Korean Won Rises, Reversing Drop, as Benchmark Stock Index Pares Losses

(Bloomberg) -- South Korea's won gained as the
nation's benchmark stock index pared losses, easing concern
investors will shun emerging-market assets.

The won reversed a slide of as much as 0.3 percent on
speculation overseas investors will keep putting funds into the
region as China's CSI 300 Index rose to a record. The won rose
1.3 percent this quarter as so-called net purchases by fund
managers abroad were 10 times more than in the first quarter.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Oil firm near 9-month highs on supply worries

(Reuters) - Oil was little changed on Friday, pausing after surging to a nine-month high in the previous session on supply worries in Nigeria and tensions in Iran.

Benchmark London crude was up 3 cents at $70.75 a barrel by 0115 GMT. It settled up 12 cents at $70.72 a barrel on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Aviva, Marston's, Smurfit Kappa Shares: U.K., Irish Stock Market Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in U.K. and Irish markets today. Stock symbols are in parentheses
and prices are from yesterday's market close.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index fell 51, or 0.7 percent, to
close at 6565.4 in London as 16 stocks rose, 83 fell and 3 were
unchanged. The FTSE All-Share Index lost 25.71, or 0.7 percent,
to 3414.67.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

China's April Coal Imports Jump 27 Percent as Nation Remains Net Importer

(Bloomberg) -- China, which became a net importer of
coal this year, increased purchases of the fuel 27 percent in
April to meet higher energy demand in the world's fastest-growing
major economy.

Imports climbed to 4.92 million metric tons from 3.87
million tons a year earlier, figures the Customs General
Administration of China released in Beijing today show. Purchases
last month outweighed exports of 4.46 million tons. Over the
first four months, China imported a net 3.13 million tons of coal.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

SEC's Cox Sparks Investor Alarms, Favoring Companies, Curbing Enforcement

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission last month granted Tenet Healthcare Corp. an unusual
break: The company will be given protection against shareholder
lawsuits even though it is being punished for fraud.

The SEC had accused the largest publicly traded hospital
chain of deceiving investors by failing to disclose a scheme to
boost earnings. Tenet, which neither admitted nor denied the
allegations, agreed to pay $10 million to settle. Yet the SEC
waived a rule that says companies engaging in fraud lose a
statutory shield that makes it harder for shareholders to sue if
forecasts turn out to be wrong.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Yuan's Level Isn't the Cause of the U.S. Trade Deficit With China, Wu Says

(Bloomberg) -- The yuan isn't the cause of the U.S.
trade deficit and a ``large'' appreciation would hurt China's
economy, Vice Premier Wu Yi said, signaling the nation won't
cave in to demands for faster gains.

``China will continue to reform its exchange rate on its
own initiative, gradually,'' Wu said at a dinner in Washington
after two days of talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson that yielded only minor agreements and failed to quell
calls in Congress for sanctions against China.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Westpac Bank Increases Size of Mortgage-Backed Bond Sale to A$7 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Westpac Banking Corp., Australia's
fourth largest lender, sold A$7 billion ($5.7 billion) of
mortgage-backed bonds, 20 percent more than initially offered.

Westpac, initially planning to raise A$5.1 billion, sold
A$1.25 billion of AAA rated bonds at about 13 basis points more
than the bank bill swap rate and A$120 million of AA rated bonds
at between 18-19 points more than swap.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

GE CEO sees "green" unit growing faster

(Reuters) - After two years in operation, ecomagination has a backlog of orders worth $50 billion for products like wind turbines, aircraft engines and energy conservation technology. Last year, it had sales of $12 billion.




At an event to celebrate ecomagination's second anniversary, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked Immelt to confirm the unit's target of $20 billion in sales in 2010.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Pakistan Sells $750 Million of Bonds to Investors in Asia, Europe and U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan raised $750 million selling
foreign currency bonds to investors in Asia, Europe and the U.S.,
in the South Asian nation's fourth debt offering in three years,
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said.

``This is a vote of confidence from investors in the
leadership and policies of Pakistan,'' Aziz said at a news
conference in the capital Islamabad today.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

RC2 acquires assets of privately held Compass

(Reuters) - RC2 did not disclose other terms of the deal.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Nasdaq declines to comment on OMX trading halt

(Reuters) - Nasdaq shares were up 29 cents, or 1 percent, at $33.51 in
late morning trading on Thursday.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canadian Stocks Decline, Led by Teck Cominco; Research In Motion Advances

(Bloomberg) -- Canada's main stock index fell for the
first time in seven days, led by mining stocks including Teck
Cominco Ltd., as gold prices dropped. Research In Motion Ltd. rose
on prospects of higher earnings.

``The commodity side is giving back a bit,'' said Fred
Ketchen, director of equity trading at Scotia McLeod Inc. in
Toronto. ``As these things keep going up higher and higher, you're
going to see more of these things happen.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Wal-Mart says Dell PC bundles will cost less than $700

(Reuters) - Officials with Wal-Mart and Dell declined to identify the equipment that will be included in the two Dimension desktop PC bundles that it will be offering at some 3,500 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores in the United States and Canada.




A spokesman for Dell said that his company will sell the same products on its own Web site.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Nymex Gas Falls After Report of Larger-Than-Expected U.S. Inventory Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Natural gas in New York fell after a
government supply report showed inventories increased 104 billion
cubic feet last week, topping analyst estimates.

Analysts expected gas supplies held in underground caverns
would rise 95 billion cubic feet, the median of 25 estimates in a
Bloomberg survey of analysts.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Bon-Ton Stores shares plunge on wider loss

(Reuters) - Unseasonably cold weather resulted in lower-than-expected sales in April, Chief Financial Officer Keith Plowman said in a statement.




Two analysts, on average, had expected a loss of $1.19 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Russia Shares Post Largest 2-Day Drop Since March; Evraz Falls After Blast

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks fell, putting the
Micex Index on course for its biggest two-day decline in more
than 2 1/2 months. Evraz Group SA slid following a deadly blast
at one of the steelmaker's Siberian coal mines.

OAO Unified Energy System and OAO Sberbank also dropped.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Advanced Medical mulls Bausch & Lomb bid

(Reuters) - Bausch & Lomb declined to comment.




Bausch & Lomb agreed last week to be acquired by Warburg Pincus for about $3.67 billion. Bausch & Lomb, however, had the right to solicit other offers during the next 50 days.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 1-La Jolla says lupus drug well tolerated, shares rise

(Reuters) - Additional data from the studies indicated that the the
drug, Riquent, was well tolerated even at high doses, Chief
Executive Deirdre Gillespie said in a statement.




Riquent, unlike other lupus drugs, does not suppress the
immune system that can result in serious infections, he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Silver Lake Obtains $2.28 Billion of Debt Financing for Purchase of Acxiom

(Bloomberg) -- Silver Lake Partners and ValueAct
Capital Partners LP received a commitment for $2.28 billion of
debt financing to fund the buyout of Acxiom Corp., a provider of
computer and database services.

UBS AG committed to provide a $1.73 billion seven-year term
loan and a $125 million six-year revolving credit facility,
ValueAct said today in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
filing. Acxiom may pay interest at 2.25 percentage points more
than the London interbank offered rate on the loans, the filing
said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Brazilian Real Declines as Jump in U.S. Treasury Bond Yields Saps Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's real weakened for a third
day as rising U.S. bond yields cut into demand for riskier,
emerging-market securities.

The real slid as much as 0.7 percent today after the yield
on benchmark U.S. 10-year bonds rose 23 basis points, or 0.23
percentage point, this month to 4.86 percent. Yields are rising
in the world's biggest economy, narrowing the gap between U.S.
and Brazilian yields, as speculation fades that the Federal
Reserve will cut interest rates.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Rohm and Haas to focus on green technology development

(Reuters) - Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas has a research and
development budget of nearly $300 million for 2007.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

GM shares drop after SEC, Delphi news

(Reuters) - The stock fell to $30.98 in electronic trade from a close of $31.43 on the NYSE.




Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Danaher to acquire ChemTreat in $435 million deal

(Reuters) - ChemTreat had more than $200 million in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, Danaher said.



) Keywords: CHEMTREAT DANAHER/


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Brown Shoe, Flowers Foods, Sanderson Farms, Synopsys: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Shares prices are as of 8:50 a.m. New York time.

Brown Shoe Co. (BWS US) rose $3.60, or 13 percent, to $31 in
trading before the open of U.S. exchanges. The operator of the
Famous Footwear and Naturalizer chains said that excluding some
items, second-quarter profit will be at least 30 cents a share.
Three analysts polled by Bloomberg estimated 28 cents, on
average.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Stocks, Treasuries dip on data, China warning

(Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices dipped on Thursday after mixed U.S. economic data gave no firm evidence of the need for interest rate cuts, while global stocks fell following a warning about the overheated China market.

Oil prices rose to a nine-month high above $71 a barrel on concerns about supplies from Iran and U.S. stock futures were pointing to a softer start on Wall Street.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Correlation trade is extreme sport for hedge funds

(Reuters) - As hedge funds jostle for space in London's elite Mayfair
district, intense competition has created an atmosphere in which
only the highest possible returns will suffice, bankers say.




While coupons on investment grade corporate bonds are
routinely about 5 percent, the most radical new derivatives pay
up to 60 percent on an upfront basis, in exchange for insurance
against defaults on bespoke portfolios of corporate bonds.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Retreat; Network Appliance Declines

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures dropped on
lower-than-expected earnings as investors awaited reports on
durable goods orders and new home sales that may provide further
clues on the outlook for economic growth and interest rates.

Network Appliance Inc., whose computers store and distribute
data, tumbled after the company's fiscal first-quarter sales and
profit forecast trailed analysts' estimates. Toll Brothers Inc.
fell after the largest U.S. luxury home builder said fiscal
second-quarter profit plunged 79 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Former EMI CEO working on new takeover bid: report

(Reuters) - It said Fifield wanted to run EMI's recorded music division
and sell its publishing assets to record executive Charles
Koppelman and private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner.




EMI's board recommended a 265 pence a share offer from
private equity firm Terra Firma on Monday.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Flowers Foods earnings rise on price increases

(Reuters) - Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 42 cents per
share, according to Reuters Estimates.




Sales rose to $609.9 million from $563.6 million a year
ago, helped by higher pricing, more sales of higher-priced
items and higher sales volume.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Wall Street closes lower on China worries

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged lower on Wednesday as a warning about Chinese stocks by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan erased gains fueled by takeover talk in the aluminum sector.

Greenspan said he feared a "dramatic contraction" in Chinese stocks after the recent boom, adding the run-up was "clearly unsustainable."


Read more at Reuters Africa

Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela: Latin American Local Bond Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic
reports may influence trading in Latin American local bonds
today. Bond yields are from the previous session.

Brazil: Brazil's unemployment rate was probably little
changed in April at 10 percent, according to the median estimate
of 16 economists Bloomberg surveyed. Brazil's statistics agency
is to release the data today at 8:30 a.m. New York time.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Japanese Shares Slip, Led by Sompo, Insurers; Trading Companies Advance

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks declined for the
first time in three days, paced by insurers after Mitsui
Sumitomo Insurance Co. and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. reported
their profits fell.

Limiting losses, Japan Tobacco Inc., the world's third-
largest traded cigarette maker, jumped the most in five months
after Merrill Lynch & Co. raised its recommendation on the stock.
Itochu Corp. climbed 3.6 percent after Mizuho Securities Co.
lifted its recommendation on the shares of Japan's five largest
trading houses.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News