WALL STREET JOURNAL
UBS (UBS) won’t comment on write-down estimates, but according to the Wall Street Journal, investors are expecting it as prices for mortgage securities have significantly gotten worse over the past several weeks as evidenced by Lehman Brothers Holdings (LEH) profit warnings…Yesterday Lehman’s stock fell 8.7% as the firm announced a projected $2.8B second quarter loss and a $6B capital raise. Options activity indicated a lessening volatility, the Wall Street Journal reported, a sign that perhaps the worst may be over…FINANCIAL TIMES: According to a person familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that China’s Qingdao Haier has approached investment banks to advise it on a bid for General Electric’s (GE) appliance business…NEW YORK TIMES: A brief filed by plaintiffs in a shareholder lawsuit against Yahoo! (YHOO) and its directors claimed that an employee severance plan put in place to protect workers after a merger with Microsoft (MSFT) should be repealed immediately. The New York Times reported that the plaintiffs believe the plan could skew the outcome of a proxy battle between Yahoo! and Carl Icahn for control of the company…
In Australia, coal-seam gas is the next big energy play-WSJ
Australia’s hottest commodity is coal-seam gas, known as CSG, and it’s about to become an important export, according to the Wall Street Journal’s “Heard in Asia”. “It’s moved from something that was only of interest to Australian minnows to something that’s of international interest,” says Graham Bethune, CEO of consulting group Energy Quest.
Bernanke sees inflation risks rising-FT
The risk of a “substantial downturn” in the U.S. economy has lessened in the past month, but inflation pressures are increasing, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said last night. “The Federal Open Market Committee will strongly resist an erosion of longer-term inflation expectations,” said Bernanke, in remarks that will probably be seen as an indication that the Fed may be preparing to increase its main interest rate.
At Goldman Sachs, how’s their risk situation?-WSJ
In the Wall Street Journal’s “Comment from breakingviews”, the question is: How is Goldman Sachs Group (GS) holding up as many of their competitors have been clobbered by the credit crisis? Their mortgage business was smaller than most, its businesses are diverse, and their 2007 revenue was $46B. Protection enough if write-downs need to be taken. The bigger question is about leverage and risk. Can Goldman continue its good results? There are no guarantees, but now regulators could ask brokerage firms to up their capital while lowering further their leverage. If that happens earnings will suffer as shareholders get diluted. And that affects Goldman like everyone else.
YouTube to allow video creators to sell own ads-Silicon Alley Insider
The Silicon Alley Insider has learned that Google’s (GOOG) YouTube will allow video creators to sell their own ads on the site. This move may make YouTube more attractive for video producers, where they will have a bigger audience and may allow some to tap bigger brand advertisers. According to a source, the “do-it-yourselfers” will sell ads for at least $15 CPM, which is less than the going rate for professional content, but more for Web content without a targeted niche.
