The China Post – Asia-Pacific banks, brokerages, insurers and private equity firms are more optimistic about mergers and acquisitions as they seek to expand following a decline in asset prices, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

About 42 percent of financial institutions in the region expect to make an acquisition over the next year, compared with 38 percent a year earlier, according to a PwC survey of 215 senior executives conducted in Jan. and Feb. Still, 83 percent of the respondents expect the global credit crunch and economic slump to last for another one to two years.

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Tags: acquisition, asia-pacific, asset-prices, brokerages, china post, decline, economic slump, financial-institutions, global credit crunch, mergers and acquisitions, pacific banks, private equity firms, respondents, senior-executives

Reuters – It would be hard for many to imagine hedge funds buying stock in a U.S. company with the word "home" in its name in the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression — let alone speak admiringly of its solid cash flow and growth prospects.

But to a number of hedge funds, Brink’s Home Security Holdings Inc is just such a company, benefiting from long-term solid cash flow and more security-conscious consumers who fear rising crime as the nation’s economic slump drags on.

"With its very predictable cash flow, this stock is the Rock of Gibraltar," said a principal at a hedge fund that has owned Brink’s shares for years. He said he could not be quoted on the record, in part because the fund was considering raising its stake in the home-security system provider.

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Tags: brink, buying stock, conscious consumers, downturn, economic slump, great depression, growth-prospects, home security system, predictable cash flow, reuters, rock of gibraltar, security holdings, stake, system provider, u s company