The deal is huge, but because there were, in essence, three buyers, the prey could be digested. As one banker told The Wall Street Journal "Size on its own is no longer a safety net for financial institutions."

The banking world has changed since ABN Amro went into play. Bank balance sheet have become mine fields primarily due to leveraged buy-out loans and pools of mortgages. Although many of these problems are being written off in third quarter earnings. much of this debt cannot be marked to market, because there is no liquid market at this time. Determining the value of many bank balance sheets has become an exercise in modeling and theory.

Until the current set of credit problems are washed out of the banking system, and that could take two or three years, due diligence on financial company balance sheets will become extremely difficult.

And, that may put a halt to banks buying other banks for quite some time.

Of course, there is always KKR.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters writes that Wal-Mart (WMT) is already getting ready for holiday price wars by beginning to drop prices.

The Wall Street Journal writes that a group lead by RBS now has enought shares to complete the takeover of ABN Amro (ABN) for $101 billion.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Sprint (S) has started a search for a new CEO.

The Wall Street Journal writes that GE (GE) will lay-off 1,400 people in its light bulb division.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Pfizer (PFE) will add a new research chief as it pushes into biotech.

The New York Times writes that Bear Stearns (BSC) says it has no need for cash from an outside investor.

The FT writes that Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) is in danger of losing a huge piece of AT&T (T) business.

The FT writes that an outside investor in Sears (SHLD) is pressuring the company for better performance.

Barron’s reports that Akamai (AKAM) may be hit by Level 3′s (LVLT) plan to enter the CDN business with low rates.

Bloormberg writes that Ford (F) and Chrysler are not interested in putting huge sums into an employee health fund run by the UAW. The program is part of the GM (GM) contract.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters writes that Wal-Mart (WMT) is already getting ready for holiday price wars by beginning to drop prices.

The Wall Street Journal writes that a group lead by RBS now has enought shares to complete the takeover of ABN Amro (ABN) for $101 billion.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Sprint (S) has started a search for a new CEO.

The Wall Street Journal writes that GE (GE) will lay-off 1,400 people in its light bulb division.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Pfizer (PFE) will add a new research chief as it pushes into biotech.

The New York Times writes that Bear Stearns (BSC) says it has no need for cash from an outside investor.

The FT writes that Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) is in danger of losing a huge piece of AT&T (T) business.

The FT writes that an outside investor in Sears (SHLD) is pressuring the company for better performance.

Barron’s reports that Akamai (AKAM) may be hit by Level 3′s (LVLT) plan to enter the CDN business with low rates.

Bloormberg writes that Ford (F) and Chrysler are not interested in putting huge sums into an employee health fund run by the UAW. The program is part of the GM (GM) contract.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters writes that Liberty Media (LCACA) may make a bid for UK cable company Virgin Media.

Reuters reports that Boeing (BA) raised its outlook saying India will need over $86 billion in planes over the next 20 years.

The Wall Street Journal writes taht Adobe (ADBE) is being criticized for a deal with Fedex Kinko which give the office support firm access to some of the software companies applications which could hurt outsets of smaller printing retailers.

The Hew York Times wirtes that the controlling Bancroft faimly has not made a decision about the sale of Dow Jones (DJ).

FT writes that Sony’s (SNE) proftts would drop if the yen strenthens.

Barron’s writes that Internap (INAP) and Limelight (LLNW) are taking market share from content deilvery network leader Akamai (AKAM)

Barclays will use money raised from China Development Bank and Temasek Holdings to up its bid to $93.34 billion. That is still a bit below the RBS bid, but, according to The Wall Street Journal "Barclays is counting on an increase in its stock price to close the gap". Why that would be true is anyone’s guess. Raising its bid for ABN should lower Barclays stock. But, that is their problem.

Temasek, which is controlled by the government of Singapore ad China Development Bank will buy shares in Barclays to help the UK bank fund its takeover. What happens if the ABN bid does not work is unclear.

At some point the price of ABN may become to high. Or perhaps that has already happened.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The Wall Street Journal writes that Yahoo! (YHOO), Microsoft (MSFT) and Ask.com are updating their privacy policy as pressure to keep search data confidential increases.

The New York Times writes that hackers have found a way to get into the Apple (AAPL) iPhone to steal infomation.

The FT writes that Microsoft (MSFT) will offer Office software with the ability to use the internet to access data, a plan that competes with Google (GOOG)

Barron’s writes that Bear Stearns has upped its price target on Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).

Douglas A. McIntyre

But, he may be right in his preference. RBS would break the big bank into a number of pieces. Fellow bidders Santander and Fortis would take the parts that they think mesh best with their operations and RBS would keep the balance.

Breaking ABN into pieces almost certainly carries a great deal of execution risk, and a number of jobs would be eliminated. If the RBS program does not work, it could hurt investors in all three of the companies involved with the higher bid.

Damaging three financial institutions in not better than damaging one.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters writes that Hollywood is starting labor negotiations with screenwriters with revenue from the internet as a major deal point.

The Wall Street Journal writes that a special committee of the Dow Jones (DJ) has accepted Rupert Murdoch’s offer of $5 billion. The deal now goes to the board and founding Bancroft family.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Google (GOOG) is developing a new search engine for phones.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Sprint (S) will launch a new service that will allow customers to find  and track their friends using GPS technology.

The FT writes that a lawsuit charges that Facebook may have taken its source code from another project.

The FT also writes that oil prices are near their all-time high.

The FT also writes that Barclays (BCS) will sweeten its bid fof ABN Amro (ABN) now that a competing bid has been increased.

The New York Times writes that Nintendo is getting more support for its game system from video game publishers.

The New York Times also writes that Ford (F) is having success selling cars in Russia.

Barron’s writes that Novellus (NVLS) announced earnings inline with expectations.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters writes that Ford (F) is now cosidering selling its Volvo unit.

Reuters reports that the Dubai stock market is making a bid for OMX that will compete with Nasday (NDAQ).

Philips Electronics (PHG) increased earnings by 22% according to Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal reports that one of the members of the founding family that controls Dow Jone (DJ) is trying to block its sale to Rupert Murdoch.

The Wall Street Journal writes that China is about to pass Germany as the world’s third largest economy.

The New York Times writes that Sony (SNE) will launch a new website for aspiring film markets.

The FT says that the head of Cisco (CSCO) believes that Web 2.0 will lead to a period of productivity that has not been seen since the internet boom.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters writes that BHP Billiton (BHP) is looking for a partner to make a bid for Alcoa (AA).

Reuters reports that Ford (F) plans to increase its output in Russia.

Reuters also writes that shares in Sprint (S) rose on rumors of a potential buy-out offer from Korea’s SK Telecom.

The Wall Street Journal writes that the New York Stock Exchange is looking into trades in ABN Amro (ABN) which occured around the time that Barclays (BCS) made a bid for the bank.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Gemstar-TV Guide (GMST) has put itself on the market.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ford (F) and GM (GM) will extend incentives on some of their vehicles to clear out inventories.

The New York Times writes that Danone (DA) will spend $16.8 billion to buy Royal Numico.

The FT reports that the IPO of EMC (EMC) unit VMWare could raise $1.1 billion.

Barron’s writes that several solar energy stocks including Hoku (HOKU) rose sharply on news of new customers.

Douglas A. McIntyre