US

Wattyl (WYL), the Australia based paint and other surface coating supplier and manufacturer which supplies its products to the domestic, commercial and industrial market is going to be taken over by US based Valspar as the Wattyl board has suggested the investors to accept its bid which worth as much as $142 million. However, the Australian paint supplier has managed to improve the bid by as much as $32 million through a month long negotiation.

One of the key investors in energy utility assets Duet Group (DUE), which focuses mainly on the Australian and New Zealand market has declared that it has put 29 percent of its holdings in US utility Duquesne for sale as the company is planning to give more concentration on the Australian market. It is to be mentioned that the company made its first offshore investments on assets only three years ago.

Brambles Limited (BXB), one of the leading support service provider which is running operations in more than 45 countries has declared that it is going to lose its US based business of ConAgra. However, the company also added that the loss is not going to have any effect on its 2010 accounts as the food company does represent a significant portion (less than 1 percent) of the annual sales of Brambles.

So the market has got what it has been waiting for. And how did it react?

Watching and waiting. But while waiting I've taken advantage of this recent volatility to make some profits. The recent volatility in stock prices and foreign exchange rates worldwide is simply waiting for one number. The US interest rates. Currently the interest rate stands at 5 per cent. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) from the Federal Reserve in the USA will determine whether or not to raise rates at their two-day meeting, ending June 29.

In a recent SMH Article which is syndicated from the NYTimes, it notes how Amazon isn't revealing much by way of its success or failure in the recent Amazon Prime promotions, sales figures and growth or even costs. And to show the investors' disappointment: the stock has fallen 22 per cent from its recent highs. Seems like this once jewel of the internet is fast becoming a white elephant.