Latest News In Stock Market Investment Research – June 26,2009

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China moves to block Hummer sale: report

26 Jun 2009 at 3:32am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Chinese authorities have moved to block the sale of General Motors’ Hummer brand to a Chinese company, the BBC reported, citing Chinese state radio. The sale to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industries had been announced earlier this month as part of the bankrupt automaker’s recovery plan. Chinese authorities cited environmental concerns and Sichuan Tengzhong’s inexperience in building automobiles in moving to block the sale, the BBC reported.

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Sanofi-Aventis says data confirms Lantus safety

26 Jun 2009 at 1:41am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Shares of drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis dropped 8.2% in Paris on Friday. “Commentary is circulating in the market that a safety issue may soon emerge for Lantus (long-acting insulin for diabetes), a major driver of revenue growth and profits at Sanofi-Aventis,” noted analysts at Credit Suisse in a note. “However, given the lack of any details, Credit Suisse Research prefers not to make any change yet to forecasts or valuation and retains an Outperform rating on the stock,” they added. A spokesman for Sanofi-Aventis said: “data from clinical studies involving over 70,000 patients as well as data from post-marketing surveillance covering 24 million patient years of experience confirms the safely profile of Lantus.”

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Aegon lifted to overweight at Morgan Stanley

26 Jun 2009 at 1:15am

MADRID (MarketWatch) — Dutch insurer Aegon was lifted to overweight from underweight at Morgan Stanley on Friday on the view that credit losses may be lower than the market anticipates. The investment bank said there’s also a good chance Aegon can redeem 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) of Dutch government capital on preferential terms without a rights issue. Aegon looks inexpensive on embedded value, while continued credit market improvement, manageable credit losses and evidence of good progress in its capital release program are potential catalysts for the rest of this year, said Morgan Stanley.

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Anglo American lifted to overweight by Barclays

26 Jun 2009 at 1:09am

MADRID (MarketWatch) — Mining group Anglo American was upgraded to overweight from equal weight by Barclays Capital on Friday. The investment bank made the change in light of their new, higher copper price assumptions and expectations for a stronger African rand. The investment bank said Anglo will likely defend itself a merger with Xstrata , which could produce a higher bid or a white knight willing to pay a premium for the group. Barclays Capital said it also believes Anglo’s focus on improving operating performance “will eventually result in better earnings, translating into a higher equity valuation and share price. We recommend that
investors buy shares of Anglo American now.”

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UBS lifts forecasts for Deutsche, investment banks

26 Jun 2009 at 12:56am

MADRID (MarketWatch) — UBS on Friday upgraded Deutsche Bank to buy from neutral to buy, saying the German bank is now its preferred investment bank. UBS also raised forecasts for investment banks across 2009 to 2011, saying the “recovery in equity markets and the open window for corporate recapitalizations are set to broaden revenue streams and reduce tail risk,” said UBS. The regulatory picture is less stable in some countries, said UBS, with the Swiss at one extreme and the Germans at the other. Barclays , BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse are not compellingly valued, UBS said.

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UBS lifted to outperform by Credit Suisse

26 Jun 2009 at 12:30am

MADRID (MarketWatch) — UBS on Friday was upgraded to outperform from neutral by Credit Suisse, which said the investment bank offers an attractive risk/reward ratio at current valuations. Credit Suisse said the risks to the franchise of UBS are beginning to lessen, and once the U.S. makes needed concessions on the UBS tax litigation, it can begin to rebuild its sales process in private banking. Credit Suisse said the investment banking outlook also appears to be stabilizing, and there’s little evidence of UBS losing market share in key capital markets.

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Berkeley Group profit falls 37.5%; shuffles board

26 Jun 2009 at 12:15am

MADRID (MarketWatch) — U.K. housebuilder Berkeley Group Holdings on Friday reported a 37.5% fall in profit for the fiscal year ending April 2009, to 86.1 million pounds ($141.3 million), against a profit of 137.8 million pounds a year ago. Fiscal year revenue for the group fell 29% to 702.2 million pounds, against 991.5 million pounds a year earlier. The group said the sales market has been “extremely challenging” but the last quarter has seen a stabilization in sales prices and improved transaction levels. It said the outlook ahead is uncertain, but if transaction levels don’t fall further, it will maintain operating margins at the lower end of the historic range. Berkeley also appointed Tony Pidgley as chairman, replacing Victoria Mitchell who will become deputy chairman and an independent non executive director. Rob Perrins, current finance director, will become group managing director.

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European shares advance in early trading

26 Jun 2009 at 12:10am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — European shares advanced in early trading on Friday, with banks recouping some ground lost in the previous session. UBS shares advanced 0.9%. The Swiss lender said late Thursday that it will raise 3.8 billion francs of new capital. On the downside, shares of British Sky Broadcasting fell 1.6% after a U.K. competition watchdog said that it believes the firm has market power in the pay-TV market. News Corp., the owner of MarketWatch, owns a 39% stake in BSkyB. The U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 1% to 4,295.86, the German DAX index advanced 1.1% to 4,853.75 and the French CAC-40 index climbed 1.1% to 3,198.20.

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U.K. central bank says banks should not be too big

26 Jun 2009 at 12:00am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — The Bank of England again stated its view that banks should not be too big or complex, against the view of the Financial Services Authority and the U.K. Treasury that have said size in and of itself should not be prevented. In its bi-annual financial stability review, the U.K. central bank also said banks should make “richer and more frequent public disclosures” and that larger, high-quality liquidity buffers are required.

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Imagination Technologies: Apple to hold 9.5% stake

25 Jun 2009 at 11:38pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Imagination Technologies said Friday that Apple Inc will subscribe for 2.2 million of its shares at 1.4275 pounds per share. Apple is a licensee of Imagination’s technology. Following the share placement and recent share purchases that Apple has made in the open market, Apple will hold 9.5% of the firm.

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UPDATE: Ofcom says BSkyB has market power

25 Jun 2009 at 11:36pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. broadcasting regulator Ofcom said Friday, as part of its pay TV market investigation, that it considers that British Sky Broadcasting has market power in the wholesale supply of some programming, such as live top-flight sport and first-run Hollywood movies. Ofcom said that it considers Sky is acting on an incentive to limit the distribution of these channels to rival TV platforms. As a result, Ofcom believes consumers face a restricted choice of channels and platforms in the short term. In the longer term, new platforms based on innovative distribution technologies may be prevented from developing without access to this content, it said. Ofcom believes that requiring Sky to make its premium channels available to other retailers on a wholesale basis is the most appropriate way of ensuring fair and effective competition. It is also consulting on proposals to put in place a wholesale must-offer obligation, containing a range of regulated prices. Ofcom said is also considering whether there is a case for targeted interventions on subscription video-on-demand movie rights and the next FA Premier League auction. BSkyB said that it disagrees fundamentally with Ofcom’s approach, analysis and conclusions. “In light of Ofcom’s determination to pursue its preferred outcome, we will use all available legal avenues to challenge this unwarranted intervention,” it said. News Corp. owns a 39% stake in BSkyB and is also the parent company of MarketWatch, the publisher of this report. (Updates to add BSkyB comment.)

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AstraZeneca says Onglyza gets positive opinion

25 Jun 2009 at 11:30pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — AstraZeneca said Friday that the marketing authorisation application for Onglyza received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults as add-on therapy with metformin. The CHMP’s positive opinion will now be reviewed by the European Commission which has the authority to approve medicines for the European Union. AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb expect the European Commission to issue its decision on a Marketing Authorisation for this type 2 diabetes investigational drug in the European Union in the coming months.

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Novartis says Aclasta approved for osteoporosis

25 Jun 2009 at 11:20pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Swiss drugmaker Novartis said Friday that its Aclasta medicine has been approved in the European Union to treat men and postmenopausal women with osteoporosis caused by long-term use of glucocorticoids.

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Pang allegedly took $83 million from firm: WSJ

25 Jun 2009 at 9:18pm

LOS ANGLES (MarketWatch) — California financier Danny Pang extracted at least $83 million in allegedly inflated fees, loans and salary from his investment firm before it was seized in April by federal regulators, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing newly unsealed court documents. A court-appointed temporary receiver of Pang’s former company, Private Equity Management Group, also revised his estimate of potential losses by investors, saying they could range from $287 million to $654 million, the report said. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Pang of defrauding investors, mostly in Taiwan.

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Hong Kong shares open higher

25 Jun 2009 at 7:19pm

TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Hong Kong opened higher Friday, with the Hang Seng up 1.2% at 18,488.45. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 1.7% to 10,950.98. Among the gainers were resource stocks, including PetroChina Co. , up 2.25%

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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June 26 2009 07:14 am | Stock Market News

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