Roche and Genentech reach a friendly agreement on takeover after Roche raised offer

1. US Market Recap

 

• US markets ended up amid a fluctuating session, with Financials leading the way after JPMorgan Chase joined Citigroup in saying it was profitable in Jan/Feb:
• DOW up 4 points (+0.1%) to 6,930 (-21.0% YTD)
• S&P 500 up 2 points (+0.2%) to 721 (-20.1% YTD)
• NASDAQ up 13 points (+1.0%)  to 1,372 (-13.0% YTD)

 

• S&P 500 sector breakdown:
• Out-performers:
• Financials (+2.4%): JPMorgan Chase (+4.6%), Goldman Sachs (+8.3%), Bank of NY Mellon (+9.6%), US Bancorp (+9.0%), Morgan Stanley (+8.0%)
• Materials (+2.4%): Monsanto (+4.6%), Newmont Mining (+4.7%), Praxair (+3.6%), Freeport-McMoRan (+4.1%)
• Info. Technology (+2.1%): Hewlett-Packard (+5.8%), Microsoft (+3.0%), Apple (+4.5%), Google (+3.2%)
• Laggards:
• Health care (-2.0%): Abbot Labs (-5.3%), Pfizer (-2.3%), Merck (-17.1%), Baxter (-5.4%)
• Energy (-1.2%): Exxon Mobile (-2.4%), Chevron (-0.9%), Schlumberger (-1.8%)
• Utilities (-0.5%): Exelon (-5.7%), Entergy (-1.5%), Public Service Enterprise Group (-2.2%)

 

• Policies:
• President Obama reassured Americans he would crack down on future pet project spending before signing an “imperfect’ USD410b spending measure, also known as the omnibus bill, which was needed to run most government operations through the end of fiscal year on 30 Sep.
• The US believes G-20 nations must seek agreement on a coordinated (rather than individual) response to the global economic crisis, even though the EU governments have rebuffed US calls to take more fiscal stimulus measures.
• Economic data for the rest of the week:
• MBA weekly (Mar 7) mortgage application of +11.3%
• 12 Mar (Thu): Feb advance retail sales, weekly initial/continuing claims
• 13 Mar (Fri): Mar U. of Michigan Confidence

 

2) Asian/European Update

• Roche and Genentech reach a friendly agreement on takeover after Roche raised offer to USD 95 per share.
• Enel confirmed right issue of up to EUR 8bn and will also sell EUR 10bn in assets.
• Geberit reports good FY08 sales CHF 2.45bn, EBITDA CHF 649m, Net income CHF 466m, the co does not expect economic recovery before 2011 and gives no outlook for 2009.
• Panalpina reports mixed figures
• Aegon reports a net loss EUR 1.2bn
• Swatch reports in line FY08 numbers, dividend will be unchanged at CHF 4.25 and expects modest growth in 2009.
• Carrefour reports FY2008 numbers in line and will focus expansion on high potential growth markets.
• Delhaize reports good Q4 numbers due strong U.S. margin. The dividend is increase to EUR 1.11 vs 1.08 and gives good guidance for 2009.
• The Swiss Central Bank may cut its interest rate to the lowest level since 2004 today.
• Banco Popular has rejected merger proposals as it strived to remain independent.
• Vodafone and Telefonica’s O2 unit plan to pool their networks in a major shakeup of the UK’s mobile phone industry.
• Bulgari said 2009 will be very difficult after net profit drop 45% in 2008.
• K&S expects sales and EBIT to fall significantly due to sluggish demand in postash business.

 

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