President Barack Obama talks with patrons as he waits for his lunch order during a stop at Skyline Chili in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 16, 2012.

Ryanair on Tuesday submitted a formal takeover for Aer Lingus with a €694m offer.

This morning the Aer Lingus board said: "Ryanair's offer is not in the interests of shareholders or Aer Lingus and is incapable of completion. Accordingly, the board of Aer Lingus unanimously recommends shareholders should take no action in relation to the offer and should not sign any document sent by Ryanair or its advisers."

It also noted that Ryanair's 2006 offer was prohibited by the European Commission on competition grounds, and "your board believes that the reasons for prohibition are now even stronger than before: the number of routes that Ryanair would monopolise has sharply increased. Your board has received legal advice that the European Commission is likely once more to prohibit the Ryanair offer, and that this is not therefore a credible offer which is capable of completion.

In addition, the UK Competition Commission is continuing to investigate the anti-competitive effects of Ryanair's 29.82% stake in Aer Lingus, despite Ryanair's repeated and ongoing attempts to stop both this investigation and the previous Office of Fair Trading investigation. Your board has received legal advice that the UK Competition Commission is likely to require Ryanair to sell down its current stake."

Ryanair is seeking acceptance of the bid by 13 September.

Statement

Yahoo! earnings slid 4.4% from a year ago, but incoming CEO Marissa Mayer, a former senior executive of Google, knows what she faces and on Tuesday the main media focus was on her pregnancy and the baby boy due to be born in October. 

For the second-quarter, the tech company earned $226.6m, or 18 cents a share (27 cents, non-GAAP), on revenue of $1.22bn. A year ago, the company earned $237m, or 18 cents a share (19 cents, non-GAAP), on revenue of $1.23bn.

The company spent $456m buying back its stock, reducing its outstanding shares from last quarter.

Economic View: Confirmation on senior debt burden-sharing discussion; Dermot O'Leary, chief economist at Goodbody comments  - -"What started off as an unconfirmed report on Monday has now become an important discussion point with Irish policymakers over the past two days. It was confirmed yesterday by Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny that ECB President Mario Draghi did indeed raise the issue of burden sharing with senior bondholders at last week’s Ecofin meeting. He also noted that that there were differences of opinion on the issue and that it was still an on-going discussion. This view was echoed by Finance Minister Michael Noonan after he met with Draghi yesterday. As we noted over the past two days, burden-sharing with senior bondholders is a ship that has sailed in relation to the defunct Irish banks (IBRC).

However, comments attributed to the ECB in this morning’s Irish Times seem to confirm that Ireland will indeed benefit in other ways, with Draghi expecting that “these developments will be reflected in the Irish adjustment programme”. Given that discussions will be on-going in relation to the agreement reached at a political level on June 29, it is a positive that the ECB President seems to be in Ireland’s corner.

We will just have to wait to see how these discussions play out over the coming weeks but the diplomatic efforts are indeed moving in the right direction. Noonan is set to continue these efforts with a meeting with Ajai Chopra of the IMF this morning and Olli Rehn over the coming weeks."

Draghi comments on Ireland and senior bondholders upstage damp squib fiscal stimulus plan: Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy comments - - "Last night, ECB President Mario Draghi indicated that the question of whether senior bondholders should participate in burden-sharing in failing banks is evolving through the ongoing discussions on an EU resolution directive to deal with failing banks. Significantly for Ireland, the statement issued by the ECB also indicated that President Draghi expects that these developments will be reflected in the Irish adjustment programme. So it appears that the government will have support from the ECB in negotiations to secure the best deal possible, following the commitment at the July EU leaders meeting to help Ireland's debt sustainability.

Furthermore, last night's comments substantiate the reports in the Wall Street Journal that the ECB now supports burden-sharing for senior bondholders. If so, it is clear that the ECB's former position has had detrimental consequences for Ireland's debt sustainability. So the turnaround in ECB policy could strengthen the government's hand further, perhaps in any effort to secure fiscal transfers to compensate for redeeming unguaranteed senior bondholders in IBRC.

Meanwhile, the Irish government yesterday launched a €2.25bn fiscal stimulus plan. The spending announcements are small, equivalent to just 1.6% of GDP, and spread out over several years. The plan relies heavily on private sector investment through public-private partnerships (PPPs), perhaps up to €700m, although bizarrely the precise funding of the plan remains unclear. This means that the actual government outlay may be closer to just 1% of nominal GDP.

Billed as an 'off-balance-sheet' stimulus plan, the spending commitments will have clear ramifications for Ireland's gross and net debt position. The €850m funding from state asset sales could alternatively have been used to pay down Ireland's gross debt, helping to reduce the annual interest bill. Similarly, the decision to use up to €750m of the National Pension Reserve Fund's liquid assets will push up on the government's net debt position, a metric closely watched by ratings agents in assessing Ireland's creditworthiness.

Finally, far from 'shovel ready', many of the construction works will not begin until 2013 at the very earliest. So the 13,000 jobs that the government said will be created will only come with a substantial lag. Some of the construction works are not scheduled to begin until 2015. And the capital expenditure budget will be reviewed many times through this period in the context of ongoing budgetary pressures. So in retrospect many of the plans identified yesterday, may fail to be implemented fully, or merely displace other expenditures. In summary, yesterday's announcements will have little impact on Ireland's growth prospects."

US Markets

In New York Tuesday, the Dow rose 78 points or 0.62% to 12,806.

The S&P 500  added 0.74% and the Nasdaq advanced 0.45%.

Asia Markets

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6% Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.32%; China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.37%; Korea's Kospi index dipped 1.48%; Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.42% and in Mumbai, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex 30 Index climbed 0.45%.

Asia benchmarks

Europe Markets

In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx Europe 600 is up 0.23% in early trading Wednesday.

The ISEQ is up 0.06% in Dublin.

Ryanair is off 0.68% and there has been no trade in Aer Lingus shares.

European Benchmarks

Irish Share Prices

Key Index Performance Statistics

Euribor Rates

AIB Daily Report

Bank of Ireland Daily Report

Currencies

The euro is trading at $1.2240 and at £0.7853.

For live currency updates, check the right-hand column of the Finfacts home page.

The US dollar fell to $1.6038 per euro on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - an-all time record.

Commodities

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for dry commodities, hit an all-time High of 11,771 on the 21st of May, 2008. From that time it reversed and on the 5th of December, 2008 it hit a low of 663 - - close to a 1986 low.

On Thursday, July 15, 2010, the index fell for the 35th straight session, by 9 points, or 0.537%, to 1,700 points, Bloomberg report.

On Tuesday this week, the BDI closed down 9 points or 0.82% to 1,093 - -  the BDI plunged a full 70% from its recent mid-October peak of 2,173 to an all-time low of 647 on February 3.

Freighter Oversupply Weighs on Shipowners and Banks - - Jan 26, 2012: The New York Times says vessels bought during the global commodity boom are only now being delivered, putting pressure on the European banks that financed the purchases.

The skyscrapers and immaculate beaches of Singapore's seaport look out on one of the world’s largest parking lots: mile after mile of empty cargo ships, as far as the eye can see.

Similar fleets bob at anchor, with empty cargo holds, off the coasts of southeast Malaysia and Hong Kong. And dozens of newly built ships float empty near the giant shipyards of South Korea and China, their owners from all over the world reluctant to accept delivery during one of the worst markets ever for the global shipping industry.

As recently as six weeks ago large freighters that can carry bulk commodities like iron ore or grain were fetching charter rates of $15,000 a day. Now, brokers and owners say, the going rate is $6,000 a day. If any customers can even be found.

Crude oil for August 2012 delivery is currently trading on the Chicago York Mercantile Exchange (CME/Nymex) at $88.36, down 36 cents from Tuesday's close. In London, Brent for August delivery is trading on the International Commodities Exchange at $103.63. The North Sea benchmark accounts for two-thirds of the global market.

The margin between the US benchmark WTI (West Texas Intermediate) used on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent is at $15 - - The Globe and Mail says that for the past 10 months, Canadian producers - - whose prices are tied to WTI - - have been taking steep discounts for their oil compared with international crude prices that are benchmarked against North Sea Brent, which can be shipped more readily. In the past, WTI tended to trade at a small premium to Brent, because it is easier to refine.

That spread hit a peak of $28.08 (US) on Oct. 14, but has fallen dramatically since then. After plans for more pipeline capacity at Cushing, Oklahoma, the differential narrowed.

Gold spot price

The spot price of an oz of gold is trading in New York is at $1,579.10, down $3.30 from Tuesday's close in New York.

Gold had hit a record high of $1,921.05 a troy ounce on Sept 6.

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