One year after the launch of an $800 billion emergency stimulus package to jolt
the country out of a deep recession, the White House is touting the plan’s
success. But while most observers agree that the country’s huge unemployment
problem and
As we described in a previous post, Andrew Silverberg manger of the Alger Large Cap Growth Fund, is bullish on technology stocks. …
From The Business Insider, Feb. 17, 2010: Warren Buffett substantially reduced his exposure in both ConocoPhillips (COP) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) during the fourth quarter of last year based on new regulatory filings. Meanwhile he continued to bulk up
A year ago, as stocks were reaching new lows, it took little more than courage to find “best of breed” growth stocks on the cheap. Today, after a 60% rally in the broader markets, it’s not quite as easy.Or is it?Andrew Silverberg, fund man
Sri Lanka has approached Emirates airline about buying the Dubai-based carrier’s stake in state-controlled SriLankan Airlines, Emirates’ president says.
Emirates said in 2008 it was looking to sell all or part of its 43 percent stake in SriLankan Airlines, a holding which had previously been valued at about $150 million.
In M&A and corporate finance news reported by other media on Wednesday:
The pending $15 billion sale of a unit of American International Group to MetLife may be pushed back by a tax dispute that may require a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Morgan Stanley may hand over to creditors its $2.4 billion investment in a chain of Japanese hotels when the debt becomes due in April, the WSJ says, citing people familiar with the matter.
India’s largest mobile services operator Bharti Airtel hopes to conclude the deal to buy Zain’s African assets by March 25 and does not see funding as an issue, its chief says in a newspaper interview.
China’s Bank of Communications is asking investment banks to submit plans for a fundraising exercise to raise up to $3.7 billion to bolster its stretched balance sheet, a newspaper reports. For a Reuters round-up of market chatter, click here.
Simon Property’s $10 billion offer for General Growth is seen as a pre-emptive strike coming just a week before a bankruptcy court hearing where General Growth was expected to ask for more time to offer its own plan for emerging from bankruptcy, writes Reuters’ Ilaina Jonas and Helen Chernikoff.
Here are some different takes on the deal:
* “Due to synergies between Simon Property and General Growth, we feel it is unlikely a competitor would be able to bid more than SPG, so we expect that other meaningful bids are unlikely,” Rich Moore, managing director at RBC Capital Markets in Solon, Ohio, in a note to investors. – Bloomberg
* “Ever since General Growth entered bankruptcy-court protection last year, potential buyers have been circling the mall owner’s premium retail assets,” Michael Corkery writes in the WSJ’s Deal Journal. The blog lists Brookfield Asset Management and Vornado Realty Trust as potential bidders.
* The official line from Simon: “Simon’s offer provides the best possible outcome for all General Growth stakeholders. Simon is in the unique position of being able to offer General Growth creditors and shareholders full, fair and immediate value.”
* In a Reuters Breakingviews story Rolfe Winkler writes that Simon may have to bump up its bid as common equity holder Pershing Square Capital Management looks for a sweeter deal and creditor Brookfield Asset Management is working to help GGP exit bankruptcy on its own.
European finance ministers Tuesday gave Greece a month to show it’s making budget cuts to stop its debt crisis from spreading to other nations. A potentially larger debt crisis, however, is brewing at home. States and local governments including Cali
If more vacant commercial storefronts are any indication, the U.S. consumer remains entrenched. The consumer is “still heavily in debt, struggling with a very weak housing market and struggling with a lot of unemployment. I don’t think that’s a great
From The Business Insider, Feb. 16, 2010: Raymond James strategist Jeff Saut has been on top of his market-timing game, calling both the runup and the recent dip. …
For the past couple of weeks, the global markets have lurched between a state of bliss that bankrupt Greece will be bailed out to a state of panic that it won’t.According to our guest Dan McCrum, a columnist for the Financial Times, the latter fears are o