Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc reported a 77% drop in third-quarter earnings hurt by declining insurance profits and a $1.05 billion investment loss.Berkshire began the year with an unrealized $1.67 billion loss on its futures, options and other derivative contracts. Berkshire and Buffett have made several deals over the past two months including a $5 billion infusion in Goldman Sachs and a $3 billion stake in General Electric.Those deals aren't reflected in this quarter's results.
Skytrax had conducted a world airline survey. It had ranked the top 10 airlines as:
1.Singapore Airlines
2.Cathay Pacific
3.Qantas
4.Thai Airways
5.Asiana Airlines
6.Malaysia Airlines
7.Qatar Airways
8.Air New Zealand
9.Emirates
10.Etihad Airways
The world is facing a economic blockade and bad news from all sectors.But finally Exxon Mobil the leading U.S. oil company posted a net profit of $14.83 billion.The company's prior record was $11.68 billion in the second quarter of 2008.Analysts had expected Exxon to report a 40% jump in earnings to a net income of $12.2 billion, but it had made the expectations false.Despite the surge in profit oil production was down 8% in the third quarter.
Anglo Irish Bank has hired Morgan Stanley to advise on capital issues with the Irish group seeking to raise billions of euros. Anglo Irish Bank and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the report.Morgan Stanley had approached a number of unnamed private equity groups with a view to securing a capital injection in Anglo Irish Bank.Analysts see it as inevitable that Irish banks will have to raise billions of euros in fresh capital to match the higher equity ratios of UK peers after a government bailout there.
Oil prices fell to their lowest point since May 2007 as investors were unimpressed by a decision from the world's largest oil cartel to slash production targets.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose member nations control about 40% of the world's oil, said it would cut production by 1.5 million barrels a day.U.S. crude for December delivery settled down $3.69 to $64.15 a barrel in New York. It was the lowest close for oil in more than 17 months. Prices hit an intraday low of $62.65 after news of the cut.
Halliburton Co. had swung to a net loss of $21 million in the third quarter, due largely to a nearly $700 million debt settlement. But the oilfield services provider said operating income topped $1 billion for the first time.The company's loss amounted to 2 cents per share in the July-September period, in contrast to a profit of $727 million, or 79 cents a share, a year ago.The year-ago results included a favorable income tax benefit of $133 million, or 15 cents a share.Oil companies hire service providers like Halliburton and Schlumberger for a variety of well-site jobs that can include seismic tests, directional drilling and reservoir management.
The UK government announced that it would inject up to 37 billion pounds of cash into major banks - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds TSB and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).RBS will receive 20 billion pounds from the government, while the merging Lloyds TSB and HBOS is to get 17 billion pounds. The UK government will take a 63 percent stake in RBS and 41 percent in the merged Lloyds TSB and HBOS, indicating that the government will become the major shareholder of the two banks.
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