Nokia (NOK), An Outperformer: Report From Cowen And Company

1st Dec 2009 –

A recent report by Cowen and Company has expressed bullish signs on Nokia (NYSE: NOK). In the report, Cowen is quite confident on Nokia’s continuing low-cost leadership. According to the firm, Nokia’s Management is expected to provide industry volume guidance for the next financial year in the analysts meet to be held tomorrow.

It is to be noted that Nokia shares have been range-bound of late as the company has struggled to update and articulate the strategy of its core businesses.

It is expected that the management will focus upon impact of a top-down re-organization and advancing its mobile software plan in the analysts meet. An updated Nokia’s organization chart can be expected in place delineating reporting structures shortly.

It is to be noted that Cowen has estimated Nokia’s market share at 35.6 % compared to consensus of 37.6%. However, the EPS of Cowen is line with the consensus at 0.19 euros.

Analysts (Matthew Hoffman and Bryan Prohm)

Dollar Trading 14-year Low On Yen

27 November 2009 –

The dollar tumbled to its lowest in 14 years (since July 1995) against the yen on Thursday. The currency strengthened 0.5 percent to the dollar, to 86.89 in morning trade in London, Bloomberg data showed.

Traders said the dollar’s fall against the yen was driven by US rather than Japanese factors, and Japanese Government Officials said that the central bank was not thinking of intervening in the currency market at this point.

A stronger yen is a headache for Japan’s new Democratic party government, as it makes exports less competitive, threatening to derail a fragile economic recovery.

While the yen has actually risen only 3.8 per cent against the dollar this year, there are widespread concerns among manufacturers, that unless the yen’s rise was restricted, the economy would be”damaged”.

Many companies that had issued bonds or raised loans in yen to take advantage of low interest rates in Japan, would face the brunt of appreciating Yen.

Anthony Bolton Returns To Fund Management

26th November 2009 -

Anthony Bolton, arguably the most successful investors in Europe of his generation and certainly most famous fund manager in UK, has decided to get back to work just two years after stepping down from a glittering fund management career.

Bolton made his fame as shrewd manager of Fidelity’s top-performing Special Situations fund, earning an average annual return of 19.5%, compared to 13.5% for the FTSE All-Share index.

Bolton is relocating to Hong Kong and will manage a fund focused on China. Writing to Financial Times, Mr Bolton revealed that a recent tour of China had rekindled his desire to manage money. Bolten says, ‘I have become increasingly excited by the prospect of managing a portfolio investing in the tremendous growth potential of China.

Many Investors like Bolton are choosing to move to Asia to be close to what they see as a growing investment opportunity, especially compared with heavily indebted Western economies.

Dubai Default Worries Investors, Market Jitters

26th Nov 2009 –

Europe’s main stock markets dropped by more than 1 per cent in early trading on Friday, caused by worries about the threat of a debt default from Dubai.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 1.06 per cent to 5,152.86 points while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 1.32 per cent to 5,540.34 points. Dow component Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) shares fell 1.9 percent to $74.99 before the bell.

The markets lost confidence from the news that Gulf emirate’s public investment company, carrying $59 billion of liabilities, will delay repayment on much of its debt.

Dubai is one of seven city states that make up the United Arab Emirates, along with Abu Dhabi. On Wednesday, it announced that it intends to request a “standstill” for at least six months on the maturing debt of Dubai World, its largest and most-indebted state-run holding.

Standard and Poor’s (S&P) estimated last month that Dubai state-related companies are due to repay some 50 billion dollars in debt over the next three years, which represent 70 per cent of the emirate’s gross domestic product.

Vietnam Devalues Currency, Hikes Rates

26 Nov 2009 –

Vietnam devalued its currency by 5% and hiked interest rates from 7% to 8%, in a move to combat inflation.

Analysts attributed this move by Vietnam to combat inflation, restrict lending and bolster its currency, however, the timing of the move had come as surprise. Analysts had not expected Vietnam to start nudging up rates until early 2010.

Vietnam’s move is unlikely to trigger copycat devaluations elsewhere. Vietnam’s economy is relatively small, and most Asian countries are more concerned with currency policies in China, a much bigger rival than Vietnam.

Vietnam is now one of only a handful of countries to raise the cost of borrowing as the global economy stabilizes. The dong (Vietnam Currency) has come under intense pressure in recent weeks as inflation started climbing, driven by the country’s $8bn stimulus program.

The dong was trading on the grey market at 19,800 to the dollar on Tuesday but came back to 19,500 after the government move. Vietnam’s stock market reacted negatively to the moves, falling 4.5 percent. One of Asia’s smaller economies, Vietnam projected its gross domestic product grow about 5 percent this year.

Profile – Bank of America

Recently I was working on preparing company profile for Bank of America.

During this assignment, I covered different business segements of Bank of America ,  its stock performance , merger and acquisition trends, Financial Analysis and Federal Bail Out to Bank of America in severe recessionary period of 2008-09.

The Primary source of information were Annual Reports filed by Bank of America, few good research websites and of course wikipedia.

The report is in Power Point Format. May be of use to you if you are looking for quick information on Bank of America. Send me a mail if you would like to have a look at the report (amit2.saxena at gmail dot com)