Blue Chip Update

August Car sales figures confirm an increase of 10% for BMW. This result in particularly impressive when compared to the rest of the auto market in Europe. Sales of cars in Europe, in August, declined by 5% compared to the same period last year. These results continue to sustain our assumptions and price target.

A new tax on French Banks will be introduced with the proceeds going to ailing local governments. The top French Banks together with the French government have agreed to share the burden of assisting heavily indebted local governments. The tax will be based on bank size thus BNP will be most hit, however, the impact has already been priced-in.

 

The CEO of Lufthansa has quit in order to join Swiss drug maker Roche. The news is somewhat disappointing as Christoph Franz was instrumental in leading LHA out of a difficult period. The company has not yet announced a replacement. Our price target and outlook are still relevant.

 

Barclays has been ranked the ‘worst bank for honesty and customer service' according to a scorecard launched yesterday in the UK to guide those looking to switch banks. The survey shows that 80% of consumers would be put-off moving their money to a badly behaved Bank. Hear Hear local Banks.

 

Pre-orders in China; IPhone 5s sold out, iPhone 5c still available… Maybe a sign of what to expect. With pricing not so cheap and not so different from its better brother, the 5c may not be such a good deal to many Apple buyers. In the meantime, Apple has kept quiet on how many 5C it has managed to sell in the first 24 hrs. It is the first time that Apple has withheld this information leading many to speculate that sales are poor.