Market Currents

• Thursday, December 17, 2009

• 09:25 AM National Australia Bank made a surprise A$13.3B ($12B) bid for Axa Asia Pacific (AAP), trumping a joint bid from AMP Ltd. and AAP parent AXA (AXA), and winning approval from the wealth manager's board. The deal is conditional on Axa's agreement to buy AAP's units in eight Asian countries, giving France's largest insurer full control of its Asia operations - where wealth is growing faster than in any other region. 1 Comment

• Monday, November 30, 2009

• 07:14 AM Thirty giant financial institutions were selected by the FSB for cross-border systemic-risk oversight, and will be asked to write "living wills" that outline wind-down plans in the aftermath of a crisis. They include: AEG AXA AZ BAC BCS BFR CS DB GS HBC ING JPM MFG MTU NMR RBS RY STD UBS. 1 Comment

• Monday, November 9, 2009

• 09:51 AM Axa Asia Pacific (AXAPY.PK), the Australian unit of France’s biggest insurer (AXA), rejects an unsolicited $10B bid from its parent and AMP Ltd. (AMLTF.PK). CEO Rick Allert said Axa Asia Pacific would consider a higher offer, but called today's offer too low. Axa said today it will raise £2B through a rights offer to finance acquisitions. Comment!

• Friday, September 11, 2009

• 10:35 AM Merrill upgrades French insurer AXA (AXA +2.6%) to Buy, saying it offers investors 'a sound way' of shifting their focus away from property and casualty insurers to life stocks. Firm notes AXA's valuation has risen faster than its share price, and says it sees 12-month return potential of over 20%. Comment!

• Wednesday, August 5, 2009

• 09:38 AM Axa (AXA) +4% early on after a better-than-expected H1, even though headline earnings fell 26% to €2.1B. The solid performance allowed Axa to boost its solvency ratio to 133% from 127%, but that would have been four points higher if not for a drop in some volatile investments - a reminder the insurer remains exposed to market swings. Comment!

• Wednesday, July 15, 2009

• 09:01 AM Premarket gainers: GCI +20%. ALU +12%. AMD +8%. INTC +7%. AIB +6%. MT +6%. ING +6%. TGB +6%. AXA +5%. PMI +5%. TSM +5%. HMY +5%. MI +5%. HBC +5%. GNK +5%. HL +4%. BCS +4%. TIE +4%. AKS +4%. NOK +4%. RCL +4%. YGE +4%. VALE +4%. IGT +4%. AUY +4%. COF +4%. EXM +4%. FCX +4%. X +4%. MU +4%. ABX +4%. UBS +4%. DB +4%. Whoa!
  Losers: PAR -22%. JNS -8%. YUM -4% 1 Comment

• Monday, June 22, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: MEDX +22%. AVII +12%. NSU +10%. EMKR +6%. AAUK +6%. LSI +5%.
  Losers: ALU -9%. RTP -6%. DB -5%. FRO -5%. HMY -5%. WAG -5%. STSI -5%. MT -5%. AIB -4%. AU -4%. GFI -4%. AXA -4%. HBAN -4%. FCX -4%. Comment!

• Wednesday, June 10, 2009

• 09:42 AM The Air France crash that killed 228 people could be the most costly airline disaster since 2001 as Air France's pool of insurers, including Axa (AXA), Allianz (AZ) and AIG (AIG), compensate victims' families and pay for the loss of the plane. Comment!

• Wednesday, May 13, 2009

• 09:02 AM Premarket gainers: QTM +7%. VNDA +5%. FTR +4%. SHPGY +4%. ETFC +3%. SNY +3%. AMD +2%.
  Losers: MDCO -44%. KRG -23%. SOLR -18%. CNB -18%. AIB -17%. BMR -14%. CTIC -14%. RBS -13%. MGM -12%. ODP -11%. NAT -11%. ING -11%. HBAN -10%. CLF -10%. AAAW -10%. BBT -9%. BCS -9%. LYG -9%. UBS -8%. AXA -8%. GNW -7%. BMC -7%. ACGY -7%. RAD -7%. DB -7%. HBC -7%. AXL -7%. ALU -7%. FIG -7%. FLEX -7%. RTP -7%. MBI -6%. HIG -6%. CNO -6%. VIP -6%. ABK -6%. RF -5%. FITB -5%. DPTR -5%. SI -5%. ABB -5%. Comment!

• Monday, May 11, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket losers: CPSL -21%. ALD -14%. AOB -11%. COF -11%. DAN -11%. DYN -11%. DRYS -7%. BCS -6%. RCL -6%. USB -5%. LYG -5%. AXA -5%. GNW -5%. MGM -5%. HIG -4%. WFC -5%. ETFC -4%. AXL -4%. RDS.A -4%. ALU -4%. BBT -4%. ING -4%. AXP -4%. CIT -4%. Comment!

• Tuesday, May 5, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: ACAD +24%. MGM 16%. LVS +13%. XTXI +12%. AIG +11%. THC +10%. TKLC +9%. GERN +9%. EGLE +8%. ALKS +7%. FIG +6%. DRYS +6%. VRX +6%. AMLN +6%. YGE +6%. KFT +5%. CENX +5%. CTSH +5%. PCX +6%. CSIQ +5%. BZH +5%. NM +4%. EXM +4%. CDE +4%.
  Losers: BZ -21%. HOLX -20%. HLIT -15%. MYGN -14%. LM -11%. NMM -10%. PQ -10%. AXA -9%. PNX -8%. HEP -8%. ADM -7%. CHK -6%. DHI -5%. FITB -4%. RDN -5%. AKS -4%. AIB -4%. UL -4%. IRE -4%. KFN -4%. Comment!

• Tuesday, April 14, 2009

• 09:01 AM Premarket losers: AIB -11%. QGEN -8%. ABK -8%. RBS -7%. SXL -6%. MT -4%. AXA -5%. TS -4%. MS -4%. AXP -3%. GS -3%. IFX -4%. CS -3%. TOT -3%. USB -3%. BP -3%. UN -3%. AAUK -3%. RDS.A -3%. Comment!

• Thursday, March 26, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket losers: BPL -5%. AXA -4%. GGP -3%. Comment!

• Wednesday, March 11, 2009

• 09:04 AM Premarket gainers: ACAS +17%. AIB +17%. SIRI +14%. GNW +11%. CENX +10%. CS +10%. C +10%. BAC +9%. NOK +9%. HBAN +9%. TCK +9%. AXA +8%. HIG +6%. MS +7%. DB +7%. ASML +7%. AMR +6%. USB +6%. MOT +6%. ALU +6%. FITB +5%. ETFC +5%. WFC +5%. GM +5% FRE +5%. JPM +5%. Comment!

• Thursday, March 5, 2009

• 09:01 AM Premarket losers: GYMB -36%. BCS -18%. ING -17%. GM -16%. LYG -14%. CRH -11%. MT -10%. F -7.5%. AXA -7%. BHP -7%. HBAN -7%. ETFC -7%. GD -7%. PETM -7%. HBC -7%. AAUK -6%. WFC -6%. UBS -6%. RTP -6%. TS -6%. F -6%. USB -6%. E -6%. DB -6%. X -5%. BAC -5%. HIG -5%. GNW -5%. RIO -5%. MET -5%. Comment!

• Tuesday, February 24, 2009

• 08:08 AM MetLife (MET) and AXA (AXA) both place bids for AIG's (AIG) life insurance unit. Spanning over 50 countries, the sale could mark the biggest step in AIG's dismantling, and could bring the insurer $8B-$11B. Comment!