UPDATE 1-Fannie former execs to get bonus payouts -source

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 3 - Former Fannie Mae top
executives Franklin Raines and Timothy Howard are set to
receive bonus payouts under the mortgage finance company's
recently announced compensation plan, sources familiar with the
deal said on Tuesday.




Raines, the former CEO, and former chief financial officer
Howard, who resigned in December 2004 as an accounting scandal
was breaking, are eligible for bonuses under a long-term
incentive program, the sources said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Colombia cen govt deficit $1.63 bln in Feb

(Reuters) - The central government fiscal deficit for the first two
months of this year was 4.18 trillion pesos or $2.13 billion
compared with 5.64 trillion pesos in the same period a year
earlier, the finance ministry said in a statement.




The local peso currency traded at 1,960.61 pesos to the
U.S. dollar.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

ABC/Wash Post Consumer Comfort Index rises to -7

(Reuters) - The measure ranges from -100 to +100. Its 2007 average is
-6 and its average since 1985 is -9.




The three components of the survey scored higher as
Americans' positive views on their personal finances improved 1
percentage point to 61, views on the national economy were up 2
percentage points to 40 and those on the buying climate
improved by 5 percentage points to 39.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

UPDATE 4-Teck Cominco to buy Aur for Chile copper assets

(Reuters) - TORONTO, July 3 - Teck Cominco has
agreed to buy Aur Resources with a friendly cash and
stock offer worth C$4.1 billion that will
significantly boost Teck's copper production, the companies
said on Tuesday.




Cash-rich Teck, one of the world's top zinc producers, has
been reviewing ways to spend its pile of money over the past
nine months. The Aur deal would boost copper production by 43
percent and add deposits under development.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Mexico markets jump as investors expect rtg upgrade

(Reuters) - The benchmark IPC stock index closed 2.22 percent
higher at 32,117.83 points, while the peso
finished local trading flat at 10.764 per dollar.




S&P raised the outlook on Mexico's BBB sovereign debt
ratings to "positive" from "stable" on Monday, citing growing
prospects for tax reform and a lighter external debt burden.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

American Airlines reports higher June load factor

(Reuters) - The airline said domestic traffic decreased 3.0 percent year over year on 5.8 percent less capacity. International traffic decreased by 4.3 percent over last year on a capacity decrease of 4.6 percent.



American boarded 8.7 million passengers in June.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Regal Beloit acquires certain businesses from Tecumseh

(Reuters) - The acquisition will add about $290 million of sales and
about 10 cents to 15 cents a share to earnings in 2008, the
maker of motion control and power generation products said in a
statement.




In a separate statement, Tecumseh said the sale composed of
the residential & commercial motors and Asia Pacific divisions
of its Fasco business unit. It plans to use the proceeds to
repay debt.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. prosecutors seek death penalty in Iraq murders

(Reuters) - Three other soldiers also involved in the rape-murder of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the deaths of her father, mother and six-year-old sister have been court-martialed and a fourth faces military trial later this summer.




Green was arrested and charged as a civilian after his military discharge in 2006 for a "personality disorder."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

WRAPUP 3-U.S. housing sector, factory orders sag in May

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 3 - Pending sales of existing
U.S. homes hit the lowest level in more than five years in May
and factory orders dipped modestly, according to data on
Tuesday that suggested the economy was struggling.




In addition, Ford Motor Co. , Chrysler Group and
General Motors Corp. reported lower U.S. sales for June
as high gas costs, fierce competition and the housing slump
took a toll on the industry.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

GM's Ballew sees lower industry sales in 2007

(Reuters) - GM's overall forecasts include some heavy-duty trucks that
other automakers and analysts typically exclude from their
forecasts.




Ballew said the industry was hurting from high gas prices,
a weak housing market and tough competition on incentive
spending.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

CME chides ICE for "spoiler" role in CBOT deal

(Reuters) - "Having been rejected by CBOT's board not once but twice,
ICE has yet to address the fundamental strategic and
operational flaws in its proposed transaction," CME said in a
statement.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

GM U.S. sales down 24 percent in June

(Reuters) - GM said it sold 326,300 vehicles in the United States last month. The results were adjusted for an extra selling day this year.




GM's chief sales analyst Paul Ballew said the industry was "underperforming" as it hurt from high gas prices and a weak housing market in key states such as Florida and California, which account for about one-fifth of the industry's sales volume.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Chavez gives Mercosur deadline to admit Venezuela

(Reuters) - Brazil's government recently urged Chavez to make a
"gesture of good will" following a volley of criticisms between
the leftist leader and Brazil's Senate, which criticized Chavez
for the recent closure of an opposition television station.




"If within three months has not
been possible, we will withdraw, out of dignity," Chavez said
during a press conference.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Morgan Stanley fined by R.I. over fund sales

(Reuters) - Regulators said one broker on multiple occasions sold
clients' low-cost mutual funds and replaced them with more
expensive funds and annuities. They said the same broker also
once sold an 80-year-old client's certificate of deposit and
replaced it with an inappropriate variable annuity.




Another broker, meanwhile, failed to exchange a customer's
securities in a manner that would have avoided the payment of
sales charges and given the benefit of available "breakpoints"
on commissions, the regulators said.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Oil Is Little Changed, Close to 10-Month High, Signs Fuel Output May Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil is steady, after touching
a 10-month high in New York, on speculation U.S. gasoline
production will fall after refineries unexpectedly shut units.

Flint Hills Resources LP, a unit of Koch Industries Inc.,
shut a gasoline-producing unit at its refinery in Corpus Christi,
Texas, according to a report on a state Web site today. A
refinery in Kansas was shut on July 1 because of flooding. Crude-
oil prices often follow gasoline during the driving season, which
lasts from late May to early September.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

CORRECTED - UPDATE 1-FDA adds black box to Genentech asthma drug Xolair

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 2 - U.S. regulators on Monday finalized a strong new label warning patients and doctors about a potentially deadly allergic reaction from Genentech Inc.'s asthma drug Xolair. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had proposed the so-called black box warning about anaphylaxis in February, but announced final wording of the label on Monday.



Xolair, given as an injection and known generically as omalizumab, is approved to treat adults and adolescents 12 years of age and older for moderate to severe asthma.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Sugar Rises for First Session in Five After Brazil Exports More Ethanol

(Bloomberg) -- Sugar in New York rose for the first
session in five after Brazil, the world's biggest producer, said
it exported more ethanol made from sugar cane.

Brazil's exports of the fuel increased 29 percent in June
to 214 million liters (56.5 million gallons) from a year
earlier, the country's Trade Ministry said yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Big fund firms seen better at retaining top talent

(Reuters) - Speakers at the Fund Forum 2007 in Monaco said the big firms
have changed their remuneration structures following raids on
their top talent by smaller, boutique firms.
Boutique fund firms have increased their assets rapidly in
recent years, often by recruiting big-name managers, whom they
have given autonomy in investment decisions.




Now the bigger companies are fighting back by offering
managers such attractions as equity stakes in the business or a
share of fund revenues.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US STOCKS-Indexes rise in short session on Apple, M&A

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 3 - U.S. stocks gained in a
holiday-shortened session on Tuesday, lifted by fresh takeover
talk and after a report suggesting Apple Inc. will
generate fat profit margins on its iPhone.




Deal news again contributed to the gains. Shares of
Wendy's International Inc. rose 2.7 percent to $38.39
after billionaire investor Nelson Peltz said his Triarc Cos.
Inc. would be a "natural, strategic buyer" of the
fast-food chain.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Treasury 10-Year Yield Is Back Above 5 Percent on Bond Risk, Manufacturing

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell, pushing the 10-year
note yield back above 5 percent, as a measure of the perceived
risk of U.S. corporate bonds dropped and a Commerce Department
report showed factory orders fell less than forecast.

The yield on the benchmark note dropped yesterday below 5
percent for the first time in more than three weeks. The CDX
North America Crossover Index decreased for the first time in
five days after rising to a 10-month high yesterday, according
to Deutsche Bank AG. Stocks rose globally.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

No crisis lurks in sub-prime woes: Deutsche Bank

(Reuters) - "There will be more but I don't think we will see systemic risks in this area," Baenziger told a financial conference organized by Germany's central bank.




Baenziger said the problems that U.S. lender Bear Stearns has had with two of its hedge fund businesses active in the mortgage lending market were unlikely to crop up at other banks.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 2-Peltz says Triarc "natural" buyer for Wendy's

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 3 - Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz said on Tuesday his Triarc Cos. Inc. would be a "natural, strategic buyer" for Wendy's International Inc. , which is exploring a sale of the company.



In a letter to Wendy's Chairman James Pickett, Peltz said that for all Wendy's shareholders to benefit, "the board's fiduciary duties require that a synergistic buyer such as Triarc should not be impeded from participating in the sale process."


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

U.K. Natural Gas, Power Fall; Fuel Supplies Rise After BP Halt at Teesside

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. natural gas declined, trimming
the previous session's gain, as supplies rose, compensating for
the closure of a pipeline carrying the fuel from the North Sea.
Electricity prices also fell.

Day-ahead gas slipped as much as 5.7 percent to touch 23.1
pence a therm, according to prices on Bloomberg from the broker
ICAP Plc. It traded at 23.45 pence a therm at 4:44 p.m. in
London, equivalent to $4.73 a million British thermal units. A
therm is 100,000 Btus. Next-day power fell 5.6 percent to 22.90
pounds a megawatt-hour.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Brazilian Corporate Note, Bond Sales Reach a Record in First Half of 2007

(Bloomberg) -- Sales of corporate debt in Brazil
rose 17 percent to a record in the first half as investors,
faced with declining interest rates, sought out riskier, higher-
yielding assets such as mortgage- and receivable-backed notes.

Sales of corporate bonds, debentures and asset-backed notes
rose to 21.72 billion reais ($11.38 billion) in the first six
months of the year -- the highest since at least 1997 -- from
18.5 billion reais in the year-ago period, according to data by
the nation's securities regulator. Last year, about 93 billion
reais were sold in corporate fixed-income securities, with about
two-thirds of those sales in the second half.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Mexican Bolsa Rises on Rating Outlook, Led by America Movil; Bovespa Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's Bolsa index rose for a fifth
day as investors bet the country's credit rating will be raised by
Standard & Poor's, reducing government borrowing costs and fueling
spending.

The benchmark Bolsa index advanced 242.19, or 0.8 percent, to
31,662.88 as of 11:57 a.m. in New York, led by America Movil SAB,
Latin America's biggest mobile-phone company. Brazil's Bovespa
index rose 0.2 percent to a record 55,503.91.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

US STOCKS-Takeover talk, Apple lift stocks in short session

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 3 - U.S. stocks rose in a
holiday-shortened session on Tuesday, lifted by fresh takeover
talk and expectations that Apple Inc. will make
higher-than-expected profit margins on its iPhone.




A report showing factory orders, excluding the volatile
transportation sector, rose in May, added to optimism about
the state of the economy, following a surprising rise of a
manufacturing index on Monday.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 2-ServiceMaster deal delay signals investor pullback

(Reuters) - By Neil Shah



NEW YORK, July 3 - In the latest sign that investors are demanding more protection and better terms in exchange for financing debt-laden buyout deals, ServiceMaster Co. postponed a $1.15 billion high-yield debt offering on Tuesday.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

ICE says it could enhance CBOT takeover terms

(Reuters) - CBOT's board has rejected ICE's takeover proposal as being more risky than joining up with CME, its former cross-town rival and recent close collaborator. But the Atlanta-based energy exchange continues to pour on the pressure.




"We are prepared to enter into such a dialogue with you at any time while you are considering our proposal or, if you prefer, as an alternative to our proposal," ICE Chairman Jeffrey Sprecher told CBOT officials in a letter.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Alcan rebuffs Alcoa request for bid talks

(Reuters) - In an exchange of letters late last month included in a filing by Alcoa with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Belda had offered to meet Evans in Montreal to discuss Alcoa's offer, which Alcan has rejected.




In the correspondence, Belda refers to media reports that Alcan may have opened a data room for third parties to review its books. If so, Alcoa would welcome the chance to visit the data room, Belda wrote.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Radcom sees Q2 net loss; shares sink

(Reuters) - "Deals that were expected to close did not close indicating weakness in the market," Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Burgin said by telephone.




Radcom now expects second-quarter revenue of about $2.4 million, compared with $5.7 million a year ago and said it has suspended its annual results forecast.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Anaren, Apple, Continental, Massey Energy, NetList: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes on U.S. exchanges.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 11:40 a.m. in New York.

Anaren Inc. (ANEN US) fell $1.01, or 5.5 percent, to $17.60.
The maker of microwave communications gear said in a statement
that it may restate financial results for the second and third
quarters of 2007 because of accounting errors at its Chinese
subsidiary.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Corn Falls to Eight-Month Low, Soybeans Drop as Midwest Rains Aid Crops

(Bloomberg) -- Corn fell to the lowest in eight
months in Chicago and soybeans dropped from a three-year high as
rain improved conditions for the two biggest U.S. crops.

Some fields from Iowa to Ohio may receive as much as 1 inch
(2.5 centimeters) of rain in the next 72 hours, boosting soil
moisture and cooling temperatures, said John Dee, president of
Global Weather Monitoring in Mohawk, Michigan. A second storm
front may move into the Midwest beginning July 9, bringing
heavier and more widespread rains, Dee said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

ServiceMaster Delays Bond Sale Amid Waning Demand for Riskiest Junk Debt

(Bloomberg) -- ServiceMaster Co., owner of the
TruGreen and Terminix services, shelved a $1.15 billion bond
offering as investors pulled away from high-yield, high-risk
debt, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.

No new date has been set for the sale, said the person, who
declined to be identified because details are confidential.
Memphis, Tennessee-based ServiceMaster had planned to sell senior
cash-interest notes and so-called toggle securities to finance a
$4.7 billion leveraged buyout by Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

FACTBOX-Private equity advice for public companies

(Reuters) -




DAVID BLITZER, BLACKSTONE GROUP SENIOR MANAGING
DIRECTOR


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Anglo helps S.African shares higher, Mondi falls

(Reuters) - South African shares rose on Tuesday as index heavyweight Anglo American gained with big funds switching to the stock from its seperately listed paper unit Mondi -- the biggest faller on the day.

Woolworths starred with retailers, banks and industrial shares, attracting bargin hunters after falling heavily last week on the back of interest rates jitters as inflation figures crept higher, traders said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Apple iPhone margins 55 percent

(Reuters) - ISuppli said its estimates did not include costs such as royalties and logistics. Some analysts have also speculated that AT&T Inc. , the exclusive U.S. service provider for the phone, may take a portion of the iPhone retail price for devices it sells in its stores.




According to iSuppli, the phone's display, a much lauded feature for the device, costs $27 or about 10.8 percent of the device's hardware costs. The display was supplied by Germany's Balda AG , iSuppli said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Fidelity Natl reports big data breach, axes worker

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 3 - Fidelity National Information Services Inc. , an electronic payment processor, said on Tuesday a database administrator stole and sold customer data, exposing as many as 2.3 million bank and credit card records, and that the worker has been fired.



The employee, who worked at the company's Certegy Check Services Inc. unit, sold the information to a data broker, which in turn sold some of it to a "limited number" of direct marketers.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Porsche N.American vehicle sales up 13 pct in June

(Reuters) - It also reported sales of its Boxster model line rose 3
percent to 937 cars, including 577 units of its more profitable
Boxster derivative, the Cayman coupe.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Coeur sees Q4 close for Bolnisi-Palmarejo purchase

(Reuters) - Coeur launched an offer in May to buy the owners of the
Palmarejo silver project in a friendly deal that Coeur said
would create the world's leading primary silver producer.




Currently under construction in Chihuahua, Mexico, the
Palmarejo project is seen producing 12 million ounces of silver
and 110,000 ounces of gold annually.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US STOCKS-Indexes rise on M&A, manufacturing data

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 3 - Wall Street advanced in a
holiday-shortened session on Tuesday, lifted by the latest
takeover news and stronger-than-expected manufacturing data.




In deal news, Kraft Foods Inc. is in exclusive talks
to buy Danone's biscuit and cereal unit for 5.3
billion euros in cash, the companies said. For
details, see [ID:nL03276080]. Kraft's shares fell 1.3 percent
to $35.10.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Avon Shares Rally as Sanford C. Bernstein Says Company May Meet Estimates

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Avon Products Inc. had their
biggest gain in almost five months after Sanford C. Bernstein &
Co. upgraded the world's largest door-to-door cosmetics seller
and said it expects Avon to achieve the broker's second-quarter
profit estimates.

Avon's stock rating was raised to ``market-perform'' from
``underperform'' by Bernstein analysts including Ali Dibadj.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

United Capital's Devaney Halts Hedge Fund Withdrawals on Subprime Losses

(Bloomberg) -- John Devaney, who invests in subprime
mortgage bonds, restricted redemptions to protect some of his
Horizon Strategy hedge funds from being forced to sell assets.

It's ``a defensive move because we had an unusually high
number of redemption requests and we didn't want to be a forced
seller in this market,'' Michael Gregory, a spokesman for
Devaney's United Capital Markets Holdings Inc. said yesterday. One
investor who wanted to withdraw accounted for about 25 percent of
the funds' money, he said. United Capital, based in Key Biscayne,
Florida, oversaw $620 million in its fund group as of March 31 and
$266 million in its money-losing Horizon ABS funds, an April
investor letter said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Ghana redenominates its cedi currency

(Reuters) - Ghana's cedi currency was redenominated on Tuesday, shedding four zeros, in a move intended to make life easier for shoppers and business people fed up of carrying large bundles of cash that make them easy prey for thieves.

One new cedi -- a name derived from the local word for the cowrie shells once used as currency in West Africa -- is worth 10,000 old cedis and is divided into 100 pesewas.


Read more at Reuters Africa

VW brand car sales up 15 pct in June in U.S.

(Reuters) - "This increase can be attributed to strong market acceptance of the entry level Rabbit model, and a 44.9 percent surge in deliveries of the sporty GTI," it said in a statement.



"The retractable hardtop convertible Eos posted its second best month ever, as summer is now in full swing," the company said.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Apple iPhone margins 55 pct, shares rise: ISuppli

(Reuters) - In January, iSuppli, which does not include costs for royalties and logistics, said it had estimated a $264.85 hardware and manufacturing cost for the eight-gigabyte device.




Apple shares rose $4.42 or almost 4 percent to $125.68 on Nasdaq after the news. Shares of AT&T Inc. , the exclusive U.S. service provider for the phone, were down 35 cents at $41.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

ICE says CBOT proposal binding through July 12

(Reuters) - CME shareholders and CBOT shareholders and members will
hold separate votes on the merger deal on July 9. CBOT's board
has rejected ICE's takeover proposal.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Continental, Movie Gallery, Wendy's, Western Alliance: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes on U.S. exchanges.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 10:10 a.m. in New York.

Anaren Inc. (ANEN US) fell $1.11, or 6 percent, to $17.50.
The maker of microwave communications gear said in a statement
that it may restate financial results for the second and third
quarters of 2007 because of accounting errors at its Chinese
subsidiary.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Treasuries Decline as Report Shows Factory Orders Fell Less Than Forecast

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell as a Commerce
Department report showed orders placed with U.S. factories
dropped in May less than economists forecast.

``The manufacturing sector of the economy is providing a
counterweight to the weakness of housing,'' said Kevin Flanagan,
a Purchase, New York-based fixed-income strategist for Morgan
Stanley's individual-investor clients.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Bonds trim losses after weak pending home sales

(Reuters) - Treasuries briefly trimmed their losses after weaker-than-forecast pending home sales data, but the move was fleeting, outweighed in part by gains in the stock market. Bond trading was razor-thin a day before the U.S. July 4 Independence Day holiday




Pending U.S. home sales in May fell more than analysts had expected to their lowest level in more than 5-1/2 years, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Peltz says Triarc "natural" buyer for Wendy's

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 3 - Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz said on Tuesday his Triarc Cos. Inc. would be a "natural, strategic buyer" for Wendy's International Inc. , which is exploring a sale of the company.



In a letter to Wendy's Chairman James Pickett, Peltz said that for all Wendy's shareholders to benefit, "the board's fiduciary duties require that a synergistic buyer such as Triarc should not be impeded from participating in the sale process."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News