NEW YORK – US STOCKS were mixed as markets opened on Tuesday after US President Barack Obama and his Republican foes clashed again over the debt ceiling, dimming hopes of a timely resolution to the standoff.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 54.46 points (0.43 per cent) at 12,538.34 after the first five minutes of trading.
The broader S&P 500 slipped 2.25 points (0.17 per cent) to 1,335.18, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.40 points (0.05 per cent) to stand at 2,844.20.
Late on Monday, Mr Obama warned of a ‘deep economic crisis’ if Congress failed to raise the US government’s debt ceiling by Aug 2, while Republicans continued to reject his demand to raise taxes. — AFP
SPECIALIST luxury tour operator Cox & Kings has emerged as the suitor of Cheshire travel giant Holidaybreak.
The Northwich business revealed yesterday that it was in takeover talks with a potential buyer after its shares soared by more than 17%.
Initial reports speculated that TUI Travel was a likely contender.
But in a stock exchange announcement this morning Holidaybreak said: “Further to the announcement on 25 July and recent press speculation, the board of Holidaybreak confirms that it is in discussion with Cox & Kings, which may or may not lead to an offer for Holidaybreak at a price of 432.1p in cash per ordinary share.
“At this stage there can be no certainty that any offer for the company will be forthcoming.”
Holidaybreak shares closed last night at 367p per share, a 15% increase.
Cox & Kings is renowned for specialist travel to destinations such as Africa, India and Tibet.
Holidaybreak has recently focused on the education market under chief executive Martin Davies who took charge in April last year.
American Momentum Bank of Tampa, which acquired the failed LandMark Friday night, is sitting on nearly $150 million in investors’ capital, placing it among the sector’s best-capitalized banks.
Landmark, with $275 million in assets and four offices in northern Sarasota County, was the first failed bank deal for American Momentum, which also bought the collapsed Southshore Community Bank of Apollo Beach on Friday.
“We thought LandMark had a really nice banking network,” American Momentum president Sam A. Davis II said Monday in an interview. “We felt that it had a good presence, and it has basically been a good bank.
“Real estate devaluations were really the problem with the loan portfolio. It was not poor lending on the bank’s part,” he said.
American Momentum will keep open LandMark’s four offices, Davis said, since there is no overlap with the two branches it already had on Clark Road and in Lakewood Ranch.
“We certainly didn’t buy the bank to go backwards,” Davis said.
In June, we announced that we are seeking nominations from Herald-Tribune readers for the title of “prettiest house” in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties. This “call for entries” resulted in a number of submissions, but not nearly enough.
This a reminder. There are many hundreds of pretty houses. You might live in one, or next to one. Please let us know.
Readers are encouraged to email JPEG digital photos to harold.bubil@heraldtribune.com. You can nominate your own house or someone else’s — just make sure you don’t trespass to get a photograph, and that it is not for sale. This is not intended as an advertisement.
One of the most notable houses nominated so far is the historic J.G. Whitfield House, built in 1926 on Bay Shore Road at Indian Beach Drive in Sarasota. It is pictured in this week’s Market Snapshot feature on page 6. Y
LIVERPOOL law firm Brabners Chaffe Street has advised Princess Street Holdings on the sale of the Waitrose building in Princess Street in Knutsford, for £2.7m.
Associated British Foods Pensions Trustees has bought the building comprising 12,809 sq ft. The space is let to Waitrose on a 25-year lease.
The initial passing rent totals £140,000 per year, with fixed uplifts every five years.
Matthew Dobson, property partner at Brabners Chaffe Street, said: “This is a successful and desirable retail location, with a strong occupier profile, making it an attractive target for investors.”
The deal reflects a net initial yield of just under 5%.
Rob Millington, of Cheetham & Mortimer, also advised Princess Street Holdings.
Alun Jones, of Edwards & Co and Mayer Brown, acted for the purchaser.
Alan Klein is working on a smartphone app to help fellow enthusiasts track down the transient McRib sandwich.
And Ben Skelton made an unusual choice for best man in his upcoming wedding: the Chick-fil-A cow.
“I’ve already told my best man that he’s going to be my second-string best man,” said Skelton, a 28-year-old chaplain’s assistant in the Air National Guard. “I just haven’t told him that he got beat out by a cow.”
Call it fanaticism or simply dedication, but these are the type of ultra-enthusiastic fans that every restaurant craves. Restaurant groupies have always been around, but they’re more valuable at a time when the economy is forcing consumers to choose carefully when they eat out, and a few online posts can inform the opinions of thousands.
TOKYO – JAPAN’S finance minister said his country was ready to buy more European bonds if needed to support the eurozone shaken up by fiscal debt woes, reports said on Friday.
Japan will invest more in European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) bonds if needed, Dow Jones Newswires quoted Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda as telling reporters.
He made the comment after the news that eurozone leaders had reached a draft deal to provide loans on easier terms to debt-ridden nations such as Greece. — AFP
WASHINGTON – THE United States will not default on its debt, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday, as the clock ticks down to reaching a deal by Aug 2 to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
‘It’s unthinkable that we would not meet our obligations on time,’ Mr Geithner told CNN in an interview. ‘It’s not going to happen.’
Congress must also come up with a plan which lifts the threat of a US default of its huge debt for at least 18 months, beyond the November 2012 elections, Mr Geithner said.
‘We have to take that threat off the table. But we also have to make sure that we come together to make some long term savings,’ he told Fox News on Sunday.
‘We’re trying to avoid default today, and the specter of default in the future.’
He said Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ‘had been absolutely clear, they are not going to let this country default.