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CFD Traders DiaryThe bad news comes from all angles as equities retreat14/4/2008 After a few weeks of relative calm in the markets, the atmosphere has turned distinctly chilly with the credit crisis having reared its ugly head again. Friday saw shares hit a wave of selling across the world following a distinctly downbeat assessment of conditions from General Electric, with most of concerns surrounding its financial operations. This was followed by various press reports that the UK's Bradford & Bingley was looking to raise funds from shareholders via a rights issue, although as of this morning the group has vehemently denied this. Nevertheless, banks are amongst the early fallers as it is clear we are far from the end of the sub-prime crisis, as some analysts had claimed last week. If there is any bullish news around, it should first be pointed out that selling volume has not been high so far, and there is sporadic M&A action across various sectors. Just today we have confirmation from Mitchells & Butlers that it is interested in buying Punch group's managed-pubs business, Spirit, and it has added that private equity firms are looking to buy a minority stake in the group. Given the steady underperformance of the shares in recent months, you have to treat this with some caution, but as a longer term value play it does look very interesting. We have also seen another rise in Enodis on news that US firm Manitowoc has agreed to buy it for around £945m, so this represents a significant premium to the price last week. With more interest expected in British Energy, and possibly towards FKI and Expro international, traders should continue to watch for good underlying buying, and in this respect Sainsbury has also popped up on the radar. The shares have been surprisingly strong against a weak food retailing sector, and look worth following. |
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