KILL THE COMPETITION: Home hunters ... overdrafts withdrawn ... Ross quits

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

Tuesday, December 9, 0730 GMT

Top stories

The Times: The number of people seeking to buy a home surged to a two-year high, but sales slumped to a new 30-year low.
http://tinyurl.com/5vo5e8

Daily Telegraph: Business overdraft facilities are being withdrawn at a "significantly" higher rate than this time last year.
http://tinyurl.com/5mpj79

The Times: David Ross, the co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, quit its board after breaking City rules by secretly mortgaging his stake in the mobile phone retailer.
http://tinyurl.com/5ustl6

Comment

Gerard Baker in The Times: Barack Obama's rescue plan for the economy is not pretty, but nobody has a better one at the moment.
http://tinyurl.com/63n878

Floyd Norris in the New York Times: Air pockets in valuations means we may see a lot of cases where prices that seemed reasonable now seem totally ridiculous.
http://tinyurl.com/yw88d4

Jeremy Warner in The Independent: Entrepreneur David Ross stands condemned as either incompetent or dishonest, and you have to believe it is the former.
http://tinyurl.com/5zhjry

Upside

The Times: Business sales at Premier Inns, Britain's biggest budget hotel operator, have increased 33 per cent as corporate customers look to cut costs.
http://tinyurl.com/6c7bsn

Daily Telegraph: HSBC, the UK's largest bank, will increase its mortgage lending by 20 per cent to £15 billion ($22 billion) next year.
http://tinyurl.com/6734nc

Daily Telegraph: Banks will have to pay the mortgages of thousands of customers on tracker rates set below official cash rates if they fall closer to zero.
http://tinyurl.com/6b39xq

Downside

The Times: Dow Chemical will sack 11,000 staff, shut 20 plants and mothball 180 more, but the giant US chemicals conglomerate will keep paying its dividend.
http://tinyurl.com/6an6uc

New York Times: Morgan Stanley's top three executives will not get bonuses this year and the US bank will introduce clawbacks to all employees' bonuses.
http://tinyurl.com/69a5cd

The Times: The Tribune Company, publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune newspapers, filed for bankruptcy.
http://tinyurl.com/5z88d3

Mergers and shakers

The Times: Qantas, the Australian airline, told British Airways to choose between it and Iberia, of Spain, as a merger partner.
http://tinyurl.com/5bg8gv

Daily Telegraph: US taxpayers could end up owning 20 per cent of the nation's Big Three carmakers as a deal nears on a $15 billion (£10 billion) rescue plan.
http://tinyurl.com/5txsvq

The Times: Christie Hefner, daughter of Hugh, will step down as the head of Playboy Enterprises, the world's most famous adult entertainment business.
http://tinyurl.com/6cjezz

Around Asia

Bloomberg: Japan's economy shrank at an annual rate of 1.8 per cent in the three months to September, much faster than government or analysts' predictions.
http://tinyurl.com/5c4ogq

Financial Times: Mattel will make China the focal point for the relaunch of Barbie, its most important brand.
http://tinyurl.com/5lqncx

Financial Times: Taiwan's exports last month fell by almost a quarter compared to a year ago, the sharpest drop since September 2001.
http://tinyurl.com/6judmt

Look ahead

The Times: Britain's high-street retailers face their bleakest year for four decades next year, a leading retail consultancy predicts.
http://tinyurl.com/5dxsgp

The Independent: Insiders at EMI, the music label, denied rumours it could default on its £2.7 billion ($4 billion) loans early next year.
http://tinyurl.com/65hhes

The Times: The European Union will start banning traditional incandescent lightbulbs within a year and make them illegal by 2012.
http://tinyurl.com/6dm7jk

MARKETS

FTSE 100 4,300.06 up 6.2% (Monday close)

Dow 8,934.18 up 3.5% (close)

S&P 500 909.70 up 3.8% (close)

Nasdaq 1,571.74 up 4.1% (close)

Nikkei 8,369.43 up 0.5% (latest)

Hang Seng 14,915.01 down 0.9% (latest)

Currencies

Sterling $1.4836/1.1522 euros (latest)

Euro $1.2876 (latest)

Commodities

Brent crude $43.48 up 6 cents (latest)

West Texas crude $43.77 up 6 cents (latest)

Gold $772.10 up $2.80 (latest)

New York
Bloomberg: US stocks rose as President-elect Barack Obama promised the biggest public-works spending package since the 1950s. The gains put a technical end to the 13-month bear market that began in October 2007. Mr Obama's plans triggered gains in commodities. US Steel Corp, the nation's second-largest steelmaker, rose 24 per cent, Olympic Steel rose 25 per cent and AK Steel Holding rose 26 per cent. Alcoa, the top US aluminum maker, rose 17.5 per cent. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, the top copper producer, rose 19 per cent. General Motors rose 21 per cent and Ford rose 24 per cent as a bailout for the car industry grew closer. Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of excavators, rose 11 per cent. Among financials, JPMorgan Chase rose 9.4 per cent, Bank of America rose 17 per cent and Citigroup rose 9.9 per cent.
http://tinyurl.com/6jnktm

Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks climbed for a third day in early trade, led by raw-material producers. BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, rose 4.2 per cent. Japan's Mitsubishi Corp, which earns more than half its profit from commodities, rose 4.4 per cent. Video game company Nintendo rose 5 per cent on a positive sales outlook. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1 per cent to 83.94 in early trade.
http://tinyurl.com/6y82oe

Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com

London
The FTSE 100 soared more than 6 per cent yesterday as stock markets around the world rallied in response to Barack Obama's plans for a huge economic stimulus package that could be worth more than $1 trillion. The blue-chip index closed 250.69 points higher at 4300.06. It was also buoyed by hopes of a new Chinese stimulus package and a bailout for American carmakers. London's heavyweight commodity stocks were the biggest risers, lifted by prospects of an upturn in demand from the huge investment in US infrastructure as a result of Mr Obama's plans. Eurasian Natural Resources rose 18 per cent and BHP Billiton gained 15 per cent. However, it was Prudential, up 23 per cent that led the index, rising on US capital rules. John Wood Group, down 5 per cent, was the biggest faller, on fears of demotion from the index in the reshuffle this week.

Peter Stiff
peter.stiff@thetimes.co.uk

AGENDA

INTERIMS

Ashtead

Intercede

Iomart Group

Micro Focus

Northgate

Scott Wilson Group

FINALS

Carluccio's

Domino Printing Sciences

JP Morgan Indian IT

Southern Cross

Widney

OTHER RESULTS

Ashtead (Q2)

TRADING STATEMENTS

PZ Cussons

AGMs

Coburg

Henderson Far East Income

EGMs

Misys (11am)




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