UPDATE 1-At American Home, it's one last day at the office

(Reuters) - MELVILLE, New York, Aug 3 - In some respects it
was a normal summer Friday in this Long Island hamlet roughly
50 miles east of Wall Street. The weather was hot, a bit
steamy. The weekend approached, and employees of American Home
Mortgage Investment Corp. awaited their paychecks.




What was different was that the checks would be their
last.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Alaska sets session to revisit disputed oil tax

(Reuters) - The Petroleum Profits Tax, enacted last year at the urging
of former Gov. Frank Murkowski, has proved less lucrative for
the state than advertised and has been clouded by revelations
about political corruption, Palin said at a Juneau news
conference.




"It's critical that state government restore public trust
in our oil and gas value system as soon as possible," Palin
said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Abengoa gets loans for 2 U.S. ethanol plants

(Reuters) - Abengoa operates four plants in the Midwest with a combined
capacity of approximately 198 million gallons per year. The
senior secured financing will support the construction of two
additional ethanol plants, each with a capacity of 88 million
gpy. The plants will be built in Colwich, Kansas, next to an
existing plant, and in West Franklin, Indiana.




Abengoa did not immediately return phone calls.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-FED FOCUS-October FOMC eyed for first rate cut

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, Aug 3 - A string of weak data and signs
of financial market stress have analysts guessing the U.S.
Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in October as price
pressures ease and economic growth slows.




Following a report on Friday that showed U.S. non-farm
payrolls expanded by a slim 92,000 workers last month, the
implied chances of an October rate cut rose to 100 percent from
60 percent on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Asian Stocks Fall in U.S. Trading on Economy Concern, Led by Telecom N.Z.

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell in U.S. trading,
posting their longest streak of weekly losses since September,
amid concern a housing slump may slow U.S. consumer spending.
Telecom Corp. of New Zealand slid after forecasting a drop in
earnings.

The Bank of New York Co.'s Asia ADR Index, tracking the
region's American depositary receipts, lost 2.3 percent to
158.70, completing the week down 3.7 percent. That's the
measure's third weekly decline.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Edwards calls for tougher scrutiny of imported toys

(Reuters) - The former North Carolina senator said the government should take steps to crack down on "unsafe trade," citing the recall on Wednesday of 1.5 million Chinese-made Fisher-Price toys.




"The recall of Fisher-Price toys highlights the need for smarter, safer trade and consumer protection policies in this country," Edwards said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

TREASURIES-Bond prices gain after soft jobs, services data

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. government debt prices
rose on Friday as soft data on the U.S. job market and services
sector spurred more bond investors' bets the Federal Reserve
may start cutting interest rates before year end.




U.S. stocks sagged partly on weak signals in the data,
helping to contributed to safe-haven bids for Treasuries, with
worries about riskier credit and the impact of subprime debt on
the financial sector resurfacing. Credit rating agency Standard
& Poor's cut Bear Stearns 's debt outlook, sending its
shares down.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canada dlr has become more resilient to risk-RBC

(Reuters) - When uncertainty over the U.S. economy -- where the bulk of
Canada's exports go -- or the global economic outlook
increased, the Canadian dollar would tend to drop as a flight
to quality would offer a boost to the U.S. dollar.




But David Watt, a senior currency strategist at RBC Capital
Markets, said the currency remains a pro-cyclical, commodity
sensitive currency, yet the U.S. greenback's tendency to rally
during periods of heightened risk has diminished.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Credit worries, economic data drag on Wall St

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks fell on Friday as
fears about mortgage losses intensified after a ratings agency
cut its outlook on Bear Stearns Cos.' debt, while data
suggested weakness in the economy.




Standard & Poor's said it cut its ratings outlook on
investment bank Bear Stearns to "negative" from "stable,",
indicating a greater chance of a downgrade over the next two
years. For details, see [ID:nN03300207].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

FED FOCUS-October FOMC being eyed for first rate cut

(Reuters) - Following a report on Friday that showed U.S. non-farm
payrolls expanded by a slim 92,000 workers last month, the
implied chances of an October rate cut, shown in interest rate
futures, hit almost 75 percent, the highest in three months.




Futures prices also show about a 50-percent chance the Fed
will cut rates twice by year-end.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TV journalist in affair with L.A. mayor keeps job

(Reuters) - In the latest twist of the scandal engulfing one of the most promising Latinos in U.S. politics, Mirthala Salinas, 35, was suspended without pay for two months at KVEA-TV Channel 52, the Telemundo network said late on Thursday.




Salinas and two executives were reprimanded after a three-week Telemundo inquiry found there had been a "flagrant violation" of ethical guidelines at KVEA, a leading Spanish-language news channel in a city where 46 percent of residents are Latino.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Stocks Retreat on Subprime Concern, Lower-Than-Forecast Jobs Growth

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks wiped out their gains for
the week after Bear Stearns Cos. had its credit-rating outlook
cut and concern grew the pace of takeovers may be reduced by bond
market losses.

Bear Stearns Cos. fell for the 14th time in 15 days after
Standard & Poor's said declining prices for mortgage-backed
securities may reduce earnings. Countrywide Financial Corp. and
CIT Group Inc. led financial shares to a year low after American
Home Mortgage Investment Corp. told staff it will shut down.
Network Appliance Inc. declined to the lowest since 2005 after
the data-storage computer maker's profit missed its forecast.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Jones Soda shares plunge after downbeat earnings

(Reuters) - But a delay in that launch hurt gross margin in the latest quarter, causing Jones to earn nil per share, below analysts' average view for a profit of 4 cents per share.




"We believe the weak second-quarter result will give bears added ammunition that concentrate case sales may never materialize to the company's expectations," wrote Stifel Nicolaus analyst Mark Swartzberg.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Bayou hedge fund investor lawsuit dismissed

(Reuters) - The suit alleging breach of fiduciary duty was filed in
2006 against advisor Hennessee Group by South Cherry Street
LLC, which invested $1.15 million into Bayou in 2003-2004 on
Hennessee's recommendation.




Bayou, which once managed over $400 million, collapsed in
2005 after the discovery of multiple frauds by its managers led
by Sam Israel III and Daniel Marino, both of whom later pleaded
guilty to various charges and await sentencing.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Japan's Bonds Advance on Speculation Mortgage Losses to Slow U.S. Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's five-year notes rose for a
fourth week on speculation losses tied to mortgages will slow
growth in the U.S., making it harder for the Bank of Japan to
raise interest rates this month.

Five-year notes completed the 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 it blocked
investors from pulling money out of a third.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

India HDFC to pick insurance partner in 2 wks-paper

(Reuters) - The shortlisted firms include U.S.-based Travelers and Australia's IAG Group and another U.S. company that was not named, the paper said without directly attributing the information to a source. HDFC had ruled out Germany's Ergo as a partner in its wholly owned HDFC Chubb General Insurance Co., although the two firms were still in talks, the newspaper said with no direct attribution to a source.



HDFC bought its partner Chubb Corp's 26 percent stake in the general insurance venture earlier this year after an uneasy relationship stalled growth.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

EU mergers and takeovers (Aug 3)

(Reuters) - APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS:




-- Saudi Arabian chemical company SABIC to buy GE
Plastics, a General Electric Co unit


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-RBS says "bemused" by ABN CEO's remarks on Fortis

(Reuters) - ABN's chief executive Rijkman Groenink was quoted as saying
"Fortis is paying too much for ABN AMRO" and its "shareholders
would be well advised to vote against the takeover" in the Dutch
newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad.




A spokeswoman for Fortis said the comments were "very
inappropriate" and "far from neutral".


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

EU clears SABIC's buy of GE Plastics

(Reuters) - GE Plastics, headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
employs 10,300 people in 60 countries and makes resins used in
products ranging from health care equipment to packaging for
consumer goods.




It has major factories in Indiana, New York, West Virginia
and Alabama. In 2006, the division's profit fell 22 percent to
$674 million on slightly higher revenue of $6.65 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 3-EU executive sees no pan-EU fallout from IKB

(Reuters) - BRUSSELS, Aug 3 - The European Commission is
monitoring closely the multi-billion euro rescue of Germany's
IKB bank but sees no pan-European implications from
the problem, the European Union's executive said on Friday.




Officials working for Internal Market Commissioner Charlie
McCreevy, the bloc's top financial regulator, and for Economic
and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, are studying
the situation at IKB, a Commission spokesman said.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Oil tumbles below $76 on U.S. economic data

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a report showing weaker-than-expected job growth last month was followed by a report of slowing service-sector growth, rattling investors already nervous about losses in the mortgage industry.




The U.S. service sector grew much more slowly in July, according to a report by the Institute for Supply Management.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Corrected: At American Home, it's one last day at the office

(Reuters) - What was different was that the checks would be their last.




One day earlier the mortgage lender said it would fire nearly 7,000 employees, an exclamation mark to one of the biggest and fastest corporate collapses in the U.S. housing downturn. Friday would be the last day.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Rand firm vs dollar, eyes Mboweni comments

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand was trading stronger early on Friday and could test its firmest levels of the week as markets eye U.S. payrolls data and comments by central bank Governor Tito Mboweni to parliament.

The domestic currency was changing hands at 7.05 to the dollar at 0630 GMT, versus its previous New York close of 7.09.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Barclays Kenya's pretax profit rises 17 pct

(Reuters) - Barclays Bank Kenya reported a 17 percent rise in pretax profits on Friday to 3.547 billion shillings for the first half of 2007 as new branches led to growth in its assets.

"This is a very good result ... mainly driven by a strong asset growth and a significantly improved credit risk profile," Charles Ongwae, the bank's director of finance and planning told an investor briefing.


Read more at Reuters Africa

US stock indexes flat after jobs data; ISM to come

(Reuters) - U S. stocks were little changed on Friday after a report showing weaker-than-expected job growth last month rattled investors already nervous about losses in the mortgage industry.

Investors were bracing for data on the vast U.S. services sector at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT).


Read more at Reuters Africa

Brazil's FIPE inflation slows to 0.27 pct in July

(Reuters) - Clothing prices fell 0.62 percent and transport costs
extended their drop to 0.38 percent after 0.16 percent the
previous month. Food prices rose the most, by 1.06 percent, but
much less than in June, when the rise was of 1.9 percent, due
to a seasonal decline in output of certain crops.




The Fipe index is closely watched by economists for trends
in Brazil's benchmark IPCA inflation index, which is used by
the central bank to set interest rates.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Canada 2007-08 budgets all in the black - report

(Reuters) - "Official projections put the 2007-08 federal and aggregate
provincial budget balances at $3 billion each,"
said Lovely.




"However, robust nominal income growth hints that planning
targets could again be too modest, particularly at the
provincial level, where fiscal results are traditionally more
tightly correlated with underlying economic conditions than at
the federal level."


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Tomkins profit up, sees tough H2 on US housing market

(Reuters) - "The weakness of the U.S. residential housing market has
been more significant than many had predicted ... The demand
from North American automotive original equipment manufacturers
also remains uncertain," it said in a statement.




"For the balance of the year the reported performance of the
group will reflect the lower level of activity in these two
principal markets and the continuing translation impact of the
U.S.dollar."


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Spain airline Vueling warns on 2007 core earnings

(Reuters) - Competitive pressures on fares and rising fuel prices led to
a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and aircraft rentals
of 7.76 million euros, compared with earnings of 7.38
million a year ago, it said.




The carrier said it expected sales to rise by 57 to 64
percent this year, with EBITDAR between 23 million and 42
million euros.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Tax rate takes bite out of Tim Hortons profit

(Reuters) - OTTAWA, Aug 3 - Coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons said on Friday that second-quarter profit fell 12 percent, despite higher revenue, because of a higher tax rate.



Spun off in March of 2006 from U.S. fast food chain Wendy's International , Tim Hortons said it earned C$67.2 million , or 36 Canadian cents a share. That is down from a profit of C$76.3 million, or 39 Canadian cents, in the year-before period.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Procter & Gamble profit rises, buybacks planned

(Reuters) - The company also said that its fiscal 2008 profit could come in below Wall Street's expectations.



Profit was $2.27 billion, or 67 cents per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended in June, up from $1.9 billion, or 55 cents per share, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Abe's Vision for `Beautiful Japan' Turns Ugly After Parliamentary Losses

(Bloomberg) -- Shinzo Abe's vision for a ``Beautiful
Japan'' has turned into a potentially ugly scenario for his
political future.

After losing control of the upper house of parliament in
elections July 29, Abe, 52, must ditch his plan to turn Japan
into a nation that's more assertive in international affairs,
proud of its traditions and loved by other countries, analysts
said. Now he must focus on the economy to ward off a move for an
early general election from the opposition Democratic Party of
Japan.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Doomsday Simulations Help U.S. Gird for Hurricanes, Pandemics, Terrorism

(Bloomberg) -- The computer screen shows a toxic
cloud rolling slowly over buildings, a visualization that
permits scientists to record every lethal swirl and eddy and to
calculate the toll for a city's residents.

It's a far cry from ``The Sims,'' an addictive computer
game that lets users create a virtual universe. As displayed on
computers nicknamed ``Coyote'' and ``Thunderbird,'' disaster
simulations conducted under a $25 million program run by Sandia
and Los Alamos national laboratories are helping the U.S.
government predict the impact of chemical or biological attacks,
killer hurricanes, or accidents such as the collapse of the
bridge on the main highway into Minneapolis.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

U.K. Pound Heads for Weekly Advance Versus Dollar as Carry Trade Resumes

(Bloomberg) -- The pound headed for a weekly gain
against the dollar as credit markets rebounded, prompting
investors to resume so-called carry trades.

The pound is also poised for its biggest advance against
the yen in six weeks as stocks recovered and traders bought
high-yielding currencies with loans from Japan. Investors added
to bets the Bank of England will raise interest rates at least
once more from 5.75 percent by year-end.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Chalongphob Says More Room for Cutting Thailand's Benchmark Interest Rate

(Bloomberg) -- Thailand's central bank may be able
to cut borrowing costs further as inflation fell to a three-year
low, Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said.

``Maybe, there there's more room for declines as inflation
is low,'' Chalongphob said in an interview today in Coolum,
Australia, where he is attending a meeting of finance ministers
from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. ``My
view is that rates are close to bottom.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Citigroup CEO says not rattled by market woes: report

(Reuters) - He told the Times, "I think our performance is going to
last much longer than the market turbulence does."




Prince said that investors who used to snap up leveraged
loans with easy terms are now on the sidelines as the "market
shakes itself out and probably will for a period of time." But
he told the paper that the businesses that are borrowing the
money are doing fine.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Taiwan Shin Kong says exposed to U.S. subprime mkt

(Reuters) - The firm's life insurance arm, Shin Kong Life, has T$1.17
trillion in total assets.




"All ABS CDOs held by Shin Kong Life are A-rated or above,
with 26 percent in AAA, 34 percent in AA and 40 percent in A.
There has been no downgrade and payments have been normal,"
chief financial officer Winston Yung said in the statement,
without providing an estimate for potential losses.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US RATE FUTURES-View of Fed cut inches up on jobs

(Reuters) - The Labor Department said 92,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were
created in July, below the median forecast of 130,000. June
payrolls were revised to 126,000 from 132,000 earlier.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

REFILE-TREASURIES-Bond prices rise after soft US jobs report

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. government debt prices
rose on Friday as bond investors added to bets that the Federal
Reserve may start cutting interest rates before year end after
a soft July jobs report.




U.S. stocks futures turned down, pointing to a lower start
on Wall Street, which helped to stoke a moderate safe-haven bid
for Treasuries.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.K. Stocks Decline, Led by Standard Life, BG Group; British Airways Rises

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks fell as earnings from
Anglo American Plc and British Airways Plc failed to dissipate
concern that losses are widening in the U.S. subprime credit
market.

Standard Life Plc and Old Mutual Plc led financial shares
lower as Allianz SE said it has 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion)
in investments tied to subprime mortgages. BG Group Plc paced a
drop in energy-related companies.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News