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PM calls Vajpayee "Bhishma Pitamah" of politics, seeks support

New Delhi, March 05: Describing Atal Bihari Vajpayee as "Bhishma Pitamah of Indian politics", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday appealed to former Prime Minister to rise above "narrow" party politics and support the Indo-US nuclear deal.

"Bhishma Pitamah of Indian politics Atal Bihari Vajpayee should listen to his conscience and let national interest prevail upon narrow politics," Singh said in the Rajya Sabha seeking support of his predecessor on the nuclear deal.

In his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on President`s Address, Prime Minister assured Parliament the government would not compromise on requirements of national security in inking the nuclear deal with the US.

While the Prime Minister mounted a strident attack on the previous NDA Government, Singh had words of praise for Vajpayee for his "courageous" steps to foster peace with Pakistan.

"The most courageous steps to build peace were taken by Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee," Singh said in an identical reply in the Lok Sabha.

The Prime Minister said his government has continued the process with President Pervez Musharraf.

Singh noted that the dialogue process was started by the then Prime Ministers late Benazir Bhutto and late Rajiv Gandhi.

Singh was also happy with former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra "coming out openly in defence of the Nuclear Cooperation Agree

SEBI slashes fee for filing IPOs, MFs

New Delhi, March 05: In a bid to benefit the investors, market regulator SEBI on Wednesday decided to reduce fee for filling offer documents for public issues and mutual funds, effective beginning of next financial year.

At its board meeting held in New Delhi, SEBI also slashed the fee for offer documents for buyback of securities and registration fee for venture capital funds from April 1, 2008.

Fee for filing offer documents for public issue and mutual funds will be reduced from 0.03 per cent to 0.005 per cent, SEBI Chairman C B Bhave told reporters after the board meeting.

While the cap on fee for public offer is Rs 3 crore, the ceiling for mutual fund is Rs 50 lakh.

SEBI will also cut by 50 per cent the registration fee for venture capital fund from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

At the same time, the annual fee for registration for the custodians of mutual fund will be reduced to 0.0005 per cent of Asset under custody from existing 0.001 per cent.

The fee for the rights issue offer document will be slashed from 0.05 per cent to 0.005 per cent, subject to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh, he said.

Fee for filing offer document for buyback of securities will be reduced from 0.05 per cent to 0.125 per cent, subject to a maximum of Rs 3 crore.

Earlier, the SEBI board had formed an internal committee, headed its whole-time Member V K Chopra, to examine the regulator`s fee structure for rationalisation so as to directly or indirectly benefit the common investors.

+1

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fiis shifting their funds from stocks to commodities...
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renu

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Ex-Google exec is Facebook`s new CEO

San Francisco, March 05: Facebook announced Tuesday that it has wooed a top executive away from Google to be the hot online social networking website's chief operating officer.

Sheryl Sandberg is leaving her post as vice president of global online sales and operations at Google to manage marketing, human resources, business development and other day-to-day operations at Facebook.

"I have learned so much during my time at Google, and I've loved working with the people there," Sandberg said in a statement. "I am thrilled to have this opportunity."

The hire comes as Facebook strives to increase its global popularity by making its website available in an array of languages.

Facebook unveiled a German version of its website on Tuesday and promises to have it available in French by spring.

"We're really excited to bring German-speaking users the ability to access Facebook in their native language," said Facebook vice president of product management Matt Cohler.

"We currently have over a million active users in German-speaking countries." Facebook unveiled a Spanish version of its website in February.

Software applications made freely available let people opt for Spanish or German instructions, alerts, news feeds and other information provided by Facebook as part of the user interface.

Facebook users can critique each other's translations, resulting in a communal effort to improve the software and build an accurate dictionary of terms.

Facebook users have always been able to post profiles, messages or other content in their native languages, but the framework for the website was only in English prior to February.

"Sheryl is a great manager who will help scale Facebook's operations globally," said Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

"Sheryl understands Facebook's goal of connecting everyone in the world and is passionate about building a business that will enable us to realize this mission."

Sandberg worked as a US treasury secretary's chief of staff prior to taking a job with Google six years ago. She will start her job at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, California, on March 24, the company said.

DLF plans to invest up to Rs 4,100 cr

Mumbai, March 05: Leading real estate firm DLF on Wednesday said it plans to make investments up to Rs 4,100 crore, including Rs 200 crore for setting up an asset management company.

The firm would be investing Rs 1,550 crore in DLF Limitless Developers Pvt Ltd, it said in a filing to the BSE.

Further, an investment of Rs 200 crore each would be made in the proposed asset management firm and a trustee company.

Subject to approval from the concerned Registrar of Companies, the asset management and trustee firms would be called DLF Pramerica Asset Managers Pvt Ltd and DLF Pramerica Trustees Pvt Ltd respectively.

The remainder investments would be made in Shivajimarg Properties Ltd (Rs 750 crore), DLF Southern Homes Pvt Ltd (Rs 750 crore), DLF New Gurgaon Homes Developers Pvt Ltd (Rs 600 crore), Jai Luxmi Real Estate Pvt Ltd (Rs 10 crore), Solid Buildcon Pvt Ltd (Rs 10 crore), Paliwal Real Estate Pvt Ltd (Rs 10 crore) and Triumph Electronics Pvt Ltd (Rs 20 crore).

Further, DLF would be giving loans up to Rs 8,800 crore to these ten companies.

In addition, the company would be providing guarantee(s) worth up to Rs 8,800 crore to these firms.

Moreover, the firm would contribute from time to time to charitable and other funds not exceeding Rs 250 crore in any financial year. The charitable and other funds would not be directly related to the business of the company or the welfare of its employees.

The firm would seek shareholders approval for these proposals through postal ballot. The duly completed postal ballot forms should reach the scrutiniser on or before March 24 and the results would be announced on March 31.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 681.35, up 0.47 per cent on the BSE.

Oil Prices Surge Higher After the Government Reported a Surprise Drop in Supplies

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil surged Wednesday, rising a remarkable $5 a barrel to a new record over $104 after the government reported a surprise drop in crude oil stockpiles and OPEC held production levels steady.Most analysts had expected the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration to report oil supplies rose last week for the eighth straight time. Instead, they fell by 3.1 million barrels.

In Vienna, meanwhile, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would hold production levels steady, at least for now.

The EIA report and OPEC announcement fed a new frenzy of investing in oil futures, which have risen to new inflation-adjusted records this week as the falling dollar drew new investors to the market.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery jumped $5 to settle at a record $104.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Shortly after the Nymex closed, oil briefly rose to $104.95, a new trading record. Earlier this week, oil prices broke the previous inflation-adjusted price record of $103.76, set in 1980 during the Iran hostage crisis.

Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling.

At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices rose a cent to a national average of $3.178 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices have been following oil's recent rally, and are 69 cents higher than a year ago. Many analysts expect prices to rise to near $4 a gallon this spring and summer as driving demand picks up.

While investors chose Wednesday to focus on last week's decline in oil supplies, analysts noted that oil inventories are at historic highs. Meanwhile, demand for gasoline is falling, and several forecasters have cut their oil demand growth predictions for this year.

"There are some very disturbing things in this report on the demand side," said Andrew Lebow, senior vice president at MF Global Inc. in New York.

That suggests oil's sharp jump Wednesday was also partly driven by the dollar, which fell to a new low against the euro.

"There's an ongoing stampede to be a part of the crude oil rally," said Tim Evans, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., in New York.

Many analysts believe oil's rally will be short-lived. Falling demand for overall petroleum products, which was down 3.4 percent over the last four weeks compared to the same time last year, suggest prices could drop steeply once the dollar-driven oil investment frenzy runs out of steam, analysts said.

OPEC ministers cited falling demand in announcing their decision to hold production steady. Gasoline demand is off about 1 percent over the last six weeks compared to the same period last year, according to EIA data. At the same time, gasoline supplies rose last week to a 15-year high, Evans said.

"Clearly, refineries have enough crude oil to produce an abundance of gasoline," Evans said.

OPEC did pledge to keep a close eye on oil supply and demand, and said it could change its output levels quickly if needed.

Other aspects of the EIA's inventory report were roughly in line with expectations. Gasoline supplies grew by 1.7 million barrels last week, more than the 900,000 barrels analysts expected, and are at record levels. On the other hand, inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 2.4 million barrels, more than the expected 1.9 million barrel decline, and are low in historic terms.

Refiners ramped up production for the second week in a row, boosting activity by 1.2 percent to 85.9 percent of capacity, beating analyst forecasts.

Oil pulled other energy futures higher Wednesday. April gasoline rose 11.3 cents to settle at $2.6421 a gallon on the Nymex, and April heating oil futures jumped 15.13 cents to settle at $2.9431 a gallon after rising to $2.9484, a record high. April natural gas rose 38.8 cents to settle at $9.741 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, April Brent crude rose $4.12 to settle at 101.64 on the ICE Futures exchange.

AP
Merrill to Close Lender First Franklin
Wednesday March 5, 6:08 pm ET
Merrill Lynch to Shutter First Franklin, Mortgage Lender Bought for $1.3B


NEW YORK (AP) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. said on Wednesday it will stop funding loans at its troubled First Franklin home lending unit, and explore selling the company it bought for $1.3 billion at the real estate market's peak.

The world's largest brokerage suffered $11.5 billion in write-downs during the fourth quarter linked to the subprime mortgage market's collapse. It will spend $60 million in 2008 to pay for severance and other real estate costs linked to unwinding First Franklin's operations.

Some 650 people will be affected by the closure, and it has already reduced head count at First Franklin by 70 percent since July. The closure won't affect mortgage origination from its global wealth management group or international business.

The company will try to sell First Franklin's home loan services business, which collects and processes payments. The company will seek bids in the next few weeks.

A spokesman for Merrill Lynch was not available to comment but has maintained for the past few months that it was leaving options open about unwinding the business.

Merrill Lynch bought First Franklin from Cleveland-based bank National City Corp. in December 2006 as a way to expand in a business that had generated big profits for rivals such as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Former Chief Executive Stanley O'Neal hoped the acquisition would provide a new stream of loans that could be traded in the mortgage-backed securities market.

Securitization of home loans was a lucrative business for investments banks, and caused many to make similar acquisitions. Morgan Stanley bought subprime lender Saxon Capital for more than $700 million in December 2006. Bear Stearns bought subprime unit of ECC Capital in February 2007.

The deal for First Franklin -- which was criticized for being too costly during a market that had already peaked -- closed just before the subprime market began to weaken. First Franklin was a big contributor to Merrill's losses last year as the worst real estate market in a quarter century began to get worse.

John Thain, who took over after O'Neal's ouster, said in a conference call earlier this year that he would "emphasize to the origination going forward the importance of risk management." He was a former mortgage trader in the 1980s at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., where he became president before leaving in 2004 to lead the New York Stock Exchange.

Merrill, which ceased originating subprime mortgages on Dec. 28, reported mortgage-related losses and write-downs totaling $24.4 billion in 2007.

Morgan Stanley said in October that it was cutting back its residential mortgage business. Lehman Brothers said in August it was shutting the subprime mortgage business, BNC Mortgage LLC, that it acquired in 2004.

Shares fell 51 cents to $49.32 in trading Wednesday.