The Lex Column:
*Countryslide – Bank of America caught a falling knife with its $2-billion investment in Countrywide. The mortgage lender’s shares have since plunged another 70%.
*Airline mergers - It’s chilly outside and fuel is too dear. Why not climb into bed together?
*Northern Rock’s (NRK) slide - Northern Rock’s book of mortgages yields in the order of 6%. No-one will lend it serious money at less than 6%.
The Lombard Column:
*All must heed the Ballad of Sir John Harvey-Jones (Honoring the memory of the busineesman who died this week).
*Rights and wrongs – Receivership or rights issue? You decide (Paragon (PAG)/Intermediate Capital (ICP)/Cookson (CKSN)).
*The other Sir John – Sir Jon Rose of Rolls Royce (RR.) has committed his company to what he calls “a continuing trend towards Globalisation.”
Feature:
*Questions answered as deadline looms (Northern Rock (NRK)).
Feature:
*Consuming passions are in transition (although spending less, shoppers are still buying, but their habits have changed).
*Media stocks suffer as investors fear downturn.
*Home retailers see festive sales rise.
*Renewed push abroad just as UK looks shopped out.
Feature:
*Rolls-Royce (RR.) to cut 6% of its global workforce – Greater output frames company strategy.
The Weekend Share Watch Column:
*Amec (AMEC) – Mr Brikho appears to have positioned the company well to maintain momentum.
*AG Barr (BAG) – Healthy options can add some fizz. Compared to Britvic, AG Barr may be the more resilient.
*Puricore (PURI) – The stock is certainly cheap, but this a long play and its broker, Nomura Code, expects the company to move into profit in 2009.
The Neil Hume on London Column:
*Why drugs may not work for investors – This week the drug sector enjoyed its best performance since the current bull market started in 2003. Yet with the pharmaceutical industry facing long-term structural challenges, are drugs the safest place to be in times of economic stress? The answer from Cazenove to its clients was a definitive no.
Further news:
*Paragon (PAG) issues rescue cash call.
*SCi (SEG) in talks to raise capital as shares plummet.
*Gold thrives on concerns for economic outlook.
*Right issue rumour sparks 18% plunge for Premier Foods (PFD).
*JD Sports (JD.) relaxes after jump.
Retailing Feature:
*Curse of small spenders grips the High Street.
The Comment Column:
*Let there be light from the heat generated by Rock (NRK) fall - As we stagger to an outcome for the lender (nationalisation still looks the most likely bet) we have to look to the future and ask what the key lessons are.
*Rolls-Royce (RR.) heralds the chill wind of job losses.
Profile:
*Eric Baker, founder and CEO of Viagogo.
The Citywire Column:
*New Star (NSAM) to merge underperforming fund into UK alpha.
Further news:
*Weak dollar forces Rolls-Royce (RR.) to axe jobs.
*Paragon (PAG) launches emergency rights issue.
*Xstrata (XTA) rockets on renewed bid rumours.
*No cheer for beer taps firm, IMI (IMI).
The Derek Pain, No Pain, No Gain Column:
*Wake up and smell the potential at Coffee Republic (CFE).
The Outlook Column:
*Crisis set to deepen before it gets better.
*A small ray of hope at Northern Rock (NRK).
*LSE (LSE) faces onslaught of new competition – The big investment banks are so fed up with the quality of service and the fees charged that they are setting up their own rival trading platform, which they confidently expect to be able to offer a better service at a fraction of the price (Project Turquoise).
*M&S (MKS) stumbles in satisfaction index.
A Day in the Life:
*Helen Weir, Lloyds TSB’s (LLOY) Finance Director.
Further news:
*US hit by price rises in Chinese imports.
*Takeover tailspin fails to sink British Airways (BAY).
The Investment Extra Column:
*Don’t dismiss Ashtead (AHT) – Worth a speculative punt, but set a very tight stop loss.
Money Mail:
*Beware of Stateside funds.
Further news:
*BA (BAY) shares climb on Emirates talk.
*Long-awaited news of a lucrative contract with Safeway, one of America’s top supermarkets, helped Puricore (PURI) jump 1.75p to 31.5p.
*Builders, Bellway (BWY) and Bovis (BVS) soothe housing worries.
*Tycoon, Micky Jagtiani (through his Milestone Resources business holds 8.4%), puts Debenhams (DEB) in Limelight. The shares added 5.75p to 67.75p.
From The FT
*Citigroup (CGP) is putting the final touches to its second big capital-raising effort in as many months, seeking up to $14-billion from Chinese, Kuwaiti and public market investors. Under the proposal being discussed, the bulk of the money, roughly $9-billion, would be most likely to come from China, people familiar with the negotiations say. The Kuwait Investment Authority would contribute about $1bn, while $2-billion to $4-billion would be raised through a public placement of shares (p1).
*Friends Provident (FP.) eyes sale of F&C stake (p15).
*Northern Rock (NRK) sells £2.2-billion of mortgage assets to JP Morgan (p15).
*Guy Hands seeks to head off revolt at EMI (p15).
*Scottish & Newcastle (SCTN) holds out against takeover negotiations (p16).
*Guoco holding reveals possible suitor for troubled Rank Group (RNK) (p17).
*Rightmove (RMV) expects to show record year (p18).
From The Times
*Value of Britain’s homes tops £4-trillion for first time.
*Commodities soar as cash wave hits.
*New GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) chief opts for London base.
*The owners of the Ritz hotel (the Barclay brothers) are sitting on an estimated paper loss of £120-million on their stake in InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).
*UBS (UBS) cannot quantify its exposure to crisis.
From The Daily Telegraph
*Rock (NRK) rescue no longer possible – Bankers and bidders warn that funding for commercial deal cannot be found (p35).
*US markets plunge on fears of further write-downs by banks (p35).
*Gold breaks $900 as traders bet on rate cut.
*VT (VTG) and BAE (BA.) fall on delay fears for aircraft carriers (p35).
*SCi (SEG) shares slump as it seeks funding (p37).
*Bovis (BVS) calls for rate cuts to prop up key sales period (p37).
From The Independent
*Northern Rock (NRK) bolstered by sale of equity release portfolio (p54).
*Rolls-Royce (RR.) to cull 2,300 jobs but manufacturing posts to be spared (p55).
*Bang & Olufsen fires CEO as sales slump (p57).
From The Daily Mail.
*More sub-prime woe hits banks as UBS (UBS) alarmed investors when it admitted it could not accurately value its sub-prime portfolio (p110).
*Tesco (TSCO) adds spice to grocery market with festive figures (p110).
*BAE (BA.) ships its buyers to US on a mission (p111).
From The Daily Express
*Sterling sinks to new €uro low (p98).
*£2.2-billion Rock (NRK) deal with Blair’s bank (JP Morgan) (p98).
SOME ITEMS THAT COULD INFLUENCE SHARE PRICES
*The Dow Jones fell 246.79-points to 12606.30, the Nasdaq lost 48.58-points 2439.94, while the S&P declined 19.31-points to close at 1401.02.
*Survey suggests gold might hit $1,000 in 2008.
*UK slips behind France on economy.
*Peter Hain is said to be ‘on the ropes’ as calls mount for him to resign over donations error.
*The deputy leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, has suggested that the voting age could be lowered to 16, to encourage young people to get involved in politics, warning that drastic action was needed to tackle a crisis in Great Britain's democracy caused by low turnout among younger voters.
*The Citizen’s Advice Bureau says that 7-million are ‘deprived of access to an NHS dentist’.
*UK’s coal output falls to pre-industrial levels, according to the office of National Statistics.
*According to official figures, manufacturing succumbed to its second drop in output in 3-months in November, sparking warnings from City economists that British industry could slide into a new recession later this year.
*New parking rules coming into force in England on 31st March will cause "some chaos" for drivers and see the number of fines soar, the AA has warned. Under the new system, there will be different levels of fine depending on the offence and where it is committed. In some areas, the penalty for the most serious breaches will rise by 20% and the body which adjudicates on fines says it is expecting more appeals. But the Government insists the system will be fairer and "more transparent".
*The value of the UK's private housing stock rose by an estimated 9% in 2007 to reach £4-trillion, says the Halifax. That figure has more than tripled over the last decade, rising by 208% from £1.3-trillion recorded in 1997. In contrast, the headline rate of inflation (RPI) has increased by 31% over the same period. Despite fears about slowing UK property prices, the bank says the housing stock is worth more than three-times the country's outstanding mortgage debt. It says housing assets have grown by more than mortgage debt levels in every year since 1995.
*A surge in late baptisms into the Roman Catholic Church is reported by researchers as part of a phenomenon known as the “Year-Five Epiphany.” The findings have reignited the debate about the place of religion in the school system and led to renewed criticism that faith schools favour the selection of middle-class pupils whose parents know how to play the system.
*Public school class sizes ‘could rise’.
*EU approval of cloned products raises spectre of ‘Frankenfoods’.
*Food inflation faces more upward pressure after the US government yesterday revealed that American farmers had barely increased their sowing of cereal crops in spite of record prices.
*Former sprinter Marion Jones has been sentenced to 6-months in prison for lying over steroid use and cheque fraud.
*US President George W Bush has said hope is returning to Iraq following the US troop surge last year. Visiting a US base in Kuwait, Mr Bush said the withdrawal of 20,000 troops by July was on track, but no decision had been taken to bring home more. Mr Bush was briefed by the commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and later met some of the 15,000 troops stationed at the base. He is touring the Gulf after meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
*Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has ruled out a United Nations inquiry into the assassination of the opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto. He told the French paper Le Figaro that Pakistan had its own institutions to investigate the killing and that they were being assisted by the UK.
*Up to 500,000 people in Kenya will need humanitarian assistance in the weeks ahead if the country's political crisis intensifies, the UN has warned. The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 255,000 had been forced from their homes and that malnutrition was now a growing risk.
Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
