Reuters | BHP Billiton sees potash as an ideal fit within its portfolio of
commodity products, and the global mining giant is focused on developing
its potash projects in Western Canada into a world-class basin play, a
top executive said on Tuesday.
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BHP sees potash as ideal fit for portfolio
Goldman subpoenaed by ‘meltdown’ panel
Reuters | A government commission investigating the 2008 financial crisis has
issued a subpoena to Goldman Sachs Group Inc, saying the bank failed to
comply with a request for documents and interviews in a timely manner.
Goldman Sachs lowers rating on Abbott Labs
From Dividend.com | Health care products maker Abbott Laboratories saw its rating cut on Monday by analysts at Goldman Sachs. The firm lowered its rating on ABT to “Neutral” from “Buy,” but maintained its $69 price target on the stock. That target represents a more than 48% upside to Abbott’s Friday closing price of $46.53.
Get the full story: dividend.com.
Arcola Homestead Savings joins list of failed banks
By Becky Yerak |
Arcola Homestead Savings Bank, which had $17 million in assets and $18.1
million in deposits, was closed today by state and federal banking
regulators.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unable to find another financial
institution to take over the banking operations. Checks to the retail depositors for their insured funds will be mailed
Monday.
Investors to raise First Chicago Bancorp stakes
By Becky Yerak |
The California-based investors in troubled First Chicago Bancorp plan to
boost their stakes in the $1.14 billion-asset bank to 85 percent from
46.6 percent, according to Federal Reserve records.
The bank couldn’t be reached for immediate comment, but, last month,
First Chicago Bancorp, parent of First Chicago Bank & Trust, said it
expected to complete a second offering of stock this quarter to raise
needed capital.
Pritzkers invest in local software provider Firm58
By Becky Yerak
|
Firm58, a Chicago-based software provider to the financial services
industry, has raised another $7 million in funds from a group led by
existing investors, including the Pritzker family’s early-stage venture
capital arm.
The latest funding round follows two record-setting quarters for Firm58, and brings its total funding to $19.2 million.
Investor bets on bearish Tellabs
From Bloomberg | Trading of Tellabs Inc. options jumped after an investor bought shares in the maker of telecommunications equipment and hedged the position with options, Interactive Brokers Group Inc.’s Caitlin Duffy said.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
JPMorgan fined record $49M for client money use
Reuters | U.S. investment bank JPMorgan Securities Ltd has been
fined a record $49.12 million in Britain for failing to protect
billions of dollars of client money over almost seven years.
Issuing a stark warning to other banks operating in Britain, the
country’s Financial Services Authority said on Thursday that JPMorgan
had failed to adequately protect client money of between $1.9 billion
and $23 billion between November 2002 and July 2009.
CB Richard Ellis, other REITS see shares soar
From MarketWatch | Real estate investment trusts posted huge gains during Thursday’s rally after the volatile sector fell sharply during the recent correction on global growth worries. CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. and Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. both rose 8.7% to lead the financial stocks in the S&P 500 Index.
Get the full story: marketwatch.com.
Massachusetts state fund chief to join Chicago firm
Reuters | The executive director of Massachusetts’ $44 billion state pension fund,
one of the first to make big bets on hedge funds, is resigning and
moving to a Chicago-based asset management firm.
Michael Travaglini, 47, who has headed the state fund for six years,
will join Grosvenor Capital Management LP in July as a managing
director. He will market the firm’s portfolios to public pension funds.
Grosvenor, a fund of hedge funds firm that helps select a portfolio of
hedge funds for clients, is one of a handful that Massachusetts uses to
make its bets in the loosely regulated $1.6 trillion hedge fund
industry. Hedge fund investments have significantly boosted the state
fund’s returns over the last few years.
Feds tell Union National Bank to shape up
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Union National Bank, a 106-year-old Elgin-based lender with $479 million in assets, is interviewing investment bankers to help it raise capital needed to comply with a recent consent order with federal regulators.
Get the full story: chicagobusiness.com.
Abbott Labs announces 3-part debt offering
Dow Jones Newswires | Abbott Laboratories, which recently has
taken steps to buy big parts of Solvay Pharmaceuticals of Belgium and
Piramal Healthcare of India, said Monday that it plans to sell a
three-part benchmark-size offering of senior unsecured notes.
The offering, which according to people familiar with the deal could
range from $3 billion to $4 billion, comes none too soon, as investors
seeking high-grade bonds have found very little new issues of late.
Anemic weekly volume has totaled just $17.79 billion in new supply for
May, according to data provider Dealogic, which ranks this month as one
of the lowest on record. Just under $5 billion in new paper was sold
last week.
PETA taking its case to annual meetings
Associated Press | An animal-rights group known for sending out
scantily clad demonstrators to protest fur and other provocative stunts
has gained influence in boardrooms with a more traditional tactic:
buying company stock.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has been buying shares for
seven years and now owns a piece of at least 80 companies, including
McDonald’s and Kraft Foods. It hopes to influence their animal welfare
policies on such things as how chickens are slaughtered or buying pork
from suppliers that keep pregnant sows in small crates. By buying stock,
PETA is guaranteed the right to present its ideas directly to officials
and other shareholders, many of whom would otherwise would likely pay
little attention to the group.
Kraft CEO unperturbed by Buffett stake cut
Reuters | The head of Kraft Foods said she was not concerned by top investor Warren Buffett’s decision to cut his stake in the U.S. food group after criticizing her acquisition of British chocolatier Cadbury.
The integration of Cadbury is on track and benefits from the $18.4 billion deal will become clear to shareholders, Chairman and Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld told Reuters on Friday.
“I will say that for Mr. Buffett as well as for all our shareholders, in the coming months we will continue to deliver against the targets we have laid for ourselves. These results will speak for themselves,” Rosenfeld said.
Denny’s shares drop, Chicago investor thwarted
Dow Jones Newswires | Denny’s Corp. appears to have fought off a bruising challenge for its board seats from a group led by Chicago-based activist investor Oak Street Capital Management. Denny’s shares, which were already down earlier, fell further following
the filing. Shares are now changing hands at $3.09, down 8.9 percent.
