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Business headlines..........
Stocks soar on bail-out plan
Markets leapt worldwide on hopes that the Obama administration’s plan to solve toxic asset problems would result in renewed economic growth. In New York yesterday the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index soared 7.1 per cent, for its biggest move in five months. Stocks in Asia continued the upward momentum, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index advancing 1.9 per cent to add to the 19 per cent move since its March 9th low. Stock futures on European indices also rose and in London the FTSE 100 was half a per cent higher in early trade.
Geithner's toxic asset buy-out sends stocks soaring 
Alexander Cockburn: AIG bonuses threaten to sully Obama's reputation
BoE member warns over economy
The Bank of England member who predicted the current “surge” in unemployment and recession, yesterday warned of more to come, reported the Independent. David Blanchflower warned that the UK economy might not recover this year and that unemployment is likely to surge above the 3m mark. He also said that the increasing jobless figures show a “taste of something horrible” to come. Blanchflower, an “external” member of the BoE Monetary Policy Committee, has as a result “rubbished” the Bank’s own forecasts.
Banking bail-out - what £1.3tr could have bought
Millions to suffer as deflation hits
Millions of public sector workers could receive “pay freezes” for the next three years as the UK enters a period of deflation, reported the Daily Telegraph. The last time Britain experienced deflation was in 1960, and consensus forecasts by City economists point to the RPI having fallen 0.5 per cent in February from a reading of 0.1 per cent in January. With the figure below zero for the first time in 49 years, public sector pay, which is tied to RPI, will be frozen, meaning hardship for teachers, nurses and council workers.
Mervyn King is failing the British economy
Lloyd’s of London profits halve
Profits “more than halved” at Lloyd’s of London last year as the insurance market suffered from lower investment returns, reported theFinancial Times. The market said today that pre-tax profits fell from £3.8bn to £1.9bn in 2008. The chairman, Lord Levene, said that Lloyd’s was still in “good shape” despite the global financial crisis, with currency gains and previous surpluses helping to “partially offset” claims from natural catastrophes and lower insurance rates. Lloyd’s surplus increased 48 per cent to £1.27bn.
BlackRock expects more share falls
BlackRock’s global macro fund, the second-best performing fund in its sector over the last two years is “betting against” further share rallies, reported Bloomberg.com. Macro funds invest on the basis of global economic trends and BlackRock’s $152m Asset Allocation Alpha Fund made 41 per cent for investors in 2008 against a 19 per cent average hedge fund decline. The fund is buying bonds in the US, Germany and UK, as it bets the current recovery will falter, and is “short” shares in America and Australia.
Labour's Faustian pact with capitalism
Germany to shrink 7 per cent
Germany is facing the “sharpest economic downturn” of any of the Western world’s major countries, reported the Daily Telegraph. The country is on the verge of a Japan-style “Lost Decade” according to “grim” forecasts by leading commentators, with output set to contract between six per cent and seven per cent this year and unemployment leaping to a level as high as 5m. The global economic recession is wreaking “havoc” on industrial exports, with foreign industrial orders plunging 37 per cent over the past year.
How Porsche took the hedge funds to the cleaners
After the credit crunch, what next for the world?
...in brief..................
Goldman working on iShares bid and Vodafone signs deal with O2
Goldman Sachs is “working on a bid” for iShares, the asset management business being auctioned off by Barclays, reported theFinancial Times. Bids are due in by the end of next week and could see a valuation of $6.5bn placed on the ETF company, according to a source…………
Tata Motors has started working on plans to launch the Nano, the world’s cheapest car, in the US, reported the Financial Times. The “change of strategy” has been made possible by the recession, the company says, with the “obsession” with large cars likely to change…………
Uefa has proposed that the richest football clubs in Europe pay a “luxury tax” on their top players, reported the Financial Times. The plans are being discussed by the sport’s ruling body as concerns mount over spending in the game, with the proceeds being passed onto poorer clubs…………
Dragon Oil, the offshore explorer, today confirmed details of a “damning investigation” into conduct at the company, reported the Times. In light of “apparent bribery” at the company, it has called in KPMG to investigate the behaviour of staff who have since been dismissed…………
Workers at collapsed crystal-maker Waterford Wedgwood have agreed an “initial deal” with its new private equity owners, reported the Guardian. The plan will save “about a third” of the jobs at the company’s Irish plant, meaning 176 jobs of a total of 480 will be safe…………
Vodafone has signed a “landmark deal” with O2’s parent company, Spanish giant Telefonica, reported the Independent. The two have agreed a plan to share network infrastructure in Europe, a deal which could save them “hundreds of millions of pounds”…………
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