Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're
saying, what they're saying
Top stories
The Times: A German Government pledge to guarantee
private savings has increased pressure on Gordon Brown to pump billions
of pounds of taxpayers' cash into Britain's banks.
New York Times: Citigroup says it has persuaded a judge to temporarily
block rival banker Wells Fargo from acquiring Wachovia.
The Times: Iceland has sent out a financial
SOS to the US and Scandinavian countries as politicians and businessmen
scrambled to save the country's economy.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: The credit crisis is now moving
so quickly that governments around the world are finding it impossible
to keep pace.
Jeremy Warner in The Independent: If Gordon Brown doesn't act now on
banking liabilities, he may be forced to
later .
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Daily Telegraph: Without
swift intervention on every front by all the major powers, there is a
risk of disintegration of global finance.
Upside
Bloomberg: Japan's currency was the only
currency to appreciate against the dollar in September as Deutsche Bank
says the yen will rise 5 per cent in coming months.
The Times: Canary Wharf Group is confident
it will secure US banker JPMorgan as a key tenant in the Docklands
financial district by the end of the year.
Reuters: The Government of Singapore Investment Corp, the island
nation's central bank, is shopping for
distressed assets in the US.
Downside
The Times: UniCredit, Italy's second-largest bank, is seeking
up to €6.6 billion (£5.1 billion, $9 billion) in fresh funds to
survive with a scheme to sell 973 million shares and also €3 billion (£2.3
billion, $4.1 billion) in bonds.
Daily Telegraph: The number of companies floated on the world's stock
exchanges has fallen to its lowest level
since 2003 , according to Ernst & Young.
The Times: British companies are being
forced to pay four times more for their electricity this winter than
French competitors and 70 per cent more than in Germany.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Sainsbury's, the supermarket chain, faces a tougher battle
for shoppers' spending in its heartlands from discounters such as Aldi
and Lidl.
The Independent: HBOS, the beleaguered bank being taken over by Lloyds
TSB, is preparing to sell private
finance initiative investments worth up to £300m ($530 million).
Financial Times: A group of former Man Group executives, including
ex-chairman Harvey McGrath, has formed a
new company to invest in early stage hedge funds.
Around Asia
Reuters: Taiwan will protect
customers of local units of AIG, which include a securities brokerage,
asset management firm and its Nan Shan Life Insurance Co.
Financial Times Asia: Macao casino operators have had
a run on their stocks as they try to raise funds for projects and China
cools the city's gaming market.
The Times: The Tower, London's 801-room hotel, will undergo
a transformation as part of a revamp to the Guoman group's properties,
owned by Quek Leng Chan, the Malaysian billionaire.
Look ahead
The Independent: The administrators of bankrupt bank Lehman Brothers
are expected this week to put numbers
on the value of assets tied up.
The Times: Vodafone Books on Mobile, a service which brings books to
mobile phones, launches today with
purchases expected to cost between £5 and £15.
Daily Telegraph: An estimated 2000 British pubs will
close by Christmas according to an estimate by the industry, which
blames the Government.
Unfinished business - last week wrapped up
Last Monday
Financial meltdown loomed closer as
the US Congress rejected the bailout plan, Wall Street had a record plunge
and five banks had to be rescued.
Citigroup bought Wachovia 's banking
operations for $2.2 billion (£1.2 billion) and received a government
guarantee on its riskiest assets.
Tuesday
The cost of borrowing between banks
jumped by the biggest ever margin as credit markets seized up despite
another injection from central banks.
Businesses and big savers started to empty
their UK bank accounts and move their money to Ireland after the
republic guaranteed all deposits.
Wednesday
The US Senate approved the $700 billion (£395 billion) bailout
in a night-time vote.
France called on European nations to sign
up to a €300 billion (£237 billion, $418 billion) bailout fund to
rescue crippled banks.
Thursday
French plans for a €300 billion (£235 billion, $415 billion) European
bank bailout collapsed as Greece guaranteed all deposits amid rumours
of a run.
Northern Rock said it might have to stop
taking deposits after a surge put it close to breaking competition
rules imposed after its nationalisation.
Friday
Belgium and Luxembourg scramble to find a
buyer for the remains of troubled financial group Fortis and consider a
further nationalisation after the Netherlands took over its Dutch units.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker with more than 91,000 employees
worldwide, reviews its hiring plans
in light of tough economic conditions but denies instituting a company-wide
hiring freeze.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,980.25 up 2.3% (Friday close)
Dow 10,325.38 down 1.5% (close)
S&P 500 1,099.23 down 1.3% (close)
Nasdaq 1,947.39 down 1.5% (close)
Nikkei 10,544.33 down 3.6% (latest)
Hang Seng 17,209.38 down 2.7% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.7628/€1.2919 (latest)
Euro $1.3645 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $88.60 down $1.65 (latest)
West Texas crude $106.63 down $1.90 (latest)
Gold $834.90 up $1.70 (latest)
New York
Reuters: Wall Street ended its
worst week in seven years with another tumble on Friday. The S&P 500 and the
Nasdaq had their worst week since September 2001 and the Dow had its worst
week since July 2002. Wells Fargo fell 1.7 per cent to $34.56 after
the bank stepped in to buy Wachovia Corp. Wachovia's shares jumped
58.8 per cent while Citigroup plunged 18.4 per cent to $18.35. D.R.
Horton, the largest US home builder, fell 8.4 per cent to $11.07.
Asia
Bloomberg: In morning trade, Asian
stocks fell for a third day, led by financial companies. National
Australia Bank, Australia's largest lender, dropped 3.8 per cent after
Hypo Real Estate Holding became the latest casualty of the financial
turmoil. Newcrest Mining, Australia's biggest gold producer, and Inpex
Holdings, Japan's largest oil explorer, retreated at least 2 per cent
after prices of the two commodities sank. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell
1.9 per cent to 102.68 in early trade.
Myles McIvor
mjclub@bigpond.com.au
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