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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (26077)	12/6/2007 3:27:21 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 220334

Li Ka-shing bought out Egyptian investor Orascom Telecom Holding SAE. If mainland China doesn't come out coughing up gazillions others will take the cherries... Hutchison Telecom Shares Gain After Li Raises Stake (Update3) By Mark Lee Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. rose the most in a month in Hong Kong trading after controlling shareholder Li Ka-shing bought out Egyptian investor Orascom Telecom Holding SAE. The stock climbed 5.3 percent to HK$11.90 at the end of trading, the largest increase since Nov. 7, after gaining as much as 6 percent earlier. Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. bought a 9.22 percent stake and billionaire Li's Yuda Ltd. purchased the remaining 5 percent held by the Egyptian company in transactions valued at a combined HK$7.5 billion ($962 million). Hutchison Telecom has trailed the benchmark index on expectations that Orascom may withdraw its investment after the Hong Kong carrier sold a unit in India, the company's most profitable subsidiary. The deal allows Hutchison Whampoa to regain most of the shares at the same price that the Egyptian company paid for them two years ago. ``Orascom was interested in India primarily, and other areas of co-operation with Hutchison Telecom haven't really come to fruition,'' said Andrew Jobson, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research in Hong Kong with a ``hold'' rating on Hutchison Telecom shares. ``People were expecting Orascom to sell, and now it has happened, this factor is out of the way.'' Hutchison Whampoa, Li's biggest company, with assets ranging from telecommunications to ports and energy, doesn't intend to take Hutchison Telecom private, spokeswoman Laura Cheung said today, reiterating a Nov. 5 statement by the parent company. `Reasonable Price' Orascom will book a $600 million profit from the investment, mainly on the sale of the Indian unit. The latest transactions value Hutchison Telecom shares at HK$11 apiece. ``We are paying what we consider to be a reasonable price,'' Cheung said by telephone. ``The transaction carries the same valuation as two years ago, even though we think Hutchison Telecom now has even better prospects.'' Hutchison Telecom paid Orascom a special dividend of $793 million after selling its 67 percent stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd. to Vodafone Group Plc for $10.7 billion in May. Hutchison Essar, now renamed Vodafone Essar, is India's third-largest mobile operator, and accounted for 72 percent of the Hong Kong phone company's operating profit last year. Indian Market Orascom's ``initial acquisition of HTIL shares was to gain exposure to the Indian market, however, after the sale of the Indian asset, the investment in HTIL became of less strategic value,'' the Egyptian company said in a statement. Hutchison Telecom, which owns mobile-phone units in eight markets including Israel, Indonesia and Hong Kong, gained 7 percent in the three months before today, compared with a 22 percent increase in Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index. Hutchison Whampoa paid Orascom HK$4.9 billion for 441 million Hutchison Telecom shares, increasing its holding in the Hong Kong- based phone unit to 59.33 percent from 50.11 percent, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange statement yesterday. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net

To: TobagoJack who wrote (26077)	12/6/2007 5:03:50 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 220334

Financials Rally on U.S. Rate Freeze Plan Thu, Dec 6 2007, 04:17 GMT by Trade The News Staff Trade The News ELMAT: The cunning Abu Dhabis who bought Citigroup! Trade The News Real-time 24hr global markets news in both audio & text formats. Free Trial. - Asian financials traded higher after sources close to the White House said the Bush administration has put together an agreement to freeze interest rates for certain subprime mortgages for five years. The plan represents a compromise between banking regulators, who wanted a longer time frame of up to seven years, and the mortgage industry (many industry leaders have argued that that the freeze should last only one or two years). It remains to be seen how markets would view the government's involvement in the private sector. "Longer-term this will be a significant disincentive for foreign capital to invest in the U.S., as it sets a significant precedent," said Andrew Spencer at Thomson IFR. - Forex: The USD remains well supported by today's better than expected ADP employment data, and news that the Treasury will announce an interest rate freeze on subprime mortgages tomorrow. After reviewing the better than expected ADP employment data, Goldman Sachs has turned bullish on the USD. The EUR was softer in Asia as some analysts speculate that the ECB may signal a possible January rate cut at their meeting on Thursday. EUR/USD briefly broke below 1.4585 support, but has since then rebounded back above 1.4600. The GBP was slightly firmer in Asia ahead of the BoE meeting, with mounting speculation that the central bank will cut interest rates. AUD/USD managed to stay above 0.87 after surviving a test of major support at 0.8655 in the New York session, helped in part by a rally on global stock markets. The CNY dropped by the most since the USD peg was scrapped in 2005. Between 17:00 EST and 23:12 EST: EUR/USD -0.03%, EUR/GBP -0.15%, GBP/USD +0.09%, AUD/USD +0.31%, NZD/USD +0.15%, USD/JPY +0.09%, AUD/CHF +0.40. - More bearish news for AUD: The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) now expects commodity export earnings to increase by 1.0% in 2007/08, smaller than the 4.0% rise it forecast in September. ABARE said the downgrade reflects the effects of drought and the strong AUD. ABARE said that the benefits from high levels of investment in the mining industry were apparent with the volume of mineral-resources production and exports increasing. - Equities: Most Asian stock markets tracked Wall Street's gains. At 22:58 ET Japan's Nikkei is +1.03%, Australia ASX is +1.51%, South Korea's KOSPI is +1.01% and the Shanghai Composite Index is -0.43%. The leading gainers on the Nikkei include exporters, semiconductor companies and financials. Miners and major banks lifted Australia's benchmark index, while Rio Tinto remains well supported by M&A speculation. Baosteel's Chairman denied that his company is interested in buying Rio Tinto, but several press reports say that a Chinese team has been chosen to undertake due diligence on Rio Tinto. Chinese equities are lower on profit taking, but the Shanghai Composite index is holding above the 5,000 level. The Hang Seng saw profit-taking after failing to rise above the 29,900 handle. - Commodities: Nymex crude oil lost -0.94% between 18:00 EST and 23:06 EST, last quoted at $86.69/bbl. Spot gold lost -0.72%, tracking the losses on oil and the USD rebound. Shanghai Copper rose for the second consecutive session on better than expected ADP employment data and U.S. factory orders. (by Eben Esterhuizen and Gavin Pierce)

To: TobagoJack who wrote (26077)	12/6/2007 5:26:57 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 220334

Trivia: Stradivarius didn't accept money for his violins. Only gold.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (26077)	12/6/2007 10:38:58 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 220334

Angola has some attractions, of course it appeals more for us who happen to have this Portuguese blood... World`s Second Most Beautiful Woman Already In Luanda World`s Second Most Beautiful Woman Already In Luanda Luanda, 12/05 – The world`s second most beautiful lady, the Angolan Micaela Reis, arrived Tuesday in Luanda, after attending in China the Miss World/2007 contest. She was received at Luanda`s "4 de Fevereiro" International Airport by the minister of Hotels and Tourism, Eduardo Chingunje, who said to the press that the election of the 19-year old girl as First Runner-Up is a prestige for Angola. According to the minister, with Micaela`s triumph, Angola has been projected to the world in a positive way, as she achieved a dream for all Angolans. Before getting the Miss Angola title, Micaela Reis won the beauty contest for Angolan ladies in Portugal, which is the country where she resides. Over two billion people watched Saturday the Miss World pageant held in China, won by the 23 year-old Chinese beauty, Zhan Zilin.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (26077)	12/6/2007 3:03:27 PM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 220334

Are you adding SKF at the fire sale prices we are seeing? I am biting the back of my hand like Dr. Strangelove, trying to keep my trigger finger from punching the 'buy' button, cache.eb.com trying to remain 'prudent,' trying not to laugh like a madman at the latest bit of financial onanism from our politicos, Evita's, er, Hillary's, shrill cry for 'more, more' echoing in my ears. But there will be time. And if the 'more, more' cry succeeds, the sweeter the reward. S&P predicts more ratings downgrades thanks to the freeze. bloomberg.com Boston Fed concludes foreclosures are caused mainly by falling home prices, not subprime woes. Draw your own conclusions. Mine: the Paulson Plan will do very little. Evita, may, however, find a government backed way to make sure home prices remain high. Reminds me of the Woody Allen movie in which he plays a Castro-style dictator, orders that henceforth everyone will wear underwear on the outside of their clothes. boston.com