This quarter will be remembered for the unprecedented chain of events which commenced with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The ensuing rescue of AIG, the hurried takeovers announced for Merrill Lynch and HBOS and the spate of banking failures following the US House of Representatives' rejection of the $700bn bail out plan sent shockwaves across the globe.By the end of the month the financial landscape had been redrawn with even the last two remaining US Investment Banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, turning themselves into bank holding companies, which gives them better access to the Federal Reserve credit window, but also places them more firmly in the US banking regulatory framework.During the month there has been very little activity. One new holding has been started in Wolseley. Wolseley Group is the US and Europe's leading plumbing and builders' merchant. Over the last two years the collapse in house-building activity has caused the shares to fall from £14 to the current levels around £4.Wolseley has a financial record of successfully surviving house-building slowdowns over the last twenty years by cutting back expenses. On the sales side, we sold half of the holding in NTT at a good price and taking a relatively quick profit.
1,758.00p
