Eleven, tomorrow morning is the final deadline for HBOS shareholders to decide whether they want to exercise the privilege of buying more shares at the price of 275p each. It's a decision surely helped by the fact that as of writing HBOS shares are trading at 267.5p (yesterday, you could pick them up for 225p). In the current climate, these rights issues are a complete joke. RBS shares are currently trading at 180.9p, after a June issue at 200p. And let's not even mention Broken & Busted. I suppose HBOS shareholders can at least comfort themselves that the institution has the dignity to accept the inevitable, and the underwriters to pick up the shortfall, rather than go the B&B route and scurry around re-setting the rights issue price like a street corner trader flogging knock-off perfumes before the rozzers arrive. More here.

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