• Arrow Energy Takeover Offer – Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina (China's largest listed oil company) launched a joint $3.3bn bid for Arrow Energy yesterday. The stock jumped 46.8% to 511c but is down 5c today to 506c. They are jointly offering AOE shareholders 445c a share cash – a 28% premium to Friday’s closing price of 348c – and one share in a new entity that would comprise its international business (which one broker values at 55c a share) for each existing AOE share making @ 500c in total.
• BHP Billiton announced yesterday they had secured a 55% rise in coking coal prices from a Japanese customer for the April-June quarter. This has basically ended the system of annual pricing contracts…for coal anyway. BHP down 27c to 4324c.
• Street Talk reports rumours that the ACCC will block the National Australia Bank’s (NAB) bid for AXA Asia Pacific (AXA) when they announce their decision on March 17^th. If that is the case, one would expect AMP to re-enter the picture. National Australia Bank up 44c to 2677c, AXA down 5c to 631c and AMP up 2c to 615c.
• Centrebet (CIL) has hit a fresh yearly high this morning – up 9.51% to 178.5c  -  after announcing they had received a number of potential acquisition proposals and that they are in discussions with three parties. British companies Ladbrokes, William Hill and Sportingbet are all on the short list.
• Billabong (BBG) says they are subject to a civil claim by their former Indonesian licensee, CV Bali Balance, who claims, among other things, that the termination by Billabong of CVBB’s license to distribute products in Indonesia was invalid. They are seeking $US53m for specific loss suffered plus $US100m for ‘unspecified’ damages arising from the termination.  BBG up 7c to 1073c
• Bow Energy (BOW) closed up 27.6% yesterday after announcing a substantial increase in oil and gas reserves and the bid for Arrow Energy. Taking a breather today, the stock is down 3c to 122c.
• Total number of advertisementsincreased by a seasonably adjusted 19.1% in February. The number of internet job ads increased 19.6% and in newspapers 13.1%.
• Australian business confidenceincreased to a four month high – up 4 points to +19, while business conditions increased 5 points to +8.
• Companies hitting fresh yearly highstoday include: Centrebet International (CIL), CSL Ltd (CSL), Ramsay HealthCare (RHC), Seek (SEK), Seven Network (SEV), SMS Management (SMX), Virgin Blue (VBA) and Wotif.com (WTF).

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