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Paladin Cashes Up for Mergers
"Namibian uranium producer Paladin Energy Ltd plans to undertake an institutional placement of up to 15% of its issued capital, worth about A$450 million (US$388 million), with part of the funds earmarked for consolidation opportunities.
The funding will “provide Paladin with the financial capacity to advance M&A and inorganic growth opportunities”, the firm said.
The ASX-listed company recently approved the US$71 million stage 3 expansion of its flagship Langer Heinrich uranium mine, to produce 5.2Mlb/y (2,359t/y) of U3O8 by September 2010. Funds from the institutional placement will also be used for this expansion.
The company also owns, or has an interest in,…
What Warren Buffett Is Buying Right Now
As shares of Berhshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) plunged over the past year, it became fashionable to ask whether or not Warren Buffett had lost his touch.
(See: ETF Guide: Down $16 Billion – Has Warren Buffett Lost His Touch?; MSN Money: The problem with Warren Buffett; Forbes: Has Buffett Lost His Touch; Reuters: Is Warren Buffett losing his touch?)
In June, financial advisor and CNBC contributor Dennis Gartman even called Buffett “an idiot.”
But now that Berkshire has rallied more than 35% from its March lows, the only idiots to be found are those that ever doubted the world’s second-richest man’s business savvy. Indeed, many…
19Aug2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedGoldman Sachs (GS) High-Frequency Trading Profits
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) disclosed recently that it had 46 “$100 million trading days” in the second quarter of 2009. That was a record number, even for one of the biggest players on Wall Street.
When the U.S. economy is facing collapse and merger and acquisition volume is way down, it seems odd that investment banks like Goldman had record quarters.
Well, here’s the secret: They’ve found a new way to skim more of the cream off the top of U.S. economic activity. It’s called “High-Frequency Trading” (HFT).
High-frequency trading uses the speed of supercomputers to trade faster…
17Aug2009 | Money Morning | 1 comment | ContinuedWal-Mart (WMT) Sales in Decline
The much-anticipated earnings report from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and new data from the U.S. Department of Commerce yesterday (Thursday) showed that consumers are not only reeling in their discretionary spending, but may also be pulling the reins on the necessities.
Retail sales fell 0.1% in July from the previous month, and 8.3% from a year ago, the Labor Department said. Excluding auto sales, the sales declined 0.6%. A Bloomberg News poll of 76 economists projected sales including autos to rise 0.8%.
Grocery stores, where consumers find many necessities, saw their sales decline to $43.74 billion in July, down 1.4% from June’s $43.87 billion.
The…
14Aug2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedHigher Overdraft Fees Raise Banking Profits, Consumers Alarmed
Overdraft fees, which a large number of U.S. banks and credit unions relied on to turn a profit in 2008, are under a great deal of fire from consumers and Washington alike.
More consumers are turning to their checking accounts for purchases, and this could make for a significant boost in overdraft fees. Charges related to overdrawn accounts this year may add up to $38.5 billion following last year’s $36.7 billion, according to data from research firm Moebs Services Inc.
The shift from credit to debit cards means banks still have another avenue to collect lucrative fees despite legislation signed in May by…
12Aug2009 | Money Morning | 1 comment | ContinuedU.S. Consumers Unemployed and Uncertain, Many Question Rebound Efforts
The U.S. stock market has staged one of the more impressive rallies in history this year, as “green shoots” of economic growth whetted investors appetite for risk. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 40% from mid-March, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has soared 46% and the Nasdaq Composite Index rocketed an astonishing 55%.
Despite investors’ newfound optimism, the economy is still contracting, unemployment is still rising and consumer spending and sentiment is still abating. That could mean the sharp “V-shaped” recovery many analysts are anticipating may turn out to be a more-prolonged “U-shaped” rebound.
"We’re looking at a U-shaped recovery,…
10Aug2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedCitigroup (C) May Lose its Elite Energy Trader
With a deadline looming for financial firms that received government bailout funds to submit their 2009 compensation plans to Treasury Department’s pay czar, there’s a possibility that Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) will lose the head of its secretive and extremely profitable energy trading arm.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Andrew J. Hall, head of Phibro LLC – Citigroup’s energy trading unit – is pressing the company to honor a 2009 compensation package that could be worth as much as $100 million. Such a lofty payout would put Citi at odds with Kenneth Feinberg the Treasury Department’s newly appointed pay czar.…
29Jul2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedBarnes & Noble Plan to Stave Off Extinction
MP3 and audio downloads wreaked havoc on the music industry, siphoning revenue away from record labels and driving many traditional brick-and-mortar music retailers out of business.
Now, publishers and retail bookstores are standing at the precipice of a similar fate as digital readers – like Amazon.com Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) Kindle and Sony Corp.’s (NYSE ADR: SNE) Reader Digital Book – lure readers out of the cozy confines of Barnes & Noble and Borders Books and Music by offering a wide selection of portable e-books.
Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) fell short of expectations in the first quarter with a…
28Jul2009 | Money Morning | 1 comment | ContinuedChina and Airbus Strike a Profitable Alliance
Individual investors who still hold any doubts about Mainland China’s future growth potential should take a long hard look at Airbus SAS, the Pan-European commercial airliner maker that is now building airplanes in that country.
When Airbus recently announced the delivery of its first China-built passenger jet, it was more than just the usual bit of corporate PR. It was an admission that any company that wants to remain a global leader in its industry will have to embrace China as a customer – and probably as a partner.
Airbus – a subsidiary of defense giant European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. NV,…
23Jul2009 | Money Morning | 2 comments | ContinuedEconomic Outlook Improves, But Unemployment Situation of Concern
The worst post-Depression economic decline seems to have slowed, but unemployment and the prospect of a jobless recovery remain a concern, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers on Capitol Hill yesterday (Tuesday).
“Better conditions in financial markets have been accompanied by some improvement in economic prospects,” Bernanke said in a prepared testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services. “Businesses have continued to cut capital spending and liquidate inventories, but the likely slowdown in the pace of inventory liquidation in coming quarters represents another factor that may support a turnaround in activity.”
Still, the rising unemployment rate in the United States…
23Jul2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | Continued
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