The Lex Column:
*To be ore not to be - Rio Tinto's (RIO) decision to ask the Takeover Panel to issue a 'put or shut up' notice to BHP Billiton (BLT) takes this takeover game into a new phase.
*Fed disappoints market - Within minutes of the announcement that the Fed funds rate and discount rate would go down by only a quarter point, homebuilders were off almost 10% and financials about 6%.
*Reining in hedge funds - This week a London-based group of hedge fund luminaries ends a period of consulting on a draft code of practice for the industry and gets down actually to writing it.
*Cadbury's (CBRY) progress - It seems that to have a gorilla in the room is no longer a problem, as long as it can play the drums. Its peculiar advertising campaign is helping but there is already a large degree of hope in the share price.
*Citi's (CGP) new chief - Within minutes of the Federal Reserve announcing its latest interest rate cut Vikram Pandit was revealed as the new chief executive of Citigroup.
The Lombard Column:
*Many of those demoted blue chips will be back.
*Now let's see the income (Bank One).
*GSK’s (GSK) big experiment.
*Driver of value (Steve Driver of Driver Group (DRV)).
Further news:
*Harvest failures and falling US stocks raise fears of ‘price shocks’.
*Heavyweight banks under pressure from downgrades.
*Reit approval hopes lift Enterprise Inns (ETI).
*BBI (BBI) sparks talks of more bids.
*Whispers of Chinese buying boosts BG (BG.).
The Business Commentary Column:
*Property being shaken to the foundations.
*Doing it in style – Sir Win Bischoff named as chairman of Citigroup (CGP).
*Centurions get marching orders (the moves afoot in the FTSE-100 index).
Business Big Shot:
*Juan Cabral.
The Tempus Column:
*Worth holding – Whitbread (WTB).
*Hold - Laird Group (LARD).
*Buy - SSP Holdings (SSPH).
Further news:
*Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) eyes ailing commercial property market.
*Niger Uranium (URU) bounces back.
*Northern Rock (NRK) leads a poor day on the FTSE.
*Clapham House (CPH) adds 13.5p to 216.5p on talk that Capricorn Ventures might increase its stake, with Cinven also rumoured to be eyeing the company.
The Comment Column:
*This Rock (NRK) mess is heading in the Railtrack direction.
*China's next export to the west will be its inflation.
*Whitbread (WTB) looks well set up for the belt-tightening era.
The Questor Column:
*Hold - Cadbury (CBRY).
*Buy - Laird Group (LARD).
*Sell - Ashtead Group (AHT).
Further news:
*Credit Suisse's (CRD) ill tidings plunge Debenhams (DEB) to a new low.
*FSA did not discuss Rock (NRK) nationalisation.
*FTSE-100 faces its biggest upheaval since the dot-com days, with Northern Rock (NRK), Barratt (BDEV), DSG (DSGI), Mitchells & Butlers (MAB), Punch Taverns (PUB), Daily Mail (DMGO) and Tate & Lyle (TATE) likely to be demoted and Cairn Energy (CNE), FirstGroup (FGP), Thomas Cook (TCG), Burberry (BRBY), TUI Travel (TUI), Kelda (KEL), G4S (GFS) and Admiral (ADM) as the likely replacements.
*Only the bids from Virgin and Olivant, are being seriously considered by Northern Rock's (NRK) board and advisers.
*The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is scrapping an equities trading joint venture with Rothschild.
*AT&T in $16-billion share buy back and dividend rise.
*Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) joins search for green fuel with plan to make diesel from algae.
*BSkyB (BSY) faces calls to cut holding in ITV (ITV).
*Activist investors seize control of Eaglet Investment Trust (EIN).
*GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to revamp its research and development effort to speed up its pipeline of new medicines.
*AstraZeneca (AZN) subsidiary Astra Tech buys Japan's Denics International.
*BAE (BA.) hopes to outgun deals in bidding for Australian defence arm, in a deal that could be worth over £430-million.
*Rolls-Royce (RR.) wins $400-million share of US Airways order for V2500 engines.
*Tesco (TSCO) is believed to be lodging a bid to buy a chain of discount stores in the Czech Republic.
*Kiln (KIN) in possible offer talks with third party.
*Orbis (OBS) still in talks re sale of company and financial restructuring; sale and restructuring unlikely to produce value for shareholders.
*XploiTe (XPT) in talks regarding possible offer for company.
*Hertford International to place up to 15-million shares at 20p.
*Advanced Life Sciences to raise $20-million from private sale of shares.
*Wolseley (WOS) to delist its ADR’s from NYSE, expecting an annual saving of £4-million.
*Online ethical fashion retailer Adili makes AIM debt place at 17.5p.
*Man Group's (EMG) AHL fund net asset value down 1.45% vs last week.
SOME ITEMS THAT COULD INFLUENCE SHARE PRICES
*The Dow Jones closed down 294.26-points at 13432.77, the Nasdaq fell 66.60-points to 2652.35, while the S&P lost 38.31-points to 1477.65.
*More than 67 people died, including 11 UN staff, in two suicide bomb attacks, claimed by al Qaeda-led Islamic militants in Algiers.
*Housing affordability for people with new mortgages reached its lowest level for 15 years in October.
*Political row over Northern Rock (NRK) debate escalates.
*UK fertility rate rises to 1.8 children per woman in 2006, the highest since 1980.
*Direct investments abroad by UK companies continues to be more profitable last year than those made by foreign companies in the UK, according to official data.
*The UK supermarket industry's annual growth stays at 7% in 12weeks to 2nd December, according to Taylor Nelson survey.
*The US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.25% and fails to offer a clear sign of more to come; many investors had hoped for a half-point reduction.
*US October wholesale inventories unchanged; sales up 0.7%.
*Three British oil executives are due to plead guilty to price-fixing in a landmark Texas case that could have big implications for the extradition and prosecution of other British people in the US.
*Chief executive of Freddie Mac estimates the mortgage finance company will lose an additional $5.5-billion to $7.5-billion over the next few years, as the housing crisis worsens.
*Global credit turmoil pushes German investor confidence to its lowest since 1983.
*The global economy is facing a second wave of food inflation after the US agriculture warns of significant falls in stocks of wheat, corn and soyabean.
*Vikram Pandit named new chief executive of Citigroup (CGP).
*Origo Sino-India, an investment and strategic consulting company focused on the private equity markets of China and India is coming to AIM and the Channel Islands Stock Exchange on 14th December for its $100-million fund, Origo Resource Partners, focused on private equity partners related to the Chinese and Indian natural resource sectors. Investors in ORP include Lansdowne, F&C, TT International, Henderson, GLG and New Star.
Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
