Free Free to Trade by Michael Ridpath Page B

Give me a call.'
    I hung up. Effusive American meets polite Englishman, and neither is comfortable with the result, I thought, feeling slightly guilty.
    'What's up?' asked Rob.
    'I've been invited to Henley by Bloomfield Weiss, and I feel bad about saying no.'
    Rob perked up. 'Bloomfield Weiss, eh? Will Cathy be there?'
    'Yes,' I said.
    'Well, I think you should go. And I think you should take me with you.'
    I protested, but it was useless. The persuasive powers of Rob and Cash combined were too much for me. I rang Cash back to say I would be delighted to come, and I would bring Rob. Cash sounded pleased.

    I was sitting at my desk watching the market struggle through the summer doldrums, ably assisted by Debbie. I was bored and irritated. Debbie seemed quite happy with the situation. I watched her work her way through the Financial Times crossword. I was struggling to keep myself busy. I scanned our portfolio, hoping for some ideas.
    There were one or two bonds with NV after their name. That reminded me.
    'Debbie.'
    'Not now, can't you see I'm busy,' she said.
    'Did you check the Netherlands Antilles issues? Do we have to worry about those changes to the tax treaty?'
    Debbie put down her paper. 'Amazingly enough, I did.' She pointed to a pile of prospectuses. 'I've checked over all our portfolios, and we are all right. None of our bonds is affected. The only Netherlands Antilles bonds we hold are trading below a hundred, so we will make money if the issuer calls them at par.'
    'That's a relief. Well done. Thanks very much for doing all that,' I said.
    'Hang on a moment. We may be OK on the tax legislation, but I have stumbled across one bond that smells fishy, very fishy indeed.'
    'Go on.'
    'It's this one.'
    She put a bond prospectus down on to the desk in front of me. I picked it up and looked at it. Written on the cover in bold was 'Tremont Capital NV secured 8 per cent notes maturing 15 June 2001', and underneath in slightly smaller type 'guaranteed by Honshu Bank Ltd'. Beneath that was 'Lead Manager Bloomfield Weiss'.
    'Well, what's wrong with this?' I asked.
    'It's difficult to say exactly,' Debbie began. Then she sat up bolt upright in her chair. 'Christ! Did you see that?'
    'What?' I said.
    'On Reuters.' She read from the screen in front of her,' "Gypsum Company of America announces agreed offer from DGB..." Who the hell are DGB?'
    'It's a German cement company, I think,' I said. 'We were right. There was something going on.'
    The lines began to flash. I picked one up. It was David Barratt.
    'Did you see DGB has bid for Gypsum?'
    'Yes,' I said. 'Reuters suggests it's a friendly. Any reason why the bid shouldn't go through?'
    'I don't think so,' said David. 'DGB doesn't have any US operations, so there won't be any anti-trust problems.'
    'What's DGB's credit like?' I asked. If DGB was a strong credit, then the risk on our Gypsum bonds would be much less. The bond price would soar.
    'Double A minus,' said David. He was like a computer when it came to the details of even the most obscure companies. 'Hold on, my trader is shouting something.' I could hear a fair amount of noise in the background. 'He says DGB is paying for the acquisition with cash and a share placing. That shouldn't harm the credit.'
    'Where are the bonds trading?' I asked.
    'Hang on.' He was back a moment later. 'He's bidding 95. Do you want to sell your two million?'
    I thought for a moment. Ninety-five was too low. 'No thanks. They should be higher than that. Let me know if they move up.'
    I put the phone down and shouted across to Debbie. 'What are you hearing?'
    'Everyone is looking for these Gypsums. Bloomfield Weiss are bidding 97. I have got Claire on the line here. She is bidding 971/2.
    Shall I sell?'
    I tapped the buttons of my calculator. By my reckoning we should be able to get 981/4. 'No hold on.'
    'Let's just take the profit,' said Debbie.
    'No, these things are worth three-quarters of a point more.'
    'You are so greedy,' she said.
    We