Not only the ArcelorMittal merger synergies have gained 1

Insularity to declare top and to the outside of the rules that can be discreetly break at home. Slayer of enemies of the free competition, the United Kingdom prepares to make a serious exception for himself in order to avoid that the tsunami left Wall Street submerging the City. In normal times, the fifth British Bank Lloyds TSB would have never considered acquiring the fourth, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), nor that it is would be left swallow by an institution almost two times smaller in terms of assets. But to the great evils great remedies. Having granted mortgage at a British five and dependent, for more than half of its financing, markets have become extremely wary, Scots has everything of sacrificial victims including the stock market needs. To avoid a repetition of the trauma of Northern Rock, London is ready to pay the price for the establishment of a domestic champion with 28 of the mortgage and 30 of the current accounts of the country. Lloyds TSB to win the crazy opportunity to seize a bank worth a quarter more than it in early 2007. The perfect heist.

Barclays' Diamond

Some defeats resonate in retrospect as great victories. Beaten year last by the Fortis-RBS-Santander trio for the takeover of ABN AMRO high price and having thrown the sponge last weekend for the takeover of all of Lehman Brothers, Barclays will finally redeem the best pieces of the US Bank for a pittance. By paying $ 1.75 billion (including 1.5 billion for the Lehman near Times Square Tower) for all the shares, bonds, brokerage and Council, and their 10,000 employees in the United States, Barclays will boost its overseas activities while enjoying beautiful synergies. Barclays Capital, led by Bob Diamond dynamics, including will increase from the 35th to the 3rd place in the largest global mergers and acquisitions market. The British Bank, which takes 72 billion of assets for 68 billion of liabilities, thus pay less than the net a set comprising less than 5 of the mortgage-related products. So that face to tétanisés Americans and Europeans immobile, Diamond made perhaps the best deal of the year.

Iron man

Heavy industry does not exclude the acuteness of the strategy. The title of the plan of Lakshmi Mittal, "Earnings management", Miss poetry, it reveals no less priority to profitability which already appears as his trademark. Not only the Arcelor-Mittal merger synergies have gained ($1.6 billion), but he ceased to produce results superior to the expectations of the market. The increase of 47.3 of operating income announced for the first nine months of the year does not derogate from the rule. Proud of its success and proved that the volatility of the price did not prevent it to have found the path of constant growth, human richest in England is therefore its group in order to continue its path in the next five years through a course of steel which should remain supported by the application of emerging countries. Despite the increase in costs, profitability should not suffer, boosted by the integration of iron and coal mines and a savings of EUR 2.8 billion plan. Investors are therefore without doubt wrong yesterday to punish a value whether they pay only six times 2008 profits.