Bulls and bears fight over Germany's prospects -- If Germany is in such bad shape, why is the Dax index among only three in Europe (the Spanish and Italian indices are the others) to be trading ahead of where it started the year? (FT)
Technology/Telecom:
Celcom Malaysia Bhd., the country`s No.2 mobile-phone operator, said 8% shareholder Deutsche Telekom AG terminated three agreements between them. (Bloom)
Adobe Systems Inc. on Wednesday raised its profit and revenue forecasts for the current May quarter, based on strong orders for its new Acrobat software and better-than-expected Japanese business.(FT)
Discount travel Web site Priceline.com Inc. reported a quarterly loss because of the persistently weak air travel business while revenue fell sharply from a year earlier.(CNN)
Telewest has posted record first quarter underlying profits after slashing spending.But the group has offered no fresh news on the progress of negotiations on restructuring to cancel £3.5 billion of debts.Telewest, which has total debts of £5.32 billion, said in September that it had reached a preliminary agreement on the overhaul - a plan that involves a debt-for-equity swap leaving shareholders with a fraction of the firm.(CNN)
Financials:
Deutsche Bank AG, Dresdner Bank AG and HVB Group said negotiations about back-office ventures have ended, the Financial Times reported, citing an uuidentified HVB spokesman. The three banks decided against the current joint project because of costs, the paper said in an article to be published today. Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank are continuing talks, though with diminishing interest, the newspaper said, citing the spokesman.
Cars:
Chrysler Group reported a 10% drop in U.S. sales for April amid a soft vehicle market.The U.S. arm of DaimlerChrysler AG Thursday reported total U.S. sales of 187,086, down from 200,421 in April 2002. Car sales fell 10% to 47,995, and truck sales also fell 10%, to 139,091.
Volkswagen: The company`s US unit said new-car sales in April fell 16%. They have declined 12% this year amid fallen demand.The co. also said they want to increase sales in South-Korea in the current business year by 46% ---
DaimlerChrysler: The carmakers Mercedes Benz USA unit said sales in April fell 3,1 % from last year—
BMW: The group sales in North America rose 0,6% in April from year earlier ---The BMW brand was down 6,4% in April
BMW AG: The No.2 maker of luxury cars increased sales by 10% in the first four months of this year on higher demand for Minis in the U.S. (Bloom)
Audi of America, Inc. reported April 2003 sales of 7,209, representing a 1.1 percent increase over April 2002 sales of 7,134. Audi''s year-to-date sales are 25,223, down 7.2 percent over 2002 when sales were 27,186
Porsche: The sports-car maker said North American vehicle sales rose 47% last month as the introduction of the Cayenne sport-utility vehicle offset a drop in demand for the 911-model and Boxter sports-cars.(Bloom)
GM's total light vehicle sales were off 9 percent from a year ago, while Ford's volume fell 7 percent. Both figures were generally in line with analysts' forecasts.(Wsj)
Airlines/Logistics:
Germany's Deutsche Post said its express unit DHL was in talks to sell its 25 percent stake in DHL Airways Inc. to a group of investors led by the airline's chief executive, John Dasburg."We are holding talks with a group of investors that Mr. Dasburg is leading. The negotiations are running," a Deutsche Post spokesman said.(FT)
Airbus looks for €1bn in group savings --Airbus, the European aircraft maker, is seeking to make cashflow savings of about €1bn across much of its operations during 2003 as the sector's recession worsens.(FT)
Retailing/Steel:
Healthcare/Chemicals:
Today it’s the first trading day of the tendered Wella shares ---WAD1 is the code for the tendered Ord. Shares and WAD5 id the code for the tendered Pref. Shares.
BASF AG said it had completed the purchase of Honeywell International Inc. `s engineering-plastics units.(Reuters)
The new chief executive of Schering-Plough Corp., Fred Hassan, dismissed the idea of seeking a merger with Merck & Co. Inc. , as some analysts have suggested, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Energy/ Utilities:
E.ON: Europe`s second biggest utility will pay its 2002 dividend if 1,75 euro today----
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Transport/Machineries:
Neuer Markt/Others:
Energy companies turned in some of the worst performances on the S&P 500. The sector was hit after a report from Mirant's auditor, KPMG, questioned the company's ability to continue as an going concern following its much-awaited re-audit.
Mirant slid 9.4 per cent to $3.00, Calpine dropped 7.8 per cent to $4.95, Williams Companies fell 2.3 per cent to $6.79, Sempra Energy slumped 6.3 per cent to $25.14 and Dynegy was off 1.8 per cent to $4.32.
With the exception of Sempra, all the companies are merchant energy firms, which have enjoyed a substantial rally in the past few months as they have worked with lenders to bring their cash crunch under control. Dynegy is still the best-performing stock on the S&P 500 so far this year, up 265.3 per cent.
Mike Driscoll, an energy stock trader at Bear Stearns, noted that all are single-digit stocks, and vulnerable to swift shifts in the mood of the market. "For the energy group - which is close to 6 per cent of the S&P 500 - earnings were up 600 per cent over a year ago, but the whole world recognises it's a temporary aberration," dictated by rising oil prices around the time of the war in Iraq.
Sempra, a holding company of several energy concerns, is more of a utility than a power producer. The utilities group was led down by Duke Energy, which announced it would return to the capital markets with a $700m offering of convertible securities. Mr Driscoll said investors were "spooked" at the notion the company needed money again so soon after working to overhaul its financial situation. Duke shares were off 4.2 per cent to $16.85.
In earnings news Veridian, the defence technology company, climbed 9 per cent to $20.70 after guiding earnings for the year higher and beating Wall Street expectations.
Chubb, the high-end insurer, leapt 12.3 per cent to $59.40 after reporting profits up 13 per cent on the back of climbing premiums. It was the best performance on the S&P 500.
Avaya, the maker of telecommunications equipment, continued its climb, up 7.7 per cent to $4.20, following an 18.5 per cent leap on Wednesday - that session's best performance on the S&P 500 - after reporting strong earnings.
Macromedia, the internet design software maker, soared 32.4 per cent to $16.81 after raising earnings and revenue forecasts for the next quarter, and reporting it had reversed last year's quarterly loss.
Click Commerce, the business-to-business software maker, soared 44.1 per cent to $4.02, as investors sighed with relief after the company announced on Thursday that it had decided against an acquisition proposal by Insight Venture Management.
Technology/Telecom:
Celcom Malaysia Bhd., the country`s No.2 mobile-phone operator, said 8% shareholder Deutsche Telekom AG terminated three agreements between them. (Bloom)
Adobe Systems Inc. on Wednesday raised its profit and revenue forecasts for the current May quarter, based on strong orders for its new Acrobat software and better-than-expected Japanese business.(FT)
Discount travel Web site Priceline.com Inc. reported a quarterly loss because of the persistently weak air travel business while revenue fell sharply from a year earlier.(CNN)
Telewest has posted record first quarter underlying profits after slashing spending.But the group has offered no fresh news on the progress of negotiations on restructuring to cancel £3.5 billion of debts.Telewest, which has total debts of £5.32 billion, said in September that it had reached a preliminary agreement on the overhaul - a plan that involves a debt-for-equity swap leaving shareholders with a fraction of the firm.(CNN)
Financials:
Deutsche Bank AG, Dresdner Bank AG and HVB Group said negotiations about back-office ventures have ended, the Financial Times reported, citing an uuidentified HVB spokesman. The three banks decided against the current joint project because of costs, the paper said in an article to be published today. Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank are continuing talks, though with diminishing interest, the newspaper said, citing the spokesman.
Cars:
Chrysler Group reported a 10% drop in U.S. sales for April amid a soft vehicle market.The U.S. arm of DaimlerChrysler AG Thursday reported total U.S. sales of 187,086, down from 200,421 in April 2002. Car sales fell 10% to 47,995, and truck sales also fell 10%, to 139,091.
Volkswagen: The company`s US unit said new-car sales in April fell 16%. They have declined 12% this year amid fallen demand.The co. also said they want to increase sales in South-Korea in the current business year by 46% ---
DaimlerChrysler: The carmakers Mercedes Benz USA unit said sales in April fell 3,1 % from last year—
BMW: The group sales in North America rose 0,6% in April from year earlier ---The BMW brand was down 6,4% in April
BMW AG: The No.2 maker of luxury cars increased sales by 10% in the first four months of this year on higher demand for Minis in the U.S. (Bloom)
Audi of America, Inc. reported April 2003 sales of 7,209, representing a 1.1 percent increase over April 2002 sales of 7,134. Audi''s year-to-date sales are 25,223, down 7.2 percent over 2002 when sales were 27,186
Porsche: The sports-car maker said North American vehicle sales rose 47% last month as the introduction of the Cayenne sport-utility vehicle offset a drop in demand for the 911-model and Boxter sports-cars.(Bloom)
GM's total light vehicle sales were off 9 percent from a year ago, while Ford's volume fell 7 percent. Both figures were generally in line with analysts' forecasts.(Wsj)
Airlines/Logistics:
Germany's Deutsche Post said its express unit DHL was in talks to sell its 25 percent stake in DHL Airways Inc. to a group of investors led by the airline's chief executive, John Dasburg."We are holding talks with a group of investors that Mr. Dasburg is leading. The negotiations are running," a Deutsche Post spokesman said.(FT)
Airbus looks for €1bn in group savings --Airbus, the European aircraft maker, is seeking to make cashflow savings of about €1bn across much of its operations during 2003 as the sector's recession worsens.(FT)
Retailing/Steel:
Healthcare/Chemicals:
Today it’s the first trading day of the tendered Wella shares ---WAD1 is the code for the tendered Ord. Shares and WAD5 id the code for the tendered Pref. Shares.
BASF AG said it had completed the purchase of Honeywell International Inc. `s engineering-plastics units.(Reuters)
The new chief executive of Schering-Plough Corp., Fred Hassan, dismissed the idea of seeking a merger with Merck & Co. Inc. , as some analysts have suggested, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Energy/ Utilities:
E.ON: Europe`s second biggest utility will pay its 2002 dividend if 1,75 euro today----
§
§
Transport/Machineries:
Neuer Markt/Others:
Energy companies turned in some of the worst performances on the S&P 500. The sector was hit after a report from Mirant's auditor, KPMG, questioned the company's ability to continue as an going concern following its much-awaited re-audit.
Mirant slid 9.4 per cent to $3.00, Calpine dropped 7.8 per cent to $4.95, Williams Companies fell 2.3 per cent to $6.79, Sempra Energy slumped 6.3 per cent to $25.14 and Dynegy was off 1.8 per cent to $4.32.
With the exception of Sempra, all the companies are merchant energy firms, which have enjoyed a substantial rally in the past few months as they have worked with lenders to bring their cash crunch under control. Dynegy is still the best-performing stock on the S&P 500 so far this year, up 265.3 per cent.
Mike Driscoll, an energy stock trader at Bear Stearns, noted that all are single-digit stocks, and vulnerable to swift shifts in the mood of the market. "For the energy group - which is close to 6 per cent of the S&P 500 - earnings were up 600 per cent over a year ago, but the whole world recognises it's a temporary aberration," dictated by rising oil prices around the time of the war in Iraq.
Sempra, a holding company of several energy concerns, is more of a utility than a power producer. The utilities group was led down by Duke Energy, which announced it would return to the capital markets with a $700m offering of convertible securities. Mr Driscoll said investors were "spooked" at the notion the company needed money again so soon after working to overhaul its financial situation. Duke shares were off 4.2 per cent to $16.85.
In earnings news Veridian, the defence technology company, climbed 9 per cent to $20.70 after guiding earnings for the year higher and beating Wall Street expectations.
Chubb, the high-end insurer, leapt 12.3 per cent to $59.40 after reporting profits up 13 per cent on the back of climbing premiums. It was the best performance on the S&P 500.
Avaya, the maker of telecommunications equipment, continued its climb, up 7.7 per cent to $4.20, following an 18.5 per cent leap on Wednesday - that session's best performance on the S&P 500 - after reporting strong earnings.
Macromedia, the internet design software maker, soared 32.4 per cent to $16.81 after raising earnings and revenue forecasts for the next quarter, and reporting it had reversed last year's quarterly loss.
Click Commerce, the business-to-business software maker, soared 44.1 per cent to $4.02, as investors sighed with relief after the company announced on Thursday that it had decided against an acquisition proposal by Insight Venture Management.
Gruß Pichel 
