Today isn’t quite D-Day in the acrimonious, high-stakes game of
poker being played by Chris Corrigan and Paul Little but it could
significantly alter the momentum in the $4.6 billion bid by Toll
Holdings for Patrick Corp, says Stephen Bartholomeusz in The Smage. Today is the day the arbitrator in a dispute between Patrick and
Toll that could lead to the break-up of their Pacific National
joint venture hands his verdict to the parties.

And if Chris Corrigan is right in his belief that
the arbitrator will today rule against Patrick
Corporation’s attempt to break up Pacific National, then it could prove to be a landmark moment
in the fight with Toll, says Bryan Frith in The Australian. An adverse finding could remove a major plank of Patrick’s defence
against the unwanted takeover bid from Toll. Patrick’s strategy has
been to undermine the offer by creating uncertainty about a major asset
of Toll (and, it should be noted, of Patrick), thereby adversely
affecting Toll’s share price, and thus lowering the value of its scrip
and cash offer.

The Fin Review reports that the RBA has put the possibility of
interest rate rises back on the agenda, warning another increase in oil
prices and the “acute” shortage of workers could push inflation into
the danger zone. While, The Oz reports that the Australian dollar retains the support of
global investors despite its recent fall to 12-month lows, according to
the RBA. It says the Australian and Canadian dollars are the only
currencies in the world that speculators expect to rise against the US
dollar.

Also in the AFR, Qantas is close to striking a new enterprise
agreement with it long-haul pilots, but still faces tough negotiations
to win productivity gains from its 6900-strong engineering maintenance
staff.

And Macquarie Bank has failed in
its first attempt to gain a foothold in the UK radio market, losing the
Swansea FM licence to a local consortium, reports The Guardian. Macquarie is one of three
foreign companies eager to gain a foothold in UK radio following the
deregulation of the market. It has also made bids in Ipswich and
Warwick.

On Wall Street, US stocks closed sharply higher overnight,
propelled
by falling crude prices and a decline in Treasury yields. The Dow Jones
rose 55.47 points to 10,586 – MarketWatch has a full report here.