Final Word from Friday, April 11, 2008
Baron Rothschild famously said that the time to buy is when there's blood in the streets. For New World Resources, the time to sell a stake in Rothschild's old Moravian-Silesian coal mines is when the blood-spilling has let up. NWR announced a potential E1.4bn initial public offering yesterday that comes after the recent massacre on the markets has settled down. But it also comes as market-watchers are predicting a bursting of a perceived bubble on the commodities markets. NWR is conveniently squeezing its IPO into a nice window of opportunity. It rests its hopes on the argument that the "bubble" in coal prices isn't a bubble at all, because the entire price curve has been shifted upward by increased demand. It's true, too, that coal isn't as susceptible to speculation as some other commodities. Whether these arguments would be enough to convince Baron R. to buy now is for each to decide.[Czech Republic RPR Industries OKD Zdeněk Bakala]
Glossary of difficult words
New World Resources - owner of OKD coal mines; one of the early owners of the mining business in the region was the family of Salomon Mayer Rothschild;
to spill (someone's) blood - to kill or wound someone;
to let up - to become less intense or severe;
IPO value - the figure of EUR 1.4bn was proposed by analyst Petr Novák of Atlantik FT, not by NWR itself (which gave no estimated amount);
commodities - gold, grain, oil, etc.;
window of opportunity - a favorable opportunity for doing something that must be seized immediately if it is not to be missed;
susceptible - likely or liable to be influenced by a particular thing.