* Miners hit by demand concerns after China GDP* Banks drop on Moody’s France warning* Whitbread climbs on H1 profit beatBy Tricia WrightLONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Britain’s top share index fell on
Tuesday, with banks and miners leading a broad-based sell-off,
as revived concern over the euro zone debt crisis was compounded
by Chinese data which raised fears about demand from the world’s
top metals consumer.Miners bore the brunt of the sell-off, tracking
metals prices lower after China’s growth slowed in the third
quarter to its weakest pace since early 2009.Xstrata was among the worst off, down 3.1 percent,
after the global miner issued a third-quarter production report
showing copper output down 4 percent on the same period a year
ago.Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany’s finance minister, helped spur
a reversal in market sentiment when he played down heightened
expectations that European governments will resolve the region’s
sovereign debt crisis at an EU summit on Oct. 23.Banks , particularly sensitive to the vagaries
of the euro zone debt story, fell sharply, also knocked after
Moody’s late on Monday warned it may slap a negative outlook on
France’s AAA credit rating in the next three months.Standard Chartered led the sector lower, down 4.5
percent, with traders citing the impact of Temasek Financial
launching a S$650 million ($512 million) bond exchangeable into
shares of the London-listed bank.”Ordinarily it should have no impact for Standard Chartered,
but if a bear was looking for an excuse to take any profits then
it could have an impact,” one London-based analyst, who declined
to be named, said.”But there is all the usual stuff out there to knock the
bank and the sector too — China growth worries, euro zone debt
uncertainties — so it’s no real surprise it’s down.”The FTSE 100 was down 72.07 points, or 1.3 percent,
at 5,364.63 by 1124 GMT, with Monday’s 0.5 percent dip putting
it back below technically important levels around 5,450 which it
breached for the first time in 10 weeks on Friday.DOWNSIDE RISKFurther souring the mood, inflation in Britain hit a
three-year high in September, driven by soaring gas and
electricity bills, adding to a severe squeeze on Britons’ living
standards as wages fail to keep up with rising prices.Atif Latif, director of equities and derivatives at Guardian
Stockbrokers, noted an increase in “put” protection — options
to hedge against downside risk — looking to take advantage of a
FTSE 100 fall down to around 5,000-5,100.Andrew Bell at money manager Witan said despite German
comments which had dampened euro zone deal hopes, “it looks
likelier than a month ago Europe is addressing the right
questions, and with more vigour, while economic news suggests
anaemic growth not rigor mortis.”The case for buying the dips rather than running for cover
has improved — though timing is always uncertain and selecting
quality more important than ever,” Bell, chief executive of the
1.1 billion pound Witan Investment Trust, said.Morgan Stanley published a note in which it attempted to
pick out companies with long-term sustainable competitive
advantages — a list which included UK-listed Experian ,
InterContinental Hotels , Imperial Tobacco , Rio
Tinto and Rolls-Royce .Elsewhere Whitbread managed a 1.2 percent gain as
Britain’s biggest hotel and coffee shop operator reported a
higher-than-expected first-half pretax profit and hiked its
dividend by over 50 percent.U.S. stock index futures pointed to a
mixed opening on Wall Street, as investors digested earnings
from Bank of America and Goldman Sachs . Other
leading companies due to report included Apple .
In documents released on Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration researchers raised concerns about the design, analysis and results of the studies.”There is no demonstrated benefit of rasagiline (Azilect’s generic name) for slowing the rate of progression of Parkinson’s Disease,” one reviewer wrote.However, the researchers added that “it has not been clear what sort of data would definitively establish” whether a drug modifies the disease.There is no existing cure or treatment that slows or entirely stops the progression of Parkinson’s.Azilect, which Teva markets alongside Danish partner Lundbeck in a number of countries, is approved to treat symptoms of the neurological disorder, such as trembling limbs, stiffness, slow movement and impaired balance.Israel-based Teva wants to expand the drug’s indication to show that Azilect slows the clinical progression of Parkinson’s.The FDA review was complicated by the fact that it is hard to draw a line between treating the symptoms of Parkinson’s and treating the disease.Much is unknown about Parkinson’s, including the causes of the neurogenetic disorder. Anywhere from 500,000 to 1.5 million Americans are estimated have the disease, and nearly 60,000 are diagnosed each year, according to Parkinson’s Action Network.Azilect received FDA approval in 2006 for use as a single drug therapy in early Parkinson’s and, in more advanced patients, in addition to levodopa, a standard treatment for the disease that can mask symptoms but does not stop the disease’s progression.Teva’s drug works by blocking the breakdown of dopamine, a chemical that sends information to the parts of the brain that control muscle movement and coordination.Teva was not immediately available for comment.FDA advisers will vote October 17 on whether Teva has provided the drug regulator with enough evidence of Azilect slowing down Parkinson’s.
NEW YORK Oct 13 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl
Icahn reported a 9.8 percent stake in Navistar International
Corp on Thursday and said the truck and engine maker’s
shares have been undervalued.Icahn has held talks with Navistar’s management to discuss
its business and will seek to have additional conversations to
discuss strategies, the investor said in a filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission.Navistar shares rose more than 5 percent to $40.75 in
aftermarket trading on Thursday. It closed up 0.3 percent at
$38.68 on the New York Stock Exchange earlier on the day,
valuing the company at about $2.8 billion.Icahn has also discussed the possibility of adding his
nominees to Navistar’s board of directors, but no agreement has
been made on the matter, the filing showed.
* Andrew Langhoff became publisher in 2009
(New throughout)By Robert MacMillan and Yinka AdegokeOct 11 (Reuters) - The publisher of the Wall Street
Journal’s European edition quit over ethical issues raised by
the newspaper’s relationship with a Dutch consultancy.The resignation of Andrew Langhoff comes as News Corp, the
paper’s parent company, fights accusations of misbehavior in a
UK telephone hacking scandal.The nature of the relationship was unclear, but News Corp’s
Dow Jones unit said on Tuesday that the issue related to two
articles involving the Dutch firm, the Executive Learning
Partnership (ELP).The agreement between the paper and the firm, now expired,
was not disclosed to readers of the articles, the Journal said
in a note attached to the articles on its website.”The impetus for writing the article was the agreement, but
the reporting and writing were solely the responsibility of the
News Department with no input or review prior to publication by
the Circulation Department or ELP,” the note said.”However, any action that creates an impression that news
coverage can be influenced by commercial interests is a breach
of the ethical standards of Dow Jones & Co,” it said.Langhoff resigned because the publisher “has the ultimate
responsibility for this matter,” Dow Jones said in a separate
statement.The Journal, in an article on its website on Tuesday, said
an internal investigation had found that Langhoff personally
pressured two reporters into writing articles featuring ELP.Dow Jones has been fighting accusations of ethical
violations tied to phone hacking at its News of the World
newspaper in London. Those allegations, which have led to a
number of arrests, have prompted critics to demand the
resignation of Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch and
other executives, including his son James.One of the Wall Street Journal Europe articles, which ran
in October 2010, is called “A New Leaf: Beyond personal use,
businesses are waking up to the possibilities of social media.”
(r.reuters.com/fyd44s)The article relies on a poll conducted by ELP and features
interviews with two ELP executives, including Rien van Lent,
identified by the Journal as ELP’s chief executive.FORMER DOW JONES PUBLISHERELP’s website says van Lent worked for Dow Jones as
publisher of the Wall Street Journal Europe and head of Dow
Jones’s European newspaper, Internet and conference activities.
He then joined Amsterdam’s Telegraaf Media Group in 2006,
before News Corp bought Dow Jones.He and another ELP official did not respond to email
messages seeking comment.Another article, which ran in March 2011,
(r.reuters.com/dyd44s) is headlined “Investing in women:
Men still dominate boardrooms, but more women at the top could
boost returns.” The article is a question-and-answer interview
with an ELP partner.A Dow Jones spokeswoman declined to comment on whether
Langhoff was aware of or blessed the arrangement, when and why
the arrangement ended, or how the ethics issue reached the
attention of Dow Jones and News Corp officials.Langhoff, who became publisher of WSJ Europe in January
2009, based in London, also was the chief executive of Ottaway,
a Dow Jones unit that publishes several local U.S. newspapers.
He did not return an email message seeking comment.Dow Jones competes with Thomson Reuters.
Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch is offering new services in an effort to help the firm capture a greater share of the $1.38 trillion defined contribution plan market overseen by advisers.The most significant change: the firm will begin allowing a small group of financial advisers to act as fiduciaries to retirement plans by early next year, which will help the firm compete with a growing crop of independent advisers.”There are financial advisers at the firm who have become quite expert in the retirement business and they need to be able to compete with the financial advisers who have been doing this,” said Kevin Crain, head of institutional, retirement and benefit services for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Many independent registered investment advisers are already acting as fiduciaries to 401(k) plans.The move comes as advisers who serve retirement plans are bracing for more regulation, including an expanded definition of fiduciary that could limit how advisers earn money on such accounts.Merrill announced on Tuesday that it will allow its advisers to counsel retirement plan participants and it also plans a mobile application for 401(k) plan participants.By enabling its representatives to host education sessions on topics like debt management, Merrill can further cross sell its consumer banking services, said Marcia Mantell, a retirement plan consultant.Merrill has created a 15-person team of home-office staff to work with existing clients that have mid-sized plans, or those plans with anywhere from $10 million to $100 million in assets. These plans typically are not served by the large plan consultants, like Mercer, but many companies want help with designing and monitoring their plans, Crain said.LOOKING TO NEW REGULATIONLast month the Department of Labor withdrew a proposed rule that would require brokers serving retirement plans to put their clients’ interests first as opposed to merely providing suitable advice. The Labor Department plans to re-propose the rule early next year.Merrill, like many broker-dealers, had not allowed their reps to be fiduciaries, waiting to see how the proposal and other regulatory changes would play out, said Kevin Chisholm, a senior analyst at Cerulli.But now the tone has changed.”There may be a client that uses another recordkeeper and isn’t willing to come to us, so this allows Merrill advisers to broaden the relationship with those clients,” Crain said.For now, Merrill is treading carefully. Advisers will have limited fiduciary responsibility, Crain said. They can recommend a number of funds or an asset class that a plan should consider, but cannot advise on specific funds the plan should adopt, Crain said.He declined to say how many advisers will be made fiduciaries.Sales of Merrill’s corporate retirement plan business hit $12 billion last year and will hit $15 billion this year and expand even more in 2012, he said.Moreover, there are $1.38 trillion in defined contribution assets that are managed by advisers, about a third of which are managed by wirehouses, according to Cerulli Associates.The added flexibility in working with 401(k) plan sponsors and the ability to offer employees financial education around debt management and saving, could help improve morale among Merrill brokers, said Greg Cherry, a senior analyst at Aite Group.SOUND BUSINESS MOVEAfter the recent ouster of Sallie Krawcheck, who headed wealth management and was well-liked by brokers, “this is a bone for the financial advisers,” he said.It is also a sound business move, observers said. With a wave of regulation to hit advisers in the 401(k) market over the next few months, the more services Merrill can provide, the better.Under another Labor Department rule, retirement plan providers like Merrill must begin disclosing fees to employers next spring.In anticipation, some broker-dealers have dialed back their offerings because they fear being seen as acting as fiduciaries, said Jason Roberts, founder and chief executive of the Pension Resources Institute.”For the advisers at these firms, the outcome could be devastating,” Roberts said. “Those plans will be going elsewhere.”With Merrill’s new services, Merrill may be able to better retain brokers, who might have seen going independent as the option to serve the retirement plan market, Chisholm said.Even with the enhancements, Chisholm said it will still be a challenge for Merrill brokers to win business away from independent RIAs.”The concern of a plan sponsor when dealing with a Merrill broker is whether this adviser from a big organization is truly independent,” he said.
