both companies confirmed on-going talks. Nymex jumped 11% on the news. Alliance Data Systems plunged 35% after Blackstone Group cited regulatory hurdle to the deal. Alliance disagreed with the assertion. McDonalds dropped 6% after its domestic stores reported weak sales in December.
123jump.com Staff
28 Jan, 2008
New York City
Stocks in Tokyo and Asia fell sharply after comments from the IMF Chief suggested that monetary stimulus alone in the U.S. will not save the expected slowdown in the U.S. economy. He said that a coordinated global fiscal stimulus may be necessary. Separately, local economists in Japan worried that declining consumer spending and wages and worsening economic conditions may drive economy into recession. Shanghai plunged 7% and Singapore, Korea and Taiwan dropped 4%.
123jump.com Staff
04 Feb, 2008
New York City
Australian stocks eded higher as metal prices stayed at elevated levels. Chinalco and Alcoa 9% stake in Rio Tinto lifted stocks of other mining companies. Rio Tinto added 5%. Fortescue added 10% as talks of investment from China made rounds. Separrately BHP said that it has approved a plan to invest $1.2 billion in the Western Australian mining faciity.
ASX 200 index gained 0.67% or 39.40 to close at 5,921.70. Mitsubishi facing difficult sales of a new model may shut its Australian plant down.
123jump.com Staff
25 Jan, 2008
New York City
European markets edged lower in a wild week of trading. Markets in Germany fell as banks reported more subprime losses during the week. Stocks on Friday edged lower as worries related to sub-prime loans persisted. Carlsberg and Heineken agreed to pay nearly 11 billion euros for Scottish & Newcastle. Finnish elevator company Kone reported 26% rise in profit in the fourth quarter. French retailer Casino Guichard rose after it reported 19% rise in revenue in the foruth quarter.
123jump.com Staff
25 Jan, 2008
New York City
U.S.stocks lost the early gains as investors faced the fallout of the drop in bond insunrace ratings. The decline in ratings could cause banks to lose nearly $150 billion in bond portfolio and may force them to seek new capital. Market worried that the current sub-prime crisis is far from over. In the morning stocks gained after Microsoft reported 80% rise in earnings. Honeywell reported 18% increase in earnings, Caterpillar and Lockheed earnings rose 11% and 10% respectively.
123jump.com Staff
25 Jan, 2008
New York City
UK stocks fell after a wild week. Rate decline in the U.S. by 0.75% and fiscal stimulus package from the U.S. lawmakers revived the flagging confidence in the U.S. economy. Stocks in the UK rebounded on Tuesday and Thursday but edged lower on Friday. For the week, FTSE 100 lost nearly 10% and managed to regain nearly all the losses. Imperial Tobacco rose after it plans to gain full control of Spanish tobacco company. Gold rose on South African production problems. Pound rebounded.
123jump.com Staff
25 Jan, 2008
New York City
Scottish & Newcastle agreed to be purchased by Danish Carlsberg and Dutch Heineken. The joint bid at 800 pence per share valued the company at 7.8 billion pounds. The deal still needs approval of shareholders. The three month long battle to gain control of the Scottish brewer took two revised offers from the initial offer at 720 pence. Stocks of Carlsberg and Heineken fell. Carlsberg plans to raise capital through bank debt and equity rights offering.
123jump.com Staff
25 Jan, 2008
New York City
Stocks in Mumbai rebounded shaprly on the hopes that the fiscal stimulus in the U.S. will revive flagging economic growth in the U.S. Sensex recorded record one-day gain for the second time this week with a surge of 6.6% or 1,139.92 to 18,361.66 while the broader CNX S&P Nifty climbed 7% or 349.90 to 5383.35. State Bank of India rose 2.5% to 2,405 rupees after reporting 69.8% rise in net profit to 1,808.64 crore rupees and 33.1% increase in operating income in the third quarter.
123jump.com Staff
25 Jan, 2008
New York City
U.S. stocks edgeg higher in the morning trade but lost its momentum after three hours of trading. Earnings from Caterpillar, Honeywell International, and Microsoft lifted sentiment at the opening. Fiscal stimulus talks from the Whitehouse and top lawmakers in the U.S. Congress helped market regain its footing. Asian markets surged in the overnight trading and the European markets turned lower at close. Gold and oil gained on weak dollar.
123jump.com Staff
25 Jan, 2008
New York City
Hong Kong market index surge led the Asian rally. U.S. fiscal stimulus of $150 billion helped indexes to recover earlier losses in the week. Hang Seng Index gained 6.7% or 1,583.10 to 25,122.37, declining 0.3% for the week, while the China Enterprises Index of H shares rose 8.4% or 1,082.55 at 14,015.75, falling 3.8% for the week. Metal and energy stocks led the gainers.
123jump.com Staff
25 Jan, 2008
New York City
Stocks in Japan and in Asia surged as the U.S. markets closed higher. Investors hoped that the U.S. stimulus plan will help revive the flagging economic growth. Nikkei 225 soared 4.1% or 536.38 to 13,629.16, down 1.7% for the week, while the broader Topix Index rose 4.7% or 60.32 to 1,344.77. Hong Kong and India surged nearly 7% and Australia advanced 5%.
123jump.com Staff
24 Jan, 2008
New York City
Elections in Italy are likely after the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. He lost in the senate by 5 votes. Italy had 61 governments since the World War II. Prodi governmet lasted only 21 months. Societe Generale said that unauthorized trades by a single trader left the bank with a loss of 4.9 billion euros. The bank also wrote-down sub-prime assets of 2 billion loans. Casino Guichard, largest supermarket chain in France, reported sales increase of 19%.
