Η Lihir Gold απέρριψε προσφορά εξαγοράς από την Newcrest Mining

Η αυστραλέζικη μεταλλευτική Lihir Gold, απέρριψε προσφορά εξαγοράς ύψους 9,2 δισ. δολ. Αυστραλίας ή 8,4 δισ. δολ. ΗΠΑ από την Newcrest Mining, την μεγαλύτερη επιχείρηση χρυσού της χώρας, με την οποία θα δημιουργείτο η τέταρτη μεγαλύτερη παραγωγός χρυσού στον κόσμο.

Σύμφωνα με τις εκτιμήσεις, ο συνδυασμός των δύο επιχειρήσεων θα δημιουργούσε έναν κολοσσό με αξία στην αγορά 25 δισ. δολ. Αυστραλίας και την Νο1 θέση στην παραγωγή χρυσού της περιφέρειας Αυστραλασίας.

Η Lihir, που διαθέτει ορυχεία στην Παπούα Νέα Γουινέα, την Αυστραλία και την Αφρική, δήλωσε ότι, αν και υπάρχουν πλεονεκτήματα στην συγχώνευση, την απορρίπτει επειδή είναι πολύ χαμηλή σε αξία. Οι δύο επιχειρήσεις διεξήγαγαν συνομιλίες τις τελευταίες 6 εβδομάδες, μετά την αρχική προσέγγιση της Newcrest.

source: euro2day.gr

NBER’s Hall Says Payrolls Make It ‘Pretty Clear’ Recession Over

NBER’s Hall Says Payrolls Make It ‘Pretty Clear’ Recession Over


April 3 (Bloomberg) -- The biggest increase in employment in three years makes it “pretty clear” the deepest U.S. recession since the 1930s has ended, said the head of the group charged with making the call.

Payrolls rose by 162,000 workers last month, the third gain in the past five months and the most since March 2007, figures from the Labor Department showed yesterday in Washington.

“I personally put lots of emphasis on employment,” Robert Hall, who heads the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, said in an interview. “I would say ‘pretty clear’ is a good description” for whether the economic contraction has ended, he said.

Among the top indicators the group uses is payrolls, according to its Web site. The government revised the January and February job count up by a combined 62,000, putting the March gain at 224,000 after including the updated data.

“It’s great news that employment has finally stopped shrinking,” Hall, a Stanford University professor, said.

Today’s report showed the payroll count from the government’s survey of businesses and the employment numbers from a separate survey of households have both been heading higher, Hall said.

“That is looking better now,” he said. “I think the odds favor a continuing expansion in employment, but I don’t have great confidence.”

Growth Outlook

The economy probably grew by 2.8 percent in the first quarter of 2010, according to the median estimate of a Bloomberg News survey of economists last month, after a 5.6 percent pace of expansion in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The committee waits to make a declaration until it can precisely date the start or end of a contraction, which usually takes six to 18 months, according to its Web site.

“Our committee will continue to operate in a deliberate model,” Hall said.

The panel has lagged declarations of other economists partly because it depends on payrolls, among the last economic indicators to show growth. The National Association for Business Economics in October 2009 said the recession had ended, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in September 2009 the contraction “very likely” had stopped.

“Speaking personally, it now seems very clear that the recession has ended,” said another panel member, Harvard University professor Jeffrey Frankel, in an interview yesterday. Frankel has said the most likely date for the recession’s end would be midyear of 2009.

Economic output has been rising since around June or July, he said, while employment has only recently started to rise.

source: bloomberg.com

Greenspan Says ‘Momentum Building Up’ in U.S. Economy

Greenspan Says ‘Momentum Building Up’ in U.S. Economy

April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said there is “a momentum building up” in the U.S. economy and the odds of it faltering have “fallen very significantly.”

“There is a momentum building up which is really just beginning and it’s got a way to go,” Greenspan said today on ABC’s “This Week” program. He said the U.S. is “on the edge of a significant build-up” in inventories “and that is a self- reinforcing cycle.”

The former Fed chairman said the chances the economy will retrench after recovering from the worst recession since the 1930s “have fallen very significantly in the last two months.”

Obama administration officials including White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers said on ABC’s “This Week” program, that job creation “will accelerate.”

Employment grew in March by the most in three years, the Labor Department said on April 2. Payrolls increased by 162,000, the third gain in the past five months and the most since March 2007. The gain included 48,000 temporary workers hired by the government to conduct the census.

Manufacturers, health-care companies, temporary-help service providers and warehouses were among those adding jobs in a sign the expansion is broadening.

The economy will also get a lift as companies begin buying equipment and materials, Greenspan said.

Executives “are saying effectively that there’s a shortage of inventories out there and we’re on the edge of a significant build-up,” he said.

Housing Weakness

The economic rebound is not without its pockets of weakness. Housing is “still depressed,” Greenspan said, though the bubble in the commercial real estate has “already popped. If we were going to get severe secondary reactions, they would have already occurred.”

Greenspan also said he was concerned about the accuracy of the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that the recently passed health-care legislation will cut $143 billion from the deficit over 10 years.

“The probability” that figure is wrong “is much higher than we would like,” he said.

Greenspan also responded to an editorial in the New York Times today written by Michael Burry, a hedge-fund manager who was among the first to bet on subprime housing market defaults.

Greenspan said that it is possible Burry is part of “an extremely small group” of economists and investors who is “really exceptionally adroit” at forecasting.

In the article, Burry took issue with Greenspan saying last month on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt” that the success Burry and others had in predicting the economic collapse was a “statistical illusion.”

Burry said Greenspan and others at the Fed should have seen the crisis building.

source: bloomberg.com

Service Industries Probably Accelerated: U.S. Economy Preview

Service Industries Probably Accelerated: U.S. Economy Preview

April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Service industries probably expanded in March at the fastest pace since 2007, a sign the U.S. recovery is broadening as the job market turns around, economists said before reports this week.

The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non- manufacturing businesses, which make up about 90 percent of the economy, rose to 54, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey before figures tomorrow. Readings of 50 signal expansion. Another report may show fewer Americans signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in February, indicating real estate remains the economy weak spot.

The manufacturing rebound that helped the U.S. dig out of the worst recession since the 1930s is starting to extend to other industries, benefiting companies such as Carnival Corp. and Best Buy Inc. A government report last week showed employment rose 162,000 in March, the most in three years, making a sustained recovery more likely.

“Services are making a slow and steady comeback,” said David Semmens, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York. “The job gains are encouraging. We’re going to be looking for momentum.”

The Tempe, Arizona-based group’s figures would follow a reading of 53 for February. The estimates of 63 economists surveyed ranged from 51 to 55. The projected reading would be the highest since June 2007.

The unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in March for a third month, the Labor Department reported April 2. Payrolls rose for the third time in the past five months and by the most since March 2007, signaling companies are becoming more confident that the economy is healing.

Reflecting the improvement in the services industry, the Standard & Poor’s Supercomposite Retailing Index has climbed 11 percent this year, outpacing a 5.6 percent gain in the broader S&P 500 gauge.

Best Buy Sales

Best Buy, the largest U.S. electronics retailer, is among companies seeing demand pick up. The Richfield, Minnesota-based merchant last month reported fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates as discounts helped boost sales.

Carnival, the biggest cruise-line operator, last month raised its full-year profit forecast as ticket prices rebounded from 2009’s lows amid more bookings.

“The booking environment continued to improve,” Chief Executive Officer Micky Arison said in a March 23 statement. “We returned to top line revenue growth after a challenging 2009.”

Housing, which helped trigger the recession, has yet to show signs of a sustained rebound. The National Association of Realtors’ index of purchase agreements, or pending home sales, probably fell 1 percent in February after a 7.6 percent drop the prior month, according to the survey median. The report is also due tomorrow.

Fed Minutes

Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting, due April 6, may shed more light on policy makers’ assessment of the economy at the time they pledged to keep the benchmark interest rate “exceptionally low” for an “extended period.”

The Fed may report on April 7 that consumer credit increased in February for the second straight month. Economists also project Commerce Department figures on April 9 may show inventories at wholesalers rose in February for the first time in three months.



Bloomberg Survey

================================================================
==
Release Period Prior Median
Indicator Date Value Forecast
================================================================
==
ISM NonManu Index 4/5 March 53.0 54.0
Pending Homes MOM% 4/5 Feb. -7.6% -1.0%
Cons. Credit $ Blns 4/7 Feb. 5.0 1.2
Initial Claims ,000’s 4/8 3-Apr 439 435
Cont. Claims ,000’s 4/8 27-Mar 4662 4650
Whlsale Inv. MOM% 4/9 Feb. -0.1% 0.4%
================================================================
==

source: bloomberg.com