Areva to pay Niger $32 mln dividend advance - government

(Reuters) - French nuclear group Areva will pay Niger a 15 billion CFA franc advance on dividend payments after a dispute over allegations it funded rebels, the West African country's government said.

"Areva has agreed to pay us an advance on dividends which amounts to 15 billion CFA," Foreign Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou said late on Sunday. The dividends will be paid by two Areva subsidiaries in which the Niger government has stakes.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Temple-Inland to sell timberland for $2.38 bln

(Reuters) - The company then expects to use some of its expected $1.8
billion in sale proceeds to pay a special dividend estimated at
$1.1 billion, or $10.25 per share. The remaining $700 million
will be used to reduce debt.




The Campbell Group is a timberland investment management
company headquartered in Portland, Oregon.



Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Berkshire, Merrill Lynch, Royal Dutch Shell, Sasol: U.S. Stock Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Share prices are as of 7:30 a.m. in New York.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A US): The investment company
run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett said second-quarter
profit from continuing operations increased to $1,625 a share,
helped by gains from insurance and investments. The result topped
the $1,436 estimate of Charles Gates, an analyst at Credit
Suisse. The stock fell $100 to $109,900 in regular trading.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

TREASURIES-Prices slip as safe-haven bid wanes

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures rose on Monday as losses from the
subprime mortgage industry stoked speculation that the Federal
Reserve might adopt a policy statement that reassures investors
worried about a weakening economy. The Fed is expected to leave
its benchmark target range steady at 5.25 percent, but most
investors expected a rate cut by the Fed later this year.




"Equities caught a bid in Europe and bonds have sold off,"
said Andrew Brenner, a market analyst at Man Financial Inc.
"The bond market will stay rangebound until the Fed releases
its statement tomorrow."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-UnitedHealth raises outlook on Medicare adjustment

(Reuters) - The insurer earned 2 cents per share more in the second
quarter than it stated in its preliminary results reported on
July 19, when it raised its full-year forecast by 2 cents to
$3.43 to $3.48 per share.




Analysts expect the top U.S. health insurer by market value
to earn $3.46 per share this year, according to Reuters
Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Lion Capital to buy Russian juice maker Nidan Soki

(Reuters) - "The transaction is a leveraged buyout of a 100 percent of
Nidan," Maxim Arefiev, executive director at the investment and
banking department of Troika Dialog investment company, told
Reuters.




Troika Dialog advises Nidan shareholders in the deal. Lion
Capital is being advised by Goldman Sachs, which also provides
financing.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US growth fears sink copper to 5-week low

(Reuters) - Fresh signs of economic trouble in the United States beat copper down to five-week lows on Monday, but analysts expect strong demand from China to buoy the metal which is used widely in the construction and power industries.

Weaker base metals and equity prices hit London-listed miners including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Anglo American, which were all down around 1.5 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Alliant Energy Q2 profit up

(Reuters) - Income from continuing operations was 40 cents a share,
compared to 39 cents a share a year earlier.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Nordic Stocks Decline, Paced by Statoil, Norsk Hydro, Nordea Bank, Boliden

(Bloomberg) -- Nordic stocks fell for a second day,
led by Statoil ASA and Norsk Hydro ASA, Norway's largest oil
producers, as crude oil prices dropped in New York.

Nordea Bank AB, the region's largest lender, also slipped
after Goldman, Sachs & Co. downgraded the stock.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

CHRONOLOGY-Key events so far in the battle for ABN AMRO

(Reuters) -




Following are key events so far in the battle for ABN AMRO.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

German 2008 Power Falls From Seven-Week High as Carbon Emission Costs Drop

(Bloomberg) -- German electricity for next year fell
from a seven-week high as emission-permit prices declined,
potentially reducing the cost of generating electricity at
plants that burn fossil fuels.

Electricity for delivery next year fell after two days of
gains, slipping 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 56.65 euros
($78.28) a megawatt-hour at 10:15 a.m. in Berlin, according to
GFI Group Inc. prices on Bloomberg. September prices dropped 1
percent to 34.90 euros.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Credit, growth fears batter stocks, hit dollar

(Reuters) - European shares opened more than 1 percent lower before
recovering slightly. Emerging market shares dropped around 1.8
percent and Japanese equities slipped 0.4 percent.




Heightened concerns for economic growth as a result of
credit problems also knocked oil prices, which briefly dipped
below $74.50, and dragged Shanghai copper futures down 3
percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Securitas buys cash handling unit in Great Britain

(Reuters) - It said the unit will be consolidated in Loomis as of August 6.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Wal-Mart, India Bharti set to announce India deal

(Reuters) - "Today's press conference is to announce a joint venture with Wal-Mart for cash-and-carry," a spokesman for Bharti Enterprises said.




A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart said a senior official from Wal-Mart and the head of Bharti Retail Ltd., Rajan Mittal, would address the media.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

JGB futures hit 10-wk high as investors seek safety

(Reuters) - September futures surged 0.55 point to 133.97, the
highest since late May, after Treasuries rose late last week on
persistent worries about problems in the U.S. subprime market.




Such concerns battered U.S. stocks then and Standard &
Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index
on Friday posted their worst one-day percentage drops since a
global sell-off in equities in late February.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Treasuries Fall on Speculation Yields Near Three-Month Low to Deter Buyers

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell on speculation yields
near the lowest in three months overstated concern that the
weakness in the U.S. subprime mortgage market will spread.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose 2 basis points,
or 0.02 percentage point, to 4.7 percent at 7:01 a.m. in London,
according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price of the
4 1/2 percent notes due May 2017 fell 1/8, or $1.25 per $1,000
face amount, to 98 15/32.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Dollar, kiwi fall vs yen on credit worries

(Reuters) - The dollar tumbled to a four-month low against the yen while the New Zealand dollar fell sharply versus the Japanese currency on Monday as worries about a credit crunch prompted an unwinding of risky carry trades.

The dollar fell to 117.19 yen on electronic trading platform EBS, its lowest level since late March, due partly to stop-loss position unwinding by Japanese retail investors.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Volkswagen cuts prices on China-made cars

(Reuters) - Although China's auto market is growing strongly, car makers have been cutting prices, especially on older models, to attract buyers.




In March, the top European auto maker lowered the price of several locally made cars by up to 11 percent, including Santana and Polo models.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Suzano Petroquimica, Telmex, Tenaris, Bancolombia: Latin Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may make
significant gains or losses in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia
and Mexico today. Symbols are in parentheses after the company
name, and stock prices are from the last session.

In Brazil, preferred shares are the most commonly traded
class of stock.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Asian stocks hit by U.S. economic worries

(Reuters) - Oil prices slid briefly below $74.50 a barrel amid heightened concerns for economic growth, but flight to safety helped gold stay near one-week highs and kept the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield pinned near 2-½ month lows.




Data last Friday showing U.S. employers added jobs at the slowest rate in five months and weaker growth in the U.S. service sector all added to concerns about the world's biggest economy, Asia's top export destination.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Chinese Government Hasn't Decided on $40 Billion Agricultural Bank Bailout

(Bloomberg) -- Central Huijin Investment Co., a
government investment arm, said it hasn't decided on the bailout
of Agricultural Bank of China, weakest of the four-biggest
state-owned banks, according to a senior official.

Beijing-based Agricultural Bank may receive a $40 billion
capital injection from Huijin, the Economic Observer newspaper
reported today, without citing anyone.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Intel, Cisco, J&J Lure Value Funds as Price Ratios Converge Most in Decade

(Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and
Johnson & Johnson, perennial favorites of money managers seeking
U.S. stocks with the fastest profit growth, are becoming staples
for so-called value investors.

Shares of growth companies in the Standard & Poor's 500
Index trade at an average 16.3 times estimated earnings, while
value stocks, those priced at a discount to the market or their
historical average, trade at 14 times profits. The gap between
them, now 2.3 points, has narrowed from 25.5 at the beginning of
the decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Bear Stearns Ousts Co-President Warren Spector After Hedge-Fund Losses

(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos. ousted Co-President
Warren Spector after credit-market losses and eroding investor
confidence increased pressure for management changes at the
second-largest underwriter of securities tied to the slumping
U.S. housing market.

The board of the nation's fifth-biggest securities firm
agreed today that Alan D. Schwartz, 57, will become sole
president, the company said in a statement. Spector, 49, was
responsible for fixed income and asset management and was viewed
by analysts as the top candidate to succeed 73-year-old Chief
Executive Officer James E. Cayne.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Singapore Petroleum Enters Oil, Gas Exploring Venture With China National

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore Petroleum Co., the only oil
refiner traded on the city state's stock exchange, will explore
for oil and gas with China National Offshore Oil Corp. in its
first venture off the Chinese coast.

Singapore Petroleum will operate and own 100 percent of
Block 26/18 in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the South China Sea,
while China National has the right to take a stake of as much as
51 percent should a discovery be made, the Singapore company said
today in a statement.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Japanese Yen, Malaysian Ringgit, Indonesian Rupiah: Asian Currency Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic
reports may influence trading in Asian currencies today.

Exchange rates are from the previous session.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Yen Rises to Four-Month High Against Dollar as Appetite for Risk Reduces

(Bloomberg) -- The yen rose to a four-month high
against the dollar as a slide in U.S. stocks encouraged
investors to sell higher-yielding assets funded by loans in
Japan.

The yen gained to 117.33 per dollar at 7:15 a.m. in Tokyo
from 118.05 on Aug. 3 and reached 117.19, a level it last traded
at on March 29. It was also at 162.30 per euro from 162.58.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Gold May Extend Rally on More Demand for Dollar Alternative, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Gold may rise for a second straight
week on speculation that a weaker dollar will boost demand for
the precious metal as an alternative investment.

Seventeen of 27 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by
Bloomberg from Sydney to Chicago on Aug. 2 and Aug. 3 advised
buying gold, which rose 1.8 percent last week to $684.40 an ounce
on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. One
respondent said to sell, and nine were neutral.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Mortgage stress to spur more volatility

(Reuters) - Widening fallout from the U.S. housing slump has rattled credit markets, putting investors on edge about the outlook for corporate takeovers and share buybacks -- two catalysts of the market's recent rally to record highs.




On Friday, Standard & Poor's cut its ratings outlook on the debt of investment bank Bear Stearns Cos., fanning concern that troubles in the subprime mortgage market are spreading, which could threaten the economy's health.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Edison to invest "well above" 4.5 bln euros by 2013

(Reuters) - "We forecast that investments over 2008-2013 will be well above the 4.5 billion euros of our previous business plan."




Quadrino said the investments would help Edison reduce its dependence from gas imports.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

India's Maruti offers discounts to boost car sales

(Reuters) - Maruti, in which Suzuki Motor Corp. owns 54.2 percent, has said it would limit the impact of high interest rates with dealer incentives and customer discounts. It ran a discount offer in June.




The "Smile India Smile" offer, which runs from August 1-15, offers discounts ranging from 7,000-30,000 rupees on several models, including its best-selling Alto and the Esteem sedan, the advertisements showed.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Freddie CEO wary of more subprime loans - NYT

(Reuters) - With credit pools drying up "there are some loans that are
in difficulty," the Times quoted Syron as saying in a telephone
interview.




"There are other loans that probably should never have been
made and providing more liquidity will make that situation
worse in the long term," Syron told the Times.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canada's Dollar Strengthenens as Crude Oil Surges, Growth Accelerates

(Bloomberg) -- Canada's dollar rose, ending its two-
week losing streak, as crude oil prices touched a record high,
and economic growth accelerated in May.

Canada's currency has gained this year as the Bank of
Canada raised interest rates to stem inflation and cool the
expanding economy. The currency, up more than 11 percent against
the U.S. dollar this year, is the second-best performer among 16
most actively traded currencies, trailing only Brazil's real.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

European Exporter Stocks Decline on U.S. Growth Concern; Siemens, BP Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of European exporters fell this
past week after reports signaled the U.S. economy is slowing and
oil companies dropped as Citigroup Inc. analysts cut their
recommendation on the industry.

Siemens AG, the region's biggest engineering company, and
consumer-goods maker Philips Electronics NV paced a decline by
companies that generate at least one-fifth of their sales in the
world's largest economy. BP Plc led the Dow Jones Stoxx Oil & Gas
Index to a two-month low. Nokia Oyj, France Telecom SA and
British Airways Plc lifted technology, phone and airline stocks
after reporting profit that beat analysts' estimates.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

PRESS DIGEST - Washington Post Business - Aug. 4

(Reuters) - NEW YORK - Slowing job growth and increasing credit worries
about a Wall Street firm hit by losses in mortgage investments
sent stocks tumbling Friday, capping a tumultuous week of
trading during which jumpy investors tried to assess just how
much more damage the housing downturn would unleash.




---


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Japanese Five-Year Bonds Complete Longest Weekly Advance Since May 2005

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's five-year notes advanced for
a fourth week on speculation any slowdown in the U.S., the
country's biggest export market, will make it harder for the
Bank of Japan to raise interest rates this month.

Five-year notes had their longest weekly advance since May
2005 on concern riskier assets such as corporate bonds and
stocks will extend losses. Bear Stearns Cos., the manager of two
hedge funds that collapsed last month, said this week that it
blocked investors from pulling money out of a third.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

U.S. MMS seeks lease sale in Alaska's Chukchi Sea

(Reuters) - The proposed sale area sprawls over 29 million acres
located between 25 and 200 miles from the northern and
northwest coastline of Alaska, the MMS said.




The ice-choked Chukchi is believed to hold 15 billion
barrels of oil and 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas,
according to Interior Department estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Wall St sinks on credit worries after Bear talks

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks slid sharply on
Friday after Bear Stearns said credit markets were in their
worst shape in two decades, while jobs data aroused further
concerns about weakness in the economy.




Bear Stearns Cos. stock fell 5.9 percent as
mortgage jitters drove a broad market sell-off with the three
major indexes falling more than 2 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Sugar Closes Unchanged, Erasing Gains, as India Loosen Rules on Exports

(Bloomberg) -- Sugar closed unchanged in New York,
erasing earlier gains, after changes in export rules made it
more likely that shipments will increase from India, the world's
second-largest producer.

Indian exporters can ship to all markets, except the U.S.
and European Union, without seeking government approval until
September next year, the food ministry said in a notice dated
July 31. India may produce a record 30 million tons in the year
through Sept. 30, 2008, up from 28 million this fiscal year,
said the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Charter, Health Management, Washington Post: U.S. Equity Movers Final

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares had unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges today.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 4 p.m. in New York.

Alkermes Inc. (ALKS US) rose the most since February,
climbing $1.85, or 13 percent, to $16.63. The maker of a once-
monthly injection to treat alcoholism reported profit of 8 cents
a share in the fiscal first quarter. That beat the 4-cent average
estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Ford recalls 3.6 mln vehicles over switch

(Reuters) - The highway safety agency said in a notice that the switch
problem could result in a fire under the hood.




The Ford vehicles being recalled are F-Series and Ranger
pickup trucks, Explorer, Bronco and Mountaineer SUVs, Econoline
vans and some Crown Victoria, Town Car, Grand Marquis, Capri,
Mark VII and Taurus Sho cars with model years ranging from 1992
to 2004, depending upon the particular vehicle.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Mexico markets down on weak U.S. job data

(Reuters) - The price of the benchmark 10-year peso bond
fell 0.062 point to bid 101.149 points, with a yield of 7.81
percent.




The U.S. July jobs report showed non-farm payrolls rose by
92,000, below expectations of 139,000. That suggested a
weakening U.S. economy, which buys most of Mexico's exports.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Court says rights violated FBI during raid

(Reuters) - The unanimous three-judge panel ordered the FBI to give Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson back all privileged legislative files, including copies, taken from his office during the unprecedented raid on May 20-21 of last year.




It was the first time law enforcement agents had raided or searched the office of a member of Congress.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

RPT-Agrium files shelf prospectus for $1 bln

(Reuters) - WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Aug 3 - Agrium Inc. ,
the world's third-largest producer of nitrogen fertilizer, said
on Friday it would file a shelf prospectus allowing it to issue
up to $1 billion of debt, equity and other securities over 25
months.




Calgary, Alberta-based Agrium said the filings would give
it the means to reduce debt and expand through acquisitions and
investments.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US CREDIT-Boston Scientific's debt suffers from lack of sale

(Reuters) - The medical device maker said on Thursday it decided to
retain its endosurgery business after looking into selling a
minority stake through an initial public offering. For details,
see [ID:nN02444446]




Saddled with debt after its $27 billion acquisition of
Guidant Corp and hampered by slowing sales of its most
lucrative heart devices, the company said in March it was
exploring the partial sale for more than $1 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Richards Bay Coal Exports Fell 3 Percent in July After Train Derailment

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's Richards Bay Coal
Terminal, the world's biggest coal-export terminal, shipped 3
percent less coal in July than a year earlier after a derailment,
an official familiar with the matter said.

The terminal shipped 5.57 million metric tons of coal, the
official said, compared with 5.74 million tons a year earlier. On
July 16, the terminal said a derailment on a line transporting coal
to the port on South Africa's northeast coast delayed the delivery of
150,000 tons. In June, the port shipped 5.45 million tons.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Telus files $2.8 bln mixed shelf offering

(Reuters) - Under a shelf registration, a company may sell securities
in one or more separate offerings with the size, price and
terms to be determined at the time of sale.




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

South African Rand Posts Weekly Advance as Investors Return to Carry Trade

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's rand logged a weekly
gain against the dollar as global stocks rebounded, prompting
investors to resume buying emerging-market assets.

The rand also advanced as the cost of owning European
corporate bonds fell for the first week in seven. The South
African currency pared its weekly gain after Standard & Poor's
Corp. today cut the credit outlook on Bear Stearns Cos.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

C-BASS retains Blackstone to seek more capital

(Reuters) - C-BASS said in a statement that it has been working
"diligently" with a number of investors to resolve the
liquidity problem and create a long-term partnership.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Union Investment Halts Bond Fund Withdrawals After $137 Million Pulled

(Bloomberg) -- Union Investment Asset Management
Holding AG, Germany's third-largest mutual fund manager, halted
redemptions from a fund holding subprime mortgages after clients
withdrew about 10 percent of the assets in the past month.

Investors redeemed 100 million euros ($137 million) from the
950 million-euro ABS-Invest Fund, spokesman Markus Temme said
today. The fund, sold to institutional investors across Europe,
has about 6 percent of its assets in securities related to
subprime mortgage loans, Temme said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

MOL still wants INA stake, won't go hostile

(Reuters) - "After we will sit down with the Croatian government again," MOL's Chief Executive and Chairman Zsolt Hernadi told web portal Index www.index.hu on Friday.




"It is for certain that we will not make an unsolicited public bid on the Croatian stock exchange, although we could do it," Hernadi added.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

RBS says "bemused" by ABN CEO's remarks on Fortis

(Reuters) - "We're a little bemused by some of the comments, today's in
particular," said Fred Goodwin, chief executive of RBS, which is
leading a 71 billion-euro bid for ABN by a trio
of banks that also includes Fortis and Spain's Santander
.




On Monday ABN formally withdrew its recommendation for the
Barclays offer, although Groenink later said he still preferred
it because it was better for all ABN stakeholders.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Health insurers' subprime exposure limited: analyst

(Reuters) - Several health insurers report holding more than 20 percent of their portfolios in mortgage loans, but most companies have almost no exposure to subprime loans, CIBC analyst Carl McDonald said in an analysis published on Friday.




"Our work in the past couple days suggests that the recent issues in the mortgage market will have very little impact on the investment portfolios held by managed care plans," McDonald said in his report.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Virtusa says IPO priced at $14/shr

(Reuters) - The company said it expects net proceeds of about $53
million, of which it plans to use about $30 million to fund the
construction and build-out of a facility on its planned campus
in Hyderabad, India.




The remainder of these proceeds will be used to finance the
expansion of its global delivery centers or capacity in
Chennai, India and Colombo, Sri Lanka, the hiring of additional
personnel, sales and marketing activities, capital expenditures
and the costs of operating as a public company.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Canada deregulates big-city phone markets -telcos

(Reuters) - Bell Canada , Canada's biggest phone company, said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has deregulated Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City. As well, Hamilton and London in Ontario have been deregulated, in addition to other cities and communities in the province and in neighboring Quebec, it said.



"Competition in the local phone market is going to heat up," Kevin Crull, Bell's president of residential services, said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Ford aims to sell Land Rover, Jaguar by September 30: report

(Reuters) - A Ford spokesman called the report "speculation" and would not comment further.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Wall St shaken by late-day market surges

(Reuters) - U.S. stock prices jumped in the last half hour of trading on both Wednesday and Thursday, surprising traders as major market indexes had traded up and down through most of the two sessions.




The late surges have surprised traders, who don't see a catalyst for the jump. The gains may falsely indicate in easing in investor skittishness over a tightening of credit, when in fact concerns may still abound.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Wall St jumps late on profits, credit concerns nag

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday in another late-day rally as enthusiasm about strong earnings tempered nervousness about more weakness in credit conditions with news another mortgage lender may fold.

Pharmacy chain CVS Caremark Corp. and MTV networks owner Viacom Inc. were among companies that posted results that topped Wall Street's expectations, sending their shares higher. CVS shares climbed 3.5 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Woolworths raises year earnings outlook

(Reuters) - South African fashion, food and homeware group Woolworths Holdings Ltd raised its outlook for full-year headline earnings per share on Friday, saying it expected an increase by as much as 30 percent.

Woolworths said it expected headline earnings and headline EPS -- the key profit measure for South African firms which excludes non-trading, capital and certain extraordinary items -- to rise by 20-30 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa fuel strike into 5th day, motorists queue

(Reuters) - A strike by South African fuel workers entered a fifth day on Friday, prompting motorists in the economic capital to queue at filling stations as stocks dwindled.

"It has been a mad rush since 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) this morning," said Ashwin Chiba, manager of a filling station in the centre of Johannesburg, one of the few still with fuel.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Services growth deteriorates in July: ISM survey

(Reuters) - The services sector represents about 80 percent of U.S. economic activity, including businesses like restaurants, hotels, banks and airlines.




Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Copper Futures Drops Most in a Month on Signals U.S. Demand May Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Copper dropped the most in a month in
New York on speculation that an economic slowdown in the U.S.,
the world's second-largest consumer of the metal, will reduce
demand.

Growth in U.S. service industries slowed more than forecast
in July, and U.S. employers added fewer jobs than projected last
month, reports showed today. Copper, which sometimes moves in
tandem with economic expansion, headed for the second straight
weekly decline on concern that losses in equity markets may
spread to commodities.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Taiwan ASE's Q2 net down 65 pct from year ago

(Reuters) - Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. earned a net profit of T$2.575 billion for the April-June quarter, the company said in a statement.



The profit was lower than T$7.319 billion in the same period a year earlier, but higher than T$1.661 billion in the first quarter, when clients cleared out excess inventories.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Givaudan H1 net profit plummets on Quest charges

(Reuters) - ZURICH, Aug 3 - First-half net profit at Swiss flavours and fragrances maker Givaudan fell 68 percent to 86 million Swiss francs



due to charges related to its acquisition of Quest, missing forecasts.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Brookfield Asset reports higher profit

(Reuters) - Brookfield, which earlier this week said it would spin off
a 60 percent stake in its infrastructure operations, posted a
net profit $153 million, or 24 cents a share, in the quarter
ended June 30, up from a profit of $135 million, or 20 Canadian
cents a share, in the same quarter last year.







Read more at Reuters.com Market News

SNC-Lavalin results boosted by chemicals sector

(Reuters) - TORONTO, Aug 3 - SNC-Lavalin Group reported a bigger second-quarter profit on Friday due mainly to higher operating income at its chemicals and petroleum and mining and metallurgy segments.



The Canadian engineering company said it earned C$41.1 million, or 27 Canadian cents a share, for the period ended June 30, up from C$38.4 million, or 25 Canadian cents a share, for the same quarter last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Michael Dell Wins Over Investors, Plans to Trade `Cheap' PC Image for Cool

(Bloomberg) -- Michael Dell is undoing everything
that made Dell Inc. unique so he can make it the world's largest
personal-computer maker again. It just may work.

Eleven of Dell's 16 largest outside investors added to their
holdings, according to the most recent filings. The stock has
risen 15 percent since the founder's return as chief executive
officer, more than twice the gain of Hewlett-Packard Co. In the
second quarter, Dell had its first increase in PC shipments from
the previous quarter in a year.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Merkel Plan Gives Germans Rare Sense of Economic Optimism, Promotes Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel has helped
kick-start the German economy, not to mention her own political
prospects, by pulling off the equivalent of a conjuring trick:
banishing Germans' pessimism and convincing them the glass is
half full.

Merkel has restored a rare sense of economic optimism, a
prerequisite for corporate investment, hiring and consumer
spending, economists and psychologists say. It's not so much what
she's done that's important as what she hasn't done: Merkel has
deliberately discontinued the unpopular economic-policy changes
pioneered by her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder. That's propelled
her personal-approval rating to a record, to the consternation of
her coalition partners.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Chile's Peso Little Changed Amid Concern Slowing Growth Will Hurt Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Chile's peso was little changed amid
concern slower growth in the U.S. will cool the world economy,
making emerging market assets less attractive.

The peso weakened 0.02 percent to 521.19 per dollar at
10:43 a.m. in New York. The currency yesterday posted its
biggest advance since July 19 after consumer prices rose 1.1
percent in July, almost double the 0.6 percent median forecast
in a Bloomberg survey of 12 analysts.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

China's Bonds to Rally as Rate on Hold in 2007, Bank of China's Dong Says

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese government bonds, Asia's
worst performing, will rally as the central bank may refrain
from raising interest rates again this year, said Dong Dezhi, an
analyst at Bank of China, the nation's second-largest lender.

The People's Bank of China, which lifted its benchmark one-
year lending rate to 6.84 percent on July 20, probably won't
need another increase because inflation will slow in the second
half, Dong said in an interview from Shanghai. Banks have
started to rein in lending and will invest deposits in the bond
market, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

RBS says Corporate Mkts up in July despite turmoil

(Reuters) - Johnny Cameron, head of RBS's Corporate Markets division,
said it was difficult to predict when markets would return to
normal but said "by the end of this quarter I expect to see the
market back in business".




Goodwin also said he expected the cost of insurance claims
related to floods in Britain in July to be similar to the 125
million pounds of claims it suffered in June.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

RPT-Fourth Bear Stearns asset-backed fund seems OK

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 2 - Bear Stearns Cos. Inc ,
which has struggled with redemptions at three different hedge
funds investing in repackaged debt, manages a fourth fund that
invests in similar securities, but that fund appears safe, a
source familiar with the fund said.




The fund, Bear Stearns Structured Risk Partners, turned in
a positive performance in July and has not faced redemption
requests, the source said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Italy's UniCredit seals Polish deal with GE Money

(Reuters) - UniCredit is to merge the remaining assets of BPH into its
other Polish unit Bank Pekao.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Indexes open down after jobs data

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was down 18.70
points, or 0.14 percent, at 13,444.63. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was down 1.97 points, or 0.13 percent, at
1,470.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.50
points, or 0.21 percent, at 2,570.48.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Jim Rogers Calls U.S. Housing Market One of History's `Biggest Bubbles'

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. subprime-market rout that
wiped out $2.1 trillion from global share values last week has
``got a long way to go,'' said Jim Rogers, who predicted the
start of the commodities rally in 1999.

This week's rebound in equity markets hasn't persuaded
Rogers, 64, to pull out of bets that U.S. investment banks and
homebuilders are heading for further declines.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

JGB futures retreat from 2-mth high before auction

(Reuters) - At the same time, investors were hesitant to push prices much
higher given chances that the Bank of Japan may raise rates by 25
basis points to 0.75 percent in August or September.




The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB slipped to a two-month
low as JGBs tracked a jump in Treasuries, which rose on Tuesday
on a slide in U.S. stocks after a large U.S. mortgage provider
said it could no longer fund home loans and may liquidate assets.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Asian shares down as credit woes spread

(Reuters) - Another U.S. mortgage lender, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., said it would have to liquidate assets. The relatively high quality of its loans raised worries about the whole mortgage market, driving the S&P 500 index down 1.3 percent.




The problems in the U.S. credit markets are being felt by investors in Asia.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Yen Strengthens for a Second Day as Widening Debt Losses Curb Carry Trade

(Bloomberg) -- The yen gained for a second day versus
the euro on concern losses from U.S. mortgages will prompt
investors to pare riskier investments funded by loans in Japan.

Traders reduced so-called carry trades, pushing up the yen
versus 15 of the 16 most-active currencies. Macquarie Bank Ltd.,
Australia's largest securities firm, said investors in some of
its funds may lose as much as 25 percent of their money, a day
after investment banks cut off credit lines to American Home
Mortgage Investment Corp. Asian and U.S. stocks dropped.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

CORRECTED: Barclays deal would boost ABN board pay : SEC data

(Reuters) - The Netherlands' biggest bank is the target of a 65 billion euro offer from Barclays and a rival 71 billion euro bid from Royal Bank of Scotland , Belgium's Fortis and Spain's Santander .




ABN's management and supervisory board withdrew its recommendation to merge with Barclays on Monday, but ABN Chief Executive Rijkman Groenink said ABN still supported Barclays' offer.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Japan's Nikkei 225 Average, Topix Tumble; Sony and Nomura Lead Declines

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell
89.01, or 0.5 percent, to 17,159.88 as of 9:03 a.m. in Tokyo. The
broader Topix index dropped 9.80, or 0.6 percent, to 1696.38.

Sony Corp. and Nomura Holdings Inc. led the declines.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Crude Oil Trades Near Record Close on Speculation U.S. Demand Is Rising

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed near $78
a barrel in New York after closing at a record on speculation
demand will outpace supply as refiners increase fuel production.

U.S. oil stockpiles probably fell for a fourth week last
week, according to a survey of 14 analysts by Bloomberg News
before a government report later today. Refiners probably raised
operating rates to meet gasoline demand, the survey showed.
Global oil demand will climb 1.7 percent in 2008, showing no sign
of slowing because of high prices, Deutsche Bank AG said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Macquarie Says High-Yield Funds May Lose 25 Percent on U.S. Subprime Rout

(Bloomberg) -- Macquarie Bank Ltd., Australia's
largest securities firm, said investors in some of its high-
yield funds may lose as much as 25 percent of their money amid
the fallout in U.S. subprime mortgages.

Macquarie Fortress Investments Ltd. was forced to sell assets
and use the proceeds to reduce borrowings and comply with lending
covenants, it said in a statement. Investors may lose A$300 million
($255 million), the Australian newspaper reported earlier.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-General Growth core FFO up 18 percent

(Reuters) - General Growth reported second-quarter core funds from
operations of $216.6 million, or 73 cents per share,
compared with $184.1 million, or 62 cents per share, the previous
year. The results trailed analysts average forecast of 74 cents
per share, according to Reuters Estimates.




FFO removes the profit-reducing effect that depreciation -- a
noncash accounting item -- has on earnings. Core FFO strips out
General Growth's master-planned community sales and provisions for
income taxes, both of which General Growth says distorts the
results of its ongoing business.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Japan Stock Investors, Like Abe, Face Paralysis After LDP Election Defeat

(Bloomberg) -- The defeat of Japan's ruling party in
upper house elections gave investors another reason to shun the
world's second-biggest stock market.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average, the worst performer among the
world's 20 biggest equity benchmarks, has little chance of
catching up with international indexes after the Liberal
Democratic Party lost control for the first time in 52 years,
said Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist at Bank of America
Corp. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to deregulate state-
controlled industries and cut the government's $6.8 trillion
debt may be hindered by the July 29 vote, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Dresser-Rand posts higher quarterly profit

(Reuters) - Factoring out a 14 cent-per-share non-cash charge related
to stock-based compensation, the profit last year came to 27
cents per share.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Rogers hikes forecasts and dividend, despite loss

(Reuters) - But the company said 2007 revenue and operating profit would be at the top end of its previous ranges. It raised its annual dividend to 50 Canadian cents a share, from 16 Canadian cents a share, and reported strong subscriber growth.



Rogers said it lost C$56 million , or 9 Canadian cents a share, in the three months ended June 30. That comes on a profit of C$279 million, or 44 Canadian cents, in the same period a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Medicare plan boosts statins, ulcer drugs: report

(Reuters) - Medicare, available to 43 million elderly and disabled Americans, began to pay for prescription drugs in 2006, the biggest shift in its four-decade history. As a result, more than half of the Medicare population now gets drug coverage through a private plan run by companies such as Humana Inc. or UnitedHealth Group.




The so-called Medicare Part D program boosted sales of cholesterol-lowering statins by 7 percent, and ulcer- and heartburn-treating proton pump inhibitors by 5 percent, the report by pharmaceutical industry consultancy IMS Health said.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

US STOCKS-Credit worries return, driving Wall St lower

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 31 - U.S. stocks tumbled on
Tuesday as worries about the deteriorating credit market
resurfaced with news of another mortgage lending casualty.




Stocks had risen Monday and the first half of Tuesday's
session, but the relief rally was cut short when American Home
Mortgage Investment Corp. said it may have to
liquidate assets. Shares of the mortgage lender fell 90
percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Moody's revises Option ARM ratings methodology

(Reuters) - Moody's said it will continue to monitor existing Option
ARM securitizations and take rating actions as it deems
necessary based on each transaction's performance.




"In the course of our monitoring, we will also assess the
impact of our updated loss expectations on each pool's specific
composition," the rating agency said in a press release.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

American Financial Q2 profit falls on charges

(Reuters) - Core net operating earnings for the quarter were 93 cents a
share, compared with 77 cents a share in the year-ago period.




Four analysts on average expected the company to earn 82
cents a share, excluding items, according to Reuters
Estimates.



Read more at Reuters.com Market News

High-Yield Bonds Have Worst Month in Five Years on LBOs, Subprime Slump

(Bloomberg) -- High-yield, high-risk bonds lost
about 3.9 percent in July, their worst monthly performance since
2002, as concerns about an onslaught of debt to finance leveraged
buyouts drove down prices.

This month's rout wiped about $31 billion from the face
value of junk bonds and erased the debt's gains from earlier this
year, index data compiled by Merrill Lynch & Co. show. The bonds
have lost about 1 percent so far in 2007.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

CNBC expects Dow Jones to honor TV contract

(Reuters) - Murdoch plans to start a business news channel this October
to compete with CNBC.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Four US Senate Democrats wary on private equity tax

(Reuters) - Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said in
a statement he is "concerned about the potential adverse
effects that these proposals would have on capital formation,
on job creation, and on institutional investors."




A Democratic presidential candidate who represents
Connecticut where many hedge funds are based, Dodd said he is
"not prepared to support any legislation before I have
thoroughly analyzed the full impact it is likely to have."


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Apple shares fall on production rumors

(Reuters) - An Apple spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.




"There is unconfirmed chatter that iPod production is reduced. That is why the option volatility in Apple is elevated suggesting this uncertainty," said Paul Foster, options strategist at Web information site theflyonthewall.com.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Indonesia currency in line with fundamentals - IMF

(Reuters) - The IMF said in a regular review of the country's economic
health that future surges in capital inflows should be tackled
by letting the currency appreciate, tempered by intervention to
prevent excessive moves, while cutting interest rates.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Cache, Dow Jones, Faro, Gymboree, RAIT Financial: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 2:40 p.m. in New York.

Aftermarket Technology Corp. (ATAC US) rose the most since
August 2001, jumping $4.84, or 18 percent, to $31.33. The car-
parts maker increased its 2007 forecast, saying it expects to
earn $1.55 to $1.70 a share. The company earlier predicted profit
of as much as $1.55.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

GM's Earnings Surprise Fails to Persuade Analysts to Raise Their Ratings

(Bloomberg) -- Most Wall Street analysts continue to
advise investors to refrain from buying shares of General Motors
Corp. even after the biggest U.S. automaker jumped as much as 6.3
percent today after it reported higher-than-forecast profit.

Nine out of the 18 analysts who rate GM have the equivalent
of a ``sell'' rating on the stock, while five have a ``hold,''
according to Bloomberg News data. Only four analysts rate the
stock a ``buy.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 2-Perot Systems quarterly earnings fall; eyes acquisition

(Reuters) - Perot Systems, which did not name the target company, said
the expected acquisition would contribute about $8 million to
third-quarter revenue and slightly reduce its earnings per
share.




In a conference call with analysts, Chief Executive Peter
Altabef said he expects the company to enter into the
acquisition contract in August.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Latin American Shares Advance on Commodity Demand, Corporate Profit Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Latin American stocks rose on
speculation that global demand for metals and oil will boost
corporate profits. Raw-materials producers led the advance.

The Bovespa Index of the most-traded stocks on the Sao Paulo
exchange headed for a fifth month of gains, rising 598.02, or 1.1
percent, to 55,170.63 as of 12:39 p.m. New York time. Mexico's
Bolsa index rallied 280.25, or 0.9 percent, to 31,180.93. Even
with today's gain, the index is little changed for the month.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Fitch may cut 934 Radian-insured issues

(Reuters) - The rating agency said earlier it may cut Radian Group's
"A" long-term debt ratings and the "AA" insurer strength
ratings of all Radian mortgage and financial guaranty
subsidiaries. Radian Group has $750 million of senior notes
outstanding.




For detailed list of issues on Ratings Watch Negative,
please click on [nFIT209863].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Zambia sees 2007 inflation down to 5.0 pct - c.bank

(Reuters) - Zambia should reduce annual inflation to five percent in 2007 from 8.2 percent the previous year, aided by higher global metal prices and a domestic food surplus, the central bank said on Tuesday.

Bank of Zambia (BoZ) governor Caleb Fundanga also said the country's economic indicators were positive ahead of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) review of performance in the third quarter of the year.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Auxilium reaffirms 2007 net revenue view

(Reuters) - Shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company were trading
up nearly 7 percent, or $1.08, at $17.19 in morning trade on
the Nasdaq.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Treasury Two-Year Yields Rise From Near 4-Month Low on Less Safety Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Treasury two-year note yields rose
from near a four-month low as a rebound in corporate bonds and
stocks sapped demand for the safety of government debt.

A boost in demand for higher-risk assets combined with two-
year yields near the lowest since March provided investors with
few reasons to buy Treasuries. The risk of owning European
corporate bonds fell by a record amount today as home lender
GMAC LLC said subprime mortgage losses had narrowed.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Nymex posts higher 2nd-qtr profit, shares rise

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 31 - Metals and energy exchange operator NYMEX Holdings Inc. said on Tuesday second-quarter profit rose on growth in transaction and clearing fees.



The operator of the New York Mercantile Exchange said net income rose to $41.7 million, or 44 cents per share, from $38.1 million, or 44 cents per share, a year earlier. The earnings per share remained the same because of an increase in the number of shares outstanding during the latest quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Soybean Futures Rise as U.S. Crop Condition Deteriorates for Fourth Week

(Bloomberg) -- Soybean prices rose in Chicago to the
highest in six sessions after a government report said warm, dry
weather caused U.S. crops to deteriorate for the fourth
consecutive week.

An estimated 58 percent of the soybean crop was in good or
excellent condition as of July 29, down from 68 percent at the
end of June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday.
About 51 percent of the crop was beginning to set pods, up from
30 percent a week earlier and the five-year average of
41 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Canadian Stocks Advance For a Second Day on Western Oil Sands Takeover

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose for a second day
after Western Oil Sands Inc. was bought by Marathon Oil Corp. for
$5.8 billion and crude oil rose to a one-year high.

The proposed deal helped allay investor concern that credit
losses at banks will end the takeover boom. The Standard &
Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 124.83, or 0.9 percent, to
13,989.55 as of 11:46 a.m. in Toronto. It's gained 1.8 percent in
two days after dropping 5.7 percent last week.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Northwest Airlines reports quarterly profit

(Reuters) - The company launched new shares after it emerged from
Chapter 11.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Timken quarterly profit falls on weak auto demand

(Reuters) - Earnings fell to $55.6 million, or 58 cents per share, from
$64.9 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.




Excluding special items, income from continuing operations
fell to 73 cents per share from 80 cents a year ago. On that
basis, analysts' average forecast was 72 cents per share,
according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Coventry Health profit rises on cost management

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 31 - U.S. health insurer Coventry Health Care Inc. on Tuesday posted a 12 percent rise in quarterly profit, boosted by better management of medical costs and an increase in Medicare membership.



Second-quarter net income rose to $151.3 million, or 96 cents per share, compared with $135.5 million, or 84 cents, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Northwest posts quarterly profit on cost cuts

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, July 31 - Northwest Airlines Corp. , the No. 5 U.S. airline, reported a second-quarter profit that was inflated by reorganization items, reversing a year-ago loss.



The No. 5 U.S. airline, which completed a bankruptcy reorganization in May, said on Tuesday profit was $2.15 billion, compared with a loss of $285 million a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Bre-X gold scam figure not guilty on all counts

(Reuters) - The Ontario Securities Commission, Canada's main market
regulator, accused him in 1999 of four counts each of insider
trading and misleading investors, saying he sold C$84 million
of Bre-X stock in 1996, months before
independent surveys showed the company's much-touted gold
deposit in Indonesia was worthless.




Shares of the company, which had soared to value the firm
at C$6 billion, collapsed to nothing, costing thousands of
investors their savings, and leaving ruined shareholders to
sell their stock certificates off as bitter souvenirs to a
public fascinated by the story.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-U.S. construction spending fell 0.3 pct in June

(Reuters) - Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a 0.2 percent
gain in construction spending. The drop to a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of $1.18 trillion was the first decline in
overall construction spending since January, the Commerce
Department said.




Private nonresidential construction rose 0.3 percent to a
$347 billion annual rate, a record high.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Company default risk index rises modestly-Kamakura

(Reuters) - High-grade corporate bond spreads widened 28 basis points
in July to 128 basis points. High-yield spreads widened 126
basis points to 424 basis points in July, according to Merrill
Lynch & Co. data.




"Credit spreads continue to widen but the Kamakura troubled
company index shows that actual default rates remain very low
by historical standards," Warren Sherman, the company's
president, said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Amgen shares fall on anemia drug restrictions

(Reuters) - The ruling is less draconian in certain respects than CMS's draft proposal issued in May, but in other respects could be just as damaging to Aranesp sales, according to some analysts.




"The overall implications of the final decision are potentially worse than we anticipated with restrictions placed no only on initiation but on maintenance use of EPO for cancer as well," said Geoffrey Porges, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

UPDATE 1-J&J to cut 3-4 pct of work force in restructuring

(Reuters) - The cost-cutting plan is expected to generate pretax cost
savings of $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion in 2008, the
diversified health care company said.




The company is targeting savings in its pharmaceuticals
division, where it will consolidate certain operations. The
company noted that it faces major patent expirations over the
next few years to several drugs.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

IndyMac Bancorp profit down 57 pct on mortgage woe

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 31 - IndyMac Bancorp Inc , a big Southern California mortgage specialist, said on Tuesday second-quarter profit fell 57 percent, hurt by tougher conditions in the home-loan market.



The company also suspended its normal practice of providing a financial forecast, citing what Chief Executive Michael Perry called "the significant current uncertainties in the housing and mortgage markets."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Goldman set to beat Merrill in Italy property fund

(Reuters) - The fund's manager, Pirelli & C Real Estate ,
recommended on Tuesday that Berenice unit holders accept
Goldman's offer.




It said the offer was 19.8 percent higher than the fund's
net asset value on June 30. It was also 40 percent higher than
Goldman's initial offer of 650 euros, it said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Sirius Satellite net loss narrows

(Reuters) - Revenue jumped 51 percent to $226.4 million from $150.1
million.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

FTSE 100 Index Climbs; GlaxoSmithKline, Lloyds TSB, BHP Billiton Increase

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose for the first time
in six sessions. GlaxoSmithKline Plc climbed the most in more
than two years after a panel of U.S. doctors voted to keep the
company's diabetes pill Avandia on the market.

Lloyds TSB Group Plc had its biggest gain since October after
the lender reported first-half profit that topped analysts' estimates
and increased its dividend for the first time in five years.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UES to sell 25 pct stake in Power Machines

(Reuters) - Chubais's announcement comes after sources said on Friday
that Interros, the holding company of Vladimir Potanin and
Mikhail Prokhorov, had agreed to sell its 30.4 percent stake in
Power Machines to steel magnate Alexei Mordashov.




UES and Germany's Siemens both have a right of
first refusal on the Interros stake in Power Machines. Siemens
has declined to comment on whether it would make use of it.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Zimbabwe issues higher bank note to fight inflation

(Reuters) - Zimbabwe's central bank will issue a higher denomination bank note on Wednesday to cope with the hyperinflation ravaging the southern African country.

President Robert Mugabe's government lopped three zeroes off the local currency a year ago but Zimbabweans still need to carry huge wads of cash for basic transactions.


Read more at Reuters Africa

C-BASS says in talks to increase liquidity

(Reuters) - The comments come after MGIC said it could be forced to
write down the entire value of a $516 million investment it made
in C-BASS.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

German Stocks Advance, Led by MAN on Earnings, DaimlerChrysler, BMW Climb

(Bloomberg) -- Germany's benchmark DAX Index rose,
heading for the biggest one-day gain in more than two weeks. MAN
AG shares paced the advance after Europe's third-largest
truckmaker reported its 16th consecutive profit increase.

Shares of DaimlerChrysler AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke
AG, the world's biggest luxury carmakers, also climbed.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Glaxo shares climb as U.S. panel backs Avandia

(Reuters) - The safety of Avandia, Glaxo's second-best-selling drug, with global sales of 1.6 billion pounds last year, came into question in May, when a U.S. analysis linked Avandia to a 43 percent higher chance of having a heart attack.




That triggered a plunge in prescriptions and some investors feared the drug would be pulled from the all-important U.S. market. Worldwide sales in the three months to June dropped to 349 million pounds from 477 million a year ago, the company reported last week.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Big Q2 loss hits Alcatel-Lucent shares

(Reuters) - At 0708 GMT , the stock was down 5.1 percent at 9.1 euros.




Alcatel-Lucent's fall contrasted with a 0.6 percent rise in the pan-European technology sector . Alcatel-Lucent has underperformed the index by 22 percent so far this year.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

UPDATE 1-AngloGold Q2 adj EPS down 17 pct, CEO to retire

(Reuters) - Cutifani is chief operating officer at CVRD, where he is in
charge of the group's global nickel business.




AngloGold said adjusted headline EPS, excluding non-realised
financial effects from derivatives, dropped to 29 U.S. cents
from 35 cents the previous quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

S.African union strike starts at petrol refineries

(Reuters) - A South African union has launched a strike over wages at U.S. oil major Chevron's 100,000 barrels per day refinery in Cape Town and PetroSA's 36,000 bpd Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid plant, an official said.

Welile Nolingo, the Secretary-General of the union said on Tuesday the strike had started overnight and would continue until the union's wage demands were met. He said union members at other refineries would join the strike if they too rejected a fresh wage offer presented by the petroleum industry on Friday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Bonds Fall; Investors Shun Lowest Benchmark Yield in Two Months

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds fell as
investors shunned the lowest benchmark yield in two months on
anticipation interest rates will climb in the euro region.

Bonds also slid as a technical chart some investors use to
gauge price movements signaled recent gains have been too rapid.
Benchmark 10-year bunds headed for the first monthly advance in
five as widening losses on subprime mortgages, increased risk of
holding corporate debt and a slump in global stocks has drawn
investors to the relative safety of government securities.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

B/E Aerospace Q2 profit jumps

(Reuters) - Sales rose 46.7 percent to $398.2 million.




The company raised its outlook for 2007 profit per share by
2 cents to $1.57, and that for 2008 to about $2.25 from roughly
$2 earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Templeton Raises PetroChina Stake After Buffett's Berkshire Pares Holdings

(Bloomberg) -- Templeton Asset Management Ltd., an
investment company run by Mark Mobius, paid HK$475.9 million ($59
million) to increase its stake in PetroChina Co. two weeks after
billionaire Warren Buffett pared his holdings.

Templeton bought 39.3 million shares at an average HK$12.109
on July 26, Hong Kong stock exchange filings show. The investment
company is the third-largest investor in PetroChina after
increasing its share of the stock not owned by the Chinese
government to 5.14 percent from 4.9 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Philippine Bonds Advance on Success of Retail Note Sale; Peso Strengthens

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine bonds rose on optimism
demand at a government sale of retail notes will allow it cancel
more debt offerings, increasing the allure of already issued
securities. The peso gained.

Ten-year bonds advanced for a second day as sales of the
three- and five-year notes aimed at individual buyers exceeded
70 billion pesos ($1.5 billion), or almost 10 times more than
the original amount on offer, according to an executive at one
of the deal's arrangers.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Richard Ellis, Glaxo, MGIC, Mosaic, Sun Micro, Wendy's: U.S. Stock Preview

(Bloomberg) -- This is a list of companies whose
shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges today.
This preview includes news that broke after exchanges closed
yesterday. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. (CBG US) rose $2.85, or 8.1
percent, to $38.25 in trading after the official close of U.S.
exchanges. The largest commercial real-estate broker by market
value boosted its 2007 forecast, saying it expects earnings to
grow by 50 percent from a year earlier.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Asian Currencies Rebound as Rally in Stocks Boosts Investor Risk Appetite

(Bloomberg) -- Asian currencies rose as the biggest
gain in more than two weeks for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index
of stocks fed through to regional equities.

The Philippine peso and Indonesian rupiah led the advance as
the countries' respective share indexes climbed about 1 percent.
The rebound in global stocks gave investors confidence to put
money back into emerging markets, where the difference in bond
yields over Treasuries narrowed from the widest in a year.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Thailand's Inflation Rate May Fall to Three-Year Low on Consumer Spending

(Bloomberg) -- Thailand's inflation rate probably
held at a three-year low in July as the weakest consumer
confidence in five years curtailed spending.

Consumer prices rose 1.8 percent from a year earlier, after
increasing 1.9 percent in May and June, based on the median of
14 economists' estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The Commerce
Ministry report is due Aug. 1 at 11:30 a.m. in Bangkok. April's
1.8 percent pace was the slowest in three years.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 1-Teck Cominco profit falls on lower coal prices

(Reuters) - Teck earned C$485 million, or C$1.14 per basic share, in
the quarter, down from C$613 million, or C$1.48 per basic
share, in the comparable quarter a year earlier.




Teck is in the midst of attempting to acquire copper miner
Aur Resources for C$4 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Asian Stocks Rise, Set to Post Longest Monthly Winning Streak in 20 Years

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose as higher earnings
from companies including Olympus Corp. helped the region's
benchmark post its longest monthly winning streak in 20 years.

BHP Billiton led gains by mining companies on speculation
profits will rise along with metals prices. Disappointing earnings
from Kyocera Corp. and Kookmin Bank capped today's advance.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Codelco Contract Workers to Vote on New Agreement, May End Six-Week Strike

(Bloomberg) -- Contract workers at Codelco, the
world's biggest copper producer, plan to vote today on whether to
end a strike in its sixth week.

Codelco, owned by the Chilean government, met today for
negotiations with representatives of the Confederation of Copper
Workers, which organized the strike, said Cristian Cuevas,
president of the confederation.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

UPDATE 1-FBI searches home of Alaska Sen. Stevens

(Reuters) - ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 30 - The FBI and IRS have
searched the home of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens in a ski
resort in Alaska as part of an investigation into his links
with an oil-services company, officials said on Monday.




"All I can really say is we are conducting a search at the
residence. We can't go any deeper into detail than that," said
Dave Heller, spokesman for the FBI in Anchorage.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Medicare tightens reimbursement for anemia drugs

(Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration in March slapped its strongest warning on the label of Aranesp and similar anemia drugs, calling on doctors to use the lowest dose that can effectively avoid the need for blood transfusions.




The new CMS reimbursement rules stipulate that cancer patients receiving chemotherapy should only initiate use of the medicines if their levels of hemoglobin -- the oxygen-carrying part of red blood cells -- fall below 10 milligrams per deciliter. They also limit the duration of EPO therapy to a maximum of eight weeks after completion of chemotherapy.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

TEXT-PBL venture to issue $250 mln exchangeable bonds

(Reuters) - The SPV has entered into a subscription agreement with
Merrill Lynch International on completion of which Merrill
Lynch will subscribe for the Exchangeable Bonds. Completion of
the subscription agreement is subject to the satisfaction
and/or waiver of certain conditions precedent. In addition, the
subscription agreement may be terminated under certain
circumstances.




The issue date for the Exchangeable Bonds is expected to be
on or about 30 August 2007.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 2-CB Richard Ellis second-quarter earnings soar

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 30 - CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.
, the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage,
said on Monday its net income rose 119 percent on acquisitions
and strong demand for commercial real estate, and the company
raised its forecast.




CB Richard Ellis posted a second-quarter net profit of
$141.1 million, or 59 cents per share, compared with $64.3
million, or 27 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Skilled Healthcare to buy nursing facilities in New Mexico

(Reuters) - The acquisition is expected to modestly add to earnings per
share for the remainder of this year, the nursing home owner
said in a statement.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Ingersoll-Rand shares jump on Bobcat sale price

(Reuters) - Ingersoll said on Sunday it had agreed to sell the Bobcat
division and two other units to South Korea's Doosan Infracore
for $4.9 billion, marking the biggest-ever foreign
acquisition by a South Korean company.




The Bobcat division and its utility equipment and
attachment units generated $2.6 billion in sales last year,
accounting for about 23 percent of Ingersoll-Rand's total 2006
revenue.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

New Zealand Dollar Snaps Four-Day Drop as Stocks Rebound Spurs Risk Demand

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar rebounded
from four days of declines as a recovery in U.S. stocks gave
investors confidence to return to riskier assets such as the
carry trade.

The trade, where investors borrow cheaply in yen to buy
higher yielding assets, has helped the currency, known as the
kiwi, gain 24 percent against the dollar and 29 percent versus
the yen over the past 12 months. New Zealand's record 8.25
percent benchmark interest rate, which is 7.75 percentage points
higher than Japan's, lures investors to the returns offered by
the country's fixed-income assets.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

TREASURIES-Bond prices slip as U.S. stocks rebound

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 30 - U.S. Treasury debt prices
fell on Monday as investors took their cue from a rebounding
stock market to sell debt and take back some gains from a bond
rally last week.




Benchmark Treasury yields reached two-month lows last week
as bond prices rose on tumbling stocks and investor concerns
over reduced access to credit.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Texas Roadhouse quarterly net income rises

(Reuters) - The company posted second-quarter earnings of $9.3 million,
or 12 cents a share, compared with $8.8 million, or 12 cents a
share, last year.




Total revenue was $181 million for the period, compared
with $146.7 million last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

China's Stocks Advance for Seventh Day, Led by Shares of Builders, Banks

(Bloomberg) -- China's stocks rose for a seventh
day. China Vanke Co. led developers and banks higher on
speculation U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may convince
the Chinese government to allow the yuan's gains to accelerate.

``A stronger yuan will boost profits at banks and
developers'' as investors are drawn to local assets, said Zheng
Tuo, who manages the equivalent of $790 million at Bank of
Communications Schroder Fund Management Co. in Shanghai.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sun Microsystems posts 4th-qtr profit as costs fall

(Reuters) - Sun, which returned to profit in the second and third quarters after five consecutive quarterly losses, has tried to stage a recovery by revamping its product line, selling servers powered by chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Intel Corp. , among other moves. The company last year announced about 5,000 job cuts to reduce costs.




Shares of Sun, which also sells workstations, software, storage and services, have fallen 9.2 percent this year, as of Friday's close.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Canada pension board confirms stake in TSX rival

(Reuters) - The board, the investment arm of Canada's second-largest
pension plan, is the only "buy-side" investor involved in
Alpha, a new automated trading system being formed by
seven of the country's biggest investment dealers.




Donald Raymond, senior vice-president of public market
investments at the board, said the purchase is both a straight
investment on which it expects to get good returns but also a
strategic investment and a way to cut trading costs.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Critics of new Alaska oil tax call for revamp

(Reuters) - Some Alaska lawmakers say the tax system, which charges against the net profits oil companies make in Alaska instead of their overall production, cheats the state out of around $1 billion per year and may have been the product of corruption.




"This issue is also one of sovereignty," said state Rep. Les Gara, an Anchorage Democrat and longtime critic of the new tax system. "By letting the companies manipulate their profit numbers, you let them control the amount they can skate on in terms of tax payments."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Pimco's Gross, a Bear on Company Debt, Buys Shares of Pimco Corporate Fund

(Bloomberg) -- Bill Gross, manager of the world's
largest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., invested
$1.5 million in a Pimco corporate debt fund after the shares fell
to the lowest since its inception five years ago.

Gross bought 4,900 shares in the Pimco Corporate Opportunity
Fund at $13.80, 50,000 shares at $13.85 and another 50,000 at
$13.90 on July 25, according to a filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 2-DynCorp posts Q1 profit, shares fall on contract fears

(Reuters) - The U.S. Government Accountability Office is reviewing a
$4.6 billion Army linguistics contract awarded to a DynCorp
joint venture, after the current holder of the contract, L-3
Communications Holdings challenged the award.




"Investors are missing the big picture, that in the end,
DynCorp has a very good chance of winning this award," Stanford
Group analyst Erik Olbeter said.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Iceland's Krona Declines as Investors Shun Highest-Yielding Currencies

(Bloomberg) -- The Icelandic krona fell for a fourth
day against the dollar as risk-averse investors cut their
positions in the so-called carry trade.

The krona is the fourth worst-performer over the past five
days, shedding 4 percent of its value, as investors unwound
trades where they'd bought the currency to take advantage of the
second-highest interest rates of industrialized economies.
Investors pulled out of riskier investments on concern losses on
U.S. subprime mortgages may spread to the global economy.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-S&P raises Morgan Stanley debt rating to "AA-minus"

(Reuters) - S&P raised Morgan Stanley's senior unsecured debt rating to
"AA-minus," the fourth-highest investment grade rating, from
"A-plus."




The rating agency also changed Morgan Stanley's outlook to
stable from positive, which means no other rating changes are
expected in the next two years.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canadian Stocks Rebound From Biggest Weekly Loss in 6 Years; Barrick Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose after investors
speculated that the biggest weekly sell-off in almost six years
was overdone given that demand for commodities may keep boosting
prices and earnings, and trigger more takeovers.

Barrick Gold Corp. paced gains in raw-material shares, which
had among the biggest declines last week, on higher prices for
bullion and natural gas. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. led
industrial companies higher.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

S&P raises Morgan Stanley debt rating to "AA-minus"

(Reuters) - The rating agency also changed Morgan Stanley's outlook to
stable from positive, which means no other rating changes are
expected in the next two years.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Murdoch unlikely to stick to Dow Jones bid

(Reuters) - Dow Jones' Bancroft family, which controls 64 percent of the company's voting shares, has been asked to decide by the end of Monday whether to support the deal.



Family members holding about 28 percent of Dow Jones' overall voting power had indicated their support for the deal as of late Sunday, the company's Wall Street Journal newspaper reported.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Crescent Capital plans to buy Cowlitz Bancorp. for $15/shr

(Reuters) - Crescent Capital, which reported about 9.8 percent stake in
Cowlitz as of July 27, said following the deal, Crescent's
Steven Wasson would become the chief executive officer of
Cowlitz.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

S.Africa antitrust body says MTN overcharged Cell C

(Reuters) - South Africa's Competition Commission said on Monday mobile operator MTN had discriminated against rival Cell C by charging it higher interconnect fees than competitor Vodacom in some areas.

The Commission said MTN's pricing was uncompetitive but referred the long-running dispute between the two firms to the Competition Tribunal, which has the final say on antitrust issues.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Exxon Says Operations at U.K.'s Fawley Refinery Are Resuming After Fire

(Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. said refining
operations are resuming at its 300,000 barrel-a-day refinery at
Fawley, the U.K.'s largest, after a fire at one of the steam
units halted operations on July 25.

``The refinery is continuing to restart operations at this
time,'' said spokeswoman Sophie Foale in a telephone interview
today. ``We aim to bring the refinery up as safely as possible.''
She gave no timetable for its return to full production.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

European Government Bonds Advance as Subprime Losses Spread Beyond U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds rose for a
fifth day, pushing 10-year yields to the lowest in more than two
months, as the risk of owning corporate debt soared to a record.

Benchmark bunds headed for their longest run of gains since
March as Germany's IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG said it had
losses on U.S. subprime mortgages. Investors sold company debt
in favor of safer government securities as IKB's report added to
signs that the U.S. subprime debacle is spreading.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Egypt's indexes decline with weight of OT and OCI

(Reuters) - Main Egyptian stock indexes fell for the second consecutive day on Monday led by declines in Egyptian blue chips including Orascom Telecom and Orascom Construction Industries, dealers said.

They said investor sentiments over sharp declines in global markets drove the selling of Egyptian shares.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-BofA hikes equity allocation by 5 pct

(Reuters) - The brokerage cut its bond weightage by 5 percent to fund
the hike, and said bond positions should be protected against
rising inflation expectations, BofA's Thomas McManus said in a
note to investors.




The brokerage was utilizing Treasury inflation-protected
securities for this purpose, he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News