U.K. Pound Gains for Fifth Week Versus Dollar on Outlook for Interest Rate

(Bloomberg) -- The pound posted its longest winning
run against the dollar in more than a year on speculation Bank of
England policy makers will keep raising interest rates while the
U.S. Federal Reserve stays on hold.

The U.K. currency gained for a fifth week as futures traders
bet the central bank will raise rates a quarter-point and start
pricing in a further move to 6.25 percent by year-end. The pound
touched a 26-year high after Moody's Investors Service cut
ratings on bonds backed by U.S. subprime mortgages and Standard &
Poor's threatened to do the same.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Czech Koruna Gains for Second Week Versus Euro on Signs Growth Quickening

(Bloomberg) -- The Czech koruna rose for a second
week versus the euro, its first back-to-back advance this year,
after the country posted a higher-than-expected trade surplus and
on signs inflation is accelerating.

The koruna rose to a seven-week high after a report this
week showed the Czech trade surplus widened to 6.9 billion koruna
($335 million) in May, a record for the month that beat the
median estimate of 5.3 billion koruna in a Bloomberg survey. The
statistics office said July 11 price growth quickened to 2.5
percent in June, which may prompt the central bank to raise
interest rates this month.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Abitibi-Consolidated, Armor, Stillwater Mining, Terex: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges on
July 16. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. (ABY US) rose 4 cents, or 1.4
percent, to $2.89 in trading after the official close of U.S.
exchanges. The newsprint maker's largest shareholder, Third
Avenue Management LLC, opposes the company's merger with Bowater
Inc.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 2-Hillary Clinton slams private equity tax rate

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 13 - New York Sen. Hillary
Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, on Friday
urged closing a tax "loophole" that she said unfairly benefits
a few top Wall Street financiers.




Clinton joined other lawmakers in a push to raise the tax
rate on "carried interest" gains made by senior partners in the
booming private equity and hedge fund businesses.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers 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 Mergers News

Edward Jones to pay $75 million in SEC settlement

(Reuters) - Edwards Jones settled without admitted or denying the charges.




As part of the settlement, Edward Jones agreed to increase disclosures on its Web site about the preferred mutual fund family program and the savings plan. It also agreed to pay $37.5 million in disgorgement and $37.5 million in civil penalties.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Black verdict closes chapter in fraud crackdown

(Reuters) - Speaking to reporters after the verdict was announced, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney here whose office brought the case against Black and three co-defendants, said the result sent a clear message to boardroom criminals that "if you take liberties and break the law with other people's money, there are going to be serious consequences."




The effort to stamp out corporate wrongdoing was born five years ago this week, when President George W. Bush signed an executive order establishing a multi-agency Corporate Fraud Task Force in the wake of multibillion-dollar scandals at Enron and WorldCom.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds 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

H&R Block pays CEO $1.57 mln, urges no to Breeden

(Reuters) - The pay package is based on salary, bonus, the value of
stock options and other awards granted during the year and
incentives and perks.




In the proxy filing, H&R Block also urged shareholders to
disregard any proxy card from Breeden. His firm Breeden Capital
Management LLC said it owns 1.86 percent of H&R Block shares.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Blackstone says not using tax loopholes

(Reuters) - The newspaper said in an article on Friday that Blackstone
had devised a way for its partners to effectively avoid paying
taxes on $3.7 billion, the bulk of what it raised last month
from selling shares to the public. The New York Times
was not immediately available for comment.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Hog Prices Rise on Speculation China Will Import More Pork; Cattle Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Hog futures rose in Chicago on
speculation that China will import more pork, the most widely
consumed meat in the nation of 1.3 billion people. Cattle
futures fell.

Higher grain costs and the spread of so-called Blue Ear
disease in hogs drove up retail pork prices 12 percent in China
last month, according to the Chinese government. China was the
sixth-largest importer of U.S. pork last year, buying 113.5
million pounds (51.5 million kilograms), the U.S. Department of
Agriculture said in a report.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Amgen, Frontline, GE, Hovnanian and RadioShack: 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.

Alcoa Inc. (AA US) rose $2.06, or 4.6 percent, to $47.35.
The world's second-biggest aluminum maker said yesterday it
withdrew its unsolicited takeover bid for aluminum producer Alcan
Inc. (AL US) after Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU) made a higher offer
of $38.1 billion. Separately, Credit Suisse Group increased its
share-price estimate for Alcoa by 22 percent to $55, saying that
takeover speculation would support the stock. Alcan shares fell
95 cents to $97.50.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

TREASURIES-Small price gains as stocks grab spotlight

(Reuters) - By Ellen Freilich




NEW YORK, July 13 - U.S. government debt prices
scored slim gains on Friday, drawing some early support from
surprisingly weak June retail sales, but losing the competition
for investors' attention to a record-setting stock market.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Credit derivatives backlog improvement praised

(Reuters) - "We look forward to additional progress and commend the joint regulatory action and industry response as a model for tackling similar problems in global markets," he said.




Credit derivatives are contracts, such as credit default swaps, reached between institutions to manage debt risk. The market for them at the end of 2006 was $34.5 trillion in notional value, up 33 percent from mid-year and double 2005's level.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

US credit derivatives backlog improvement praised

(Reuters) - "We look forward to additional progress and commend the joint regulatory action and industry response as a model for tackling similar problems in global markets," he said.




Credit derivatives are contracts, such as credit default swaps, reached between institutions to manage debt risk. The market for them at the end of 2006 was $34.5 trillion in notional value, up 33 percent from mid-year and double 2005's level.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Loeb Partners retracts Mercer Insurance statement

(Reuters) - Loeb said it regretted the error and had refiled a document
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reflect its
proper intentions.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Formation, JER buy Genesis Health for $1.52 bln

(Reuters) - The deal, valued at about $1.52 billion, excluding about
$475 million in debt, gives Genesis shareholders $69.35 in cash
for each share they own.




Private equity money has been flowing into health care
service companies for the past year. Last week, Manor Care Inc
, the biggest nursing home chain, agreed to be bought
for about $4.9 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

China currency legislation likely: U.S. lawmaker

(Reuters) - Hunter, and Rep. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat, are the chief sponsors of a popular bill in the House of Representatives that would allow companies to ask the Commerce Department to slap duties on China for currency manipulation.




They recently reintroduced the bill adding new provisions that would give companies an additional option in seeking duties on Chinese goods.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bank of America set for Chicago, Michigan touchdown

(Reuters) - The ruling by the Dutch Supreme Court said ABN AMRO Holding NV does not need shareholder approval to sell LaSalle to Bank of America, the second largest U.S. bank. That in turn may make it easier for Britain's Barclays Plc to buy the rest of ABN AMRO and fend off a rival bid led by Royal Bank of Scotland Plc .




LaSalle has about 411 branches, 1,500 automated teller machines and 1.4 million customers. Its addition would give Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America more than 6,100 branches and push it to the 10 percent federal cap on deposits nationwide. The bank would surpass JPMorgan Chase & Co. as Chicago's largest, with about 16 percent of area deposits.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-S&P hits record as GE, data boost stocks

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was up 45.52
points, or 0.33 percent, to end unofficially at 13,907.25. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.80 points, or 0.31
percent, to finish unofficially at 1,552.50. The Nasdaq
Composite Index was up 5.27 points, or 0.20 percent,
to close unofficially at 2,707.00.




For the week, the Dow closed up 2.16 percent, the S&P rose
1.43 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.52 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-S&P hits record as stocks extend gains

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 13 - The Standard & Poor's 500
index hit a lifetime high in late-session trading on
Friday as stocks rose on news that General Electric Co
increased a stock-buyback plan and a report showed consumer
sentiment rose in early July.




The S&P 500's previous record of 1,553.11 was set on March
24, 2000, in the waning days of the Internet bubble.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dura's Bankruptcy Reorganization Would Wipe Out $560.7 Million in Bonds

(Bloomberg) -- Dura Automotive Systems Inc., a
bankrupt maker of car parts, outlined a plan of reorganization that
would pay nothing to investors holding subordinated bonds worth
$560.7 million.

Under the proposal, filed yesterday in U.S. bankruptcy court
in Wilmington, Delaware, senior debt holders would get a stake in
the company and other creditors will be given stock in exchange for
agreeing to dismiss their claims. Holders of 9 percent subordinated
notes maturing in 2009 get nothing, according to court documents.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Russia's New Oil Export Pipeline to Cut Supply to Central Europe, PVM Says

(Bloomberg) -- A new Russian crude oil export
pipeline may cut supplies to refineries in Hungary, Slovakia,
Germany and some other central European countries, PVM Oil
Associates GmbH said.

Russia plans to build a link that will deliver at least 1
million barrels of oil a day for export by tanker from the port
of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea. The pipeline will also reduce
supplies of Urals, Russia's major export blend of oil, to
refiners in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic,
said PVM's Managing Director Johannes Benigni.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

S&P 500 hits lifetime record, surpasses 2000 high

(Reuters) - The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 5.99 points, or 0.39 percent, at 1,553.69.




The Dow Jones industrial average was up 49.99 points, or 0.36 percent, at 13,911.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.37 points, or 0.05 percent, at 2,703.10.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Brazil Stocks Gain for Week, Led by Vale, on Takeovers; Bancolombia Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's main stock index headed for a
third week of gains, led by mining company Cia. Vale do Rio Doce,
as rising metals prices and takeover speculation propelled raw
materials stocks.

The Bovespa Index of the most-traded stocks on the Sao Paulo
exchange gained 2.4 percent this week to 57,835.85, a record. Today
the index rose 222.80, or 0.4 percent. An index of Latin American
shares headed for its second weekly gain.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Brazil's Real Touches 7-Year High After Early Central Bank Dollar Purchase

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's real touched an almost
seven-year high after the central bank bought dollars in the
currency market earlier than usual.

The real rose 0.3 percent to 1.8675 per dollar at 1:45 p.m.
New York time after gaining as much as 0.5 percent to 1.8632
earlier. The real last traded at these levels in October 2000.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

TREASURIES-Small price gains as stocks steal limelight

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 13 - U.S. government debt prices
showed modest gains on Friday, drawing some support from
surprisingly weak June retail sales but losing the competition
for investors' attention to a record-setting stock market.




"The focus on stocks with the market near all-time
highs," said Carl Lantz, U.S. interest rate strategist at
Credit Suisse in New York.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Redstone expects Viacom to beat digital revenue target

(Reuters) - Redstone made the comment to reporters after arriving at the 25th annual Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.



When asked about acquisition targets in digital media, Redstone said, "Our goal is not to spend tons of money on stuff that has arrived." Viacom "is so strong we don't have to make a transformative deal," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

SRA, ManTech eyeing deals at up to $500 mln - execs

(Reuters) - SRA is exploring deals in the $400 million to $500 million
range and ManTech is scouting for acquisitions of $100 million
to $500 million, top company officials said in interviews with
Reuters.




SRA Chief Executive Stanton Sloane, who joined SRA this
year from Lockheed Martin Corp. , said he plans to be
very aggressive about M&As.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Chile stocks make cautious gains, peso firms

(Reuters) - Chile's central bank raised its monetary policy rate 25
basis points to 5.25 percent as expected on Thursday, the first
increase since July of last year, amid a rebound in both
inflation and economic growth.




The bank said further hikes this year were likely if the
current scenario holds.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

EMERGING FX VIEW-Investors may trade off BRIC for VISTA

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 13 - Move over BRIC. Here comes
VISTA.




As returns shrink on trades in BRIC economies -- Brazil,
Russia, China and India -- some emerging market investors are
targeting a new group labeled VISTA.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Lawmakers question private equity media deals

(Reuters) - In a letter to the FCC, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell and Rep. Ed Markey asked for the agency's opinion on how the public interest is affected by media and communications acquisitions by private equity firms.




"We are eager to obtain your views as to the implications that private equity ownership of entities subject to the commission's jurisdiction could have on commission regulations and the public interest," they wrote to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Dow hits record, dollar firms on sentiment data

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 13 - U.S. blue-chip stocks rose on
Friday, sending the Dow to a record for a second straight day,
and the dollar recovered from lows against the euro after a
stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer sentiment report tempered
worries about the economy's health.




The boost in the Reuters/University of Michigan July
consumer confidence survey offset an earlier report that showed
retail sales suffered their biggest monthly drop in nearly two
years in June as the housing market slump took its toll on
consumers.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News