UPDATE 1-Chile Santiago retail sales rise 4.0 pct in May

(Reuters) - The average annual rate of monthly growth for the five
months from January was 2.1 percent, it said.




The Chamber of Commerce said in a statement that the
figures show retail sales are continuing to grow overall, but
at a slightly slower pace than the 3.3 percent grwoth in the
first five months of 2006.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

New Mortgage CDO Pipeline Dries Up Amid Hedge Fund Bailout, JPMorgan Says

(Bloomberg) -- The pipeline of collateralized debt
obligations backed mainly by subprime mortgages is drying up and
may shut down amid concerns about the integrity of the market
following the near collapse of hedge funds run by Bear Stearns
Cos., JPMorgan Chase & Co. said.

The amount of high-grade, structured finance CDOs that are
being offered to investors has plunged to $3 billion, from
$20 billion a month ago, JPMorgan said in a report dated
yesterday. CDOs are pools of asset-backed securities, bonds or
corporate loans divided into securities with different credit
ratings and maturities to cater to investors' preferences.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Visa hires president pre-IPO, Visa USA CEO resigns

(Reuters) - Morris will start at Visa Inc. on September 1 and oversee its income-generating businesses. He plans to move to San Francisco from New York and report to Joseph Saunders, Visa Inc.'s chief executive.




Morris, 48, has spent his 27-year career at Citigroup and its predecessors. Since November 2002, he has been chief financial officer of Citi Markets & Banking, which includes investment and corporate banking operations. He also sits on Citigroup's operating and management committees.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Colombia's Central Bank Sells Dollar Call Options After Recnet Peso Slide

(Bloomberg) -- Colombia's central bank sold dollar
call options after the peso slid 3.5 percent in the past five
days.

The central bank said in a statement that it sold $180
million of the call options. The bank sells the options every
time the peso's 20-day moving average changes by more than 2
percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Roche digs in for Ventana takeover battle

(Reuters) - Roche wants Ventana to strengthen its position in the emerging field of personalized medicine.




Chief Executive Franz Humer said he aimed to continue the group's build-up of its diagnostics division beyond the Ventana deal through in-house development and the acquisition of technologies.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

India Invites Bids to Import 1 Million Tons of Wheat to Boost Reserves

(Bloomberg) -- India, short of wheat less than a
week before a deadline to fill its reserves, invited bids to
import 1 million metric tons of the grain.

The wheat is for delivery between August and November, and
suppliers have until July 4 to submit offers, according to a
document posted on a government Web site today.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Total still in talks on Venezuela, hopes deal on Tues

(Reuters) - On Monday, a government official told Reuters that Total,
Chevron Corp. , Norway's Statoil and Britain's
BP Plc planned to sign a nationalisation accord that
would keep them in the massive Orinoco oil reserve projects.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News