Asian stocks rise for second day
Share prices across Asia rose as China's Premier Wen Jiabao promised to "significantly increase" spending in China. BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, jumped 4.4 per cent in Sydney and Komatsu, the world’s second largest manufacturer of construction machinery, climbed 4.3 per cent in Tokyo on speculation demand for metals and industrial equipment will rise as a result of the investment plan. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 2.3 per cent, with chipmaker NEC Electronics Corp rising 8.5 per cent after Goldman Sachs recommended investors buy semiconductor shares. The S&P 500 gained 2.4 per cent, its first rise in six days.
Watchdog OKs Tesco expansion
Tesco won an appeal against a competition test designed to slow its expansion plans, reported the Independent. The Competition Appeals Tribunal sided with the UK’s largest grocer against a proposed competition test that would have prevented any single retailer from gaining dominance in a local market. The Tribunal said that if one retailer was blocked from developing a local store, there was no guarantee a different retailer would take its place. However, the Competition Commission warned that it was “determined” to see a revised proposal come into place and may introduce a new test as early as 16 March.
Pros & Cons: The continuing expansion of Tesco 
BoE prepares to print money
Chancellor Alistair Darling will likely give the Bank of England the authority to start buying government debt today, reported the Daily Telegraph. The Bank may buy as much as £150bn worth of gilts (UK government bonds) in an attempt to inject more cash into the UK economy. The "radical new plan", known as quantitative easing, adds to the Bank’s armoury as officials struggle to rescue an economy shrinking the most in almost thirty years. The UK's central bank is also expected to cut its benchmark rate by a half point to 0.5 per cent today, an historic low.
Mervyn King is failing the British economy
Barclays’ use of money queried
Lehman Brothers' US liquidators have asked Barclays to account for £2.3bn in money designated for bonuses and other liabilities, reported theFinancial Times. Barclays received the money when it took over part of the bankrupt US firm’s assets last year for £1bn. The decision could "fuel controversy" over bonuses handed out to Lehman bankers who joined Barclays as part of the deal. Barclays dismissed the issue, saying that liquidators Alvarez & Marsal misunderstood the facts and that all of Barclays actions in acquiring Lehman's assets were approved by the New York bankruptcy court in September 2008.
Lehman exposes Wall Street’s moral bankruptcy
ECB prepares to cut lending rate
The Euro fell against the yen and the dollar ahead of today’s meeting of the European Central Bank, reported Bloomberg.com. As the eurozone plunges further into recession, the ECB is expected to cut its target lending rate by 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent, the lowest level since the Euro was introduced in 1999. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will likely signal further rate cuts are warranted after saying global central banks faced "extraordinary challenges" earlier this week. Economists also expect the European Commission's statistics office report today to show the EU's economy shrank the most in thirteen years last quarter.
US cracks down on tax havens
US President Barack Obama is to "prise open" the world's most secretive tax havens, reported the Guardian. The new US administration endorsed extensive legislation to force countries like Jersey, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland to reveal the identities of wealthy corporations and individuals who base themselves in tax havens. Key measures include revealing the beneficiaries of trusts, identifying "offshore secrecy jurisdictions" that stop US tax officials from getting tax details, closing multiple tax loopholes and increasing penalties against tax evaders. An estimated £9tr of untaxed wealth lies in offshore centres.
Corrupt practices in tropical paradises
...in brief..................
US bonus row & China growth vow
As the row over executive payouts "heated up" in the US, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo subpoenaed several top Merrill Lynch executives to grill them about their 2008 bonuses, reported the Times. The three bankers were paid over $10m in cash and stock options last year........
China's premier Wen Jiabao told delegates in his annual speech to China's parliament that the eight per cent growth target is "within reach", reported Bloomberg.com. While promising no specific new measures Wen pledged to significantly increase investment in the world's third-largest economy........
Thanks to aggressive expansion fuelled by borrowing US dollars, European banks face a US dollar "funding gap" of nearly $2tr, reported the Daily Telegraph. The Bank for International Settlements said European and British Banks may have difficulty rolling these positions into their debt markets as the dollar continues to climb against the Euro and the Pound........
The new boss of GlaxoSmithKline will receive a 17.6 per cent pay rise that will take his salary to £1m, reported the Guardian. Glaxo's announcement is intended to end the controversy over its generous "US-style" rewards by putting CEO Andrew Witty and his finance director on more conventional UK salaries.......
Armed police stormed the head office of Naftogaz, Ukraine's state energy company as part of an investigation into possible diversion of gas supplies, reported the Independent. The raid comes three days before Kiev must make its next gas payment to Russia. Many worry Ukraine won't be able to pay and the gas taps will be turned off........
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's company breached its banking covenants this week, reported the Financial Times. The notes to Gordon Ramsay Holdings’ 2007 financial statements – filed eight months late – show that the group was in the process of renegotiating the terms of its facilities with its bankers at the time........
Posts
