Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Arcandor's Karstadt Gets Three Bids Close to Deadline Karstadt, the insolvent German department-store chain that’s up for sale, received three binding offers from investors and extended a deadline to decide on the winning bid.


• Portugal Telecom in Talks on Possible Bid for Vivo Portugal Telecom SA, escalating a battle for Brazilian wireless operator Vivo Participacoes SA, is in talks with investors from the Middle East and Asia as it weighs a possible offer for Telefonica SA’s stake.


• Chatty Farmers Help Suzuki India Salesmen as GM Enters Cities Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. salesman Ram Krishna Upadhyaya goes to a farmers’ market three times a week to find out who has had a good crop and can afford a new car.


• Spyker In Talks to Build Version of 1950s Saab Model Spyker Cars NV, Saab Automobile’s owner, is in talks with automakers to share technology and an underbody for a new car based on a 1950s Saab model, Chief Executive Officer Victor Muller said in an interview.


• Ford Said to Plan End of Neglected Mercury After Seven Decades Ford Motor Co. is preparing to wind down the Mercury line, created in 1939 by Edsel Ford, after sales plunged 74 percent since 2000, said two people familiar with the plan.


• BP Pressured Rig Worker to Hurry Before Disaster, Father Says The highest-ranking crew member to perish aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig warned his family that BP Plc was pressuring him to sacrifice safety for the sake of time and money, his father said.


• Pequot Trading Probe Could Yield $1 Million Bounty for Ex-Wife The ex-wife of a former Microsoft Corp. employee could be eligible for a $1 million bounty for helping U.S. regulators impose one of the largest-ever insider trading fines.


• Euro's Decline Buoys Export-Driven Rebound as Austerity Aids Europe “The crisis is over.”


• Prudential Investor Neptune Says 20% May Vote Against Takeover of AIG Unit Prudential Plc jumped in London trading as investors owning as much as 20 percent of the U.K. insurer plan to vote against the $35.5 billion takeover of American International Group Inc.’s main Asian unit, according to Neptune Investment Management Ltd.

Bloomberg Daily News 31st May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Ford Said to Plan End of Neglected Mercury After Seven Decades Ford Motor Co. is preparing to wind down the Mercury line, created in 1939 by Edsel Ford, after sales plunged 74 percent since 2000, said two people familiar with the plan.


• BP Pressured Rig Worker to Hurry Before Disaster, Father Says The highest-ranking crew member to perish aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig warned his family that BP Plc was pressuring him to sacrifice safety for the sake of time and money, his father said.


• Pequot Trading Probe Could Yield $1 Million Bounty for Ex-Wife The ex-wife of a former Microsoft Corp. employee could be eligible for a $1 million bounty for helping U.S. regulators impose one of the largest-ever insider trading fines.


• Euro's Decline Buoys Export-Driven Rebound as Austerity Aids Europe “The crisis is over.”


• Prudential Investor Neptune Says 20% May Vote Against Takeover of AIG Unit Prudential Plc jumped in London trading as investors owning as much as 20 percent of the U.K. insurer plan to vote against the $35.5 billion takeover of American International Group Inc.’s main Asian unit, according to Neptune Investment Management Ltd.


• Harbinger to Expand in Africa as Miners Flock to Last `Resource Frontier' Harbinger Capital Partners LLC, the U.S. hedge-fund firm run by billionaire Philip Falcone, plans to boost investment in African resources as commodity companies compete for some of the world’s biggest mineral deposits.


• Melanoma Drug Unleashing Immune System Seen as Bristol Cancer Breakthrough For more than three decades, scientists have dreamed of unleashing one of nature’s most powerful inventions, the human immune system, to treat cancer.


• Cholesterol Pill's Blockbuster Potential Spurs Karo Bio's Shortcut Search A Swedish pharmaceutical company with no products on the market is hatching a drug-testing shortcut to catapult its experimental cholesterol pill into a potential $1.3 billion-a-year seller.


• Blankfein Emulates Buffett as No. 48 Among Wall Street's Highest-Paid CEOs Wells Fargo & Co.’s board of directors had a busy final week of 2009. On Dec. 23, the San Francisco-based lender returned to the Treasury the $25 billion it had borrowed under the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. That freed the bank from the Treasury’s rules on executive pay.

Bloomberg Daily News 28th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Euro's Decline Buoys Export-Driven Rebound as Austerity Aids Europe “The crisis is over.”


• Blankfein Emulates Buffett as No. 48 Among Wall Street's Highest-Paid CEOs Wells Fargo & Co.’s board of directors had a busy final week of 2009. On Dec. 23, the San Francisco-based lender returned to the Treasury the $25 billion it had borrowed under the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. That freed the bank from the Treasury’s rules on executive pay.


• Vekselberg to Revive Soviet Oil Plant as Russia Pushes Rich to Save Towns Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg plans to renovate a money-losing, Soviet-era synthetic oil plant as President Dmitry Medvedev demands the rich invest in towns left impoverished by dying industries.


• Kerviel Says Societe Generale Superiors `Helped' Him Make Disputed Trades Jerome Kerviel, who goes on trial next month over his role in Societe Generale SA’s 4.9 billion- euro ($6 billion) trading loss, said his superiors “helped” him make the futures bets at the center of the case.


• China-India Water Shortage Means Coca-Cola Joins Intel in City-Farm Battle A fight breaks out as student Vikas Dagar jostles with dozens of men, women and children to fill buckets from a truck that brings water twice a week to the village of Jharoda Kalan on the outskirts of New Delhi.


• Satellite-Killing Junk Risks $250 Billion Space Market Ahead of World Cup Trash in space may bring commerce and communications on Earth to a halt unless policy makers and executives take steps to prevent satellite collisions with orbiting junk, according to a Pentagon report.


• Shale Gas Costing 2/3 Less Than OPEC Oil Converges With U.S. Water Concern When Victoria Switzer awoke on a cold night in March, her dog was staring out the window at the flame roaring from a natural-gas-drilling rig 2,000 feet behind her house. She remembers trees silhouetted in a demonic dance as the plume burned off gas that had been building up under her land.


• Lego Aims to Double U.S. Market Share With `Prince of Persia' Brick Sets Lego A/S, Europe’s biggest toymaker, wants to double its U.S. market share in the next five years with board games and building bricks based on Walt Disney Co.’s “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” and “Toy Story 3” movies.


• Euro-Area Countries Failed Fiscal Goals 57% of Time, Data Show Euro-area governments breached their own fiscal rules more than half of the time since they began trading the single currency, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.


• Options Traders' Ranks Swell as Amateur Investors Embrace `Iron Condors' David Siniapkin, a postal worker in York, Pennsylvania, uses some of his retirement money to trade options. After three years and being down as much as $10,000, he’s broken even.

Bloomberg Daily News 27th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Stocks, Metals, Oil Rebound on Speculation of Chinese Growth; Euro Weakens Asian stocks rallied from a 10-month low, led by commodity producers, as speculation of rising demand in China overshadowed European debt concerns that dragged the euro lower. The won stabilized as South Korea’s government pledged to intervene in markets amid tensions with the North.


• Italy Adopts $30 Billion of Budget Cuts in European Push to Tame Deficits Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government approved 24 billion euros ($30 billion) of budget cuts as part of a European effort to convince investors that euro nations can trim deficits and defend the single currency.


• Banks Are Downgraded by Bondholders as Two-Year Swaps Soar: Credit Markets Bond investors aren’t waiting for ratings companies to act before downgrading BNP Paribas SA, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the rest of the world’s biggest financial institutions.


• Geithner Shifts Focus to Global Threats as Crisis `Fires' Subside in U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s trip to Europe today shows how his focus is shifting to global economic threats as Congress puts the finishing touches on its overhaul of financial regulations and the U.S. winds down bailout programs.


• British Airways Crew Strike May Cost $2 Billion in Lost Sales, Study Shows British Airways Plc’s cabin-crew strike may cost the carrier 1.4 billion pounds ($2 billion) in lost sales as travelers defect to rivals, a study shows.


• Retail Investors in U.S. Seek Shelter in Cash, Shunning Buffett's Advice Howard Gellis, former head of the corporate debt group at Blackstone Group LP, isn’t taking Warren Buffett’s investment advice to pick stocks over cash.


• New Wall Street Rules Seen Falling Short of Glass-Steagall in Next Crisis It’s been almost 80 years since the U.S. government has reached as deeply into the financial markets as it will do when the regulatory overhaul being crafted in Congress becomes law.


• North Korea Expels Eight South Koreans, Threatens to Shut Last Border Post North Korea expelled eight South Korean government workers at a jointly-run industrial park and threatened to close the last remaining border crossing linking the two countries as tensions escalated.Obama to Revamp Drilling Rules as Demands Grow to Take On BP After Spill President Barack Obama will announce new safety measures for offshore drilling tomorrow, as calls increase for him to exert more control over BP Plc’s efforts to stop its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and repair the damage.


• Space Shuttle Atlantis Returning to Earth After Final Scheduled Mission The space shuttle Atlantis is set to return to Earth today, ending its final scheduled mission as NASA ponders whether to launch it on one last trip next year.

Bloomberg Daily News 26th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Shale Gas Costing 2/3 Less Than OPEC Oil Converges With U.S. Water Concern When Victoria Switzer awoke on a cold night in March, her dog was staring out the window at the flame roaring from a natural-gas-drilling rig 2,000 feet behind her house. She remembers trees silhouetted in a demonic dance as the plume burned off gas that had been building up under her land.


• Lego Aims to Double U.S. Market Share With `Prince of Persia' Brick Sets Lego A/S, Europe’s biggest toymaker, wants to double its U.S. market share in the next five years with board games and building bricks based on Walt Disney Co.’s “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” and “Toy Story 3” movies.


• Euro-Area Countries Failed Fiscal Goals 57% of Time, Data Show Euro-area governments breached their own fiscal rules more than half of the time since they began trading the single currency, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.


• Options Traders' Ranks Swell as Amateur Investors Embrace `Iron Condors' David Siniapkin, a postal worker in York, Pennsylvania, uses some of his retirement money to trade options. After three years and being down as much as $10,000, he’s broken even.


• Traders Rev Up Aston Martins, Maseratis Again as Supercar Taboos Recede Trader Craig Poler couldn’t hold out any longer. Browsing at the Miller Motorcars dealership in Greenwich, Connecticut, he spotted the $130,000 Aston Martin Vantage Coupe he had been dreaming about for months.


• HSBC Shares Suffer Euro Collapse as Greek Debts Roil Bank Stock Valuations Europe’s credit crisis is punishing Spanish and U.K. companies as if they were Greek, luring investors with valuations that suggest risk is the same everywhere in the region.


• Indonesia Shows Greece There's Life After Austerity With BRIC Club Pitch If al-Qaeda-linked terrorists thought they could drive foreign investors out of Indonesia, they didn’t reckon with the likes of Jim Castle.


• Fees Plummet 17% in Europe for Investment Bankers Forced to Withdraw Deals Investment banking fees in western Europe are falling victim to the Greek debt crisis, as companies from London to Dusseldorf pull stock and bond offerings and put takeovers on hold.


• Microsoft's Ballmer Says Software Piracy in China Makes India a Better Bet Microsoft Corp. is less optimistic about China as a market than India or Indonesia because of the country’s lack of progress in stamping out software piracy, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said.

Bloomberg Daily News 25th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Indonesia Shows Greece There's Life After Austerity With BRIC Club Pitch If al-Qaeda-linked terrorists thought they could drive foreign investors out of Indonesia, they didn’t reckon with the likes of Jim Castle.


• Defaults on Apartment Building Mortgages Held by U.S. Banks Rise to Record Defaults on apartment-building mortgages held by U.S. banks climbed to a record 4.6 percent in the first quarter, almost twice the year-earlier level, as more borrowers failed to repay debt approved near the market peak, said Real Capital Analytics Inc. in a report.


• CajaSur Seizure by Regulator Spells Pain for Spain's Ailing Savings Banks As a Roman Catholic priest, Santiago Gomez Sierra began his last board meeting as chairman of the failed Spanish savings bank CajaSur three days ago by saying a prayer. Some of the directors crossed themselves.


• Sex Scandal Shake-Up Reinvigorates Turkey Opposition, Boosts Poll Standing The new leader of Turkey’s main opposition party says he wants to reach out to Turkey’s poor and jobless ahead of general elections that must be held by July of next year.


• Goldman Sachs Fraud Settlement May Hinge on How SEC Can Justify a Penalty Analysts predict Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $1 billion or more to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission fraud suit that triggered a 26 percent drop in the firm’s stock. Extracting such a record-setting penalty may be easier said than done.


• No One Says Trichet Can Succeed Himself When Euro Enthusiasts Get Wistful The European Central Bank’s ability to tackle the euro area’s sovereign-debt crisis won’t end with the departure next year of President Jean-Claude Trichet, the continent’s most experienced monetary policy maker.


• Wal-Mart Asks Suppliers to Give Up Control of Their Deliveries Across U.S. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, is seeking to take over U.S. transportation services from suppliers in an effort to reduce the cost of hauling goods.


• Philip Green Targets Brazil, China for Expansion of Topshop Clothing Chain U.K. retailing billionaire Philip Green will open stores of his Topshop fashion chain in Brazil and China as he looks to new markets to drive growth.


• Fed's `Main Street' Message to Senators Protected Powers in Financial Bill Senator John Ensign went into a Capitol Hill meeting with four Federal Reserve bank presidents and emerged to say he was convinced of their “concern for Main Street.”


• Pentagon Plan to Upgrade Afghan Airbase Near Iran May Rile Islamic Regime A U.S. plan to upgrade its airbase in southwestern Afghanistan just 20 miles from Iran’s border will likely rile the Islamic regime, bolstering suspicions the West is trying to pressure it with military might, analysts say.


• Homegrown Hero Locke Tries to Build U.S. Trade in China as Tensions Lurk U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke was leaving a ceremony in Shanghai this week when May Wang cornered him to get his autograph on a decade-old photo of the two of them with Locke’s wife, Mona.


• Phuket Villas Go Empty as Bangkok Riots Frighten Tourists Away From Island About 860 kilometers (534 miles) south of the rioting in Bangkok, the island of Phuket is again counting the cost of events beyond its control.

Bloomberg Daily News 24th May 2010

An Opportunity to benefit from Sterling weakness
By Vivian Nagel, MCSI

February’s official statistics show that the UK National Debt has exploded to £848 Billion or 60% of GDP. Also, the Public Sector Debt borrowing for 2009/10 is estimated to be £178 Billion or 12.6% of GDP. Everyone is aware of the Greeks potential debt default whose deficit is 13.6% of GDP. It is estimated that UK national debt will rise close to 100% of GDP by 2012. Clearly, this is unsustainable and should lead to a steep drop in the value of sterling.

Many British expats living in Cyprus still hold the bulk of their investable assets in Sterling and are concerned with its continued weakness.

By investing into currencies whose Governments were prudent when economies were booming and now have surpluses, we can protect against further Sterling weakness. There are various currencies available that are backed by surpluses as well as natural resources. Unlike Singapore and China whose economies depend on revenues from exports from the sale of services and manufactured goods, the advantage of our strategy is that commodity rich countries will always be earning revenue through exports of raw materials irrespective of the cycle of the global economy.

Australian Dollar

Australia has been blessed with minerals and is one of the world’s largest providers of natural resources. Also, exports include agricultural goods such as sheep, wool, wheat and beef. Unlike other developed nations such as the USA, UK and EU who cannot raise interest rates due to weak economic growth, Australia has raised interest rates 6 times in the last 7 months from 3 to 4.5 %. This is a sign that the Australian economy is booming and the A$ should continue to appreciate as more money is invested into it.

Canadian Dollar

Canada is another of the world’s leading exporters of natural resources. They export Oil, Gas and over 60 minerals and metals including gold. Canada has 10 % of the world’s forests and is the largest global exporter of lumber. It has foreign exchange reserves of C$ 57 Billion. The C$ has appreciated by 4% this year against US $ already in a period of time where the US $ has appreciated significantly against both the Euro and Sterling. C$ has appreciated by 9% against Sterling this year and this is expected to continue due to the high cost of servicing the UK debt.

Brazilian Real

Brazil is the largest country in South America and is the World’s 5th largest country by geographical area and by population. It has abundant natural wealth and is home to the world’s largest rain forest, the Amazon. Brazil exports natural resources such as oil, gas, iron, lumber, textiles, coffee, orange juice and soybeans as well as manufactured items such as aircraft, automobiles and steel. It has foreign currency reserves of $236 Billion and will spend a large part of its surplus into new infrastructure in the next few years as they will host the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. This will greatly accelerate the country’s progress and contribute to higher exports and revenues in the years to come.

Norwegian Kroner

Norway is one of the largest oil exporters in the world and has no national debt. Successive Norwegian Governments have prudently managed the surpluses earned from oil revenues. Most of this surplus has been kept in the Government Pension Fund which now has a balance of $210 Billion. In the past 10 years, the Norwegian Kroner has appreciated by 33% and 34% respectively against the US Dollar and Sterling and this can be expected to continue due to the increasing USA and UK deficits.

We are presently offering a 100% capital protected investment based on the above fundamentals. The key features are:-

4 Year term (maximum)

Denominated in Sterling

Linked to an equally weighed basket of the Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Brazilian Real and Norwegian Kroner

Participation of 160% of any upside in the value of the basket against sterling

Daily Liquidity

Full return of capital if held to maturity


For further information on how you can protect your sterling and enjoy growth against the strong currencies above, please contact me.

Mrs. Vivian Nagel, MCSI
Hollingsworth International Financial Services Ltd
Tel: Cyprus +357 99579149, Malta +356 21316298
E-mail: viviann@hollingsworth-int.com Website: www.hollingsworth.eu.com
Authorised by the Malta Financial Services Authority to provide investment services, license IS/32457

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Doubling Bonus Taxes in U.K. Sends British Bankers to Accountants, Lawyers U.K. bankers, faced with a potential doubling in tax on the stock component of their bonuses, are asking lawyers and accountants if they can escape the plans.
• Geithner Meeting Barnier Over Basel III Creates Pressure on Banks' Capital Two days after European Union leaders announced an almost $1 trillion plan to shore up debt markets, Michel Barnier, the EU’s financial services commissioner, was eating scones and sipping coffee with Timothy F. Geithner.
• Recovery Rewards U.S. Investors as Jobless Deny Historical Rebound The U.S. economy may return to its pre-crisis peak next quarter after a recovery former Federal Reserve official Peter Hooper calls “surprisingly strong, historically weak,” which has seen corporations and the rich prosper while small companies and the unemployed struggle.
• Glaxo Plays Catch-Up to Pfizer, Sanofi With Emerging Markets `Land Grab' GlaxoSmithKline Plc plans to double revenue from India and China by 2015 as the drugmaker cuts prices to catch up to Pfizer Inc., Sanofi-Aventis SA and Novartis AG in emerging markets.
• Morgan Stanley Shorted Doomed Baldwin CDOs Lacking `Natural' Curbs on Risk In June 2006, a year before the subprime mortgage market collapsed, Morgan Stanley created a cluster of investments doomed to fail even if default rates stayed low -- then bet against its concoction.
• American Companies Dodge $60 Billion in Taxes Even Tea Party Would Condemn Tyler Hurst swiped his debit card at a Walgreens pharmacy in central Phoenix and kicked off an international odyssey of corporate tax avoidance.
• Exporting Profits Imports U.S. Tax Reductions for Pfizer, Lilly, Oracle Over the past three years, Pfizer Inc. was an earner without profit in its own country.
• Scratch & Win War on Africa's Counterfeit Malaria Medicines Gets Under Way At 12:30 p.m. on May 6, Ampem Dankwah sends a cell-phone message from the lobby of a downtown cafe in Accra, Ghana: “GH4F9H84B4.” His text opens a front in the war on sham malaria drugs.
• Erdogan Visit May Smooth Path for Greek Defense Cutbacks to Reduce Deficit Fear of Turkey’s army led Greece to become the European Union’s biggest military spender as a share of the economy in the past decade. Now, détente between the neighbors offers Prime Minister George Papandreou a route to squeeze extra savings from his country’s army.
• World's Largest Tea Company Amasses $250 Million Fund to Grow Even Bigger McLeod Russel India Ltd., the world’s biggest tea grower, plans to use rising prices to build a “war chest” of as much as $250 million to acquire companies.

Bloomberhg Daily News 17th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• American Companies Dodge $60 Billion in Taxes Even Tea Party Would Condemn Tyler Hurst swiped his debit card at a Walgreens pharmacy in central Phoenix and kicked off an international odyssey of corporate tax avoidance.


• Exporting Profits Imports U.S. Tax Reductions for Pfizer, Lilly, Oracle Over the past three years, Pfizer Inc. was an earner without profit in its own country.


• CEO Pay Breaks Glass Ceiling as Bartz Gets $42.7 Million With '09 Bonanza Chief executive officers’ pay is shattering the glass ceiling.


• Rajaratnam Says Cricket, Not Crime, Was on His Mind During Galleon Trades Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam had a ready answer for every question U.S. regulators put to him about possible insider trading three years ago.


• Moynihan Becomes Obama's Top Wall Street Ally on Financial-Rules Overhaul The Obama administration has found a banker it can do business with: Bank of America Corp.’s Brian Moynihan.


• Euro May Struggle to Survive Without Unifying Budget Policies, Snow Says Former U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow suggested the euro may not survive unless member nations agree to merge policies from budgets to labor markets.


• Prudential AIA Acquisition Costs May Increase on Plans to Sell Junior Debt Prudential Plc, Britain’s biggest insurer, may pay an extra $167.5 million a year in interest as it boosts capital to win regulatory approval for the acquisition of American International Group Inc.’s main Asian unit.


• Real Madrid Plans More Purchases After $300 Million Spree on Kaka, Ronaldo Real Madrid spent more than $300 million on assembling a team featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema in the last off-season. It’s not done yet.


• AstraZeneca's $520 Million U.S. Settlement Rewards Repeat Whistleblowers Blowing the whistle on drugmakers is becoming a habit for a salesman and a psychiatrist splitting a $45 million award after AstraZeneca Plc settled claims of illegally marketing a schizophrenia drug.

Bloomberg Daily News 14th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• CEO Pay Breaks Glass Ceiling as Bartz Gets $42.7 Million With '09 Bonanza Chief executive officers’ pay is shattering the glass ceiling.


• Rajaratnam Says Cricket, Not Crime, Was on His Mind During Galleon Trades Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam had a ready answer for every question U.S. regulators put to him about possible insider trading three years ago.


• AstraZeneca's $520 Million U.S. Settlement Rewards Repeat Whistleblowers Blowing the whistle on drugmakers is becoming a habit for a salesman and a psychiatrist splitting a $45 million award after AstraZeneca Plc settled claims of illegally marketing a schizophrenia drug.


• Nokia Goes `Back to the Future' in Attempt to Unseat Apple in Smartphones Nokia Oyj has chosen Anssi Vanjoki, an outspoken executive who produced its last hit smartphone three years ago, to bring back the buzz.


• `Perfect Quarter' for Four Banks Shows Fed-Linked Revival on Wall Street Four of the largest U.S. banks, including Citigroup Inc., racked up perfect quarters in their trading businesses between January and March, underscoring how government support and less competition is fueling Wall Street’s revival.


• Danisco Seeks `Financial Muscle' With Dupont-Style Alliances Amid Bid Talk Danisco A/S, the Danish company that’s developing bio-fuels with DuPont Co., will pursue similar alliances to gain “financial muscle” and defend against possible takeover approaches as the market for enzymes attracts larger rivals, its chief executive officer said.


• Portugal Telecom Faces Investor Pressure to Accept $7.3 Billion Vivo Offer Portugal Telecom SGPS SA may struggle to justify to shareholders why it’s rejecting Telefonica SA’s unsolicited 5.7 billion-euro ($7.3 billion) bid for its stake in Brazil’s largest mobile-phone company.


• Now Isn't a Good Time for Estonia to Join the Euro, Altman Says: Tom Keene European policymakers’ approval of Estonia to adopt the euro in 2011 is ill-timed, with governments in the region struggling to bring down deficits and halt a sovereign-debt crisis, according to Edward Altman, finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.


• DP Bets $1 Billion Kochi Port Will Challenge Colombo Grip on India Trade DP World Ltd. said as much as $1 billion may be invested in the first Indian port able to handle the largest container ships as the company tries to challenge Colombo’s grip on India’s maritime trade with Europe and China.


• Apple's Steve Jobs Is `Fully Operational' One Year After Liver Transplant Apple Inc.’s Steve Jobs, a year after getting a liver transplant that saved his life, is back at work full tilt, overseeing product development, leading a campaign against Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash and endorsing a California law that promotes organ donations.


• BP's Relief Wells Bring Risk of an Even Bigger Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico BP Plc faces the risk of an even bigger oil spill as it attempts to drill two so-called relief wells to plug a leak on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico that’s gushing 5,000 barrels a day into the ocean.


• Corrections Corp. Shows Crime Does Pay as States Turn to Private Prisons Erik Townsend says he prefers the Arizona prison where he’s serving 15 years for robbery to the California facility where he was until August. For one thing, he was getting just two hot meals a day at the other prison.

Bloomberg Daily News 13th May 2010

A Few Interesting Investment Ideas

A Few Interesting Investment Ideas
By Vivian Nagel, MCSI

In a departure from my usual articles, I have, due to demand, concentrated on what funds are available today; either new launches or ones of interest to the investor.

Capital Protection for the cautious investor

Your investment is split into two, with 50% of your monies deposited in a 1 year fixed bank account paying 5%. At the end of the year you will receive your capital and interest back. Penalties will be levied if you choose to redeem this portion prior to the anniversary.

The remaining 50% of your monies are placed into an investment which will enjoy 75% of any growth over 5 years in
FTSE 100 for Sterling investors
S&P 500 for USD investors
DJ Eurostoxx 50 for Euro investors

This portion also carries a capital guarantee by the issuer.

There are no costs to buy this investment but you may not receive the amount you put in should you wish to redeem earlier than the 5 year term.

Partially Guaranteed Products for the more adventurous Investor

China/Brazil
Available in USD or Euro with a 5 Year term with the potential to mature early on any anniversary date

The investment is linked to the performance of the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index and the iShares MSCI Brazil Index

At the end of the first year (the anniversary), if the price of both indices are above that of the strike price then the investment will close and payout the 12% (USD) 11% (Euro) annual coupon plus the capital.
If the levels of the indices are below the strike price then the investment continues until the 2nd anniversary. If at that time the indices levels are above that of the strike price then the investment will close and payout 2 years worth of coupon 24% plus the capital and so on each year until the final anniversary where the investment will payout 5 years worth of coupon (60%) plus the original capital, if at that time the levels of both indices are above the initial strike price.
If for any reason the investment has not already paid out and it goes all the way to the end of the 5th year without being above the initial levels then the investment will close and payout your capital. Unless either of the indices have fallen by more than 50% from their strike price, then in this instance you would get less than you put in. the amount would depend upon how much the indices have fallen.

In addition to the above the investment has a secondary market where the investment can be sold at any time during the life of the investment not just at an anniversary, the only time you would probably wish to do this is if markets rise quickly from the start date and you may make a capital gain in say 3 months.

Capital will returned in full at maturity, providing that the Final Level of each Index is not more than 50% below its Opening Level

Commodity
Available in GBP with a 4 Year term with the potential to mature early on any anniversary date

The investment is linked to the performance of the S&P GSCI Indices on Oil, Gold and Wheat

Each quarter the investment will pay out 2% provided that none of the 3 indices have fallen by more than 38%. If in any quarter the indices levels are above that of the strike price then the investment will close and payout coupon and capital. If for any reason the investment has not already paid out and it goes all the way to the end of the 4th year without being above the initial levels then the investment will close and payout your capital plus the coupons along the way, unless any of the indices have fallen by more than 38% from their strike price, then in this instance you may get less than you put in. The amount would depend upon how much the indices have fallen.

Non Protected Funds for the cautious investor

In addition to the above there are funds available in GBP, USD and Euro which historically do not reflect the movements of stock markets and other traditional asset classes. These include Student Accommodation Funds, Ground Rents Funds and ‘Green’ funds as well as other non traditional asset classes. Typically these funds have been returning between 6 & 10% depending on the base currency.


If you would like to learn more about how the above investments may compliment your portfolio please contact me.

Mrs. Vivian Nagel, MCSI
Hollingsworth International Financial Services Limited,
Mobile 99579149
Fax: + 356 21316299
Email: Viviann@hollingsworth-int.comWebsite: http://www.hollingsworth.eu.com.com/
Licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority to provide Investment Services under the Investment Services Act 1994. License No. IS/ 32457

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Blowing the whistle on drugmakers is becoming a habit for a salesman and a psychiatrist splitting a $45 million award after AstraZeneca Plc settled claims of illegally marketing a schizophrenia drug.


• Yang Shibo, a 50-year-old farmer in China’s Shandong Province, bought a refrigerator to keep vermin away from his family’s meat and vegetables.


• The government eased his purchase by knocking 13 percent off the price.Microsoft is preparing to launch its latest weapon in its ongoing battle with Google.


• Earnings at theme park operator Euro Disney have dropped sharply after the economic downturn hit visitor numbers.


• Oil executives have traded blame in Congress over the Gulf Coast oil spill, as the battle to contain it continues.


• Toyota returned to profit in the fourth quarter despite the Japanese carmaker's recall problems being at their height.

Bloomberg and BBC Business News 12th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Turkey Buoying Greece Becomes National Bank Strategy With Surging Istanbul Greece’s biggest bank is relying on Turkey to pull it through an economic crisis at home.


• How Wing Chau Helped Neo Default in Merrill CDOs Under SEC View In early 2007, with subprime-mortgage defaults soaring, Wing F. Chau teamed with Merrill Lynch & Co. to create a $300 million pool of assets that shared a name with the main character in The Matrix movies who discovers reality isn’t what it seems.


• CBS's Showtime Said to Test Online Service for Cable Channel's Subscribers CBS Corp.’s Showtime is developing an online video service for subscribers, according to a person with knowledge of the plans, joining rival cable channels that are seeking to reach customers away from TV sets.


• Advertising Rebound Means Payouts Near as CBS, News Corp. Weigh Dividends News Corp., CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. are weighing dividend increases or share buybacks as an advertising rebound spurs cash flow, after media companies cut back during the U.S. recession.


• BP's Deepwater Horizon Rig Disaster Threatens Future of Offshore Drilling BP Plc last September tapped into a new oilfield called Tiber, estimated to hold at least 3 billion barrels of crude, or six months’ worth of U.S. consumption.


• Film Studios Allowed by U.S. to Use Anti-Piracy Technology on TV Equipment The film industry can block outputs on home television equipment so studios can offer first-run movies while preventing viewers from making illicit copies, U.S. regulators said.


• Jim Rogers, Marc Faber Advise Paring Investments Amid U.S. Equities Slump Investors should consider paring their holdings after a plunge in U.S. stocks yesterday, according to Jim Rogers and Marc Faber.


• UBS Schools Private-Banking Rookies in Asia as Search for Talent Heats Up UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, is reviving an effort to recruit people without industry experience for its Asian private banking unit after a one-year hiatus, as competition for wealth managers heats up in the region.


• Alcatel Chief Verwaayen's Credibility Tested as Losses Total $12.4 Billion Ben Verwaayen took over as Alcatel- Lucent SA Chief Executive Officer in 2008 with a promise to turn the unprofitable telecommunications equipment maker around. Now, his credibility is being tested.

Bloomberg Daily News 10th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Jim Rogers, Marc Faber Advise Paring Investments Amid U.S. Equities Slump Investors should consider paring their holdings after a plunge in U.S. stocks yesterday, according to Jim Rogers and Marc Faber.


• Sleep-Deprived Traders Work at Midnight for U.K. Ballot; FTSE Futures Fall Traders across London started showing up for work around midnight as dealing desks opened in the early morning to react to the U.K. election.


• UBS Schools Private-Banking Rookies in Asia as Search for Talent Heats Up UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, is reviving an effort to recruit people without industry experience for its Asian private banking unit after a one-year hiatus, as competition for wealth managers heats up in the region.


• Alcatel Chief Verwaayen's Credibility Tested as Losses Total $12.4 Billion Ben Verwaayen took over as Alcatel- Lucent SA Chief Executive Officer in 2008 with a promise to turn the unprofitable telecommunications equipment maker around. Now, his credibility is being tested.


• Lufthansa Favors New Engines on Airbus, Boeing Jets as American Has Doubts Deutsche Lufthansa AG, operator of the biggest aircraft fleet in Europe, said it’s in favor of Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. putting new engines on their existing narrow- body models to help reduce operating costs by about 15 percent.


• Hunger Feeds Philippine Rebellions as Candidates Play Food Card for Votes Ricardo Istacion said he had the best meal of his life on April 19, feasting on fish, chicken and pork at a party thrown by Philippine presidential candidate Joseph Estrada to celebrate his 73rd birthday.


• Europe Sends Ex-Olympics Chief Barnier to Woo Geithner on Bank Overhaul When European Union financial-services commissioner Michel Barnier wrote a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on the complex topic of hedge-fund regulation, he used a little trick he learned from Olympic skiing champion Jean-Claude Killy: keep it short.


• CBS Overpaid Leslie Moonves $28 Million in Study of Executive Compensation Kenneth Feinberg, the paymaster at companies rescued by the U.S. Treasury, recently cut cash compensation for executives at American International Group Inc. and General Motors Co. He said some companies are buying into his credo of pay tied to performance.


• Banks Hemorrhage Cash With Cards Wanting To Be American Express William “Wild Bill” Janklow’s law office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is crowded with mementos from his 16 years as a Republican governor. On a low, wooden bookcase, near bottles of hot sauce custom labeled for his annual Buffalo Roundup, he keeps a 4-foot length of red ribbon festooned with Citibank credit cards.

Bloomberg Daily News 07th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• BP has managed to seal the smallest of the three leaks spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the company says.Oil is still gushing into the sea at a rate of about 800,000 litres a day, but officials say working with only two leaks makes tackling the spill easier.Nintendo has reported a fall in annual profits for the first time in four years after demand for its Wii console slowed.


• Japanese shares fell sharply on worries over the Greek debt crisis and whether problems would spread.


• Cuba has announced plans to allow foreigners to develop golf courses, marinas and related land projects to boost the nation's tourism industry.


• US mortgage giant Freddie Mac saw a loss of $8bn (£5.3bn) in the first three months of 2010 and said it would ask for a further $10.6bn in state aid.


• The Washington Post has announced that it is exploring the possibility of selling Newsweek magazine.


• Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, has reported a fall in profits of more than a third, largely due to a one-off financing charge.


• Carmaker BMW has reported a return to profit compared with a year earlier and given an upbeat forecast for sales in the coming year.

BBC Business News 6th April 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Pfaeffikon Woos London Masters of Universe as Taxes Bite in U.K. Election Beneath a crystal chandelier at London’s Mandarin Oriental hotel, across the street from Harrods department store, more than 100 bankers, hedge fund managers and wealthy retirees are gathered on a cold March night to plot their escape from Britain. Swiss government officials and Geneva-based financial advisers have come to London to lure rich residents with glowing descriptions of the country’s low taxes, safe streets, private-banking options and convenient ski weekends.


• Greenland Oil Rush Looms as Exxon Eyes Cairn's $400 Million Arctic Wager Cairn Energy Plc is betting $400 million this year on striking oil off Greenland, a campaign that will be closely watched by producers such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. that hold rights off the island.


• Cree LEDs, Ormat Geothermal Power Help Boost Pictet Clean Energy Fund 30% Ask Pictet Clean Energy Fund manager Philippe de Weck where he finds investment value in a world more concerned about the economic recession than reducing emissions and the short answer is in technology pioneers.


• First Afghan Railway Will Draw Taliban Fire as It Boosts Economy, War Goal Workers are laying track across north Afghanistan’s rolling grassland for the country’s first rail line, a project that will boost the economy, supply NATO troops and become a target for Taliban bombs.


• Communists in Crotonville Help GE Lobby Chinese Officials in Different Way Every summer since 2000, General Electric Co. has worked with the world’s largest communist party to pick about 25 Chinese executives for the company’s leadership program in Crotonville on New York’s Hudson River.


• Priests' Protests Over Dams Curtail Hydropower for Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati stands on the banks of the Ganges, India’s holiest river, urging his fellow Hindu priests to oppose hydropower dams the nation needs to curb blackouts and drive economic growth.


• Daley Increases Taxpayer Costs as Chicago CFO Avoids Financing Competition Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. investment banker Gene Saffold and gave him a simple order: protect the taxpayer.


• Fairholme's Berkowitz Gets Late Start With $3 Billion Wager on Financials Bruce Berkowitz waited until financial-services stocks had more than doubled from their March 2009 lows before buying stakes now valued at more than $3 billion. The manager of the $16.5 billion Fairholme Fund said his bet wasn’t placed too late.


• Hands's Terra Firma Sees 58% Return for Investors Willing to Support EMI Guy Hands’s Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. is telling investors they could earn a rate of return of as much as 58 percent if they provide cash needed to keep lenders from seizing control of EMI Group Ltd.


• Brown Taps Thatcher's Legacy of `Poll Tax,' Asset Sales to Counter Cameron British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants voters to think about one politician in the election in two days, and it’s not him.


• Google's YouTube Boosts Display Advertisers 10-Fold Google Inc. has boosted the number of advertisers using display ads on its YouTube video site 10-fold in the past year, a sign the company is making headway to lift sales in businesses other than search.


• Birthday Call to United Chief Led to Air Merger in Three Weeks The phone call that would result in a merger creating the world’s largest airline came on UAL Corp. Chief Executive Officer Glenn Tilton’s 62nd birthday.

Bloomberg Daily News 5th May 2010

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Communists in Crotonville Help GE Lobby Chinese Officials in Different Way Every summer since 2000, General Electric Co. has worked with the world’s largest communist party to pick about 25 Chinese executives for the company’s leadership program in Crotonville on New York’s Hudson River.


• Priests' Protests Over Dams Curtail Hydropower for Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati stands on the banks of the Ganges, India’s holiest river, urging his fellow Hindu priests to oppose hydropower dams the nation needs to curb blackouts and drive economic growth.


• Hands's Terra Firma Sees 58% Return for Investors Willing to Support EMI Guy Hands’s Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. is telling investors they could earn a rate of return of as much as 58 percent if they provide cash needed to keep lenders from seizing control of EMI Group Ltd.


• Fairholme's Berkowitz Gets Late Start With $3 Billion Wager on Financials Bruce Berkowitz waited until financial-services stocks had more than doubled from their March 2009 lows before buying stakes now valued at more than $3 billion. The manager of the $16.5 billion Fairholme Fund said his bet wasn’t placed too late.


• Brown Taps Thatcher's Legacy of `Poll Tax,' Asset Sales to Counter Cameron British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants voters to think about one politician in the election in two days, and it’s not him.


• Google's YouTube Boosts Display Advertisers 10-Fold Google Inc. has boosted the number of advertisers using display ads on its YouTube video site 10-fold in the past year, a sign the company is making headway to lift sales in businesses other than search.


• Birthday Call to United Chief Led to Air Merger in Three Weeks The phone call that would result in a merger creating the world’s largest airline came on UAL Corp. Chief Executive Officer Glenn Tilton’s 62nd birthday.


• Petrobras CEO Sees No Problem in Demand as IPOs Flop Jose Sergio Gabrielli, chief executive officer of state-controlled oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said he expects to tap global demand for a $25 billion share sale and that the offering will be open to new shareholders.

Bloomberg Daily News 4th May 2010