The Insider Stories

Edging closer to the 13000 mark, the Dow finished the week with solid gains on Friday as Wall Street bets Greece will finally receive its long-awaited bailout, but the Nasdaq Composite failed to join the party.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, as quoted by foxbusiness.com, climbed 45.56 points, or 0.35%, to 12,949.64, the S&P 500 gained 3.17 points, or 0.23%, to 1361.21 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 8.07 points, or 0.27%, to 2951.78.

The gains in the broader markets leave the Dow at its highest level since May 2008 and just 50 points away from the 13000 threshold, which carries psychological importance for investors.

Continuing their strong start to 2012 amid growing economic hopes, all three major indexes landed in the green this week, marking their sixth weekly gain of the last seven.

The latest bullishness comes as market participants are growing increasingly confident Greece will be able to avoid a default on its debt that analysts fear would deal a serious blow to the European financial system.

In a significant development, the European Central Bank has swapped some of its Greek bond holdings for new ones, according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires.

This shows the central bank’s commitment to helping Greece reduce its debt load and take broader actions to help control the eurozone debt crisis.

Potentially, the ECB move could make way for a similar exchange by private creditors early next week. More importantly, perhaps, eurozone finance chiefs are expected to sign off on a $171 billion bailout package as early as Monday, according to reports. Still, the situation remains fluid and analysts note seemingly-secure deals have repeatedly fallen apart at the last minute in the past.

How about Indonesia stock market today? Bisnis Indonesia provides recommendations:

Sinarmas Sekuritas:

Technically, Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) tends to strengthen within the range of 3,950-4,010. Several stocks to monitor: AALI, ASII, GJTL, and HRUM.

 e-Trading Securities:

Today, the JCI may move within the range of 3,938-4.016 with uptrend position. MYOR, ISAT, and BBNI should be watched.

Panin Sekuritas:

The JCI this week is still shadowed by external factors. Investor is anticipating the announcement of 2011′s financial result. The index may move within the support-resistance level of 3,952-3,997.

Reliance Securities:

Technically, the JCI may rally today. We recommend buy for ASII and sell for SGRO.

PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk (BRAU) is seeking an approval from its shareholders regarding to a transfer authority to board of commissioner for 3.40 billion of new shares issuance or nearly 10% of outstanding shares.

Such matter will be discussed during an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) with two other agendas, said Berau’s management in a disclosure to Indonesia Stock Exchange late last week.

Referring to the last week’s closing level at Rp420, Berau Coal might secure Rp1.43 trillion cash from the shares issuance.

The new shares issuance has been scheduled after the initial public offering. However, the disclosure has not revealed more detail information of the new shares issuance.

Pursuant to 41 article of regulation No.40/2007 about limited company, the authority is effective within 1 year.

However, the commissioner has not exercised the authority. Hence, the company needs to delegate the authority to the commissioner.

The EGM is seeking approvals for a US$500 million bond issuance and pledge from the company to bond holders.

Disclosure: No position at the stock mentioned above.

PT Dian Swastatika Sentosa Tbk (DSSA), controlled by Fuganto Widjaja, son of Indra Widjaja, reported a 99.83% takeover of PT Andalan Satria Lestari worth Rp8.70 billion.

Hermawan Tarjono, Director of Dian Swastatika, said the acquisition is held by DSSA’s unit dubbed PT Bumi Kencana Eka Sejahtera. Bumi Kencana bought 87,000 shares issued by Andalan Lestari on February 15 2012.

Andalan Lestari owns eight subsidiaries that pocket coal exploration permit at Musi Bayuasin, South Sumatra.