BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) yesterday (Tuesday) received a formal complaint from the European Commission that detailed antitrust concerns about the mining giant’s proposed buyout of Rio Tinto PLC (RTP). Despite a sharp decline in commodities prices, BHP will likely make every effort to move on with the deal, which could mean selling some of its assets.

Anyone, like us, who has suffered the interminable “wait in the hall” hiatus for which Heathrow is so notorious, should just regard it as training for sitting out mining’s major bid.

The European Commission is backing a complaint over US biofuel subsidies launched by the European Biodiesel Board.This from the Britain’s The Guardian newspaper:

Washington will be asked this week to answer allegations that subsidies amounting to 11p a litre on B99 [biodiesel with up to 1% petroleum added] exports from the US, plus “splash-and-dash” operations being conducted through the US, represent unfair competition.

Contrarian Investing Approach

When the moment is right, will you be ready? A lot of men are about to be. Any time. Any day. Every day, in fact. That’s because the Food & Drug Administration is expected to grant Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) approval for a daily version of its erectile disfunction drug, Cialis. This comes after the European Commission approved it in June.

Okay, first things first: Who the heck are these guys married to? Seems to me they have lofty and unreasonable expectations!

But it’s not just in the boudoir where expectations are high. The stock market lives on expectations. And at this time of year, many of them are unreasonable, too. For investors like us, it means we have to…