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Qatar is selling a 1.3 billion pound ($2.1 billion) stake in British bank Barclays, stoking talk it will use a big profit to make a move on UK food retailer J.Sainsbury.

Qatar owns 26 percent of Sainsbury and the retailer’s shares jumped by a fifth last Thursday on talk the sovereign wealth fund was planning a renewed offer for it, after a previous bid attempt failed in 2007.

Qatar Holding is set to make a 600 million pound ($985 million) profit on its Barclays stake, making it the second big Middle-Eastern investor to make a big profit from a stake in the bank this year, after Abu Dhabi made $2.5 billion on the sale of an 11 percent stake in June.

Qatar will remain Barclays’ biggest shareholder with a stake of about 7 percent. It is selling 379.2 million shares, which will come from the exercise of warrants for the same amount of shares at a price of 197.775 pence.

Barclays will receive 750 million pounds from the warrants.

The warrants were part of a controversial 5.8 billion pound fundraising by the bank last November, when the bank avoided selling the state a stake by raising money privately.

Roger Jenkins, a top Barclays banker who orchestrated that fundraising, left the bank in August and his new investment firm is working with Qatar, according to an industry source. A spokesman for the firm, which specializes in the Middle East, declined to comment.

The Barclays shares are being sold by Credit Suisse via an accelerated bookbuild.

By 0800 GMT Barclays shares were down 4.6 percent at 364.5 pence. Sainsbury shares were up 3.2 percent at 340.8p, valuing the retailer at 6.3 billion pounds.

Sainsbury declined to comment.

The Qatar Investment Authority was mulling an offer at 420p per Sainsbury share, traders said last week, well below its 2007 proposal of 600p a share.

QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen its economy by diversifying into new asset classes. Subsidiary Qatar Holding is its main vehicle for strategic and direct investments by the state.

($1=.6088 Pound)

(Editing by Hans Peters)

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A deal between Comcast Corp and General Electric Co for NBC Universal would seem a storybook match — one wants in to the media business and the other may be well-served to get out.

Comcast shareholders see it another way, sending its shares down 7.2 percent on Thursday as sources familiar with the matter said the top U.S. cable service provider was in talks to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal from GE.

While a deal would allow Comcast to acquire the cable networks it has coveted — Bravo, USA and CNBC, among others — shareholders worry it would saddle the company with more than it needs. Specifically, the underperforming NBC broadcast TV network. NBC Universal also owns a studio and theme parks.

“Investors have long pressed Comcast for an aggressive return of cash to shareholders,” Bernstein Research’s Craig Moffett said in a note. “An acquisition of a major content studio, even if consummated at an attractive price, is most decidedly not what Comcast investors had in mind.”

GE, which has been pressured by investors to offload its 80 percent stake in NBC Universal, is considering a host of proposals for NBC Universal as partner Vivendi SA explores whether to sell its 20 percent stake.

At the moment, the most likely scenario is a deal in which Comcast would buy 51 percent of NBC Universal, leaving GE with 49 percent, according to the sources.

The sides still have plenty of details to work out and an agreement is far from certain, said the sources, who described a complex framework to discussions that are still in the earliest stages.

They said the plan is for GE to buy Vivendi’s stake, and put the borrowings that fund that deal on NBC Universal’s balance sheet. Other debt would also be added to what would essentially become a new, stand-alone company. But how that company would be valued remains to be seen.

One source said it would be worth $23 billion to $27 billion — so Comcast would contribute $4 billion to $6 billion in cash and $7 billion worth of assets, like the “E” Channel and the Golf Channel, in exchange for majority control.

Another source said the new company would be valued more highly, and Comcast’s cash payment would be closer to $6 billion to $7 billion.

Over time, Comcast could increase its ownership stake, according to CNBC, which first reported the news.

For GE, whose shares ended 2.7 percent lower on Thursday, selling NBC Universal would allow it to concentrate on the better-performing heavy industrial businesses. It may also be the best choice facing GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt.

“If you take Jeff Immelt’s commentary seriously, where he thinks the economy is in for a slow recovery, then the industrial side of the business needs every dollar it can keep,” said Peter Sorrentino, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Huntington Asset Advisors.

LIMITED CHOICES?

Vivendi has the right to exercise its sell option in NBC Universal each fall until 2016, but is thought likely to do so this year to fund businesses that it finds more essential. 

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In a letter to Barron’s, Sears Holdings Corp Chairman Edward Lampert defended the retailer from what he called an inaccurate and biased report in the August 24 edition of the paper.

The billionaire was responding to a report that suggested Sears stock could fall 50 percent after extreme cost-cutting depleted its ability to generate cash flow needed to win back market share from rivals.

“The article exaggerates the extent of our cost-cutting in an attempt to make it appear that what we are doing is somehow extreme or unproductive,” Lampert said, adding Sears is prioritizing spending and “reducing and reallocating certain expenses that those who are more conventionally focused might disagree with.”

The chairman also defended an amended credit deal, an amended partnership agreement related to his hedge fund ESL Investment Inc, as well as possible store closings, which he said will generate cash and eliminate ongoing losses from operations flexcheck cash advance.

The article was “misleading, inaccurate and poorly researched,” Lampert said in the letter, published in Barron’s September 7 edition, which also defended Sears’ quarterly reporting of “special charges” and “adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization,” or EBITDA.

Jonathan Laing, who wrote the article, said in a reply on the same page that free cash flow is the best measure of the company’s performance, on which score “Sears is losing ground.”

Sears shares are down 15.4 percent since the company reported a surprise quarterly loss on August 20, which dampened hopes Lampert could turn the company around. The shares closed at $62.38 on Friday.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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My OfficeMax Inc. shares have done better lately. What does the future hold?

The No. 3 U.S. office products firm is continuing its cost-cutting efforts in an attempt to improve its profitability and sales in a highly competitive business hampered by the weak economy.

It isn’t, for example, opening any new stores this year. It is increasing the number of private-label products bearing its name to lure shoppers with lower prices while expanding profit margins. About one-fourth of its sales are currently private-label.

It expects sales to decline in the second half due to cutbacks in corporate America, the economy and what is projected to be a lackluster back-to-school season.
Shares are up 31 percent this year following drops of 61 percent last year and 57 percent in 2007. While the company lost $17.7 million in the second quarter, the fact that Wall Street had expected far worse provided a boost to its stock.

OfficeMax sells through a direct sales force, the Internet and catalogs. It has improved its profitability but still lacks the economies of scale of its larger rivals and must compete with numerous retailers that have begun to sell office products.

No. 1 Staples, whose profits were down 33 percent in the past quarter, has more than 1,500 stores and is taking market share away from OfficeMax’s main Chicago sales area. It bought the Dutch office-supply firm Corporate Express NV last year. In comparison, No. 2 Office Depot has more than 1,200 stores and OfficeMax fewer than 1,000.

The consensus recommendation on OfficeMax shares is "hold," according to Thomson Reuters, which consists of one "strong buy," three "buys" and seven "holds."

Yet OfficeMax remains aggressive. It recently signed a multiyear deal that will allow it to use some FedEx Corp. services in about 900 U.S. retail locations. It is offering domestic FedEx Express and ground shipping, while it will accept drop-off packages from FedEx customers at its in-store print and document services center car loans for bad credit.

The company has also forged an alliance with Lyreco, a global distributor of office products in 36 countries, and has a partnership to distribute co-branded office products through 1,600 Safeway grocery stores.

Earnings are expected to decline 75 percent this year compared with a 6 percent gain projected for the office supplies industry. The forecast is for a 50 percent gain next year versus a 13 percent rise industrywide.

Is there any advantage to having my various individual retirement accounts with the same investment firm, or does it make no difference?

It can make things easier having your investments with one firm because you can check them online in the same place and will have fewer statements to contend with.

Too often investors with funds at several firms also own similar funds, just in different places.

You can find an array of choices in most any investment style at larger fund firms. In addition, for mutual funds sold with "loads," or sales charges, there can also be discounts for those who invest certain amounts of money with them.

"You’re picking the investments, so you’re not giving up that control to the investment firm," said Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, certified financial planner and president of Capelli Financial Services Inc. in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

"Within your account, however, you want to make sure that you have diversified investments."

Still, there’s nothing that should tie you to keeping investments with one firm if you feel that you can find some better funds at an additional firm and keeping everything together won’t meet your goals.

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Belgian financial investor RHJ International has offered 275 million euros ($387.6 million) for a 50.1 percent stake in General Motors’ Opel business, according to RHJ’s takeover offer for the German carmaker obtained by Reuters.

The offer, which envisions production cutbacks and pay cuts for staff, sees Opel posting a positive cash flow before funding of 1 faxless payday loans.0 billion euro by 2011.

Apart from RHJ, Canadian auto parts maker Magna is in talks about taking a stake in Opel, as is Chinese carmaker Beijing Automotive (BAIC).

(Reporting by Gernot Heller, Writing by Nicola Leske)

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The Boeing Co. on Wednesday rolled out the first of two dozen F/A-18 Super Hornets bound for the Royal Australian Air Force over the next three years.

While a shot in the arm for Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems in St. Louis, the first international sale of its latest multirole fighter jet occurs at a time of uncertainty for the St. Louis F/A-18 line. The Defense Department sought just 31 in next year’s budget — or nine fewer than expected.

Boeing and its supporters are pushing for another multiyear contract for the Super Hornets. Boeing officials say multiyear contracts with the U.S. Navy help hold down production costs and have saved taxpayers $1.7 billion so far.

Boeing said the first of the Super Hornets bound for the Royal Australian Air Force will be delivered ahead of schedule to the Navy, which will test it and then deliver it to Australia next spring.

Australia will pay $3 billion for the 24 aircraft, said Marcia Hart-Wise, a Department of Navy spokeswoman. That price includes service and support through 2020.

U.S. and Australian military leaders said the rollout of the

F/A-18F was an important cooperative milestone between the two countries. The planes are equipped with the latest radar and weapons systems.

Boeing also is vying to provide F/A-18 Super Hornets to India, Denmark, Brazil, Greece and Japan.

Congress has added language supporting the U car loans for bad credit.S. purchase of more Super Hornets to proposed defense authorization bills. In late June, U.S.

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., also went to bat for the purchase of more F/A-18s "as the most cost-effective, near-term means to address the Navy’s tactical fighter shortfall," and a multiyear contract, according to a June 22 letter he co-authored to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., also supports multi-year purchases.

Boeing is the region’s second-largest employer, and its F/A-18 fighter jet line employs 5,000 workers.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay trumpeted Boeing’s regional importance — from jobs to philanthropy — in remarks he made at Wednesday’s ceremony. Other speakers included Rear Adm. David Philman, director of air warfare for the U.S. Navy, and Air Marshal Mark Binskin, chief of the Royal Australian Air Force.

Despite the uncertainties, top Boeing officials remain upbeat about the future of aircraft manufacturing here.

"In case anybody’s wondering, we’re going to be building Super Hornets here for a long time to come," said Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems.

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday delayed the sale of most of Chrysler’s assets to Fiat pending further consideration of an appeal by three Indiana state funds and several consumer groups, a move that injects a new element of uncertainty over the carmaker’s fate.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who handles emergency matters arising from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said in a one-sentence order that the rulings of the bankruptcy judge allowing the sale "are stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the court."

The order is in effect a holding action that gives Ginsburg or the full court more time to consider whether to delay the deal while parties objecting to it file appeals. The most likely explanation for the temporary stay is that the justices needed more time to consider the filings, which started arriving over the weekend.

Chrysler LLC, Fiat and the government were prepared to close the deal as soon as Monday night if the court let the deal go forward, according to people briefed on the matter. Lawyers for the carmakers and the government have said that speed was of the essence to ensure the companies’ survival and preserve thousands of jobs.

Under the terms of the deal, Fiat can walk away as soon as June 15, a move that Chrysler executives warned would mean near-certain liquidation. Executives testified in court that despite spending more than a year scouring the globe for someone to buy the company, none except Fiat made an offer. And a lawyer for Chrysler argued in a recent court filing that the carmaker was losing $100 million a day while in bankruptcy.

Chrysler halted production at its factories in the United States after it sought bankruptcy protection on April 30 florida health insurance. The company said it would restart the plants, including a truck assembly plant in Fenton, once the sale of its assets to Fiat was finalized. The Fenton plant is scheduled for permanent closure by the end of September as part of the bankruptcy. Another Chrysler plant in Fenton that made minivans was shuttered in October and will not be restarted.

For much of its court case, decisions had fallen Chrysler’s way. The carmaker won quick approval of its sale from two lower courts, and many legal experts said they did not expect the Supreme Court to further delay the deal.

But lawyers for the objectors, including Indiana funds representing teachers and police officers and several groups with product liability claims, filed their appeal to Ginsburg late Saturday night, after the 2nd Circuit reaffirmed a lower court’s approval of the sale. The appeals court had delayed the closing of the deal until Monday afternoon or until the Supreme Court declined to issue its own delay.

The Indiana funds have sought greater compensation for their portion of Chrysler’s $6.9 billion in secured debt. They have also argued that the Obama administration illegally used federal bailout money earmarked for financial institutions to help Chrysler. The Indiana funds bought their holdings in July 2008 for 43 cents on the dollar.

Lawyers for the funds have questioned whether Chrysler could have received a better deal than the Fiat transaction or through a liquidation. They have also objected on constitutional grounds, saying that the Obama administration was not allowed to give bailout money meant for financial institutions to Chrysler.

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Boeing Co. leaders say that the U.S. military’s airlift needs are growing and that a Pentagon proposal to halt future orders for the C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane is premature.

Boeing, whose defense unit is headquartered in St. Louis, is trying to rally support for the C-17 on multiple fronts — arguing that ceasing production would erode the U.S. industrial base, costing thousands of jobs at Boeing plants and those of its main suppliers. But Boeing officials also emphasize the plane’s strategic value.

"Right now, since 9/11, the airplane has been flying at about a 15 percent higher rate than was anticipated," said Donald A. Anderson, Boeing’s C-17 program manager in St. Louis. "In addition, they’re talking about rebasing troops in the United States. They’re talking about an increase in the size of the Marines Corps and the Army.

"So it seems like the airlift requirements are growing. And you need airlifters to meet those needs."
Starting with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ announcement in early April and continuing through last week, the Pentagon has said it can get by with the 205 C-17s that are either in service or on order. The Air Force also uses the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy to transport weapon systems, cargo and personnel to overseas locations.

Republican Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond and Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, both of Missouri, have written letters supporting more orders of the C-17, and Machinists Union officials have traveled to Washington to show their support for a program that supports 900 jobs in St. Louis.

"This is high political theater," said analyst Richard Aboulafia of The Teal Group in Fairfax, Va. "The bottom line is I don’t think the line is threatened. But it is up to everybody from Department of Defense to Congress to Boeing to the unions to make it look as though it were."

The Defense Department has not sought funding for the C-17 in the last three years. But Congress has stepped in to add funding for more of the $202 million planes through supplemental defense appropriations bills.

Bond and Boeing officials have asked why Gates would halt C-17 orders while there is a study under way into the military’s future air-mobility needs. The results are expected this fall.

"But yet we’re making that decision now to stop the airplane," Anderson said. "So it seems somewhat premature fast payday loans."

Bond said shutting down production of the C-17 is a "dangerous gamble" and warned that the U.S. can’t afford to "lose the capability to transport safely our troops and equipment to anywhere in the world."

In a letter to President Barack Obama, McCaskill said the U.S. is "literally flying the wings off these planes," and added "this is not the time to end its production, especially in light of projected global mission sets for the U.S. military."

Both legislators also have gone to bat for Boeing’s St. Louis-built F/A-18 Super Hornet, whose future was placed in limbo under the latest Pentagon spending plan.

The C-17 is assembled at a plant in Long Beach, Calif. But the cargo door, cargo ramp, landing-gear pods, nose and engine pylons are built in St. Louis.

A November 2008 report by the Government Accountability Office recommended "careful planning to avoid shutting down the C-17 line prematurely." Both Boeing and the Air Force believe shutting down and restarting production "would not be feasible or cost effective," the report found.

The GAO cited the high costs of hiring and training a new work force, reinstalling equipment to proper working condition and re-establishing a supplier base.

Boeing has delivered the C-17 to other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The United Arab Emirates has announced its intent to buy four of the planes, and Qatar has ordered two and exercised an option on two additional C-17s.

But Anderson said international sales alone are not enough to sustain the C-17 line. Boeing officials say maintaining C-17 sales to the U.S. Air Force is necessary to keep the price of the planes competitive in the international market.

Defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said the C-17 is the best strategic airlifter ever built and "a very cogent case" can be made that terminating production at 205 planes would be too early. At the moment, he said, its future will be dictated by Congress.

"Here’s the bottom line to C-17," Thompson said. "If Congress doesn’t add money, there won’t be any more."

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The board that sets U.S. accounting standards on Monday moved to end companies’ use of a device that allowed them to park hundreds of billions of dollars in loans off their balance sheets without capital cushions and has been blamed for helping stoke banks’ losses in the housing boom.

The change will tighten the use of so-called "qualifying special purpose entities" by requiring companies to report to regulators the loans contained in them and to increase their capital reserves in proportion as a cushion against potential losses.

It was the lack of disclosure and absence of capital to support ballooning subprime mortgage loans in these special entities that aggravated the massive losses sustained by banks, regulators say.

The change could result in about $900 billion in assets being brought onto the balance sheets of the nation’s 19 largest banks, according to federal regulators. The information was provided by Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and 17 other institutions during the government’s recent "stress tests payday loans in 1 hour."

In general, companies transfer assets from balance sheets to special purpose entities to insulate themselves from risk or to finance a large project. Under the change, many qualifying special purpose entities will have to be moved back to a company’s balance sheet.

Outside investors often take interests in those entities, for example, making an investment in a bank’s holdings of mortgage loans in exchange for payments from borrowers.

Under the new standard, companies must bring back any entity in which they hold an interest that gives them "control over the most significant activities," according to the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Companies must perform analyses to determine that.

In cases where companies have "continuing involvements" with entities off the balance sheet, they will have to provide new disclosures.

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U.S. homebuilder sentiment jumped to its highest level in eight months in May, a private survey showed on Monday, supporting views that the three-year housing slump might be close to an end.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 16 from 14 in April, in line with market expectations.

The NAHB attributed the second consecutive monthly increase in the gauge — which measures builder confidence in the market for newly built, single family homes — to “the best home buying conditions of a lifetime.”

“This continued increase indicates that home builders feel we’re at or near the bottom of the market and that positive signs lie ahead for builders and potential home buyers, provided that builder access to production credit significantly improves,” said NAHB chief economist David Crowe online pay day loans.

Other housing indicators have recently shown a sharp slowing in the pace of the market’s decline, raising optimism a bottom was not too far away.

The collapse of domestic house prices and the subsequent global credit crisis were the main catalysts for the U.S. recession, now in its 17th month.

The report also showed two out of three subindexes of the Housing Market Index rising in May. The current sales conditions gauge climbed two points to 14, while the sales expectations measure for the next six months rose three points to 27. The traffic of prospective buyers index was unchanged at 13 in May.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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