Markets in Brief

Did insider info on nothing scuttle bonds?

On Wednesday and Thursday, while the stock market was rebounding, Israeli government bonds sank by a substantial 3% for no obvious reason. Did somebody have advance information that Standard & Poor's was going to downgrade Israel's credit rating outlook from Positive to Stable? "I want to believe that the behavior of the bond market wasn't the result of insider information," a top capital market source told TheMarker, but added that the downgrading shouldn't have changed anything anyway. Not a single thing in S&P's analysis came as a surprise, he added: Everybody and his pet tree frog know that Israel's economy is exports-oriented and will hurt as the world economy contracts. Nor is the political fog news to anybody, the source sniffed. (Tal Levy)

Ilex wins Moscow blood bank contract

Ilex Medical has won a major contract to supply blood-testing kits to Moscow's main blood bank. The five-year contract for Chiron's virus-identifying Tigris kits will be handled by subsidiary Ilex Biotech, and should be worth NIS 25 million, Ilex says. (TheMarker)

Mainrom launching Bulgarian shipping line

A Mainrom Line Logistics subsidiary (100%) registered in Romania, S.C. Mainrom Line, has signed a collaboration agreement with Dragazhen Flot Istar, to launch a cargo shipping line to Bulgaria. The final leg of the trip up the Danube (handled by Mainrom) ends in truck transportation (handled by Istar). (TheMarker)

Unpromising news for ICL investors?

This isn't a good development for advocates of Israel Chemicals: The German potash miner Kali und Salz predicts slowing demand for the fertilizer precursor, and last week said it was slashing its fourth-quarter production by 400,000 tons. K+S also cut its earnings forecast for 2008 (two months after lifting it), and now says it aims for operating profit (excluding swings in currency hedging instruments) of 1.4 billion euros. Beforehand it had predicted as much as 1.6 billion euros. Last week ICL stock didn't react and this week it began with a bang, but then so did all blue chips. (Nathan Sheva)

Phoenix bows out of Ukraine purchase

Having performed due diligence, Phoenix Holdings has decided not to buy a stake in the Ukrainian insurance company Inter Trans Polis. (TheMarker)

O.R.T. installing fuel systems in Turkey

O.R.T. Technologies says its subsidiary Orpak Systems will be installing automated fueling systems and managing convenience stores at Lukoil gas stations in Turkey. The deal starts with system installation at 80 gas stations. The deal is worth about $1.5 million, for execution in the first half of 2009, O.R.T. says. (TheMarker)

Israeli deficit under control - Merrill

In its macroeconomic weekly report, Merrill Lynch says the story of last week was the IMF's bailout of Hungary. Regarding Israel, the bank predicts that despite slowing growth, the government deficit won't exceed 1.0% of GDP because targets were set conservatively. (TheMarker)

Radvision meets forecast, loses money

One way to put it is that Radvision met expectations for the third quarter of 2008. Another way is to say it lost $4.5 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with losing a lesser $0.2 million or 1 cent per share in the same period of 2007. Third-quarter sales of its video-conferencing tech (one way to avoid the cost and discomfort of flying) were $21.6 million, up 4% from the year before. The company predicts fourth-quarter revenues of $22.5 million and a loss of $1.9 million. (Nir Zalik)

Sanofi reports rising Copaxone sales

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' sales of relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone in Europe rose by nearly 20% in the third quarter of 2008, compared to the parallel period of 2007. The figure appears in the quarterly statement not of the Israeli drug company but of its European marketing partner for Copaxone, Sanofi-Aventis. Sanofi reported 97 million euros in revenues from Copaxone for the quarter. (Yoram Gabison)

Business as usual at Delek Real Estate

The fact that Delek Group is distributing shares of Delek Real Estate as dividends in kind won't affect Delek Real Estate's business, vows that company's chief executive, Ilik Rozansky. "The company will continue to belong to the Yitzhak Tshuva group, which is a strong group by any criteria," Rozansky continued. He added that Delek Real Estate will have no trouble meeting its liabilities: It has more than 400 prime-area assets in western Europe, North America and Israel, most of which are leased out, he added. (Michael Rochvarger)

Serb taxman bites as Lito sells subsidiary

Lito Real Estate has consummated the deal to sell shares in group company Lito DOO of Serbia. Lito DOO owns a plot of land on Milana Tepica Street in Dedinje, Belgrade, the company helpfully adds. Lito the parent company is getting 3.78 million euros for the shares. It had lent the subsidiary 2.23 million to buy the Belgrade land, Lito adds. By the bye: the money that isn't repayment of the shareholders loan is being held back by the Serbian tax authorities for the moment. (TheMarker)