The Lex Column:
*Default setting - In the same month default rates continued falling, the number of US corporate issuers being downgraded by Moody's relative to those being upgraded leapt.
*WestLB/consolidation - Germany's regional Landsbanken have lacked a viable business model and political support. But a 10-point plan on the future of WestLB may signal a turning point.
*Golden parachutes - Compensation for those who lose their jobs in a merger is one thing but it is something else when it's executives who leave although the new management wants them to stay.
The Tony Jackson on Monday Column:
*Why SWF’s will not fix the western financial mess.
In the Spotlight:
*Lee Myung-bak – ‘Bulldozer’ ready to roll to victory.
Further news:
*Lehman faces Australia lawsuit threat over high-risk debt deals.
*Expedia to launch European assault.
*LBO’s flotations ‘outperform stock market’.
*How banking's hidden system broke down.
*The Northern Rock (NRK) saga needs a snappy ending.
*Telecoms tap into Silicon Valley expertise.
*Tesco (TSCO) defector's DSG (DSGI) challenge.
The Economic View Column:
*This crisis is no longer a simple problem of liquidity.
Business Big Shot:
*Jamie Ritblat.
The Monday Manifesto:
*John Hutton, the Business Secretary.
Further news:
*Concern over government's sale of CO2 emission permits.
*Pressure mounting on basmati supplies.
*Virgin Trains prepares £5 London-Manchester fare.
*Sands shift as solar energy's silicon demand outshines that of chip makers.
Further news:
*City regulator gets tough on insider leaks.
*Debt burden higher than 1991.
*Robbie Williams may quit struggling EMI label.
*One-hole miners power head like their bigger brothers (Nikanor (NKR), European Goldfields (EGU), Peter Hambro (POG), Centamin Egypt (CEY), Aricom (ORE)).
The Stephen King Column:
*Central bankers ride to the rescue – Or is this Custer’s last stand?
The Small Talk Column:
*Kenmare Resources' (KMR) titanium mine up and running after 20-years.
*Up and down for Northgate Information Solutions (NIS).
*E-tailer Ethicalsuperstore.com is an interesting company to keep an eye on.
Further news:
*Boom in fake goods hits luxury retailers' profits.
*O2 (OOM) gears up to launch internet TV in UK, after Czech trial success.
*Sports Direct (SPD) faces a mauling in the amphitheatre.
*FSA investigators' focus on Resolution (RSL) takeover is part of a wider crackdown on market manipulation during merger and acquisition deals.
*IPO’s by private equity backed companies in the UK and Germany outperformed the stock market and other IPO’s.
*A bid from Nomura for Collins Stewart (CLST) is not expected to be imminent.
*Olivant is willing to inject up to £800-million into Northern Rock (NRK) at the top of market expectations.
*Emerging markets behind record IPO year, according to Ernst & Young.
*Sports Direct (SPD) is considering making Mike Ashley, founder and deputy chairman, into executive chairman.
*Expedia to mount an aggressive marketing campaign on the continent next year, in a strategic effort to seize market share from rivals.
*Tesco's (TSCO) US chief executive Tim Mason has ruled himself out of the race to succeed Sir Terry Leahy as head of the retailer.
*Orange has postponed the commercial launch of its UK fixed-line broadband TV services until next year.
*Ladbrokes (LAD), William Hill (WMH) and BetFred are considering offers to sell around half of their controlling stake in Satellite Information Services to Britain's 59 racecourses, in a bid to defuse a legal row with Turf TV.
*Tote sale to end in an open bidding conflict, after the Government rejected a bid by a racing consortium to acquire it.
*Naspers of South Africa emerges as a potential buyer of Tradus, the East European internet auction group formerly known as QXL Ricardo (QXL).
SOME ITEMS THAT COULD INFLUENCE SHARE PRICES
*According to official figures, children with English as their first language are now in the minority in more than 1,300 schools.
*A record number of families are now having to devote more than one-fifth of their salaries on debt payments, according to Bank of England research.
*According to Rightmove (RMV), London house prices fell by an average 6.8% and by 3.2% in the UK as a whole in the month to the middle of December.
*Consumer spending is expected to slow more sharply next year than previously thought, with spending growth falling from 3.1% to 1.9%, according to the CBI.
*Ministers plan to take key power from the Bank of England during a financial crisis.
*Tony Blair is set to win $5.6-billion in pledges for the Palestinian economy at a Paris donor conference designed to boost the Palestinian Authority.
*Super surgeries to go on trial in first step towards Tesco-style (TSCO) franchising.
*Global food priced will come under further pressure as benchmark prices for cereals at much higher levels come into operation, making it almost inevitable that a second wave of food price inflation will hit the world's leading economies.
*Lehman Bros faces Australian lawsuit threat over high-risk debt deal.
*Analysts forecast 2-billion Canadian dollars writedown at CIBC.
*Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan supports the use of public cash to help struggling US home owners.
*Italian finance minister Tommaso Padoa-Schloppa, warns Europe cannot grow fast enough to compensate completely for the slowing down in the US.
Compiled in association with HB PLC and WH Ireland Ltd
