Some news for investors

Kraft in £10.2bn move for Cadbury

Cadbury's produces some of the UK's best known chocolate bars

US giant Kraft Foods has proposed buying UK confectionery firm Cadbury in a £10.2bn ($16.7bn) move.

Kraft said that the purchase of the maker of Dairy Milk would protect jobs in the UK - including saving a factory earmarked for closure.

The US firm added it wanted to create "a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals".

Cadbury, whose shares leapt 36% on the news, said the approach "fundamentally undervalues" the company

arjay wrote:This is just an extract from the full article to give you a flavour for it:

WBU ALUM wrote:US Economy May Dip Again Next Year: Roubini

"There is even a risk of a double dip, a W-shaped recession at the end of next year," he said, a combination of rising oil prices, rising public debt and increases in real interest rates, rising concerns about inflation and the expiration of a number of tax cuts in the United States.

Concerns about debt, inflation and the automatic raising of taxes along with new taxes in the US cause me to believe that the market is responding to a very uncertain future.

cookie, if you ever knew what you were talking about when it comes to America and Americans, there would no longer be a "rainy season" in Thailand.

jackspratt wrote:I gotta agree with WBU - far too early to be writing off the chance of a double dip recession.

cookie, if you ever knew what you were talking about when it comes to America and Americans, there would no longer be a "rainy season" in Thailand.

Of course, the end of the rainy seasons will be down to global warming, and not cookie.

cookie wrote:

WBU ALUM wrote:US Economy May Dip Again Next Year: Roubini

"There is even a risk of a double dip, a W-shaped recession at the end of next year," he said, a combination of rising oil prices, rising public debt and increases in real interest rates, rising concerns about inflation and the expiration of a number of tax cuts in the United States.

Concerns about debt, inflation and the automatic raising of taxes along with new taxes in the US cause me to believe that the market is responding to a very uncertain future.

29 may 2009: DOW : 8401

DOW TODAY: 10850

- Employers in the U.S. created more jobs in March than at any time in the past three years, showing the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s is broadening and becoming more entrenched.

Pending home sales were 17.3 percent higher than in February 2009 on an annual basis

US pending home sales leap surprise 8.2 percent

(AFP) – 11 hours ago

WASHINGTON — Pending home sales in the United States surged 8.2 percent in February, suggesting the troubled housing market could get another boost from a temporary tax credit, an industry group said on Monday.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said its pending home-sales index rose to 97.6 from a downwardly revised 90.2 reading in January.

"Pending home sales rose in February, potentially signaling a second surge of home sales in response to the home-buyer tax credit," the NAR said in a statement.

The forward-looking indicator reflects contracts signed to purchase homes but not the finalization of them, which typically occur with a lag time of up to two months.

On an annual basis, pending home sales were 17.3 percent higher than in February 2009, when the index stood at 83.2.

Yun said there were signs of a rise of activity in recent weeks with ongoing reports of multiple offers in more markets, which suggests the March data could demonstrate additional improvement from buyers responding to the tax credit.

The US government program aimed at reviving the moribund housing sector is offering tax credits to first-time home buyers and to certain repeat home buyers that expire on April 30.

The strong rise in February, when home sales slumped amid severe winter storms, took most analysts by surprise. The consensus forecast was for the index to remain unchanged following a revised decline of 7.6 percent in January.

"The rise in buyer contact activity may signal the early stages of a second surge of home sales this spring," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

"The healthy gain hints home prices are continuing to flatten," he said. "We need a second surge to meaningfully draw down inventory and definitively stabilize home values."

The rise in pending home sales in February "supports our view that existing-home sales will rebound over the spring, before the homebuyer tax credit expires for closed contracts in June," Peter Newland at Barclays Capital said.

Under the federal stimulus program, a home purchase completed by June 30 will qualify when a binding sales contract is signed by April 30.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 103.69 points, or 0.94 per cent, to 11,123.11. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 Index jumped 13.35 points, or 1.12 per cent, to 1,210.65. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index surged 38.87 points, or 1.58 per cent, to 2,504.86.

US stocks posted strong gains Wednesday on the back of some positive economic news and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's expectations of a "modest" recovery in the coming few months.

Government data showed that retail sales climbed 1.6 per cent in March over February and were up 7.6 per cent from March 2009, while inflation rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of only 0.1 per cent on the month.

Better-than-expected earnings forecasts from Intel Corp and JP Morgan Chase & Co also helped encourage investors.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. said a “broad-based” economic recovery boosted first-quarter earnings 55 percent, surprising analysts with record fixed-income trading revenue and a better-than-expected outlook for consumer credit.

bumper wrote:This is all good news if your investor. that being said dollar is worth less the Canadian dollar and the jobless rate is a long way from an acceptable level. So what is all this being built on a rock or sand.