| Overstock.com Lowers Auction Fees, Delays New-Feature Launch
Overstock.com will lower listing and commission fees for online-auction sellers effective April 10, 2007. The head of Overstock.com Auctions Meghan Tuohig also announced on discussion boards the launch of 1-day auctions and the delay of the long-promised bid cancellation feature and Classifieds. Listing fee decreases range from zero to 7 cents, depending on the starting price. For example, for items with a starting price of less than one dollar, listing fees will go from 17 cents to 10 cents. Closing (commission) fees will also be lowered, with the first tier commission (for items selling for between one cent and $25) going from 3.25 percent to 3 percent. When Overstock.com launched its Auctions platform in September 2004, online-auction sellers in some categories hoped they could migrate their businesses from eBay to Overstock Auctions.
FOCUS ABN Amro break-up looms on eve of bidding war; Barclays ...
AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) - The Royal Bank of Scotland Group consortium move on ABN Amro Holding NV has thrown open the possibility that the Netherlands'' leading bank could be split amid a looming bidding war, but Barclays has not been eliminated from the battle just yet, analysts said.
Fox-Pitt Kelton analyst Jon Peace said Barclays still stands a good chance as ABN Anmro management would prefer a deal with the British bank.
He said ABN Amro would want to avoid a break-up, cost cutting and job losses resulting from a takeover bid by a large consortium and could then decide such a deal is not in the interests of shareholders.
A bidding war, however, remains a strong possibility.
After the RBoS consortium invited ABN Amro to enter "exploratory talks" last week, analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods said they expect further joint bids for the Dutch bank.
Favorable news drives market rise
Stocks advanced broadly Monday, as Wall Street hit the trifecta: an upbeat economic report on retail sales in March, better-than-expected quarterly results from Citigroup and a major going-private takeover announcement.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 108.33 points, to 12,720.46, to surpass its level on Feb. 26, the day before the market sank in a global rout sparked by a sell-off in the Shanghai stock market. All but four of the 30 Dow industrials posted gains, led by Citigroup. The banking giant reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue. Shares rose $1.33, to $52.93.
The Standard & Poor's 500 added 15.62, to 1468.47, its highest level in more than six years. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000, the broadest measure of the U.S. stock market, reached an all-time high.
Question follows Prince Charles auction
Zions National Bank of Utah had the only bid for the foreclosure auction of the Prince Charles Hotel this morning. The bank, which is foreclosing the hotel’s mortgage from owner R.K. Properties of Rockville, Maryland, offered $2.43 million to take ownership and cover the debt. But its unclear whether the auction is valid, said Dee Whitley, the bank’s trustee. He was told this morning that R.K. Properties filed for bankruptcy today. If the hotel goes into bankruptcy, it would be shielded from its creditors and the auction could be moot. R.K. Properties bought the hotel in 2004 from retired doctor Menno Pennink and his business partners. R.K. stopped paying its mortgage with Zions in fall 2006 and the bank got a court order to take over management of the property in late January.
Pope Car Auction Ends Without Sale
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A 1999 metallic gray Volkswagen Golf believed to once belong to the pope went up for sale on eBay, but the auction ended Saturday without a winner.
For the second time in two years, eBay hosted an auction for a car said to be Pope Benedict XVI's old hatchback. Though bids surpassed $204,000, a reserve price wasn't met.
The car's owner, a Texas-based online casino, GoldenPalace.com, bought the car in 2005 on eBay from a German man. The casino had posted two German automobile registration documents that list "Josef Kardinal Ratzinger" as the vehicle's previous owner.
A spokeswoman for eBay, Catherine Fisher, said she did not know what the seller's minimum price was. A message left with GoldenPalace.com was not immediately returned Saturday evening.
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