By Deborah Levine and Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
The dollar lost ground against the euro Tuesday after a report eased investors’ fears about Greece’s debt woes.
Both currencies gained on the yen after Moody’s Investors Service said it was reviewing Japan’s rating for possible downgrade.
The dollar index , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, slipped to 74.630 from 74.941 in Asian trading Monday.
U.S. markets were closed Monday for Memorial Day and U.K. markets for a bank holiday.
The euro jumped to $1.4378 from $1.4271 Monday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
The euro pared its gains after weak U.S. confidence data weighed on equities, reducing investors’ willingness to move away from the relative safety of the greenback into other currencies and riskier asset classes. See story on consumer confidence.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Germany may consider abandoning a push to reschedule Greek debt early, which may pave the way for Greece to receive a new package of financial aid. Read more on Germany's stance on Greek debt.
“If the [Journal] report is confirmed by German officials, it could help remove the impasse surrounding Greece’s funding needs and ease the pressure” on the euro against the dollar, said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT, in emailed comments.
However, others see a restructuring of Greek debt as highly probable and just a question of timing.
The euro has dropped 2.9% this month, its first monthly drop since November.
The dollar index has gained 2.4% this month.
“The political debate on how to shore up Greek finances shows no sign of being resolved, while Greek public opposition to austerity continues to run the risk of major social unrest,” said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at Forex.com. “Some form of Greek debt restructuring remains extremely likely, with only the timing open to question.
“With European data continuing to indicate a slowing ahead, we think the euro and risk sentiment in general remain vulnerable,” he wrote in a note.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to ¥81.24, up from ¥80.79
Monday.
Against the euro , the Japanese unit bought ¥116.83, up 0.7%.
On Tuesday, Moody’s put Japan’s Aa2 local and foreign-currency bond ratings on review for possible downgrade, citing faltering growth prospects and a weak policy response in the wake of the March earthquake-triggered disaster.
For the month, the dollar is little changed against the yen, while the euro has dropped 2.9% against Japan’s currency.
The British pound turned down to $1.6437, from $1.6478 late Monday.
Sterling has lost 1.6% this month against the dollar.
Aussie dollar, Chinese yuan
The Australian dollar dipped to $1.0651, down 0.7%, after downbeat economic reports. Data showed a wider-than-expected first-quarter current-account deficit and a fall in housing prices in most capital cities.
In May, the U.S. unit has lost 2.8% versus the aussie.
The Chinese yuan also hit a fresh record high against the dollar of 6.4810 in spot trading, according to reports, after the People’s Bank of China set its official parity rate for the unit at a new high for the fourth consecutive session.
The central bank reportedly set the yuan’s rate against the dollar at a record high of 6.4845, up from 6.4856 on Monday. The PBOC allows the yuan to trade in a range of 0.5% on either side of the parity rate.
Deborah Levine is a MarketWatch reporter, based in New York. Lisa Twaronite is MarketWatch's Tokyo bureau chief.
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Monday, 30 May 2011
How to make money 101 ways
This is a site about the things you can do on the internet that are beneficial.
I now understand more about what people are doing while on Facebook.Here's the link
http://www.101waystomakemoney.com
I think internet marketing is the next tech bubble.I can't wait for the Facebook IPO!
I now understand more about what people are doing while on Facebook.Here's the link
http://www.101waystomakemoney.com
I think internet marketing is the next tech bubble.I can't wait for the Facebook IPO!
Friday, 27 May 2011
Dollar dip helps stocks and commodities
Friday 1845 BST.
A switch in the way the dollar reacts to disappointing US economic data is providing support to stocks and commodities, as traders find the gospel of the buck’s inverse correlation to risk assets difficult to denounce.
The FTSE All-World index is up 1 per cent, WTI crude has reclaimed the $100 a barrel mark and high beta “growth” currencies, such as the Australian dollar are firmer.
The S&P 500 on Wall Street is up 0.5 per cent – just 2 per cent below its cyclical peak – helped by a 0.7 per cent advance for Asia and a 0.6 per cent pop for the FTSE Eurofirst 300. Globally, banks and miners are seeing the strongest gains, and traders rotate into sectors that benefit from falling interest rates and higher prices for physical assets.
Such a bullish tone would normally be met with noteworthy softness in the prices of core bonds, nudging yields higher as investors shifted funds to racier plays.
But the guts of the rally remain weak. Friday’s news of a disturbingly large fall in pending homes sales in April has cancelled out a better than expected reading of consumer sentiment.
Benchmark US Treasury 10-year yields are barely changed at 3.06 per cent, a six-month low reflecting continued evidence that economic activity in the US is stuttering. The S&P 500 also failed a critical test of a technical level, at 1,343, and is pulling back from its days’ highs.
Recently, such weak data would give the dollar a somewhat perverse boost as investors bet on funds flowing into perceived haven currencies as risk appetite waned.
This is not the case on Friday – as investors are faced with the conundrum of risk assets and core sovereigns both displaying strength of late.
One explanation for this is that the soft macro data are temporary but increases the chances the Federal Reserve will stay looser for longer, a scenario much loved by bulls of both stocks and bonds.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, is down 0.8 per cent to 74.93, helping drive copper up 1.5 per cent to $4.17 a pound, and push gold up 1.1 per cent to $1,537 an ounce.
The dollar has hit a record low versus the Swiss franc of $0.8535.
Part of the reason for dollar weakness is a resurgence in the euro, which is up 0.8 per cent to $1.4278 as the latest pulse of eurozone fiscal fears fades.
Dealers had been spooked on Thursday by a warning from the chair of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, that the IMF may not release next month its share of a €12bn aid package to Greece.
The market now seems to be reassessing the likelihood of such a scenario and the euro is also getting support from the crunching of yield differentials with the US currency as the Bund and Treasury yield spread sits at just 7 basis points.
Indeed, such is the trend for lower yields that the Japanese five-year has touched a five-month low of 0.41 per cent, even after Tokyo revealed that surging commodity prices had helped inflation return to the country for the first time since 2008.
The market seemed not especially fussed by news that Fitch was downgrading its outlook on Japan’s sovereign debt.
Earlier in Asian trading the region was mainly positive as strong corporate profit news and the weaker buck overshadowed lingering concerns about the eurozone and the US economy.
However, two of the major bourses remained under pressure. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was led lower by weakness in Sony, after the electronics group’s forecast of a Y80bn profit this year disappointed analysts.
Meanwhile Shanghai, lost another 1 per cent, taking its decline this week to 5.2 per cent. China’s benchmark now sits at a four-month low as traders continue to fret that Beijing’s battle against inflation will require the economy to cool further.
Elsewhere, the tone was more upbeat. The resumption of foreign buying provided some support in Seoul as technology and recently hard hit carmakers – following a production crimping strike in the component sector – pushed the Kospi up 0.4 per cent.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 per cent as “bargain hunters” nibbled at blue chips, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng showed it remains more tightly correlated to the broader global trend than its mainland peer by climbing 1 per cent as banks saw buyers.
Reporting by Jamie Chisholm in London and Telis Demos in New York
A switch in the way the dollar reacts to disappointing US economic data is providing support to stocks and commodities, as traders find the gospel of the buck’s inverse correlation to risk assets difficult to denounce.
The FTSE All-World index is up 1 per cent, WTI crude has reclaimed the $100 a barrel mark and high beta “growth” currencies, such as the Australian dollar are firmer.
The S&P 500 on Wall Street is up 0.5 per cent – just 2 per cent below its cyclical peak – helped by a 0.7 per cent advance for Asia and a 0.6 per cent pop for the FTSE Eurofirst 300. Globally, banks and miners are seeing the strongest gains, and traders rotate into sectors that benefit from falling interest rates and higher prices for physical assets.
Such a bullish tone would normally be met with noteworthy softness in the prices of core bonds, nudging yields higher as investors shifted funds to racier plays.
But the guts of the rally remain weak. Friday’s news of a disturbingly large fall in pending homes sales in April has cancelled out a better than expected reading of consumer sentiment.
Benchmark US Treasury 10-year yields are barely changed at 3.06 per cent, a six-month low reflecting continued evidence that economic activity in the US is stuttering. The S&P 500 also failed a critical test of a technical level, at 1,343, and is pulling back from its days’ highs.
Recently, such weak data would give the dollar a somewhat perverse boost as investors bet on funds flowing into perceived haven currencies as risk appetite waned.
This is not the case on Friday – as investors are faced with the conundrum of risk assets and core sovereigns both displaying strength of late.
One explanation for this is that the soft macro data are temporary but increases the chances the Federal Reserve will stay looser for longer, a scenario much loved by bulls of both stocks and bonds.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, is down 0.8 per cent to 74.93, helping drive copper up 1.5 per cent to $4.17 a pound, and push gold up 1.1 per cent to $1,537 an ounce.
The dollar has hit a record low versus the Swiss franc of $0.8535.
Part of the reason for dollar weakness is a resurgence in the euro, which is up 0.8 per cent to $1.4278 as the latest pulse of eurozone fiscal fears fades.
Dealers had been spooked on Thursday by a warning from the chair of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, that the IMF may not release next month its share of a €12bn aid package to Greece.
The market now seems to be reassessing the likelihood of such a scenario and the euro is also getting support from the crunching of yield differentials with the US currency as the Bund and Treasury yield spread sits at just 7 basis points.
Indeed, such is the trend for lower yields that the Japanese five-year has touched a five-month low of 0.41 per cent, even after Tokyo revealed that surging commodity prices had helped inflation return to the country for the first time since 2008.
The market seemed not especially fussed by news that Fitch was downgrading its outlook on Japan’s sovereign debt.
Earlier in Asian trading the region was mainly positive as strong corporate profit news and the weaker buck overshadowed lingering concerns about the eurozone and the US economy.
However, two of the major bourses remained under pressure. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was led lower by weakness in Sony, after the electronics group’s forecast of a Y80bn profit this year disappointed analysts.
Meanwhile Shanghai, lost another 1 per cent, taking its decline this week to 5.2 per cent. China’s benchmark now sits at a four-month low as traders continue to fret that Beijing’s battle against inflation will require the economy to cool further.
Elsewhere, the tone was more upbeat. The resumption of foreign buying provided some support in Seoul as technology and recently hard hit carmakers – following a production crimping strike in the component sector – pushed the Kospi up 0.4 per cent.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 per cent as “bargain hunters” nibbled at blue chips, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng showed it remains more tightly correlated to the broader global trend than its mainland peer by climbing 1 per cent as banks saw buyers.
Reporting by Jamie Chisholm in London and Telis Demos in New York
California may review AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal
(Reuters) - California regulators may open a formal examination of AT&T Inc's proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA, a move that could delay or add conditions to approval of the deal.
If successful, the deal would create the largest U.S. mobile phone service.
To complete the deal, which many consumers and rivals including Sprint Nextel are opposing, AT&T needs approval from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the telecommunications regulator. State regulators can block a merger within their state.
The California Public Utilities Commission told its staff, in a meeting on Thursday, to open a proceeding to gather information about the merger for the state regulator to consider at its next voting meeting on June 9.
The commission said it wants information about the merger proposal "in light of relevant state law and public policies."
State regulators can block a merger but more typically, they tend to impose conditions for approval that are specific to the needs of that state, experts said.
Because California is such a large state, a rejection there "would sabotage the deal to a large extent," according to Bert Foer, head of the American Antitrust Institute but he added that it was more typical for states to negotiate with the federal regulators.
State reviews could also affect the timing of a deal as a merger would not close until all the reviews were competed, according Stifel Nicolaus analyst Rebecca Arbogast.
AT&T has notified California, Arizona, Hawaii, West Virginia and Louisiana about the deal. Louisiana has already said it would investigate. Sprint had asked West Virginia, California and Louisiana to review the deal.
Sprint and Leap Wireless say the deal would make the U.S. wireless industry less competitive while consumers have told the FCC that they are worried the deal will result in higher prices.
AT&T has argued that the acquisition of T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, would help it to provide a better service by allowing it to expand its network in states like California more quickly than it could have otherwise.
AT&T notified the California commission about the proposed deal on May 3 and the deal would have been deemed approved if the regulator had taken no action 30 days later.
Lane Kasselman, a spokesman for AT&T said the company is "confident in the merits of this deal and that regulatory approvals will be obtained" after the reviews.
The top executives from AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Deutsche Telekom have defended the deal at Senate and House hearings where Republicans and Democrats expressed skepticism about the benefits of the deal to consumers.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew in New York, Diane Bartz in
Washington and Poormina Gupta in San Francisco; editing by Derek Caney)
If successful, the deal would create the largest U.S. mobile phone service.
To complete the deal, which many consumers and rivals including Sprint Nextel are opposing, AT&T needs approval from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the telecommunications regulator. State regulators can block a merger within their state.
The California Public Utilities Commission told its staff, in a meeting on Thursday, to open a proceeding to gather information about the merger for the state regulator to consider at its next voting meeting on June 9.
The commission said it wants information about the merger proposal "in light of relevant state law and public policies."
State regulators can block a merger but more typically, they tend to impose conditions for approval that are specific to the needs of that state, experts said.
Because California is such a large state, a rejection there "would sabotage the deal to a large extent," according to Bert Foer, head of the American Antitrust Institute but he added that it was more typical for states to negotiate with the federal regulators.
State reviews could also affect the timing of a deal as a merger would not close until all the reviews were competed, according Stifel Nicolaus analyst Rebecca Arbogast.
AT&T has notified California, Arizona, Hawaii, West Virginia and Louisiana about the deal. Louisiana has already said it would investigate. Sprint had asked West Virginia, California and Louisiana to review the deal.
Sprint and Leap Wireless say the deal would make the U.S. wireless industry less competitive while consumers have told the FCC that they are worried the deal will result in higher prices.
AT&T has argued that the acquisition of T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, would help it to provide a better service by allowing it to expand its network in states like California more quickly than it could have otherwise.
AT&T notified the California commission about the proposed deal on May 3 and the deal would have been deemed approved if the regulator had taken no action 30 days later.
Lane Kasselman, a spokesman for AT&T said the company is "confident in the merits of this deal and that regulatory approvals will be obtained" after the reviews.
The top executives from AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Deutsche Telekom have defended the deal at Senate and House hearings where Republicans and Democrats expressed skepticism about the benefits of the deal to consumers.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew in New York, Diane Bartz in
Washington and Poormina Gupta in San Francisco; editing by Derek Caney)
Monday, 23 May 2011
Today's Highlights:BP,Deutsche Tel and Popolare
Hope you had a fine weekend.
Didn't much trading today,but our trades are doing fine except the Deutsche Tel stock which hasn't moved much from its Friday position.As indicated before,we're not moving from our long positions just yet as we expect an upward push on the stock as the T-Mobile deal inches ahead.
Also went short on Banco Popolare on Friday and was vindicated by Standard & Poor's downgrade of Italy's debt.We won't be moving from this position in the next few days or weeks as there are more problems for Berlusconi in parliament which will continue pushing this stock downwards.And we already have a 29% return from only a few hours of trading on Friday and this morning.
Our BP(LSE) stock is doing surprisingly well despite shedding 7% nearly 2 weeks ago and is currently in the green.
Keep tuned as we build this portfolio from zero to exponential figures.
James Mwangi continues to be long in BP and Deutsche Tel and short in Banco Popolare.This position doesn't necessarily guarantee protection from risk of losses.
Didn't much trading today,but our trades are doing fine except the Deutsche Tel stock which hasn't moved much from its Friday position.As indicated before,we're not moving from our long positions just yet as we expect an upward push on the stock as the T-Mobile deal inches ahead.
Also went short on Banco Popolare on Friday and was vindicated by Standard & Poor's downgrade of Italy's debt.We won't be moving from this position in the next few days or weeks as there are more problems for Berlusconi in parliament which will continue pushing this stock downwards.And we already have a 29% return from only a few hours of trading on Friday and this morning.
Our BP(LSE) stock is doing surprisingly well despite shedding 7% nearly 2 weeks ago and is currently in the green.
Keep tuned as we build this portfolio from zero to exponential figures.
James Mwangi continues to be long in BP and Deutsche Tel and short in Banco Popolare.This position doesn't necessarily guarantee protection from risk of losses.
Gold bulls watching gold elephants
By Peter Brimelow, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold’s gyrations on Friday were dramatic, probably exhausting to both sides — and possibly important. Some gold bugs think a new attempt on the highs of last month may have started.
Gold was firm in Europe, but plunged on serious selling during the New York morning — then dramatically reversed on heavy volume to close up $16.50 at $1,508.40 in the CME June contract. This meant gold was up over 1% on the week. More importantly, gold appears to have broken the downtrend which had been in place all month.
Gold stocks, as measured by the Arca Gold Bugs, also seem to have reversed their May downtrend — particularly important to the many observers who think gold shares lead the metal’s movement. The HUI was up 2.75% on the week.
This action must have been a relief to the respected, institutionally oriented Gartman Letter, which overcame its earlier worries and very early on Friday morning added two “units” of gold to its model portfolio (one of which was hedged into yen). This makes the portfolio 7/11ths gold.
During the morning, Gartman must have been wondering if its actions (and those of its hedge-fund clients) were being targeted by hostile forces — a suspicion sometimes heard in the past. As it is, Gartman appears to have judged gold momentum well.
Gold’s recovery on Friday closely followed the announcement that the Fitch ratings service had cut its ranking on sovereign Greek debt. This sparked fears that a wave of anxiety about euro-zone defaults might sweep the market. (Standard & Poor’s subsequently made matters worse by warning of a possible downgrade for Italy.)
One of the correspondents on the LeMetropleCafe webzine pointed out that the rally in gold, as Europe was closing and on a Friday, nevertheless involved heavy estimated volumes, and asked: Did Fitch bring in Western Elephants?
That is, have the powerful speculative forces which have previously run gold up on euro fears appeared again?
All of this will certainly exercise Australia’s attentive and sophisticated gold observer, The Privateer. It has contended for some time that bouts of negative publicity by the ratings agencies are orchestrated to distract the markets from America’s problems.
As it acidly observed over the weekend: “… it is clearly the ‘policy’ that the U.S. and its debt problems will NOT be the focus of the global public in general and the U.S. paper markets in particular. … The U.S. was last faced with the necessity to raise their Treasury’s debt limit in late 2009 - early 2010. That was when the European sovereign-debt crisis first hit the headlines — duly conjured up by the U.S. ratings agencies. …”
“Now, we are in the same situation again, the only difference being that the U.S. Treasury is now officially $2.2 TRILLION deeper in debt than it was at the end of 2009, less than a year and a half ago.”
“The problem is that the European sovereign-debt crisis is becoming increasingly ‘old’ news. Something BIG had to be done to resuscitate it. It was.”
The Privateer continues to be bullish on gold.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold’s gyrations on Friday were dramatic, probably exhausting to both sides — and possibly important. Some gold bugs think a new attempt on the highs of last month may have started.
Gold was firm in Europe, but plunged on serious selling during the New York morning — then dramatically reversed on heavy volume to close up $16.50 at $1,508.40 in the CME June contract. This meant gold was up over 1% on the week. More importantly, gold appears to have broken the downtrend which had been in place all month.
Gold stocks, as measured by the Arca Gold Bugs, also seem to have reversed their May downtrend — particularly important to the many observers who think gold shares lead the metal’s movement. The HUI was up 2.75% on the week.
This action must have been a relief to the respected, institutionally oriented Gartman Letter, which overcame its earlier worries and very early on Friday morning added two “units” of gold to its model portfolio (one of which was hedged into yen). This makes the portfolio 7/11ths gold.
During the morning, Gartman must have been wondering if its actions (and those of its hedge-fund clients) were being targeted by hostile forces — a suspicion sometimes heard in the past. As it is, Gartman appears to have judged gold momentum well.
Gold’s recovery on Friday closely followed the announcement that the Fitch ratings service had cut its ranking on sovereign Greek debt. This sparked fears that a wave of anxiety about euro-zone defaults might sweep the market. (Standard & Poor’s subsequently made matters worse by warning of a possible downgrade for Italy.)
One of the correspondents on the LeMetropleCafe webzine pointed out that the rally in gold, as Europe was closing and on a Friday, nevertheless involved heavy estimated volumes, and asked: Did Fitch bring in Western Elephants?
That is, have the powerful speculative forces which have previously run gold up on euro fears appeared again?
All of this will certainly exercise Australia’s attentive and sophisticated gold observer, The Privateer. It has contended for some time that bouts of negative publicity by the ratings agencies are orchestrated to distract the markets from America’s problems.
As it acidly observed over the weekend: “… it is clearly the ‘policy’ that the U.S. and its debt problems will NOT be the focus of the global public in general and the U.S. paper markets in particular. … The U.S. was last faced with the necessity to raise their Treasury’s debt limit in late 2009 - early 2010. That was when the European sovereign-debt crisis first hit the headlines — duly conjured up by the U.S. ratings agencies. …”
“Now, we are in the same situation again, the only difference being that the U.S. Treasury is now officially $2.2 TRILLION deeper in debt than it was at the end of 2009, less than a year and a half ago.”
“The problem is that the European sovereign-debt crisis is becoming increasingly ‘old’ news. Something BIG had to be done to resuscitate it. It was.”
The Privateer continues to be bullish on gold.
Friday, 20 May 2011
LinkedIn’s stock soars in IPO
Shares surge, valuing company at roughly $8.9 billion
Shares of LinkedIn Corp. more than doubled Thursday in a strong public-trading debut, highlighting investors’ pent-up demand for ownership in a new class of social-networking companies.
LinkedIn’s stock soared at one point more than 140% to $108.25, before receding to $94.25 by the close of its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Propelled by vigorous demand leading up to its initial public offering, LinkedIn’s IPO priced at $45 a share, at the top end of a recently raised range of $42 to $45 a share. Previously, the IPO pricing range had been $32 to $35 for shares in the professional-networking service.
Mountain View, Calif.–based LinkedIn is seen as the first in a wave of Internet IPOs, which could include Facebook Inc., Groupon Inc. and Zynga Inc.
LinkedIn is geared to professionals, and draws a big chunk of its revenue from services offered to businesses. LinkedIn said last year it had nearly 3,900 companies using its “hiring solutions” service for recruiting.
LinkedIn announced in March that it reached 100 million members, with more than half of its members based outside the United States. The company said it was seeing its fastest growth in Brazil, Mexico, India and France.
Members listed a range of occupations from teacher and chocolatier to Elvis Presley impersonator.
LinkedIn’s IPO share gain of more than 100% from its initial price “was a fairly common occurrence in the dot-com years of 1999 and 2000,” according to Renaissance Capital.
Founder of LinkedIn Reid Garrett Hoffman (center) applauds with CEO Jeffrey Weiner (right) at the NYSE.
A few IPOs have “hit that mark” in the post-bubble era, “including Baidu.com, Youku.com and Qihoo 360 Technology , Greenwich, Conn.-based Renaissance said. “LinkedIn may be joining the list after its close today,” it added.
Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique, said LinkedIn’s blockbuster IPO will be very encouraging to companies widely expected to go public soon, such as Groupon and Zynga.
“This was to be used as a proxy for price point,” Sweet said of LinkedIn. “With it pricing at $45 and trading at $80-plus, it now seems logical that Groupon, Twitter and Zynga should and likely will file shortly in that they were very anxiously awaiting this debut.”
The main focus remains on Facebook, which has more than 600 million members, now seen as the dominant social-networking site.
“Facebook, as I have said in the past, will be pandemonium when it files,” Sweet remarked. “Facebook is so far and away the leader in this area, and nobody can catch them now.”
Shares of LinkedIn Corp. more than doubled Thursday in a strong public-trading debut, highlighting investors’ pent-up demand for ownership in a new class of social-networking companies.
LinkedIn’s stock soared at one point more than 140% to $108.25, before receding to $94.25 by the close of its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Propelled by vigorous demand leading up to its initial public offering, LinkedIn’s IPO priced at $45 a share, at the top end of a recently raised range of $42 to $45 a share. Previously, the IPO pricing range had been $32 to $35 for shares in the professional-networking service.
Mountain View, Calif.–based LinkedIn is seen as the first in a wave of Internet IPOs, which could include Facebook Inc., Groupon Inc. and Zynga Inc.
LinkedIn is geared to professionals, and draws a big chunk of its revenue from services offered to businesses. LinkedIn said last year it had nearly 3,900 companies using its “hiring solutions” service for recruiting.
LinkedIn announced in March that it reached 100 million members, with more than half of its members based outside the United States. The company said it was seeing its fastest growth in Brazil, Mexico, India and France.
Members listed a range of occupations from teacher and chocolatier to Elvis Presley impersonator.
LinkedIn’s IPO share gain of more than 100% from its initial price “was a fairly common occurrence in the dot-com years of 1999 and 2000,” according to Renaissance Capital.
Founder of LinkedIn Reid Garrett Hoffman (center) applauds with CEO Jeffrey Weiner (right) at the NYSE.
A few IPOs have “hit that mark” in the post-bubble era, “including Baidu.com, Youku.com and Qihoo 360 Technology , Greenwich, Conn.-based Renaissance said. “LinkedIn may be joining the list after its close today,” it added.
Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique, said LinkedIn’s blockbuster IPO will be very encouraging to companies widely expected to go public soon, such as Groupon and Zynga.
“This was to be used as a proxy for price point,” Sweet said of LinkedIn. “With it pricing at $45 and trading at $80-plus, it now seems logical that Groupon, Twitter and Zynga should and likely will file shortly in that they were very anxiously awaiting this debut.”
The main focus remains on Facebook, which has more than 600 million members, now seen as the dominant social-networking site.
“Facebook, as I have said in the past, will be pandemonium when it files,” Sweet remarked. “Facebook is so far and away the leader in this area, and nobody can catch them now.”
BP settles with Mitsui arm over Macondo spill
Terms call for $1.07 billion to settle claims over Deepwater tragedy
Simon Kennedy-MarketWatch
Shares of oil giant BP PLC rallied nearly 4% Friday after MOEX USA Corp., one of the co-owners of the Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, agreed to hand over $1.07 billion to settle claims from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
BP said it will receive the payment from MOEX, which owned a 10% stake in the well through a subsidiary.
Japan’s Mitsui & Co. the majority holder in an entity that owns MOEX, confirmed the settlement in a separate announcement. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. held a 25% stake in the Macondo well.
The agreement makes MOEX the first of BP’s partners to agree to contribute to the cost of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
“MOEX ... has joined BP in recognizing and acknowledging the findings by the Presidential Commission that the accident was the result of a number of separate risk factors, oversights and outright mistakes by multiple parties and a number of causes,” BP said.
BP’s shares rallied 3.7% in London following the announcement. See more on Friday trading in London‘s FTSE 100.
Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Killik & Co., said he was “slightly disappointed” by the size of the settlement when compared to BP’s latest estimate that the spill will cost $41.3 billion. Overall, however, the agreement is positive news, he added.
“It is the first time that a company involved in the well has joined BP in helping to meet the cost of the accident and it appears to reinforce the likelihood that BP will not be found grossly negligent, an outcome that would bring a much larger liability under the Clean Water Act,” Jackson said.
The payment will be applied to the $20 billion trust that the oil company established last year to pay claims resulting from the deadly Gulf of Mexico explosion and spill.
“MOEX Offshore has also recognized and acknowledged the conclusions of the United States Coast Guard that, among other things, the safety management systems of both Transocean Ltd.and its Deepwater Horizon rig had significant deficiencies that rendered them ineffective in preventing the accident,” BP said.
Chief Executive Bob Dudley called on other partners in the Macondo well to also contribute to the massive cost of cleaning up and compensating victims.
Anadarko next?
“If this settlement is swiftly followed by an agreement with Anadarko, BP should be able to begin to put the whole Macondo saga behind it, especially if this is followed by an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice,” said Jefferies International analyst Iain Reid.
Contractors involved in the Macondo project included Transocean, which was the operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, as well as Halliburton Co. and Cameron International Corp.
BP said it’s agreed to indemnify MOEX for compensation claims arising from the disaster, but not from civil or criminal fines or penalties or from claims for punitive damages.
It added that the agreement isn’t an admission of liability by either party.
Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London.
Simon Kennedy-MarketWatch
Shares of oil giant BP PLC rallied nearly 4% Friday after MOEX USA Corp., one of the co-owners of the Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, agreed to hand over $1.07 billion to settle claims from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
BP said it will receive the payment from MOEX, which owned a 10% stake in the well through a subsidiary.
Japan’s Mitsui & Co. the majority holder in an entity that owns MOEX, confirmed the settlement in a separate announcement. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. held a 25% stake in the Macondo well.
The agreement makes MOEX the first of BP’s partners to agree to contribute to the cost of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
“MOEX ... has joined BP in recognizing and acknowledging the findings by the Presidential Commission that the accident was the result of a number of separate risk factors, oversights and outright mistakes by multiple parties and a number of causes,” BP said.
BP’s shares rallied 3.7% in London following the announcement. See more on Friday trading in London‘s FTSE 100.
Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Killik & Co., said he was “slightly disappointed” by the size of the settlement when compared to BP’s latest estimate that the spill will cost $41.3 billion. Overall, however, the agreement is positive news, he added.
“It is the first time that a company involved in the well has joined BP in helping to meet the cost of the accident and it appears to reinforce the likelihood that BP will not be found grossly negligent, an outcome that would bring a much larger liability under the Clean Water Act,” Jackson said.
The payment will be applied to the $20 billion trust that the oil company established last year to pay claims resulting from the deadly Gulf of Mexico explosion and spill.
“MOEX Offshore has also recognized and acknowledged the conclusions of the United States Coast Guard that, among other things, the safety management systems of both Transocean Ltd.and its Deepwater Horizon rig had significant deficiencies that rendered them ineffective in preventing the accident,” BP said.
Chief Executive Bob Dudley called on other partners in the Macondo well to also contribute to the massive cost of cleaning up and compensating victims.
Anadarko next?
“If this settlement is swiftly followed by an agreement with Anadarko, BP should be able to begin to put the whole Macondo saga behind it, especially if this is followed by an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice,” said Jefferies International analyst Iain Reid.
Contractors involved in the Macondo project included Transocean, which was the operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, as well as Halliburton Co. and Cameron International Corp.
BP said it’s agreed to indemnify MOEX for compensation claims arising from the disaster, but not from civil or criminal fines or penalties or from claims for punitive damages.
It added that the agreement isn’t an admission of liability by either party.
Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London.
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