UPDATE 2-Home Depot in $10 bln deal to sell unit--sources

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 19 - Home Depot Inc. has
agreed to sell its supply division to three private equity
firms, sources said on Tuesday, in a roughly $10 billion deal
that unloads a business the home-improvement retailer's former
chief executive worked to expand.




Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Clayton, Dubilier
& Rice won the auction and were finalizing the deal early on
Tuesday, sources close to the process told Reuters.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Ryanair Cuts Fares, Says Ticket Prices Lower Than Forecast; Shares Slide

(Bloomberg) -- Ryanair Holdings Plc Chief Executive
Officer Michael O'Leary predicted a ``big downturn'' for the
discount-airline industry and said the carrier's average ticket
prices will be lower this year.

The stock fell as much as 5.2 percent, its biggest decline
since June 5, when the airline said profit would grow at the
slowest rate in four years. Ryanair cut prices on 3 million seats
at a cost of as much as 45 million pounds ($89.4 million) over
three months, O'Leary said today at a press conference in London.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Axtel, Cemex, Grupo Mexico and Telefonos de Mexico: Mexican Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's main stock index fell for the
first time in five days, led by cement maker Cemex SAB.

The Bolsa index retreated 285.03, or 0.9 percent, to 31,933.14
at 10:14 a.m. New York time.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

AT&T says 40 pct of iPhone inquirers not its clients

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 19 - About 40 percent of people seeking information about Apple Inc.'s soon-to-be-released iPhone are not AT&T Inc.'s wireless customers, the phone company's Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on Tuesday.



AT&T has an exclusive agreement to sell the eagerly anticipated device that combines a cell phone with the popular iPod digital music player.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

US STOCKS-Indexes open down slightly; Best Buy disappoints

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.88
points, or 0.13 percent, at 13,595.10. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was down 1.44 points, or 0.09 percent, at
1,529.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 6.52
points, or 0.25 percent, at 2,620.08.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Sallie Mae says waiting period for buyout ends

(Reuters) - The transaction is expected to close late this year. Shares
of Sallie Mae rose 69 cents to $57.80 in morning trading on the
New York Stock Exchange.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-U.S. May housing starts fall 2.1 pct, permits up

(Reuters) - The Commerce Department said housing starts set an annual
pace of 1.474 million units in May compared with a 1.506
million unit pace in April. Economists had forecast May housing
starts to drop sharply to a 1.480 million unit pace from the
1.528 million rate originally reported for April last month.




Building permits, which signal future construction plans,
rose in May by 3.0 percent to a pace of 1.501 million units.
Economists had been expecting the permits to hit a 1.471
million unit rate. Permits for single-family homes fell 1.8
percent to their lowest level since July 1997 but permits for
multi-family units jumped 16.5 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News