European Government Bonds Post Weekly Gain on Subprime Mortgage Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds posted
their biggest weekly gain in more than four months after concern
about the U.S. subprime mortgage sector crimped demand for
riskier assets.

Government debt advanced after Moody's Investors Service
lowered ratings on $5.2 billion of bonds backed by U.S. subprime
mortgages and Standard & Poor's said it may cut credit ratings on
$7.4 billion of similar debt. Bunds extended their rally
yesterday after a U.S. report showed retail sales fell more than
expected last month, stoking concern about an economic slowdown.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Whole Foods CEO's message posts trouble experts

(Reuters) - The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on Friday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an informal probe of Mackey's postings, in a sign the issue will not go away any time soon.




A Whole Foods spokeswoman said the company had not been contacted by the SEC and was unable to comment on the report in the journal's online edition.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-SEC probing Whole Foods CEO's Web postings--WSJ

(Reuters) - Citing people familiar with the matter, the report said the
SEC is likely to look into whether Mackey disclosed material
corporate information during his roughly eight years of
postings, violating a 2000 law designed that prevents
executives from sharing information with favored clients or
analysts.




SEC officials were not immediately available for comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Lead Rises to Record as Australia Pollution Probe May Further Curb Output

(Bloomberg) -- Lead rose to a record in London for
a third consecutive day on speculation an expanded inquiry into
contamination at Australian ports will exacerbate a shortage of
the metal. Copper also gained.

Western Australia state will assess pollution at seven
ports after lead was detected in tests at Derby and Geraldton,
the state's Department of Environment said yesterday. Shipments
of raw material containing the metal used in batteries had
already been suspended from the port of Esperance.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

DEALTALK-Sallie deal may yet go ahead, but price could fall

(Reuters) - Sallie Mae said on Wednesday a group of private equity firms and banks threatened to scuttle their buyout of the company, blaming proposed legislation to cut government subsidies to student lenders.




The deal has a break-up fee of $900 million, but if the buyers could prove the legislation has a "material adverse impact" on the transaction, they would not have to pay the fee.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Icahn takes stake in Kraft Foods - WSJ

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 13 - Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has taken a stake in Kraft Foods Inc. , according to the online version of The Wall Street Journal.



The story did not make clear how much of a stake Icahn has taken or when he bought the shares, but it did say he was not seeking radical changes, as he has at other companies in which he has invested.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-OFHEO-Fannie, Freddie must avoid some subprime loans

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 13 - The regulator for mortgage
finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
said on Friday it had told them not to buy mortgages that do
not conform to consumer protection standards set by bank
supervisors.




The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight told the
companies to avoid loans that do not meet standards set by bank
regulators in recent notices aimed at curbing dangerous
subprime loans to borrowers with damaged credit.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Dow up with GE, S&P 500 near record

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 13 - U.S. blue-chip stocks rose on
Friday, lifting the Dow to a record, as General Electric Co
increased a stock buyback plan and a report showed
consumer sentiment rose in early July.




The broad Standard & Poor's 500 stock index came to within
a point of its all-time high, a day after a market rally in
which the Dow notched its biggest one-day points-gain in more
than four years.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Conrad Black found guilty of criminal fraud

(Reuters) - The three men on trial with the 62-year-old member of Britain's House of Lords were also found guilty of multiple fraud counts.




Black, who was found guilty of four of 13 charges, faces decades in prison and millions in fines.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TIMELINE: Events before and after Conrad Black's trial

(Reuters) - -- 1967 - Black buys a half interest in two Quebec weeklies for C$500. In 1969, he and former partner David Radler buy the Sherbrooke Record, his first daily newspaper, in Quebec.




-- 1985 - Black buys stake in London's Daily Telegraph. In 1989, he buys controlling interest in Jerusalem Post and in 1998 he publishes the National Post.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Moroccan property firm CGI plans $430 mln IPO

(Reuters) - Moroccan property company Compagnie Generale Immobiliere (CGI) aims to raise as much as $430 million in one of the biggest initial public offerings of recent years on the Casablanca stock market.

CGI, a subsidiary of state investment firm CDG, specialises in developing and commercialising high-profile urban development projects including apartment blocks, offices, hospitals and leisure centres.


Read more at Reuters Africa

FACTBOX: Key facts about Conrad Black

(Reuters) - * In 1994 Black marries British-Canadian journalist Barbara Amiel. Beginning in the 1990s Black and partner David Radler start to reduce debt by selling off the media empire they built and controlled at Hollinger International Inc. in deals worth billions of dollars.




* In June 2001, Black is forced to renounce his Canadian citizenship so he can accept a lifetime seat in Britain's House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour, named for the London neighborhood near the Daily Telegraph building, an honor that traditionally goes to the paper's owner.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dresdner Kleinwort Hires Tezel for Emerging Markets Forwards for Asia

(Bloomberg) -- Dresdner Kleinwort, the investment
banking arm of Dresdner Bank AG, named Murat Tezel responsible
for the trading of emerging market non-deliverable currency
forwards across Asia.

Tezel, who joins from ABN Amro Holding NV in Chicago, will
serve as director of foreign exchange and local markets in New
York, the London and Frankfurt-based bank said in a statement
today. He'll report to Joe Craven, head of foreign exchange and
local markets trading and sales in North America, and to Paul
Moore, global head of local markets trading.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

US STOCKS-Blue chips rise further on consumer sentiment

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was up 19.35
points, or 0.14 percent, at 13,881.08. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was up 0.71 point, or 0.05 percent, at
1,548.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.60
points, or 0.17 percent, at 2,697.13.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-U.S. May business inventories up 0.5 pct

(Reuters) - The increase in stocks on hand in May came after a 0.4
percent gain in April and will likely add to expectations on
Wall Street that the economy will see better growth in the
second quarter. Businesses held back production in the first
quarter to reduce stockpiles.




Financial markets were expecting a 0.3 percent rise in
May. In the report, retail inventories advanced by 0.6 percent
in May, the biggest gain since June of last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Gazprom to Sell Dollar Bonds After Investor Meeting Next Week, Person Says

(Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural-gas
export monopoly, will sell bonds in dollars to international
investors this month, said a person involved in the transaction.

The company will next week start presentations to investors
in the U.S. and Europe, said the person, who declined to be
identified because the terms haven't been set.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Canada Stocks Gain on Alcan Takeover Offer, as Oil Shares, Suncor Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose for fourth time
five days, extending the main equity benchmark's record reached
yesterday on optimism that demand for resources will remain strong
and that there will be more takeovers after Rio Tinto Group agreed
to pay $38.1 billion for Alcan Inc.

Energy companies paced gains in the market as crude oil price
increased. Suncor Energy Inc. had the best advance among oil and
gas shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Dresdner Kleinwort Names Tezel Head of Emerging Markets Forwards for Asia

(Bloomberg) -- Dresdner Kleinwort, the investment
banking arm of Dresdner Bank AG, named Murat Tezel to oversee
the trading of emerging market non-deliverable currency forwards
across Asia.

Tezel, who joins from ABN Amro Holding NV in Chicago, will
serve as director of foreign exchange and local markets in New
York, the London and Frankfurt-based bank said in a statement
today. He'll report to Joe Craven, head of foreign exchange and
local markets trading and sales in North America and Europe, and
to Paul Moore, global head of local markets trading.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Blackstone partners may avoid tax on IPO gain

(Reuters) - The company expects these benefits to total $863.7 million over 15 years, the filing said.




The New York Times, which first reported the plan on Friday, said Blackstone partners will get back about $200 million more than the $553 million they paid in tax payments. The Times did not explain how it arrived at those calculations.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

European Bonds Climb as Slide in U.S. Retail Sales Revives Growth Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds rose after
a U.S. report showed retail sales fell more than expected last
month, raising concern an economic slowdown is worsening.

Bonds have climbed around the world this week after
Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service warned about the
credit quality of U.S. subprime mortgages. German bunds pared
those gains earlier today following a rebound in stock markets.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Shaw reports lower third-quarter profit

(Reuters) - Shaw said it earned C$91.7 million , or 42
Canadian cents per share, in the three months ended May 31.
That was down from a profit of C$126.4 million, or 58 Canadian
cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.




Excluding non-operating items, Shaw said net income was
C$86.2 million compared to $63.9 million for the year-prior
quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Alcan, CanWest, Enbridge, Opti Canada, St. Lawrence: Canada Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in Canadian markets
today. This preview includes news that broke after markets closed
yesterday. Symbols are in parentheses after company names and
prices are from the last close.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 189.91, or 1.3
percent, to a record 14,356 yesterday in Toronto. The benchmark has
climbed 1.7 percent since July 7 and would post back-to-back weekly
gains if it closes at this level.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-GE profit up 9.6 percent, to exit subprime

(Reuters) - BOSTON, July 13 - General Electric Co. posted a 9.6 percent rise in quarterly profit Friday on good results in its commercial finance business and strong demand for products ranging from jet engines to gas turbines.



The company also said it had decided to exit the subprime lending business, where it recorded a loss in the quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dyax to offer 10.5 million shares at $3.67/shr

(Reuters) - The biopharmaceutical company said the offering was increased from the previous 9.5 million shares announced on July 9.



Dyax said it plans to give underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to about 1.6 million shares at the public offer price to cover over-allotments, if any.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Currency Options Suggest Euro's Record Rally Versus Dollar to Accelerate

(Bloomberg) -- Currency options are suggesting that
euro will continue to strengthen to record highs against the
dollar as concern lingers that losses on debt backed by U.S.
subprime mortgages will slow the U.S. economy.

Premiums on options that grant the right to buy the 13-
nation common currency versus those giving the right to sell
jumped to the highest since April 26.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Central African's $1.92 Billion Katanga Bid Opposed by Congo's Gecamines

(Bloomberg) -- Gecamines, the Democratic Republic
of Congo's state-owned mining company, said it opposes Central
African Mining & Exploration Co.'s 943 million-pound ($1.92
billion) bid for copper and cobalt producer Katanga Mining Ltd.

Gecamines owns 25 percent of a planned mining venture with
Toronto-based Katanga and is concerned that the project won't go
ahead if the takeover is completed, Victor Kasongo, Congo's vice
minister of mines, said today in an interview from Kinshasa,
Congo's capital.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Alexander Forbes to delist from JSE on July 27

(Reuters) - South African financial services group Alexander Forbes will delist from the JSE Securities Exchange on July 27 after a court approved its 8.2 billion rand buyout by a private equity consortium, it said on Friday.

Alexander Forbes said in a statement the acquisition will become operative on July 26 and its listing on the Johannesburg bourse will be terminated on July 27.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Takeda/Sucampo seek wider use of constipation drug

(Reuters) - Sucampo, which is not listed, and Takeda, Japan's biggest
drugmaker, co-market the drug in the United States.




The filing is for a lower strength version of Amitiza, which
is known generically as lubiprostone.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Turkish Bonds Rise After Central Bank Signals Rate Cut in Last Quarter

(Bloomberg) -- Turkish bonds rose, pushing yields on
lira-denominated debt to their lowest in 13 months after the
central bank said it may start a ``measured'' lowering of interest
rates from October.

Yields fell 16 basis points to 17.66 percent at 11:24 a.m. in
Istanbul, according to ABN Amro benchmark prices. The central bank
kept rates at a 2 1/2-year high of 17.5 percent for the 12th
consecutive month at a monetary policy meeting yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 1-Stake in Turkcell placed at 8.60 lira/shr-traders

(Reuters) - The sale price represents a 7 percent discount to the
closing price on Tuesday, the day before one of Turkcell's main
shareholders, Cukurova, said it was selling the stake via an
accelerated book building.




The stock fell 6 percent on Wednesday after the sale was
announced and at 0804 GMT on Friday stood 2.3 percent higher at
9.00 lira a share, outperforming the main Istanbul index
.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Rand seen holding gains versus dollar

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand opened steady against the dollar on Friday and should hold onto the previous day's gains, barring any bad news for emerging markets, traders said.

At 0655 GMT the rand was trading at 6.9580 per dollar, little changed from its strong closing levels of 6.9575 in New York which were spurred by Thursday's gains on Wall Street.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Stocks Advance, Led by ASML, STMicroelectronics, Rio Tinto

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks climbed for a second
day, led by ASML Holding NV and STMicroelectronics NV after
Samsung Electronics Co., Asia's largest maker of semiconductors,
reported earnings that topped analysts' estimates.

Rio Tinto Group advanced after the mining company's bid for
Alcan Inc. forced Alcoa Inc. to withdraw its hostile bid.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News