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Libya beware; Egypt, Tunisia economies still struggling
Things are likely to move slowly for the economy of post-Gaddafi Libya, if the experiences of some of its neighbours are anything to go by. Heading into elections, the post-Arab Spring markets of Egypt and Tunisia continue to find it difficult to pick up speed. Tunisia goes to the polls on Oct 23, when most of the world will be focused on the EU summit, and the elections are likely to give power to a mix of moderate Islamists and left-wing parties. Privatisation plans remain on hold, after the interim government canned a listing of Tunisie Telecom following the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January. Tunisian stocks have fallen 10 pct on the year, although this does represent a good performance compared with some other markets in the region. For Egypt, the situation is worse. Stocks have fallen 40 percent this year, not helped by renewed protests and violence ahead of elections which kick off at the end of November. Some ratings agencies are likely to wait until after the elections before reviewing Egyptâs ratings, but S&P cut the rating by one notch this week and maintained its negative outlook. Tunisia is also on negative outlook with all three ratings agencies. Tourism, a major source of earnings, has fallen drastically in both countries. The death of Libyaâs Muammar Gaddafi on Thursday may point to more stability and encourage tourists back into the region, but unrest continues in Syria and Jordan. Debt insurance costs for Egypt are the same as those in Dubai, whose state-owned Dubai World triggered a domestic debt crisis less than two years ago. âThe lack of political progress has put the brakes on Egyptâs economic recovery in Q2,â says Capital Economics, adding that for Tunisia: âalthough the economy is in a better shape than Egyptâs, activity is still weakâ. Â Â -
UPDATE 1- Proxy advisers back Starboard in fight with Regis
In August, Starboard — which owns about 5.2 percent of Regis stock — told the company in a letter that it should sell non-core assets and cut costs, and proposed the nomination of three members to its board.Earlier in the month, Regis replied saying the activist hedge fund’s recommendations are flawed and that calls for three Starboard members on the company’s board are disproportionate.Regis shares closed at $16.22 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. -
UPDATE 1-Intel’s quarterly revenue beats Street
* Stock rises after hours (Adds earnings details)Oct 18 (Reuters) - Intel Corp forecast quarterly revenue above Wall Street’s expectations, defying concerns that the growing popularity of tablets and a shaky economy are eating into demand for personal computers.Intel said revenue in the current quarter would be $14.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million. Analysts on average had expected current-quarter revenue of $14.23 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Intel’s processors are used in 80 percent of the world’s PCs but the company has failed to gain traction in mobile gadgets like Apple Inc’s iPad and Google Inc’s Android smartphones. It also increasingly depends on China and other emerging markets to make up for weak sales in the United States and Europe.Non-GAAP net income in the third quarter was $3.5 billion, up 17 percent. Adjusted earnings per share were 65 cents.The world’s leading chipmaker said non-GAAP revenue in the third quarter was $14.3 billion, up 29 percent and higher than the $13.87 billion expected on average by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Shares of Intel rose 2.6 percent in extended trade after closing up 0.52 percent at $23.40. -
UPDATE 1-Spanish Peaks files for Chapter 7
The Big Sky, Montana-based company listed about 100 to 199 creditors in the court filing.The limited liability company’s resort has a golf course and a private ski lift.The case is in re: Spanish Peaks Holdings, U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware, No. 11-13300. -
UPDATE 1-Telenor’s India partner files petition against company
* Telenor says JV board followed “prescribed processes” (Adds Telenor statement)NEW DELHI, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Telenor’s India mobile phone joint-venture partner Unitech said on Tuesday it has filed a petition before the Company Law Board in India, alleging mismanagement of the venture by the Norwegian firm and its key executives, escalating a rift between the partners.The Company Law Board is an independent quasi-judiciary body that rules on corporate matters.Telenor and Unitech have been at loggerheads over a planned $1.7 billion rights issue in the joint venture, which trades under the Uninor brand name. Telenor owns 67.25 percent of the joint venture and Unitech owns the remainder.Telenor had said the rights issue was to secure long-term funding for the venture as bank loans to the telecoms sector had dried up after a graft scandal.Unitech, which is India’s No.2 listed property firm, said Telenor had refused a long-term debt of 90 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) last November from India’s top lender State Bank of India and was now seeking to “enforce” a rights issue.Unitech said the joint venture does not now need funds and that Telenor and its executives had made the joint venture approve a 10-year business plan, which the Indian firm said was aimed at “artificially depressing” the valuation of the venture.Unitech also said Telenor and its executives were not running the business in the best interest of Uninor and its workforce.Telenor said in a statement on Tuesday Uninor’s board wanted the two owners to invest more in the company after following the “prescribed processes”.”Valuations, being a part of the rights issue process, are legally confidential between the owners and we would like to maintain that confidentiality on our part,” Telenor said.The joint venture Unitech Wireless and Unitech’s managing director, Sanjay Chandra, are among the three companies and 14 people charged by Indian police in a massive telecoms licensing scandal. All accused have denied any wrongdoing.Telenor had said that the events described in the police charges predate its investments in India. -
Pace of hedge fund launches slows
There were 280 new fund launches in the second quarter, which fell short of the 298 new funds that entered the market in the first three months of 2011, data showed.Hedge fund closures also increased slightly to 191 in the second quarter, compared with 181 liquidations in the first three months of the year.Conditions through June were volatile and that may have contributed to the decline in new launches. But market swings were not as extreme as the ones that have marked the third quarter, in particular August.Despite the decline in new fund openings in the second quarter, the first half of this year marked the most vibrant six months for new fund launches since 2007, with 578 new funds in total. Hedge fund launches in the first half of 2011 also eclipsed liquidations as industry assets hit a record $2 trillion (1.3 trillion pounds).”The first half of 2011 was a strong environment for new hedge fund launches, with the industry on pace to approach the full-year total of nearly 1,200 launches in 2007,” said Kenneth Heinz, Hedge Fund Research’s president.A number of highly-anticipated launches occurred in the second quarter, including that of ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) star trader, Morgan Sze. His Hong Kong-based Azentus Capital began trading in April.Hedge fund investors entrusted most of their money to so-called macro and relative value strategies in the second quarter, with those funds receiving more than $20 billion of the total $30 billion in new capital allocations to the industry over the same period, according to data. -
Wrong kind of airplane…
Nevada wreckage yields memory cards, possibly from downed plane They also said they had found no indication yet that the pilot of the plane sent out a distress call before his sleek silver jet plunged nose-down into the tarmac at the Reno Air Races on Friday, killing nine people. Pilot Jimmy Leeward, a 74-year-old real estate developer well known in air racing circles, was at the controls of “The Galloping Ghost” fighter jet when it slammed into a box seat area in front of the grandstand. Leeward had said in a June video that his crew cut 10 feet off his plane’s length and made other modifications to improve its aerodynamic abilities and reach speeds of 500 miles per hour. The current version of the story repeatedly calls the P-51 a “jet”, when it’s clearly a propeller driven fighter plane. The story also mentions modifications having cut nearly “10 feet from the airplane’s length”, which is also incorrect. The 10 feet was removed from the aircraft’s wingspan, 5 feet off each wing, thus it’s “width” was narrowed by nearly 10 feet. Mike A. This article, taken from Yahoo Monday morning, twice describes the plane that crashed as a “jet.” It is not. Rather, it is a propeller-driven aircraft, just like all American aircraft of the WWII era. P.K. A number of readers noticed our reference to the P-51 as a “jet” in several stories. We corrected those, as well as the information about the plane’s length: GBU Editor Visitors look at P-51 Mustangs sitting on the tarmac at Rickenbacker International Airport at The Gathering of Mustangs and Legends in Columbus, Ohio, September 27, 2007. Join the Good, Bad, Ugly Facebook Blog Network
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€1000 Euro Jonna Lee Album Leak
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♥ Kurt & Blaine ♥
