EDF Scooping Constellation; Research in Motion Posts Tough 3Q; Legg Mason’s Miller Calls Market Bottom; Cyber Monday Sales Strong; Crude Stocks Drop; New Zealand Fights Recession

• The world’s biggest nuclear utility company, Electricité de France SA will offer as much as $6.5 billion for assets of Constellation Energy Group, Inc (CEG), source familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. A previous offer by EDF was turned down, with Constellation opting for a $4.7 billion bid from Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A,BRK.B).

• Research In Motion Ltd.’s (RIMM) third-quarter subscriptions and profit fell short of forecasts, as it simultaneously faces increased competition and recession in its largest market. Profit for the Blackberry maker rose no more than 83 cents a share in the quarter ended Nov. 29, well short of its goal of 97 cents, Bloomberg reported.

• Legg Mason fund manager Bill Miller said yesterday (Wednesday) that the “bottom has been made” in U.S. equities and that the Federal Reserve should purchase stocks and junk bonds to pull the United States out of the financial crisis Reuters reported. Miller said that all long-term investors believe that stocks today are cheap after acknowledging that his funds “performed far worse than I would’ve predicted we would” this year.

• Online retail spending rose 15% on “Cyber Monday,” the Monday immediately after Thanksgiving, from a year earlier, according to tracking firm comScore Inc. Consumers spent $846 million shopping online Monday, comScore said.

• Declining imports led to a surprise drop in U.S. crude oil stocks last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said yesterday (Wednesday). Supplies of crude oil fell by 400,000 barrels to 320.4 million barrels in the week to November 28. Crude imports fell 1.46 million barrels per day (bpd), the IEA said.

• New Zealand’s central bank yesterday (Wednesday) cut its key interest rate by 1.5 percentage points to 5%, hoping to break the worst recession its faced in nearly two decades, Bloomberg reported. “Today’s decision takes monetary policy to an expansionary position,” Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said in a statement in Wellington today. “Policy is working together with the depreciation of the New Zealand dollar and fiscal stimulus to create the conditions for some rebound in growth.”

Source: Global Investing Roundups Thursday, December 4th, 2008