Westpac, St George To Wed
St George Bank and Westpac have decided to move from being engaged, to marriage, subject of course to no other suitor popping along with a better offer.
St George Bank and Westpac have decided to move from being engaged, to marriage, subject of course to no other suitor popping along with a better offer.
Markets thought the world was saved; judging by the size of the rebounds in the past day after the saving of America's imploding mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
On Friday, the Australian share market fell more than 2% as major banking and resources stocks felt the impact of renewed concerns about the health of the global economy. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 finished down 102.4 points, or 2.06% to 4877.1. The broader All Ordinaries lost 101.4 points, or 2.01% to 4949.5.
The market is going gangbusters, great start to the week – up 192 – on the back of the US governments decision over the weekend to step in and rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the US. Everything is up: Financials up 5.6% with the banks very strong - ANZ up 9.7% and NAB up 7.8%. Banks are well up across Asia. The coal seam gas story is in the news again (Origin Energy up 13.8% after a deal with ConocoPhillips) sending the Energy sector up 7.8%. Resources should be down on a fall in metal prices, the A$ and the oil price but they are up with the market and a fall in the US$ post bail out and a rise in the gold price since Friday. The Dow Futures are suggesting a 246 point rise on Wall Street tonight….it seems the main point is the removal of the uncertainty over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The $US200 billion takeover of US mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won't solve America's financial or economic woes, but it might be a start in stabilising the mess.
Could the West Australian election result see the BHP Billiton-bid for Rio Tinto scuppered?
US stocks finished down for the week, but with a small bounce late Friday which some commentators claimed to be related to reports that troubled investment bank, Lehman Brothers will raise capital and a claim by big noting US investor, Barton Biggs that the market is near a bottom.