RPT-UPDATE 1-Venezuela says some oil majors reject takeovers

(Reuters) - CARACAS, June 22 - Some oil majors have rejected
Venezuela's terms for the takeover of their multi-billion
dollar projects and can leave the OPEC nation, President Hugo
Chavez said on Friday, days before a deadline for them to
strike nationalization deals.




Exxon Mobil , ConocoPhillips , Chevron Corp.
, Norway's Statoil , Britain's BP Plc and
France's Total are the targeted companies in projects
valued above $30 billion and capable of producing 600,000
barrels per day.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-SandRidge Energy files for $690 million IPO

(Reuters) - The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based company said in a filing
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Lehman
Brothers, Goldman Sachs & Co., and Banc of America Securities
were underwriting the IPO.




The filing did not detail how many shares the company plans
to sell or an expected price, as that information is usually
disclosed in future filings.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Mexico stocks and peso lose ground; Walmex dips

(Reuters) - Currency traders said woes about the struggling U.S.
subprime lending market were hurting the peso as investors
unloaded some emerging markets assets.




"Worries about high-risk U.S. mortgages ... could be
influencing the peso," said Mario Copca, a currency strategist
at MetAnalisis.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Macy's shares rise on takeover talk

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 22 - Shares of Macy's Inc.
rose as much as 10 percent on Friday and its options volume
surged on speculation that the retailer, whose same-store sales
have been disappointing in recent months, was ripe for a
takeover.




The company's shares jumped to $43.11, before closing up
$2.56, or 7 percent, at $41.43 in very active trading on the
New York Stock Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Bear Stearns ratings stable despite hedge fund woes

(Reuters) - Bear Stearns said it would provide up to $3.2 billion in financing for a struggling hedge fund it manages. But sources said a second fund is still working out a restructuring plan with creditors. For details, see




Bear Stearns, the fifth-largest U.S. investment bank, has held tense negotiations with creditors for more than a week after two funds suffered big losses from bad investments in securities linked to subprime mortgages and other forms of debt.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Bear Stearns ratings unaffected by financing: report

(Reuters) - Fitch has an issuer default rating on Bear Stearns of "A-plus," the fifth highest investment grade ranking.




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Mexico April retail sales rise 0.7 pct

(Reuters) - Wholesale sales, often an indicator of future retail sales
performance, were up 3.1 percent compared with April of last
year.




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Jones Apparel to sell Barneys: sources

(Reuters) - Jones Apparel did not immediately return a call seeking comment. A spokeswoman for Istithmar in Dubai declined to comment, saying that Friday was a day of prayer and rest in Dubai.




A sale of Barneys would unwind one of the biggest moves made by Jones Apparel's Chief Executive Peter Boneparth.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

House Democrats challenge private equity pay

(Reuters) - Throwing down a challenge to some of the nation's savviest and richest financiers, the bill would set a higher tax rate for "carried interest," the 20-percent cut of profits beyond targeted returns typically kept by senior managers of private equity firms and other firms on major transactions.




The bill, introduced with the backing of two senior Democratic committee chairmen, ratcheted up a confrontation between Congress and the booming private equity sector, a driving force behind a global surge in corporate buyouts.


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U.S. company says grows embryo-safe stem cells

(Reuters) - They said they had grown several lines, or batches, of the cells using a single cell taken from an embryo, which they then froze unharmed.




"We generated three new lines," Dr. Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology Inc. told Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Senate leader wants to revive energy tax package

(Reuters) - Late on Thursday, the Senate passed an energy bill that would raise the country's automobile fuel efficiency standards for the first time in 30 years and mandate a four-fold increase in ethanol use by 2022.




But the Senate dropped $32 billion in clean-energy incentives after Republicans objected to about $29 billion in extra taxes on big U.S. oil companies.


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TREASURIES-Bonds gain on stock fall, subprime worries

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 22 - U.S. Treasury debt prices
rose on Friday, halting a two-day decline, as jittery investors
bailed out of stocks and moved into bonds amid fears over the
subprime mortgage problems rippling across financial markets.




Investors were also turning cautious head of Federal
Reserve policy meeting next week. Wall Street widely expects
the Fed to leave the key federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25
percent, but signs of reviving economic growth are expected to
keep inflation the predominant issue for policy-makers.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 2-Colombia 1st-qtr GDP soars 8 percent vs year ago

(Reuters) - The quarterly figure represents the gross domestic product
without including growth from illicit drug crop cultivation.
With that data, the growth was 7.98 percent, according to the
DANE government statistics agency.




Construction for the first three months of the year
expanded 28.27 percent, industrial manufacturing grew 14.59
percent and the commercial, hotel and restaurant sector grew
11.15 percent, the DANE said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

U.S. House bill targets carried interest taxes

(Reuters) - "Investment fund employees should not pay a lower rate of
tax on their compensation for services than other Americans,"
Levin said in a statement. "These investment managers are being
paid to provide a service to their limited partners and
fairness requires they be taxed at the rates applicable to
service income just as any other American worker."




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Bear Stearns bails out hedge fund

(Reuters) - The move should stabilize one of a pair of funds whose
difficulties have roiled credit markets and pulled down Bear's
share price.




Bear said it provided secured financing to the High Grade
Structured Credit Strategies Fund, which, according to a source
familiar with the matter, was down about 5 percent through
April.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bear Stearns says bails out hedge fund

(Reuters) - A sister fund, High Grade Structured Credit Strategies
Enhanced Leverage Fund, was down 23 percent for the year by the
end of April. Bear Stearns is still trying to negotiate a
recapitalization for that fund.





Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Apple now third largest music retailer: survey

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc. dropped to fourth with a 6.7 percent share.




NPD said iTunes digital music store had benefited from high iPod sales during the holiday season. The vast majority of digital songs and albums bought on iTunes will only play on iPods as well as the iTunes application.


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Gazprom Neft to get 75 pct of Chevron JV-report

(Reuters) - Gazprom Neft now has only 30 percent of the Northern Taiga
NefteGaz venture, set up at the start of this year with the aim
of producing hydrocarbons in West Siberia.




Gazprom Neft already said it had agreed with Chevron that it
would raise its stake to over 50 percent, but at the outset
Chevron had contributed more to the JV so it had a bigger share.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Emerging-Market Bonds Fall as Hedge Fund Losses Curb Demand for Securities

(Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market bonds fell on concern
losses at Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds may reduce demand for the
riskier securities sold by developing nations.

Bear Stearns is proposing a $3.2 billion bailout of a money-
losing hedge fund to prevent creditors from seizing assets,
people with knowledge of the plan said. The fund made bad bets on
so-called collateralized-debt obligations. Asset seizures may
trigger billions of dollars in losses for investors including
hedge funds, pension funds and foreign banks.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Copper Rises in New York on Drop in Global Inventories, Threatened Strikes

(Bloomberg) -- Copper rose in New York as global
inventories declined and workers in Chile and Peru threatened
strikes that might disrupt supplies.

Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange, the
world's biggest metals market, fell 1.5 percent and Shanghai
inventories slumped 3.8 percent, the exchanges said today.
Copper, used in pipes and wiring, has climbed 19 percent this
year on possible mining strikes and surging demand.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Unions say no deal on S.Africa public servant strike

(Reuters) - South Africa's COSATU labour federation said on Friday negotiators had failed to reach a deal with the government to end a three-week public servants' strike.

"The majority of Public Service unions ... agreed that they cannot at this stage sign any agreement with the employer," the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said in a statement following talks with government representatives.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Nymex Gasoline Price Advances as Refinery Production Declines Below Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Gasoline futures rose for a second
day on concern refineries aren't making enough of the fuel to
meet summer driving demand.

Demand for gasoline rose 104,000 barrels a day last week
and production rose 2,000 barrels a day, a U.S. Energy
Department report on June 20 showed. Refineries used 87.6
percent of their capacity last week, down 1.6 percentage points
from the previous week.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-ICE to buy Winnipeg Commodity Exchange for C$40 mln

(Reuters) - The 120-year-old WCE, known for its flagship canola contract, had said
in April it hired an investment bank to look at its options because of
global consolidations among exchanges.




The deal, which ICE expects to close in the third quarter, must be
approved by two-thirds of the Winnipeg exchange's shareholders, the
majority of which are grain companies, the WCE said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Novartis gets U.S. FDA OK for gum to help quit smoking

(Reuters) - The strong mint-flavored nicotine replacement gum, Thrive, will be available in the market late 2007, the company said in a statement.



According to the Centers for Disease Control, smoking-related diseases claim the lives of an estimated 438,000 Americans each year, costing the U.S. more than $167 billion in health care and lost productivity expenses annually, the statement said.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

TREASURIES-Bonds mostly flat amid rate, fund worries

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 22 - U.S. government debt prices
were mostly flat on Friday, with most players moving to the
sidelines amid concerns about hedge funds and rising global
interest rates.




Investors also became cautious ahead of next week's Federal
Reserve policy meeting. Wall Street widely expects the Fed to
leave the key federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25 percent, but
signs of reviving economic growth are expected to keep
inflation the predominant issue for policy-makers.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

KKR planning an initial public offering: reports

(Reuters) - KKR declined to comment.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

EU experts back 8 new drugs, 3 biosimilars

(Reuters) - It also recommended Novartis AG's Rasilez,
Enviage, Sprimeo, Tekturna and Riprazo for hypertension and
three biosimilar medicines -- Binocrit from Sandoz GmbH, Epoetin
alfa Hexal from Hexal Biotech Forschungs GmbH, and Abseamed from
Medice Arzneimittel Pütter GMBH & Co.




Recommendations for marketing approval by the Committee for
Medicinal Products for Human Use are normally endorsed by the
European Commission within 90 days.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

LSE bids 1.6 bln euros for Borsa: sources

(Reuters) - The LSE bid, which Borsa Italiana will continue discussing on Friday, is mostly in shares with a small amount of cash, the sources said. It would see five board members in a new company from the Italian side and seven from London.




"Borsa's value is under 30 percent of the total of the two companies but the LSE is giving Borsa, which ends up under its control, a premium at the board level," one of the sources said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.K. FTSE 100 Stock Index Declines, Led by National Grid; Pearson Gains

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks dropped, sending the
benchmark FTSE 100 Index lower for a fifth consecutive day.
National Grid Plc paced the retreat after Goldman, Sachs & Co.
recommended selling shares in the natural-gas pipeline operator.

BHP Billiton Ltd. led mining companies lower as copper
prices declined in Asia.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

German Lawmakers Approve First Auctions of Carbon Dioxide Emission Permits

(Bloomberg) -- German lawmakers approved auctions
of carbon-dioxide emission permits, shrugging off complaints
from industry and utilities that the measure will send power
costs soaring.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition helped vote through a
law today allowing the sale of almost 10 percent of carbon-
dioxide permits. RWE AG, Germany's second-biggest utility, has
said it may need to spend an extra 410 million euros ($554
million) a year to buy certificates.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

ADM considering offer for Brazil's Cosan: report

(Reuters) - The company has not ruled out an outright purchase of Cosan , Brazil's largest sugar and ethanol producer, Mills told the Journal, without specifying how much ADM is willing to invest. The company could use Brazil as a production base for exports to the United States, according to the Journal.




An ADM spokesman in Decatur, Illinois was not immediately available to comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Yen falls, Ifo hurts European equities

(Reuters) - European stocks dropped into negative territory after
Germany's Ifo economic research institute said its business
climate index dropped to 107.0 from 108.6 a month earlier.
Economists polled by Reuter had forecast 108.4.




The report undermined a mild rally in stocks that followed
losses on Thursday driven by fears of higher interest rates and
worries about the impact of troubles at two hedge funds managed
by Bear Stearns.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Old Mutual upbeat on South Africa for medium term

(Reuters) - Insurer Old Mutual said on Friday that inflationary pressures could curb short-term economic momentum in South Africa, but that prospects for the country over the medium to long term remained excellent.

"In its chosen market segments, Old Mutual South Africa will compete through further expanding its distribution reach, introducing new era products and providing specialised asset management options for investors," the firm said in an investor presentation on its South African business.


Read more at Reuters Africa

BP Will Share Oil, Gas Discoveries With Libya, Libyan Official Ghanem Says

(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc, Europe's second-largest
petroleum company, and the Libyan government will share any oil
fields BP may find under an exploration accord signed with the
North African nation last month, a Libyan official said.

The agreement was initially announced as a ``natural-gas
cooperation accord'' during British Prime Minister Tony Blair's
visit to Libya on May 29. London-based BP committed to spend at
least $900 million on exploration works in offshore and onshore
plots that cover a total of 54,000 square kilometers (20,850
square miles), about the size of West Virginia.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

German DAX Benchmark Advances; MAN and Allianz Shares Pace the Gain

(Bloomberg) -- German stocks rose, led by MAN AG and
Allianz SE.

The DAX Index added 32.38 points, or 0.4 percent, to 7997.09
as of 9:21 a.m. in Frankfurt, headed for a 0.4 percent weekly
decline.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

D.Boerse says strategic focus is on organic growth

(Reuters) - The London Stock Exchange has said it is in merger
discussions with the Italian exchange, and NYSE Euronext
has also submitted a preliminary bid, according to the
Wall Street Journal. Some analysts have said Deutsche Boerse may
want to join the fray.




The only reference to exchange industry consolidation in
Deutsche Boerse's group strategy slides was its intention to
complete the agreed $2.8 billion takeover of U.S. International
Securities Exchange and integrate the ISE.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News