City comment: In the next few months, upwards of three million customers of Lloyds will change their bank. They won't do this consciously, or even voluntarily, but they will switch, because they have accounts with the 600 branches that Lloyds has been ordered by the competition authorities to sell... more
Xstrata will invest £3 billion in new mines and work on organic growth after more than doubling first-half earnings per share on higher metals prices... more
Xstrata plays hardball with the Australian government over its proposed supertax on miners’ profits, suspending investment worth A$586 million in two Queensland mines which it claims would “not be viable” under the levy ... more
Market Round-up: Talk is that the metals giant is weighing up an offer for the Australian miner, as Macarthur said says the investment bank representing Xstrata has approached one of its biggest shareholders... more
A new lurch downwards in the value of the ailing dollar and news of better-than-expected GDP in Japan signalled another rush for commodities, such as metals and oil and gold ... more
The blockbuster mining merger that never quite happened was finally called off today as ultra-acquisitive Xstrata removed its tanks from the lawn of Anglo American ... more
The boss of mining giant Xstrata said today his company needs to go ahead with a proposed £40 billion merger with Anglo-American if it is to properly compete with the titans of the global mining industry ... more
Goldman Sachs is the latest broker to warn of future dividend cuts following publication of the water industry regulator Ofwat’s draft tariff proposal for the next five years ... more
Mining companies regularly have to halt operations when they come across the fossilised remains of some creature from millions of years ago, but Xstrata's £23 billion bid to merge with rival Anglo American has brought a real dinosaur to the surface ... more
London's hedge fund community may have had a torrid time last year but at least its favoured charity, Arki Busson's ARK (or absolute return for kids), has shown the way in moneymaking. In the year to August 2008, its income rose from £32.7 million to £40.2 million. Furthermore, hedge fund turmoil is not expected to affect the levels of pledges. ARK acknowledges that "the level of outstanding donor pledges is considered to be one of the charity's key risks" but that all funding pledges "due for payment have been received to date." So hats off to the generous hedgies and let's hope that spirit continues.... more
British Airways shareholders rushed for the emergency exits today, fretting that the airline could need state aid to prevent it coming crashing down... more
The London Stock Exchange could see one of its biggest ever flotations after it emerged that the giant Glencore commodities house is looking to come to market... more
Sir John Craven is the man who capped a long, distinguished City career by taking on the poisoned chalice marked Lonrho, drinking the contents — and surviving... more
Finance: Mining group Xstrata have unveiled a massively discounted £4.1 billion rights issue to cut its debts, while engineer Cookson launched a £240 million cash call in an indicator of the depth of the economic downturn... more
Sound check: German industrial metal band Rammstein literally play with fire in their live performances - and now they are about to unleash their singeing spectacle on London. Watch out for your eyebrows
Morning:
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