We take a look at how European and American shares compare ahead of the 36th Ryder Cup between Europe and the US of A.
As the twenty four golfers that make up Team USA and Team Europe take their final practice swings ahead of the 36th Ryder Cup, we take a look at which country has the better action in the stock market.
The blue-chip pairings for this exercise have been drawn from the Dow Jones Industrial Index and the DJ Stoxx 50 Index with the exception of two wild-card entries. They are British American Tobacco
(LSE: BATS)
for Europe and Motorola
(NYSE: MOT)
for the USA.
Teeing off with oil, ExxonMobil
(LSE: EXX)
and Britain's BP
(LSE: BP.)
have both benefited from high crude prices. But both companies seem to find the rough all too often. ExxonMobil's recent handicap is its Sakhalin oil project in Russia, while BP has had a bad case of the yips over its hurricane-hit Thunder Horse platform. So its honour's even here.
America: ½, Europe ½
Pfizer's
(NYSE: PFE)
has offloaded much of its consumer healthcare unit to focus on drug development, which gives it the rub of the green in my view. In contrast, Britain's GlaxoSmithKline
(LSE: GSK)
is tightly wedged in a diversified portfolio, which may crimp growth. So, USA gets the birdie and Europe gets the bird from me.
America: 1, Europe 0
Citigroup
(NYSE: C)
is the big hitter on Team USA, but it may have met its match with the UK's HSBC
(LSE: HSBA)
. HSBC looks to have a better grip in the fastest growing economy in the world, namely China. It already owns a 20% stake in China's Bank of Communications, while Citibank is playing catch-up by eyeing up a bigger slice of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.
America: 0, Europe 1
In the first foursome of the contest, Siemens
(LSE: SIE)
and Philips face IBM
(NYSE: IBM)
and Intel
(NASDAQ: INTC)
. Germany's Siemens, which supplies computer products through Fujitsu Siemens, looks to be no match for IBM, which leads the tech industry in terms of patent awards. Meanwhile Intel, which is the word's dominant chip maker, gets the better of the Netherlands' Philips, whose non-core assets are proving to be an albatross.
America 1, Europe 0
In the second foursome, Microsoft
(NASDAQ: MSFT)
and Motorola take on Germany's SAP
(LSE: SAP)
and Finland's Nokia
(LSE: NOK)
. Microsoft seems to find the bunkers too often, though significantly, it always manages to find the right club to dig itself out of a hole. Meanwhile SAP is struggling to find new areas to grow. Motorola also gets the better of Nokia. The US cellphone maker, whose Razr and SLVR phones are proving a worldwide hit, is gradually chipping away at Nokia's market dominance.
America 1, Europe 0
Tesco
(LSE: TSCO)
and Nestle
(LSE: NSTR)
stage a spirited fight-back against Wal-Mart Stores
(NYSE: WMT)
and Procter & Gamble
(LSE: PG)
. Wal-Mart looks a tad below par as it grapples with criticism over its alleged unfair wage structure. But Tesco goes from strength to strength by finding new growth areas. Switzerland's Nestle also looks to have the better of Procter & Gamble as it continues to concentrate on value-added products.
America 0, Europe 1
In the final foursome, Altria
(NYSE: MO)
and Alcoa
(NYSE: A)
go head-to-head with the British pairing of BAT and Anglo American
(LSE: AAL)
. BAT looks healthier than Atria with its greater exposure to markets in Africa & the Middle East, Latin America and Asian Pacific regions. Diversified miner Anglo American also looks a better bet than Alcoa, which is highly dependent on aluminium demand.
America 0, Europe 1
So, it's finely poised as AT&T
(NYSE: T)
takes on BT
(LSE: BT.A)
in the final round. AT&T, affectionately known as Ma Bell, is trying to position itself in the field of managed services. BT is hopping onto a megatrend of its own too, namely to provide support services to large businesses and organisations across the globe. A tie looks a fair result between the two telecom behemoths.
America ½, Europe ½
So here is the moment of truth: Team America has 4 points and Team Europe also has 4 points. And just as the 36th Ryder Cup looks too close to call, it's a dead heat between American and European shares, too.
David owns shares in BAT, BT, GlaxoSmithKline and Motorola.
