Photographer: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty ImagesBillionaire Mike Ashley gestures before the English Premier League football match...Read More

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• Can Tesco Account for Its Problems?

Billionaire Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct International Plc made a 43 million-pound ($70 million) bet on a recovery in[url=http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/TSCON]Tesco Plc’s (TSCO)[/url] share price, days after the biggest U.K. grocer said it overstated its profit forecast.
[url=http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/SPDN]Sports Direct, (SPD)[/url] Britain’s largest sports-goods retailer, said today that it entered a so-called put option agreement with Goldman Sachs International over 23 million Tesco shares, or the equivalent 0.28 percent of the company’s share capital.
“The investment reflects Sports Direct’s growing relationship with Tesco and belief in Tesco’s long-term future,” Sports Direct said in a statement today.
Tesco shares fell to the lowest in more than a decade this week after the supermarket company suspended four executives and said it had discovered that first-half profits had been overstated by 250 million pounds. Standard & Poor’s said late yesterday that the grocer’s credit rating may be cut to junk.
The [url=http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/TSCON]shares[/url] were up 0.5 percent to 195.9 pence as of 8:50 a.m. in London, trimming this week’s drop to 15 percent.
Sports Direct said its maximum exposure under the agreement will be limited to 43 million pounds. It’s not the first time that Ashley’s company has made a wager on a U.K. retailer. In January, it took a bet on shares of department-store operator Debenhams Plc, (DEB) using a similar option agreement.
Sports Direct had been in discussions with Tesco to take space at some of its largest superstores which are undergoing refurbishment, reducing the amount of space used for food and bringing in outside retailers and cafes and restaurants.
“We suspect that most Sports Direct shareholders would probably prefer Mike Ashley to stick to what he’s good at, and not go round punting in Tesco shares,” Nick Bubb, an independent retail analyst in London, said by e-mail.
Sports Direct was unchanged at 660 pence as of 8:50 a.m.

                  巴菲特減持樂購股份至3%以下
新浪財經訊 北京時間10月17日凌晨消息，英國零售巨頭樂購(Tesco)周四披露，巴菲特旗下的伯克希爾哈撒韋公司周一將其在樂購的持股削減至不到3%。
　　根據樂購網站的數據，截至9月24日伯克希爾還持有樂購3.98%的股份，這意味着自那以來該公司已出售了至少價值2.32億美元的樂購股票。
　　本月初巴菲特在接受CNBC採訪時稱，他七年來對樂購的投資是個“巨大錯誤”。樂購是巴菲特的15隻重倉股中去年唯一出現虧損的一隻股票。該公司上月宣佈其上半財年盈利預測被誇大了2.50億英鎊，要求德勤會計師事務所徹查賬目，並暫停了四名高級主管的職務。
　　今年較早時樂購在六周內連續兩次發布盈利預警，並更換了首席執行官。本月初，英國金融行為監管局(FCA)宣佈對樂購的會計問題展開全面調查，進一步加劇了該公司的危機。(羽箭)

                                       賣股三原則: 貴了、壞了、換更好的