CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Saudi Arabia said Saturday that it hoped to raise oil prices to $75 a barrel, but indicated that no measures would probably be taken until an OPEC meeting next month in Algeria.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said that OPEC will “do what needs to be done” to shore up falling oil prices when the cartel meets next month in Algeria, even as his king told a Kuwaiti newspaper that $75 a barrel was a fair price for oil. Naimi did not entirely rule out the chance that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would slash output at the hastily convened meeting Saturday, but he did say the bloc needed to wait until the meeting in Oran, Algeria on Dec. 17 to assess the impact of two previous rounds of cuts. His comments came after Saudi King Abdullah told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Seyassah that oil should be priced at $75 a barrel, far above its current rate.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Chief Yahoo’ Yang may make new CEO’s task difficult
Yahoo! Inc., whose shares fell 60 percent since spurning Microsoft Corp.’s $44.5 billion takeover bid, may find hiring a replacement chief executive officer more difficult while “Chief Yahoo” Jerry Yang works down the hall.
Yang, 40, agreed to step down as CEO and resume his former advisory role on Nov. 17 after rejecting Microsoft’s bid. The prospect of succeeding the Yahoo co-founder may not appeal to candidates fearful of second-guessing, said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago executive- placement firm. “There’s certainly the potential for trouble,” said Heath Terry, an analyst at Arlington, Virginia-based FBR Capital Markets Corp. who has an “underperform” rating on the shares. “In the minds of Jerry, most of the board and employees, this is still Jerry’s company.” Taiwan-born Yang will serve as CEO until a new one is hired, said Kim Rubey, a company spokeswoman. He wasn’t available for comment, she said. Yang’s full-time job as Chief Yahoo focuses on global strategy, products and technology, according to a company blog. He’ll also continue as a Yahoo board member. Mozilla Corp.’s Mitchell Baker, Quiznos Corp.’s Gregory Brenneman and Hasbro Inc.’s Alfred Verrecchia are among 216 CEOs stepping down this year and remaining with their companies in another capacity, according to a survey this month by challenger firm
Yang, 40, agreed to step down as CEO and resume his former advisory role on Nov. 17 after rejecting Microsoft’s bid. The prospect of succeeding the Yahoo co-founder may not appeal to candidates fearful of second-guessing, said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago executive- placement firm. “There’s certainly the potential for trouble,” said Heath Terry, an analyst at Arlington, Virginia-based FBR Capital Markets Corp. who has an “underperform” rating on the shares. “In the minds of Jerry, most of the board and employees, this is still Jerry’s company.” Taiwan-born Yang will serve as CEO until a new one is hired, said Kim Rubey, a company spokeswoman. He wasn’t available for comment, she said. Yang’s full-time job as Chief Yahoo focuses on global strategy, products and technology, according to a company blog. He’ll also continue as a Yahoo board member. Mozilla Corp.’s Mitchell Baker, Quiznos Corp.’s Gregory Brenneman and Hasbro Inc.’s Alfred Verrecchia are among 216 CEOs stepping down this year and remaining with their companies in another capacity, according to a survey this month by challenger firm
Citigroup shares jump, more than double this week
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Citigroup shares soared on Friday, and more than doubled this week, as investors expressed relief that the second-largest U.S. bank by assets won a government bailout, and separately might not have to suffer big losses from helping to fund a giant leveraged bailout.
Shares of the bank closed up $1.24, or 17.6 percent, at $8.29, after last week reaching their lowest level in 18 years on fears about its exposure due to bad bets on toxic assets. The shares nevertheless remain 12.9 percent below where they closed two weeks ago. Late on Sunday the U.S. government announced a $20 billion capital injection into Citigroup, and agreed to shoulder most losses on a $306 billion portfolio of potentially troubled assets, in exchange for preferred shares and warrants. The fresh capital came after a $25 billion injection last month. ""The government action did not result in a severe dilution of shareholders equity and provided some relief about the toxic assets,"" said Marshall Front, chairman of Front Barnett Associates in Chicago, who said his firm bought Citigroup shares last Friday.
Shares of the bank closed up $1.24, or 17.6 percent, at $8.29, after last week reaching their lowest level in 18 years on fears about its exposure due to bad bets on toxic assets. The shares nevertheless remain 12.9 percent below where they closed two weeks ago. Late on Sunday the U.S. government announced a $20 billion capital injection into Citigroup, and agreed to shoulder most losses on a $306 billion portfolio of potentially troubled assets, in exchange for preferred shares and warrants. The fresh capital came after a $25 billion injection last month. ""The government action did not result in a severe dilution of shareholders equity and provided some relief about the toxic assets,"" said Marshall Front, chairman of Front Barnett Associates in Chicago, who said his firm bought Citigroup shares last Friday.
Spain's Santander raises 7.2 billion euros in new capital: company
MADRID (AFP) -- Santander, Spain's largest bank which has undertaken a string of acquisitions this year, announced on Friday that a 7.2-billion-euro (9.2-billion-dollar) rights issue has been fully subscribed.
The bank announced on November 10 it had offered almost 1.6 billion new shares at 4.5 euros each in a bid to raise capital. ""The increase in capital announced on November 10 ... has been fully subscribed during the preferential period,"" the bank said in a statement
The bank announced on November 10 it had offered almost 1.6 billion new shares at 4.5 euros each in a bid to raise capital. ""The increase in capital announced on November 10 ... has been fully subscribed during the preferential period,"" the bank said in a statement
Stocks end short session with 5th straight gain
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street climbed again Friday, wrapping up its biggest five-day rally in more than 75 years, even as investors digested signs of a bleak holiday season for retailers and fears that a flurry of reports next week will show more economic distress.
On the short trading day, investors snapped up the battered shares of blue-chip stalwarts Citigroup Inc., General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., fueling a rally that has surprised many market experts whipsawed by wild swings during the past three months. The market got big boosts over the past week from President-elect Barack Obama naming his economic team, the government propping up Citigroup, and the Federal Reserve deciding to buy massive amounts of mortgage-backed securities. These efforts sent mortgage rates plunging, and reassured the market that broad efforts are still being made to fight the financial crisis that intensified in September with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Just last week, the S&P 500 index fell to its lowest point since 1997 while Citigroup and GM were trading at 15-year and 70-year lows, respectively — touching off worries about how far the market would slide.
On the short trading day, investors snapped up the battered shares of blue-chip stalwarts Citigroup Inc., General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., fueling a rally that has surprised many market experts whipsawed by wild swings during the past three months. The market got big boosts over the past week from President-elect Barack Obama naming his economic team, the government propping up Citigroup, and the Federal Reserve deciding to buy massive amounts of mortgage-backed securities. These efforts sent mortgage rates plunging, and reassured the market that broad efforts are still being made to fight the financial crisis that intensified in September with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Just last week, the S&P 500 index fell to its lowest point since 1997 while Citigroup and GM were trading at 15-year and 70-year lows, respectively — touching off worries about how far the market would slide.
International call for action to aid poorer nations
DOHA (AFP) – International bodies called on Saturday for concerted action to help developing nations confront the global economic crisis, but the absence of major leaders at a UN aid conference dampened hopes of concrete initiatives.
“The financial crisis is not the only crisis we face. We also confront a development emergency and accelerating climate change,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the opening of a four-day conference on Financing for Development in Doha. “These threats are inextricably linked. They must be dealt with as one,” he told journalists. “We need a truly global stimulus plan that meets the needs of emerging economies and developing countries.” Ban hosted a “retreat” for world leaders on Friday with the aim of converting intentions expressed at a Group of 20 summit in Washington this month into “concrete recommendations” ahead of the next G-20 meeting in London in April. However, he admitted that only 10 national leaders were among the 34 or 35 high-level delegates who turned up, and no conclusions were announced. Ban said he still hopes the Doha conference can come up with concrete plans as well as updating a 2002 Monterrey Consensus on aid to developing countries. “Global crises call for global solutions,” European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso told the conference. “A global answer requires the presence of all regions in the world, representing the voice of the rich, the emerging and the poorest.” He said a climate change conference next month in Poland, and a summit on global warming in Copenhagen next year will fail unless emerging and poor countries are helped to adapt. “Climate change is going to be crucial for developing countries. Doha and Poznan have to move forward together, hand in hand. Indeed, Copenhagen will not succeed without a serious solution on adaptation,” Barroso said. For developing countries, the challenges of climate change come on top of threats to food and energy security and an uncertain impact from the recession in major economies, “while hundreds of millions of people cannot afford basic foodstuffs and risk falling deeper into poverty,” he said. The multiple crises mean it is “all the more necessary” to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals and other targets, Barroso said, noting that 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty, on less than 1.25 dollars a day. “It is more important than ever that donors honor their aid volume and aid effectiveness packages,” he said, also calling for aid commitments to be “further enhanced to respond to new challenges.” The World Bank also urged industrialized nations to maintain aid flows to developing countries
“The financial crisis is not the only crisis we face. We also confront a development emergency and accelerating climate change,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the opening of a four-day conference on Financing for Development in Doha. “These threats are inextricably linked. They must be dealt with as one,” he told journalists. “We need a truly global stimulus plan that meets the needs of emerging economies and developing countries.” Ban hosted a “retreat” for world leaders on Friday with the aim of converting intentions expressed at a Group of 20 summit in Washington this month into “concrete recommendations” ahead of the next G-20 meeting in London in April. However, he admitted that only 10 national leaders were among the 34 or 35 high-level delegates who turned up, and no conclusions were announced. Ban said he still hopes the Doha conference can come up with concrete plans as well as updating a 2002 Monterrey Consensus on aid to developing countries. “Global crises call for global solutions,” European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso told the conference. “A global answer requires the presence of all regions in the world, representing the voice of the rich, the emerging and the poorest.” He said a climate change conference next month in Poland, and a summit on global warming in Copenhagen next year will fail unless emerging and poor countries are helped to adapt. “Climate change is going to be crucial for developing countries. Doha and Poznan have to move forward together, hand in hand. Indeed, Copenhagen will not succeed without a serious solution on adaptation,” Barroso said. For developing countries, the challenges of climate change come on top of threats to food and energy security and an uncertain impact from the recession in major economies, “while hundreds of millions of people cannot afford basic foodstuffs and risk falling deeper into poverty,” he said. The multiple crises mean it is “all the more necessary” to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals and other targets, Barroso said, noting that 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty, on less than 1.25 dollars a day. “It is more important than ever that donors honor their aid volume and aid effectiveness packages,” he said, also calling for aid commitments to be “further enhanced to respond to new challenges.” The World Bank also urged industrialized nations to maintain aid flows to developing countries
EU blocks French bank capital plan: report
PARIS (Reuters) – The European Commission is blocking a French plan to shore up the capital positions of big retail banks, insisting they must reduce their lending in return for state support, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
France announced last month that it would lend 10.5 billion euros (13.6 billion dollars) to the country’s six top lenders before year-end to prop up their capital reserves. Paris has argued that without state support, lenders would have shored up their capital positions by reducing loans in the face of malfunctioning interbank lending markets, a move that would deal a fresh blow to an already troubled economy. The Financial Times said French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde spoke with European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes on Friday to persuade her to lift her veto on France’s bank support package. But Kroes was sticking to her view that banks cannot use state aid to increase their lending books, the paper said. “We have to apply the same criteria to everyone...support should be sufficient to offset the negative impact of the current financial crisis and no more,” the paper quoted one anonymous official as saying. The French government had reacted furiously to the commission’s argument, the paper said, adding that one senior official had described it as “ridiculous” and “stupid” because it would exacerbate the credit crunch.
France announced last month that it would lend 10.5 billion euros (13.6 billion dollars) to the country’s six top lenders before year-end to prop up their capital reserves. Paris has argued that without state support, lenders would have shored up their capital positions by reducing loans in the face of malfunctioning interbank lending markets, a move that would deal a fresh blow to an already troubled economy. The Financial Times said French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde spoke with European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes on Friday to persuade her to lift her veto on France’s bank support package. But Kroes was sticking to her view that banks cannot use state aid to increase their lending books, the paper said. “We have to apply the same criteria to everyone...support should be sufficient to offset the negative impact of the current financial crisis and no more,” the paper quoted one anonymous official as saying. The French government had reacted furiously to the commission’s argument, the paper said, adding that one senior official had described it as “ridiculous” and “stupid” because it would exacerbate the credit crunch.
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