KILL THE COMPETITION
Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're saying, what they're saying, from Michael Beh
Wednesday, December 3, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: British Airways is in merger talks with the Australian airline Qantas; a deal would create the world's first global airline.
http://tinyurl.com/573mv3
Daily Telegraph: The price of key industrial metals fell further over the past four months than during the worst years of Great Depression between 1929 and 1933.
http://tinyurl.com/6ae2lz
The Times: The heads of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler offered to work for $1 a year if the US Government gave the carmakers a $31 billion (£21 billion) loan.
http://tinyurl.com/5gfqer
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: The number of corporate destinations possible for British Airways is now as bewildering as the route map in the inflight magazine.
http://tinyurl.com/6k57u3
Jeff Randall in the Daily Telegraph: The looming crash of 2008 was a juggernaut with its headlights on and horn blaring; here are some of the signs.
http://tinyurl.com/5tn5ct
Jeremy Warner in The Independent: All the evidence is that Britons are engaged in one last spending binge, and the real carnage will come after Christmas.
http://tinyurl.com/56cf6r
Upside
The Times: The financial watchdog says Halifax should pass on further interest rates cuts to customers on tracker mortgages despite a small-print loophole.
http://tinyurl.com/6xpjps
The Times: Thomas Cook, Europe's second biggest travel firm, reported annual profit rose 32 per cent and said it expected a similar increase next year.
http://tinyurl.com/5rczbu
Bloomberg: Chicago will get a one-off payment of $1.2 billion (£800 million) to lease 36,000 metered parking spaces as part of a bid from Morgan Stanley.
http://tinyurl.com/6k8qud
Downside
The Times: Tesco's sales grew 2 per cent in the third quarter, the supermarket chain's worst result since the 1993 recession.
http://tinyurl.com/6pprkw
The Times: Euler Hermes, the world's top credit insurer, issued a profit warning and said premiums may rise due to the collapse of Woolworths, the British retailer.
http://tinyurl.com/6rtjh5
New York Times: Carmakers reported a terrible November, with three firms' US sales falling more than 40 per cent and three others falling more than 30 per cent.
http://tinyurl.com/5o9lqz
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Ryanair wants to meet Aer Lingus shareholders, including the Irish Government, after its €750 million (£638 million, $952 million) takeover bid was rejected.
http://tinyurl.com/5fe6eh
The Times: EDF, the French energy group, could have to sell some of its UK assets to get regulators' approval for its takeover of British Energy.
http://tinyurl.com/5o824s
The Times: Two senior dealmakers involved in Terra Firma's purchase of EMI will leave the private equity firm after it had to put more money into the music group.
http://tinyurl.com/6m9kxe
Around Asia
New York Times: The Bank of Japan took emergency measures, including offering commercial banks unlimited funds, in a bid to free up corporate financing.
http://tinyurl.com/6phdax
Financial Times: Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, called on China to strengthen the renminbi amid deepening fears about the effects of the currency falling.
http://tinyurl.com/56j2bs
Reuters: Australia's long exodus is slowing, with expatriates flocking home as high-paying jobs in Britain, the US and Europe wither.
http://tinyurl.com/6n9rdp
Look ahead
The Times: Shares in Goldman Sachs fell over fears the transforming investment bank will report a $2.7 billion quarterly loss this month.
http://tinyurl.com/5k8wnf
Financial Times: The British government is expected to give approval for a new runway at London's Heathrow airport within days.
http://tinyurl.com/5slcod
Reuters: Delta Air Lines, the world's largest air carrier, will cut capacity by 6 per cent to 8 per cent next year because of weaker travel demand.
http://tinyurl.com/5psx85
MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,122.86 up 1.4% (Tuesday close)
Dow 8,419.09 up 3.3% (close)
S&P 500 848.81 up 4% (close)
Nasdaq 1,449.80 up 3.7% (close)
Nikkei 7,940.98 up 1% (latest)
Hang Seng 13,642.21 up 1.8% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.4888/1.1721 euros (latest)
Euro $1.2702 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $45.90 up 46 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $47.35 up 39 cents (latest)
Gold $775.00 down $8.30 (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks snapped back after a pledge by General Electric, a global bellwether, to leave its dividend intact in a fragile economy sparked optimism. GE shares rose 13.6 per cent. Energy stocks also rose, with Chevron up almost 5 per cent and Exxon Mobil up more than 4 per cent. Carmakers were also positive. General Motors rose almost 6 per cent and Ford rose 6 per cent. Diversified manufacturer 3M fell 2.4 per cent after a brokerage downgrade.
http://tinyurl.com/6o5ao2
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days as central banks stepped up efforts to ease the credit crisis. Westpac, Australia's biggest bank by market value, rose 3 per cent, leading financial stocks higher. Australian airline Qantas rose 6.7 per cent after confirming merger talks with British Airways. Malaysia's YTL Power International rose 2.6 per cent on plans to buy a unit from Singapore's Temasek Holdings. Seven and I, Japan's biggest retailer, rose 8.6 per cent on an analyst's positive report. Air China, the country's largest international carrier, rose 3.7 per cent. Rio Tinto, the world's third-largest miner, fell 6.3 per cent after an analyst downgraded profit estimates. Toyota, Japan's largest carmaker, fell 1.8 per cent and rival Honda fell 5.5 per cent on falling sales. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.1 per cent to 79.80 in morning trade.
http://tinyurl.com/5ab3hp
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
London
Mounting fears that Rio Tinto would be forced into an equity issue to pay off debt due next year made it London's worst blue-chip performer. The mining group fell 155p to £12.70, making a 48 per cent drop in the week since BHP Billiton pulled its bid. The dive comes despite many analysts having declared that the slump to £15.50 last week was overdone.
Xstrata, Rio's fellow miner, lost 10¾p to close at 726½p amid fears that it, too, would have to take writedowns and concerns over the debts of Glencore, its shareholder.
Nevertheless, the FTSE 100 closed up 57.37 points at 4,122.86, reversing losses earlier in the day, after a bounce back on Wall Street. Royal Bank of Scotland led the way, up 9.2p at 64p, thanks to a "buy" note with a 93p price target from Merrill Lynch and demand from tracker funds, which must buy 200 million shares to meet RBS's reweighting in the FTSE 100 and MSCI indices.
Robert Lindsay
robert.lindsay@thetimes.co.uk
AGENDA
INTERIMS
DS Smith
Monks Investment Trust
Stagecoach
FINALS
Anglo Irish Bank
Dawson Holdings
Innovation Group
Numis Corporation
Sage
Shaftesbury
TRAFFIC FIGURES
British Airways
EGMs
Perpetual Japanese
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