Greenspan promises surprises in September book

(Reuters) - Greenspan, who can still move markets with the slightest word, said he would bring to bear the lessons learned steering the world's biggest economy to discuss his views on the future in the book to be published in September.




He said the prevalence of low interest rates throughout the world was one of the things that surprised him as he came to the conclusion of his book, "The Age of Turbulence."


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

BMW group May vehicle sales up 8.7 pct in U.S.

(Reuters) - Mini reported May sales of 4,130 cars, up 12.5 percent. For
the first five months, overall group sales increased by 4.2
percent to 134,944 vehicles.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

KKR offers Boots pension fund 240 mln stg -sources

(Reuters) - The offer from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts [KKR.UL] and
Alliance Boots Deputy Chairman Stefano Pessina, whose 11.1
billion-pound offer was voted through on Thursday, would
provide the retirement scheme with 600 million pounds in cash
in the event that the firm gets into financial difficulty in
future, in addition to the upfront injection, one of the
sources told Reuters.




Boots' pension fund showed a surplus of 20 million pounds
last year but the trustees have estimated the size of the
scheme's deficit on a self-sufficiency basis -- a measure that
assumes no further contributions -- to be around 1 billion
pounds.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Lifting the Lid: Wall Street poses subprime obstacles

(Reuters) - The standard accounting practices and contractual terms used to create the securities leave little room for banks to modify portfolios with rising defaults and delinquencies.




And with finger-pointing among regulators, it is unclear if the industry can find any solutions to speed up a recovery in the subprime mortgage market for borrowers with poor and untraditional credit histories.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Cattle Futures Fall to Four-Month Low on Slump in Beef Demand; Hogs Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Cattle futures in Chicago fell to a
four-month low as beef demand slowed after the U.S. Memorial Day
holiday. Hog prices climbed on export demand.

U.S. meatpackers including Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc.
will cut back their slaughter of animals to 609,000 this week
from 701,000 a week ago, according to government estimates.
Wholesale prices for beef loin, the source of most steaks, fell
2.9 percent this week after dropping 4.3 percent last week.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

CKX, Dow Jones, Everlast, J. Crew, Wal-Mart Stores: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Share prices are as of 2:40 p.m. New York time.

AFC Enterprises Inc. (AFCE US) fell $1.63, or 8.4 percent,
to $17.84 and traded as low as $17.53. The owner of Popeyes
Chicken & Biscuits lowered its fiscal 2007 profit outlook to 81
cents to 85 cents a share. The Atlanta-based company had
previously expected earnings of 87 cents to 91 cents a share.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

GM U.S. sales up 4.7 pct pct in May

(Reuters) - GM said it sold 375,682 vehicles in the United States last month.



The results were adjusted for an extra selling day in May this year.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

China's CSI 300 Index Slides on Concern Government May Impose More Taxes

(Bloomberg) -- China's shares fell, erasing earlier
gains, on concern the government may impose more taxes to cool the
market after a tripling of the duty on securities trades failed to
deter new investors.

Bright Dairy & Food Co. and Dongfeng Automobile Co. were among
about 100 stocks in the CSI 300 Index that plunged by the 10
percent daily limit. The index slid 3.2 percent to close at
3803.95, after climbing as much as 2.2 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-LandAmerica holder seeks sale of company; stock up

(Reuters) - "The next appropriate step in value creation ... is a
sale," said Viking Global in a letter to the company on June 1,
according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.




Viking said in the filing that an acquisition of
LandAmerica by one of the larger title insurers could result in
synergies approaching $6 to $7 a share. Investors would also
get a substantial premium at the time of sale, the Greenwich,
Connecticut-based investment manager said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Mexican Bolsa Gains For Week on U.S. Growth, Led by Cemex; Bovespa Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's Bolsa rose to a record for a
third day and headed to its biggest weekly gain in two months on
growth in jobs and spending in the U.S., which buys 80 percent of
Mexico's exports.

The Bolsa advanced 386, or 1.2 percent, to 31,784.96. The
weekly gain, led by Cemex SAB, of 3.5 percent was the biggest since
March 23. Brazil's Bovespa index of most-traded shares on the Sao
Paulo exchange rose 646.58, or 1.2 percent, to 52,915.04, for a
weekly gain of 2.5 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Laurentian Bank profit falls after 2006 tax boost

(Reuters) - Laurentian, the country's eighth-biggest bank by market
value, posted net income of C$20.7 million , or
75 Canadian cents a share, for the three months ended April 30.
That compared with net income of C$24.6 million, or 91 Canadian
cents a share, in the same 2006 period, when tax-related issues
added 45 Canadian cents a share to earnings.




Analysts surveyed by Reuters Estimates had expected
per-share earnings of 63 Canadian cents in the latest quarter,
before exceptional items.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

European Government Bonds Record Weekly Drop on Signs Growth Quickening

(Bloomberg) -- European two-year notes dropped this
week as signs of expansion in the 13-nation euro region further
underpinned the case for higher interest rates.

Two-year yields held near a six-year high as investors added
to bets the European Central Bank will lift its key rate from 3.75
percent. Reports today showed European manufacturing expanded last
month and sales at retailers in Germany, the region's largest
economy, rose more than economists expected in April.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

U.K. Pound Records Weekly Drop Versus Euro as House Price Inflation Cools

(Bloomberg) -- The pound logged a weekly drop against
the euro and the dollar on indications four interest-rate
increases in the past year are starting to cool Britain's
residential property market.

The U.K. currency also slid to near a week-low versus the
dollar after reports this week showed the number of loans granted
for house purchases fell in April and credit growth slowed. The
pound gained versus the euro in May, snapping a three-month losing
streak, amid data showing the economy maintained momentum in the
first quarter even after three interest-rate increases since
August by the Bank of England.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Janney taps Legg Mason's Scheve as CEO

(Reuters) - Earlier this year, Janney Montgomery Scott President and
CEO James Wolitarsky said he would retire this summer after
more than six years at the helm of the Philadelphia-based
firm.




Scheve's 23-year career at money manager Legg Mason
included a stint as president and CEO of Legg Mason Wood Walker
Inc., a broker-dealer unit that was sold to Citigroup in late
2005. Most recently, he served as CAO and head of international
asset management.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Copper Heads for First Weekly Gain in a Month as Global Inventories Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Copper in New York headed for the
first weekly gain in a month after inventories declined in
China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal.

Stockpiles in Shanghai dropped 3.8 percent this week to
95,254 metric tons, the second-straight decline. Inventories
monitored by the London Metal Exchange have tumbled to the
lowest since Oct. 27. Copper has rallied 18 percent this year on
declining supplies and Chinese demand.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

April pending home sales index fell 3.2 pct

(Reuters) - Wall Street analysts polled ahead of the report were expecting the April index to be 105.




Failures among subprime mortgages offered to borrowers with damaged credit is continuing to dampen the home sales market, the trade group said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

VCA Antech amends credit facility to issue notes

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo Bank arranged the amended
facility.





Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

WRAPUP 1-U.S. May jobs growth strong, prices muted

(Reuters) - That handily outstripped estimates for 130,000 jobs from
Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters and fit with other
recent evidence that the pace of economic activity was bouncing
back from a soft patch in the first three months of the year.




A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that
core consumer prices -- a key inflation measure -- rose a
smaller-than-expected 0.1 percent in April, suggesting that
inflation pressures remained in check, despite signs of
economic resilience.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Freddie Mac to sell reference REMICs in June 18 wk

(Reuters) - Freddie Mac last issued reference REMICs in a $1.22 billion
deal in May.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

May jobs growth strong, prices muted

(Reuters) - That handily outstripped estimates for 130,000 jobs from Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters and fit with other recent evidence that the pace of economic activity was bouncing back from a soft patch in the first three months of the year.




A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that core consumer prices -- a key inflation measure -- rose a smaller-than-expected 0.1 percent in April, suggesting that inflation pressures remained in check, despite signs of economic resilience.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

S.Africa pay claims may prompt rate rise - economists

(Reuters) - Above-inflation pay demands may push South Africa's Reserve Bank into raising interest rates, economists said on Friday, warning that resulting higher inflation could cancel out the benefit of wage increases.

Disillusioned by widening wage gaps and miffed by possible double-digit increments for MPs and senior government officials, civil servants launched a nationwide strike on Friday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

US RATE FUTURES-Stabilize on offsetting jobs, PCE

(Reuters) - The Labor Department said 157,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were
created in May, above the median forecast of 130,000. But the
Fed's favorite inflation gauge advanced less than expected in
April, suggesting price pressures may be easing.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Gold Rises in London After European Central Bank Caps Sales; Silver Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Gold rose in London after the
European Central Bank said it has no plans to sell more gold
through September. Silver also gained.

The ECB has sold 60 metric tons since September, the bank
said in an e-mailed statement today. Gold dropped 2.8 percent
last month, the biggest decline since September, amid
accelerating sales from banks in Europe.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

OPEC oil output edges higher in May - Reuters survey

(Reuters) - OPEC boosted crude oil output in May as higher supply from members including Algeria and the United Arab Emirates countered a drop in Nigeria, a Reuters survey showed on Friday.

Ten OPEC members bound by output targets, all except Iraq and Angola, pumped 26.76 million barrels per day (bpd), up 110,000 bpd from April, according to the survey of oil companies, traders, OPEC officials and analysts.


Read more at Reuters Africa

German Benchmark DAX Index Rises, Led by Infineon, Metro and RWE Shares

(Bloomberg) -- German stocks advanced, led by
Infineon Technologies AG, Metro AG and RWE AG.

The DAX Index advanced 42.21, or 0.5 percent, to 7925.25 as
of 10:33 a.m. in Frankfurt, heading for a gain of 2.4 percent
this week. The HDAX Index of the country's 110 biggest companies
increased 0.6 percent to 4083.78. DAX futures expiring in June
gained 49, or 0.6 percent, to 7939.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.K. Electricity Rises After Grid Manager Pays Generator to Operate Plant

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. power for delivery on the next
working day increased after the grid operator paid a generator
to start one of its power plants.

Working-day-ahead power rose 11.1 percent to 25 pounds
($49.45) a megawatt hour, from a closing price of 22.50 pounds a
megawatt hour yesterday, according to prices on Bloomberg from
the broker GFI Group Inc.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

European shares rise early, wary of U.S. jobs data

(Reuters) - "Ahead of the data in the U.S. we will just stay on the sidelines, in part considering that we're close to the weekend," said Heino Ruland, an analyst at German brokerage Steubing in Frankfurt.




"I assume that we will see some support, whether that is going to be M&A is a different question," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Standard Chartered Will Move as Many as 100 Bankers to Dubai From London

(Bloomberg) -- Standard Chartered Plc, a U.K. bank
that makes most of its money in Asia, plans to move between 50
and 100 banking positions from London to Dubai, United Arab
Emirates.

Teams trading interest rates and the currencies of G10
countries, those specializing in Africa and the team that
monitors Standard Chartered's loan portfolio will be asked to
move to Dubai, London-based spokesman Sean Farrell said today.
The bank doesn't plan any redundancies, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News