General News

By Toni Clarke and Bill Berkrot NEW YORK (Reuters) - Genzyme Corp made its case for why it is worth more than Sanofi-Aventis's $18.5 billion offer, forecasting 2011 profit above Wall Street estimates and sales of $3 billion for its experimental multiple sclerosis drug. Genzyme's presentation in New York on Friday kicks off a series of meetings with investors over the next few weeks and shows how far apart the two companies are on a potential deal. Genzyme <GENZ.O> executives said their earnings forecast implied a price as high as $89 per share, based on the multiple underlying Sanofi's <SASY.PA> hostile $69 per share offer. But they stressed that $89 was not a negotiating price, merely a benchmark based on Genzyme's earnings forecast. A Sanofi spokesman called $89 per share "totally unrealistic." Shares in Genzyme rose 0.7 percent to $72.45 after the presentation, suggesting that investors believe it had raised the threshold on what Sanofi must ultimately pay. Genzyme investors and analysts polled by Reuters...

-- Krishna Kumar is a Reuters FX analyst. The views expressed are his own -- By Krishna Kumar SYDNEY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The G20 meeting of finance chiefs was definitely what the doctor ordered to relieve concerns that the so-called currency war was spiralling out of control. All the participants have left with a sense of satisfaction, perhaps surprising even the most hardened sceptics. Risky assets should benefit, and look to play gains in Asian currencies against the dollar at first and then the euro later on. The meeting has conjured up some concrete measures: reforms in the IMF, stronger language emphasising "market determined" exchange rates and vows against competitive devaluations all while laying the groundwork for more concrete targets on current account balances at the final G20 summit. The breakthrough on the vexed question of power sharing in the IMF is very significant. The developing nations will definitely realise that enhanced power goes hand in hand with added responsibility, resulting in them sharing in...

BEIJING, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Sunday discussed economic ties with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan in a brief meeting in eastern China. Geithner and Wang, who are designated as special representatives of their respective presidents on U.S.-China economic issues, met at Qingdao airport, a stop-off for Geithner after Group of 20 meetings in South Korea. "The two sides exchanged views on U.S.-China economic relations and the preparation for the (G20) Leaders' Summit in Seoul," according to a statement emailed by the U.S. embassy in Beijing. It did not elaborate. The airport meeting in China came at the end of Geithner's trip to the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors meetings in Gyeongju, South Korea, where officials agreed to refrain from competitive currency devaluations and reduce current account imbalances.  The United States has been pressuring China to allow its yuan to rise more rapidly in response to market forces. Last week, Geithner delayed a semi-annual report to U.S....

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese said ongoing tensions with Canadian partner Ivanhoe Mines would not hold back the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia which he said could be brought on stream early. Albanese said in a television interview broadcast on Sunday he hoped to see first production from the mine in 2013, and said both Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines were committed to its rapid development despite their disagreements. "It's very important for Rio Tinto. It's very important for Ivanhoe. It's also very important for Mongolia. It's a first class mine being built on time," Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) programme Inside Business. "I'd like to actually see it get sped up if we can, first production by 2013. It is on track as we speak." Last week Ivanhoe Mines said it would launch a rights offering worth up to $1 billion to raise funds for the project, which finally got the go-ahead from the...

Oct 24 (Reuters) - The Group of 20 major economies vowed to avoid competitive currency devaluations and shifted more power to emerging economies at the IMF, taking steps that analysts viewed as important for averting trade wars and promoting flexible exchange rates. Following is a summary of reserves reports issued by analysts about the G20 communique and outcomes following the gathering of finance ministers and central bankers.  --------------------------------------------------------- THOMAS STOLPER, CHIEF CURRENCY STRATEGIST, GOLDMAN SACHS, LONDON "The outcome of the G20 meeting clearly shows progress in the global rebalancing policy debate. In particular the FX relevant sections have become a lot more prominent and all the key issues have found some mention, including current account positions, protectionism, capital controls and exchange rate flexibility. "At the same time, this is not a Plaza-style statement that signals a broad agreement on the role currencies have to play in the global rebalancing. Just taking the first sentence of the FX bullet, the language is not tight enough to...

 GYEONGJU, South Korea (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner suggested that he sees no reason for the dollar to sink further against the euro and the yen, saying these major currencies are "roughly in alignment," the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. In an interview with the newspaper, Geithner also emphasized that the United States was not pursuing a deliberate policy of devaluing the dollar. This echoed comments he made on Monday in Palo Alto, California, saying "No country around the world can devalue its way to prosperity." In the Journal interview, he referred to three groups of currencies. In one, he put countries with currencies "undervalued by any measure" and in the second he put emerging economies with flexible exchange rates that intervene or impose taxes to try to reduce risks. "In the third group, he put "the major currencies, which are roughly in alignment now," a suggestion that he sees no need for the dollar to sink more than it already has...